The Menace of Medical Waste Pollution In The US

medical waste disposal

Here is a question for you:

What would be the consequence if the healthcare centers and other places stop paying attention to proper and eco-friendly biohazard waste disposal?

This would certainly wreak havoc on earth, making the lives of human beings and other living organizations extremely difficult to exist.

But is it something less than a menace, even after having so many methods of waste disposal and numerous medical waste disposal agencies providing services?

Talking specifically about the USA, facts prove that the nation is suffering due to a new kind of pollution and this is known as the medical waste pollution.

What Is Medical Waste Pollution?

The high accumulation of used healthcare products on land and in water, creating lots of troubles for the humans and other living beings, could be known as medical waste pollution.

And this concept is certainly not a new one in the USA. It was in the late 1980s that the beaches experienced a massive outwash of discarded healthcare products such as medications, disposed syringes,and other similar products.

This led to the formation of a number of laws which aimed to protect the water resources by the menace of these hazardous healthcare products.

For instance, River and Harbor Act of 1886, Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 and Medical Waste Tracking Act (MWTA) of 1988 are some of these.

So the medical waste pollution is certainly a growing menace in the USA and it needs proper measures to be mitigated effectively.

What Causes Medical Waste Pollution?

According to a finding, about 85 percent of the total medical waste consists of metal, glass, food waste, plastics,and discarded papers etc.- the elements which are commonly found in regular household waste.

Consequently, only about 15 percent of the waste could be defined as infectious, consisting of dangerous sharps, pharmaceuticals, human body parts and other hazardous medical wastes etc.

Medical Waste Pollution Prevention Measures:

Viewing the growing concerns towards medical waste pollution in the USA, it’s important to take various preventive measures to keep a check on the hazards.

And the very first measure in this is the assistance of expert medical waste disposal and management agencies.

For instance, if you hail from a healthcare center and need medical waste disposal in Durham, you can consult the local waste management agencies for the best assistance.

Apart from this, the discarded waste could also be reused when properly treated with the help of methods such as autoclaving, microwaving, hydropulping, irradiation and chemical treatment etc.

Besides, various forms of medical waste training and teaching programs could always be helpful to prevent medical waste pollution in a really effective manner.

So though the US is suffering due to medical waste pollution, the modern waste management practices could certainly be a good measure to improve the conditions.

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