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How to Manage Infectious Medical Waste

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There are actually more ways to dispose of medical waste besides traditional incineration. With the current technology we have, we can now dispose of medical waste through the use of chemical, thermal, biological, or irradiative ways.

Here are the ways you can safely manage infection medical waste:

●    Thermal

Autoclaving refers to the technique of applying highly pressurized steam to disinfect the medical waste so that these waste can be recycled. This is actually the most common way of managing medical waste. An autoclave is usually operated with the use of electricity. Still, some of them have the capability to run on gas.

Autoclaves may differ in size and capabilities, medium-sized autoclaves may be good for small medical waste, and large ones can treat entire medical facilities.

Regarding disposing of medical waste with the use of the thermal technique, autoclaves are not the only ones being used. Dry heat, electro-thermal disinfection, and even microwaves are other techniques that you can use to treat infectious waste.

●    Chemical Disinfectants

This technique would include the use of different chemicals to disintegrate infectious waste. The so-called ozone treatment is a technique used by medical professionals to properly break down any material to oxygen. This would not emit any kind of pollutant compared to the other ways of chemical disinfection.
Biological

This method uses bio-digesters or worms to break down the materials that contain any trace of an infectious pathogen.

●    Irradiative

Ultraviolet emission or electron beams are used for this sort of technique. This method, however, is not yet available commercially.

Final Words

Correctly managing infectious waste is very significant in terms of keeping the environment safe from any sort of pathogens that could very well turn into a pandemic of sorts.