1. Decontamination of Infectious Wastes

2. Infectious Wastes What are infectious wastes?? –Depends on whose regulations your situation falls under Regulatory Authority for Infectious Wastes –EPA (RCRA, MWT, CAA) –OSHA (OSHAct; sharps, BBP) –DOT (inter- and intrastate transport) –CDC (Biosafety Guidelines w/NIH) –States

3. Professional Organizations Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) American Biosafety Association (ABSA)

4. Thermal Inactivation Factors affecting heat resistance of microbes: –Age –Growth Phase –Growth Temperature –Sublethal Heating –Nutrient Conditions –pH –Antibiotics –Cation Exchange Other treatments affecting heat resistance: –Hydrostatic Pressures –Ionizing Radiation –Chemical Treatment (e.g. hydrogen peroxide) –Other Substances

5. Thermal Inactivation Factors Affecting Dry Heat Destruction –Temperature –Microbial Water Content –Control of Water Content During Heating –Encapsulation in Crystals and Solids –Gas Atmosphere –Added Solutes –Lipids

9. Traditional Waste Treatment and Disposal Incineration –2400 MW incinerators in operation –846,000 toms of MW –Reduce to non-combustible ash (870-980ºC; 1093ºC) Autoclaving –Laboratory: 121ºC at 15psi for 30 minutes –Commercial: 135ºC at 60-75 psi for 1 hour

10. Alternative Treatment Processes Thermal Processes –Rotoclav (144ºC at 48 psi for 65 minutes) –Sani-Pak Sterilizers (32 psi, 132ºC then 139-140ºC; 30 minutes) –Chemi-Clav (continuous feed; sodium hypochlorite and water; 96-116ºC for 30 minutes) –Microwave Treatment (1.2 kW; 95-100ºC for 30 minutes) –Electro-Thermal Deactivation (ETD) (low-frequency radiowaves used to heat 93ºC –Bio-oxidation/pyrolysis (93-538ºC then 982-1093ºC) –Plasma Pyrolysis (electrically charged gas; same results as incineration but no emissions problems)

11. Alternative Waste Treatment Processes Chemical Processes –Peracetic acid (Ecocycle 10) –Degradables Processing (Polyvinyl alcohol products; Orex DP2000; 82-95ºC) –Alkaline Hydrolysis (WR2 Tissue Digestor; 121-148ºC at 10-75 psi for 3-18 hours) Irradiation –E-beams

14. Microwave Shredding Treatment

15. Chemi-Clav

16. Alkaline Hydrolysis

17. Air Incineration

18. Bio-Oxidation/Pyrolysis