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SAFETY
U
N I V E R S I T Y
Box # 0942 476-1300 [email protected]
OEH&S Safety Update Newsletter:
by the UCSF Office of Environmental Health
and Safety. Please send comments to
O
F F I C E
O F
C
UPDATE
O F
E
A L I F O R N I A
N V I R O N M E N T A L
The OEH&S Safety Update Newsletter is distributed
UCSF R ESEARCH N EWS
D
Environmental Health and Safety #717
50 Medical Center Way
San Francisco, California 94143
‰
UPCOMING EVENTS
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April 24th
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Earth/Planet Day
April 30th
11:30 am - 1:30 pm
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H
S
A N
E A L T H
F
R A N C I S C O
A N D
S
A F E T Y
NEWSLETTER
M ARCH /A PRIL 2003
VOLUME 03, NUMBER 2
MEDICAL WASTE SEGREGATION
ue to recent changes in
requirements from our
medical waste hauler,
UCSF staff has had to change the
way we gather and dispose of
our medical waste. Previously all
medical waste from UCSF was
incinerated, regardless of origin
or makeup. Due to recent steep
price increases UCSF must
divide the waste into that which
must be incinerated and that
which can be autoclaved (by the
hauler in huge process
autoclaves, not by us). Bulk
autoclaving is considerably
cheaper but cannot be used for
everything. This change has led
to some confusion as to what
goes where, and why. This article
will hopefully help clear things up.
There are three “waste streams”
or ways waste leaves this
campus, that are pertinent to
medical waste. The first is called
either infectious or pathological
(“path” for short) waste. This waste
is the most hazardous, or
required by social convention or
law, to be incinerated. It
comprises the following:
***************************
Infectious (Pathological) Waste
Material and Description
Agents associated with Human Disease
Any laboratory items being discarded that are
known to be or reasonably suspected to be
contaminated with any infectious agent that
causes disease in humans. This includes
anything used in conjunction with stock
cultures of infectious agents, such as human
cell cultures known to be infected with a
human pathogen.
BL3 Waste
All wastes from Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) or
Animal Biosafety Level 3 (ABSL3) facilities.
Prions
All wastes known or reasonably suspected of
being infected with prions of any species.
NOTE: These wastes must be treated by the
laboratory or clinical area before being
placed in the pathological waste stream. Both
the laboratories where prions are studied and
clinical staff who care for patients known to be
or suspected of being infected with prions
already have these procedures in place.
Human Tissue > 1 cubic inch
Any human tissue or body part that is one
inch or 2 centimeters cubed or greater, or
recognizable as of human origin by looking at
it.
Animal Tissue > 1 cubic inch
All fixed or unfixed recognizable animal
carcasses regardless of size, and any animal
tissue or body part that is one inch or 2
centimeters cubed or greater, or easily
recognized as of animal origin by looking at it
.NOTE: Fixed specimens stored in
preservative should be removed and
drained of excess preservative before being
placed in small, closed waste containers
(bags, plastic specimen jars). The
preservative is discarded through the
OEH&S chemical waste service.
Animal Bedding
Animal bedding and other husbandry
materials known to be or reasonably
suspected to be contaminated with any
infectious agent that causes disease in
humans.
PPE and lab materials Contaminated with
Pathological Materials
Disposable Personal Protective Equpment
(PPE) and other laboratory materials used
in conjunction with the above items.
*****************************
All pathological wastes must be
sterilized by incineration, which is a
much more expensive way to
dispose of waste than before. Path
waste is collected in red and only
Isolation Waste
Isolation wastes from clinical areas.
4
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(Continued on pg. 2, See Waste Seg.)
1
treated with bleach. Refer to the “Regular
Trash” chart below.
(Waste Seg., continued)
red biohazard bags that are placed
inside of red, square-shaped barrels
clearly labeled “Pathological
Waste”. A laboratory may have
smaller bench top or workstation
containers, but they must be red and
they must be clearly labeled “For
Pathological Waste Use Only”.
Excess bag material may not
obscure the label. Under no
circumstances use cardboard “Burnup Bins”. These are not leakproof,
do not have tightly fitted lids, and
therefore are not acceptable for
medical waste accumulation in
California.
The second stream is regular
medical waste.
Any human tissue or body part that is less
than one inch or 2 centimeters cubed.
Vaccines
Material and Description
Regular Trash
Sharps containers not required to be
discarded as pathological waste.
Animal Bedding
Animal bedding and other husbandry
materials known to be or reasonably
suspected to be contaminated with any
infectious agent that causes disease in
animals.
*****************************
Human Cell Cultures
Any laboratory items being discarded that are
known to be or reasonably suspected to be
contaminated with human cell cultures, even if
not known to be pathogenic to humans.
Animal Pathogens
Any laboratory items being discarded that are
known to be or reasonably suspected to be
contaminated with animal pathogens, even if
not known to be pathogenic to humans.
Recombinant Materials
All Risk Group 2 recombinant materials
(vectors, infected host cells or tissues).
Liquid Blood or Body Fluids
Liquid blood or body fluids or their containers
NOTE: Liquid blood or body fluids can be
******************************
Sharps
Disposable Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) and other laboratory materials used in
conjunction with the above items.
Regular Medical Waste
The third waste stream is regular
trash. This can be used under certain
very limited and carefully defined
circumstances:
All animal or human vaccines or their
containers.
PPE and lab materials contaminated with
Pathological materials
*************************
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Human Tissue < 1 cubic inch
fitted lids, and therefore are not
acceptable for medical waste
accumulation in California.
Regular medical waste is collected
by the hauler and taken to
centralized bulk autoclave facilities
where the waste is sterilized and
subsequently taken to landfill.
Regular medical waste is collected
in red and only red bags that are
placed inside large round gray
barrels. A laboratory may have
smaller bench top or workstation
containers. They should not be red
and they must be clearly labeled
“For Regular Medical Waste Use
Only – NO PATH WASTE”. Excess
bag material may not obscure the
label. Under no circumstances use
cardboard “Burn-up Bins”. These are
not leakproof, do not have tightly
Material and Description
Autoclaved Medical Waste
Regular medical wastes contained in approved
red biohazard autoclave bags that have
been sterilized in an autoclave certified by the
UCSF Office of Environmental Health and
Safety and identified as such by a green
autoclave registration tag. These autoclaves
undergo frequent maintenance, testing and
validation in order to qualify for certification.
Bleached Liquid Blood or Body Fluids
Small containers of liquid blood or body fluids in
which the blood or body fluid has been
disinfected with undiluted commercial bleach for
30 minutes. Disinfection is done by adding
bleach to a final bleach dilution of 10:1 with the
fluid. For example, if you have a container with
9 ml of blood, add 1 ml of undiluted (approx.
5%) bleach to reach a final bleach
(Continued pg. 3, See Waste Seg.)
‰
Please have all personnel in your lab
initial here as evidence of continuing
education & keep this newsletter in
Visit our web site at http://www.ehs.ucsf.edu
your logbook.
Mission Bay Move Update
(Waste Seg., continued)
concentration of approximately 0.5%. Higher
concentrations of bleach are OK, lower are not.
After 30 minutes of contact time, the disinfected
blood may be washed down a laboratory sink
drain. Run cold tap water for about 10 seconds
to rinse the liquid through the sink’s trap.
Deface any hazard or patient labeling and
discard the container in the regular trash.
Dried Blood or Dried Body Fluids
Materials containing dried human blood or
body fluids not known or reasonably suspected
of containing human or animal infectious agents.
*****************************
If you need additional help or
information, contact your DSA or call
the Biological Safety Officer at 4762097.
Let’s Welcome....
V
ictoria Frankel joined the Office of
Environmental Health and Safety on
March 31, 2003. She graduated from
Fort Lewis College in Durango,
Colorado with a degree in Geology.
Prior to joining EH & S, Vicki worked for
Ecology & Environment, Inc. in San
Francisco for a hazardous materials
emergency response contract under the
U.S. EPA’s Superfund program. Vicki
has managed emergency responses
and assessments at plating shops,
clandestine drug labs, radiation sites,
and subsurface investigations. She has
also been a senior trainer in many
aspects of environmental health & safety.
Vicki enjoys making stained glass
windows, needlepoint, fly-fishing, fly
tying, cooking and bluegrass music.
S
ince the beginning of January
over 50 research laboratories
have moved to the new UCSF
research campus at Mission Bay,
Building 24/Genentech Hall. The
move is a culmination of over a year
of planning, strategy, and
negotiations with vendors and
support personnel.
Facilities Managment, in
collaboration with OEHS, coordinated
the complicated task of moving
Cell mixer/heating unit
with moving tags
hazardous material and associated
equipment. Equipment had to be
identified and decontaminated;
supplies and research material
packaged labeled and moved
according to regulation.
Obsolete equipment and unneeded
supplies were solicited for donation
to the public schools in cooperation
with the University of California San
Francisco Science and Health
Education Partnership department
and the American Chemical Society.
Moving tags on
computer equipment
Suvey meters with moving
tags
Moving tags on cell
laboratory equipment
Vicki will be a new DSA for UCSF
laboratory locations to be determined.
Moving tags on centrifuges
and other equipment
‰
Visit our web site at http://www.ehs.ucsf.edu
3