Medical waste: a minimal hazard

Medical waste is a subset of municipal waste, and regulated medical waste comprises less than 1% of the total municipal waste volume in the United States. As part of the overall waste stream, medical waste does contribute in a relative way to the aesthetic damage of the environment. Likewise, some small portion of the total release of hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials is derived from medical wastes. These comments can be made about any generated waste, regulated or unregulated. Healthcare professionals, including infection control personnel, microbiologists, public health officials, and others, have unsuccessfully argued that there is no evidence that past methods of treatment and disposal of regulated medical waste constitute any public health hazard. Historically, discovery of environmental contamination by toxic chemical disposal has followed assurances that the material was being disposed of in a safe manner. Therefore, a cynical public and its elected officials have demanded proof that the treatment and disposal of medical waste (i.e., infectious waste) do not constitute a public health hazard. Existent studies on municipal waste provide that proof. In order to argue that the results of these municipal waste studies are demonstrative of the minimal potential infectious environmental impact and lack of public health hazard associated with medical waste, we must accept the following: that the pathogens are the same whether they come from the hospital or the community, and that the municipal waste studied contained waste materials we now define as regulated medical waste.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)