Nevada classifies wastes generated by health
care facilities into four main categories:
Hazardous wastes. This refers to
a class of wastes specifically defined in a federal law (the Resource
conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA). These wastes contain
certain toxic chemicals or have certain characteristics that cause
them to be a significant risk to the environment and/or human health. Some
certain chemotherapy waste is hazardous waste.
Medical waste. Medical waste refers
to materials generated as a result of patient diagnosis, treatment,
or immunization of humans or animals. It does not include any
hazardous waste, radioactive waste, or household waste. In Nevada,
regulations for regulated medical waste are found at Nevada Administrative
Code 444.646 and 444.662.
Infectious waste (IW). These are
a special subcategory of medical wastes that present significant
health risks such as the potential for infectious disease transmission,
and special rules apply to them.
Municipal solid waste. These wastes
present fewer environmental or health risks than medical wastes. Municipal
solid waste can be disposed of into dumpsters.
It is important that you categorize your
facility's waste accurately.
- Hazardous waste disposed of as regulated
medical waste or municipal solid waste, or regulated medical
waste disposed of as municipal solid waste are violations of
the law and can result in substantial penalties.
- Conversely, most medical waste may be
handled as general solid waste and does not require special handling
or treatment.
- Correctly identifying and segregating
your IW can reduce the cost of disposal. Infectious medical
waste makes up only a small portion of the total medical waste
stream. Some facilities, such as long-term care facilities,
generate medical waste, but little or no infectious medical waste. Use
the guidance and references below to accurately categorize your
wastes. For additional help, see Contacts below.
- If medical waste has been treated by incineration,
autoclaving or an alternative method approved by the solid waste
management authority, it can be managed as ordinary solid waste
with no special requirements.
Definition of Regulated
Medical Waste
Nevada has adopted
the US Dept. Of Transportation definition for regulated medical
waste found in (49
CFR Part 173). Regulated medical waste means a waste
or reusable material known to contain or suspected of containing
an infectious substance in Risk Group 2 or 3 and generated in the
diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals;
research on the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings
or animals; or the production or testing of biological products. Where, Risk
group means a ranking of a micro-organism's ability to cause
injury through disease. A risk group is defined by criteria
developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) based on the severity
of the disease caused by the organism, the mode and relative ease
of transmission, the degree of risk to both an individual and a
community, and the reversibility of the disease through the availability
of known and effective preventative agents and treatment.
Managing
Infectious Waste
Nevada Division
of Environmental Protection states that if medical waste has been
treated by incineration, autoclaving or an alternative method approved
by the solid waste management authority, it can be managed as ordinary
solid waste with no special requirements. Special requirements
apply to the storage, collection, labeling, transporting and disposal
of regulated medical waste. Nevada regulations allow the direct
disposal by landfilling of untreated medical waste.
There are services
throughout the state for the collection and disposal of medical
waste generated in healthcare and veterinary facilities. Services
for home-generated medical waste sharps are not prevalent, however.
According to
the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, there are two
basic ways of managing medical waste that can protect workers and
the public from disease transmission: 1) treatment to render the
waste non-infectious, or 2) segregation to prevent exposure. Nevada
regulations do not require treatment of medical waste. Disposal
in a permitted landfill according to approved practices is acceptable. However,
until the waste had been either treated or disposed, it must be
stored and collected according to the requirements of Nevada Administrative
Code (NAC) 444.662. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) has adopted regulations to limit workers’ occupational exposure
to blood and other body fluids which may pose a risk of infection
by bloodborne pathogens. These rules are discussed below.
Storage, Collection
and Disposal Regulations
The Nevada Administrative
Code (NAC) contains the following regulations concerning the storage,
collection, and disposal of medical waste:
