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Decontamination of Infectious Wastes. Infectious Wastes. What are infectious wastes?? Depends on whose regulations your situation falls under Regulatory Authority for Infectious Wastes EPA (RCRA, MWT, CAA) OSHA (OSHAct; sharps, BBP) DOT (inter- and intrastate transport)
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Infectious Wastes • What are infectious wastes?? • Depends on whose regulations your situation falls under • Regulatory Authority for Infectious Wastes • EPA (RCRA, MWT, CAA) • OSHA (OSHAct; sharps, BBP) • DOT (inter- and intrastate transport) • CDC (Biosafety Guidelines w/NIH) • States
Professional Organizations • Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) • National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) • Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) • American Biosafety Association (ABSA)
Thermal Inactivation • Factors affecting heat resistance of microbes: • Age • Growth Phase • Growth Temperature • Sublethal Heating • Nutrient Conditions • pH • Antibiotics • Cation Exchange • Other treatments affecting heat resistance: • Hydrostatic Pressures • Ionizing Radiation • Chemical Treatment (e.g. hydrogen peroxide) • Other Substances
Thermal Inactivation • Factors Affecting Dry Heat Destruction • Temperature • Microbial Water Content • Control of Water Content During Heating • Encapsulation in Crystals and Solids • Gas Atmosphere • Added Solutes • Lipids
Traditional Waste Treatment and Disposal • Incineration • 2400 MW incinerators in operation • 846,000 toms of MW • Reduce to non-combustible ash (870-980ºC; 1093ºC) • Autoclaving • Laboratory: 121ºC at 15psi for 30 minutes • Commercial: 135ºC at 60-75 psi for 1 hour
Alternative Treatment Processes • Thermal Processes • Rotoclav (144ºC at 48 psi for 65 minutes) • Sani-Pak Sterilizers (32 psi, 132ºC then 139-140ºC; 30 minutes) • Chemi-Clav (continuous feed; sodium hypochlorite and water; 96-116ºC for 30 minutes) • Microwave Treatment (1.2 kW; 95-100ºC for 30 minutes) • Electro-Thermal Deactivation (ETD) (low-frequency radiowaves used to heat 93ºC • Bio-oxidation/pyrolysis (93-538ºC then 982-1093ºC) • Plasma Pyrolysis (electrically charged gas; same results as incineration but no emissions problems)
Alternative Waste Treatment Processes • Chemical Processes • Peracetic acid (Ecocycle 10) • Degradables Processing (Polyvinyl alcohol products; Orex DP2000; 82-95ºC) • Alkaline Hydrolysis (WR2 Tissue Digestor; 121-148ºC at 10-75 psi for 3-18 hours) • Irradiation • E-beams