The pandemic put a lot of things in perspective for many aspects. Medical professionals and other healthcare employees came under a whole new light with terms such as “frontline workers” and “essential” becoming being used more conventionally to denote them. With the state generating over 6 million tons of medical waste annually, the pandemic definitely worsened things for medical waste management. As per the U.S. Waste Management Market Outlook 2027 forecast, the situation will only get worse in the oncoming years.

What do the major organizations have to say?

Major health regulatory agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regard medical waste management to be highly significant and deem that the current levels of waste management being practiced across hospitals and health centers aren’t that effective. Both OSHA and WHO have laid out specific guidelines for waste management and categorize the medical wastes under the following classes:

• Sharps- includes needles, syringes, blades, knives, and other sharp objects that can injure or pierce through the skin.
• Pathogenic- include human tissues, cellular samples, and animal carcasses.
• Infectious- includes blood samples, body fluids, cell cultures, and other stocks used for research, testing, and laboratory purposes.
• Pharmaceuticals- unused, expired, and contaminated medicines.
• General- includes non-hazardous wastes such as office waste, strips of used medicines, empty bottles, among others.
• Radioactive- includes wastes generated from diagnostics and radiotherapy.
• Genotoxic- includes carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic substances.

That is a lot of harmful waste. Outsourcing to your nearby NJ medical waste provider is a smart and viable solution as in most cases the person allotted from healthcare facilities to dispose off waste might not have adequate knowledge about the segregation of waste. Plus, it puts a lot of pressure while demanding time and effort to handle a huge amount of waste. Failure to carry out disposal of medical wastes can pose severe health risks and hazards for the surroundings:

1. You put your immediate staff and health works wellness at stake by exposing them and making them vulnerable to various kinds of deadly diseases apart from coronavirus such as HIV, ebola, malaria, among many others.
2. Traditionally, medical wastes are discarded off in landfills. Improper segregation of waste results in many kinds of toxic substances ending up in those landfills that may take years to decompose off and pose the risk of chemicals leaching and contaminating the groundwater.
3. As these wastes get soaked up in our soils, it reaches our water bodies and eventually the wildlife and forests. As these toxins penetrate the higher levels of the food chain, they become more potent. As it reaches back to humans, these toxins tend to cause a variety of side effects including:

• Congenital defects
• Risk of cancer
• General ailments
• Other deadly illnesses

Final word

Owing to the growing demand and work pressure on healthcare professionals, it would be unfair to even expect them to carry out the task of waste management efficiently. OSHA states that the wastes need to be segregated properly in puncture-proof containers. The absence of a systematic disposal structure will lead to heavy fines and penalties from the state health department. As an NJ medical waste removal service provider, we are well aware of the grievances and pressures that come with medical waste management. Dial (908)-692-6720 today for a cost-effective, efficient, and safe management plan.