Learn about the types of biohazardous waste containers and bags and how to manage them.

Red Biohazardous Sharps Containers

 

Provided By: UC San Diego

 

Commercial red biohazardous sharps containers are used to collect devices or objects with corners, edges, or projections capable of cutting or piercing the skin or regular waste bags, which have come into contact with biological or recombinant genetic materials. These containers must meet the standards of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and comprise of a container which is:

  • Rigid
  • Puncture-resistant
  • Leak-resistant
  • Equipped with a tight-fitting cover
  • Labeled with the international biohazard symbol and the word “BIOHAZARD”

Biohazardous sharps containers must be closed and secured once the sharps waste has reached the indicated “fill” line, followed by placement in an appropriate red biohazard waste container (see Biohazardous Waste Bins section below), and removal to the department’s designated biohazardous waste collection area for autoclaving, deactivation, or destruction. Do not mix chemical or radioactive sharps into biohazardous sharps containers. Other solid biohazardous waste must be disposed of in biohazardous waste bags as indicated below.

 

Secondary Biomedical Waste Containers

When in use, biohazardous waste bags must be stored and transported in a secondary container. A secondary container can be any color and has to comply with the following:

  • Rigid
  • Leak-resistant
  • Tight-fitting cover

 

Secondary containers must be labeled with the following:

  • The words “Biohazard Waste”; or
  • International biohazard symbol and the word “Biohazard” 

Secondary containers must be disinfected after removal of biohazard waste bags:

  1. Exposure to hot water of at least 82° Centigrade (180° Fahrenheit) for a minimum of 15 seconds.
  2. Exposure to chemical sanitizer by rinsing with, or immersion in, one of the following for a minimum of three minutes:
    1. Hypochlorite solution (500 ppm available chlorine)
    2. Phenolic solution (500 ppm active agent)
    3. Iodoform solution (100 ppm available iodine)
    4. Quaternary ammonium solution (400 ppm active agent) 

Prohibited Red Biohazardous Waste Collection Bin Items:

  • No free-flowing liquids (sealed tubes of biohazardous liquids in small quantities are allowed)
  • No carcasses 
  • No extremely hazardous chemicals or radioactive chemicals
  • No mixed waste – items contaminated with more than 1 category of hazardous waste (biological + chemical or radioactive contamination)
  • No loose sharps – Hypodermic needles, syringes with attached needles (or needleless plungers), scalpels, razor blades, and broken glass must be disposed of in a rigid, plastic sharps container. Only full, properly labeled, and sealed sharps containers can go in the Red BIOHAZARD Waste Collection Bins.

 

Do not overfill bins! 

Keep the lid closed when waste is not being added. Over-stuffed and unclosed Biowaste Bins violate County hazardous waste regulations.

Source of the article is provided by:

UC San Diego. (2021, October 5). Biohazardous Containers and Bags. Biohazardous containers and bags. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://blink.ucsd.edu/safety/research-lab/hazardous-waste/disposal-guidance/medical/biohazardous-containers.html