Subject(s)
Health Policy , Home Care Services , Medical Waste Disposal/methods , Syringes , Humans , Patient Education as Topic , WashingtonABSTRACT
In conclusion, the federal requirements for antineoplastic drug waste management presented in the original article published in the Regulatory Analyst during February 1993 have been clarified and supplemented by this discussion. Because state regulations are often more stringent than their federal counterparts, the appropriate state agencies should be consulted for final regulatory determinations on antineoplastic drug waste management.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/standards , Environmental Pollution/legislation & jurisprudence , Medical Waste Disposal/legislation & jurisprudence , Antineoplastic Agents/toxicity , Environmental Pollution/prevention & control , United States , United States Environmental Protection AgencySubject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/toxicity , Medical Waste Disposal/legislation & jurisprudence , Occupational Exposure/legislation & jurisprudence , Antineoplastic Agents/classification , Environmental Monitoring , Environmental Pollution , Guidelines as Topic , Health Facilities/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Medical Waste Disposal/standards , United States , United States Occupational Safety and Health AdministrationABSTRACT
We surveyed 940 Washington state waste industry workers to evaluate occupational exposure to potentially infectious materials (response rate 47 percent). Only 26 percent were trained specifically to deal with safety hazards associated with medical waste. For the year preceding the survey, 50 percent of respondents reported having received cuts and scratches on the job, 22 percent reported direct contact with waste blood on their clothing or shoes, 8 percent had blood exposure on their skin, 3 percent blood exposure on their face or eyes, and 6 percent occupational hypodermic needlestick injuries (10 percent among waste collectors.
