PROCEDURES FOR THE SAFE DISPOSAL

OF BIOHAZARDOUS WASTE

                            
1. Personnel must avoid or minimize contact with infectious biohazard waste.   Protective clothing (lab coat, gloves, etc.) must be worn when necessary.  "No touch" technique must be used when practical.  Avoid generating aerosols or splattering.  Hands must always be washed after any contact with biohazard waste.
   
2. All contaminated or infectious dry solid type waste (i.e., gloves, personal protective equipment, paper towels, gauze/bandages, bodily fluid/blood saturated items, etc.) should be placed in double red bags stored inside proper biohazard boxes with lids. Do not put sharps or liquids into red-bagged boxes. Keep the weight of box reasonable, 30 lbs. or less.
   
3. All contaminated needles or other contaminated sharps (i.e., needles, syringes, glass and plastic pipettes, slides, rigid plasticware having sharp edges or points, capillary tubes, blades, glassware, etc.) must be placed into red sharps containers or red buckets that are puncture-resistant and leak proof. Anything that could potentially puncture a bag should be placed into a sharps container. By law, non-contaminated needles and syringes with or without needles attached, must still be placed into a red sharps container. Containers must not be over-filled and must be closed and disposed of when 3/4's full.
   
4.

Contaminated laboratory liquid waste (aqueous biological or infectious solutions such as blood, urine, cells, microbial cultures) must be autoclaved or chemically disinfected (i.e., 10% bleach solution) prior to disposal. Upon obtaining a one time approval from Environmental Health and Radiation Safety for compliance, the bleach disinfected waste may be flushed into the sanitary sewer system if flushed with large amounts of water. The containers that held the decontaminated liquids must be disposed into proper biohazard waste containers.

Otherwise, these liquids must be in break-resistant containers that are tightly sealed before being placed into red biohazard waste buckets. There should be sufficient absorbent material in the bucket to absorb the entire contents of the liquid in the event of a release. (e.g., absorbent pads or vermiculite)
   
5. Never place hazardous pharmaceuticals (including chemo drugs), chemicals, radioactive waste, or regular garbage into the biohazard waste containers.
   
6. Never autoclave bleach treated waste, flammables, corrosives, reactives, cancer drugs, volatile chemicals or radioactive materials. [Link to recommended procedures for autoclaving materials]
   
7. Infectious biohazard waste containing virulent pathogens, rDNA, higher risk BSL-2 agents, or presenting a risk to individuals handling it must be autoclaved or decontaminated before being placed into biohazard waste containers for disposal. [Agents required to be autoclaved or decontaminated]  
   

Chemo/Cytotoxic and Hazardous Drug Biohazardous Waste Disposal

  1. Discarded contaminated items containing trace amounts of chemo/cytotoxic drugs and hazardous pharmaceuticals may be disposed of into the appropriate red or yellow (chemo) biohazard waste containers.

  2. Original cytotoxic/hazardous drug bottles or diluted stocks containing drugs must be disposed as hazardous chemical waste and brought to the Central Stockroom(s). However, bottles, tubing, vials, syringes and other discarded contaminated items containing residual or trace amounts of these drugs may be placed into the appropriate red or yellow (chemo) biohazard containers.

  3. Carcasses and bedding containing chemo/cytotoxic drugs must be placed in yellow "chemo-labeled" double bagged, yellow biohazard containers only. While storing carcasses with bedding in the refrigerator/freezer, these should be double-bagged in sealed yellow chemo-labeled bags.

  4. Sharps containing chemo/cytotoxic drugs must be placed in yellow chemo/cytotoxic biohazard sharps containers only.

Non-contaminated sharps whether plastic or glass (except needles, syringes and blades), must be placed into blue and white laboratory glassware boxes. (Not in regular trashcans.)

While storing biohazard bags and containers in the laboratory, THEY MUST BE KEPT CLOSED, unless adding waste. Before transport from the laboratory, also check to make sure that they are sealed and not leaking.

Do not leave a waste container unsecured. (It must be locked up or in a locked laboratory when unattended)

Do not store biohazard waste in hallways or near general traffic. Biohazard waste, excluding used sharps, may be stored at room temperature until the storage container is full, but no longer than 30 days from the date of generation. It may be refrigerated for up to 30 days and frozen for up to 90 days from the date of generation. Biohazard waste must be dated when refrigerated or frozen for storage. Storage of biohazard waste in a freezer must be approved by the Environmental Health and Radiation Safety Dept.

All bags and containers are available in the Central Stockrooms.

Bring the waste to the appropriate stockroom only if you have been Department of Transportation trained or contact the Central Stockrooms at X8843 or X3141 to schedule a pick-up.

See procedures on chemical waste disposal.

See procedures on radioactive waste disposal.

University of the Sciences in Philadelphia • 600 South Forty-third Street • Philadelphia, PA 19104-4495 • phone: 215-596-8800 • email: safety@usp.edu