Our team at Sunbelt Medical Services specializes in handling and disposing of biohazard waste. We have extensive experience in this field, and you can count on us to handle all kinds of biohazard waste disposal for your facility. In this article, we will provide an overview of the different types of biohazard waste to give you a better understanding of this topic.
- Solid – The first type of biohazard waste is solids. This category includes any item other than sharps (covered below) that is contaminated with bodily fluids, tissue debris, or other human or animal specimen material, or with any microbiological culture material (including DNA). Some examples of items that fit into this category include used medical exam gloves, used pipettes or vials used for medical testing, contaminated bench paper, etc.
- Liquid – A second type of biohazardous waste is liquids. This category includes blood, blood products, urine, and other bodily fluids. Liquid biohazard waste also includes fluids from both humans and animals. Direct with either liquid or solid biohazard waste carries serious health risks, which is why all biohazard waste must be handled with extreme care.
- Sharps – A third type of biohazard waste is sharps. As the name suggests, the sharps category includes items with a sharp edge or point capable of piercing the skin. Some common types of sharps include used lancets and hypodermic needles. Sharps must be handled, stored, and disposed of with particular care, as anyone who gets cut or scratched with a used lancet or syringe needle is at risk of introducing any contaminants on the surface directly into their bloodstream.