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How Does Medical Waste Regulation Work?

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About 85 percent of all waste that is generated by health care activities is considered non-hazardous. The other 15 percent includes hazardous materials that are likely toxic, infectious, or radioactive. In developed countries, about 0.5 Kg of hazardous waste is produced per hospital bed. The figure is 0.2 Kg in developing countries.

Regulation for Various Types of Medical Waste
Most states require regulated medical waste to be rendered non-hazardous before being disposed of as solid waste. Most regulations that cover medical wastes are drafted by the states rather than the federal government. There is no explicit definition of medical waste in federal law.

It is not always clear which regulation will apply to a specific situation because of the variables governing medical waste. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) played a major role while the current framework for medical waste regulation was being developed.

In the 1980s Congress enacted the Medical Waste Tracking Act (MWTA). This was in response to the issues of medical waste washing up on beaches on the East Coast. The MWTA:

●    Identified which waste is to be regulated,
●    Required management standards for segregation, packing, labeling, and storage of the wastes,
●    Established record-keeping requirements, and
●    Defined penalties to be imposed on mismanagement.

Below is a structure of the present-day medical waste regulation:
•    State Regulation.
•    U.S Department of Labour Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation.
•    EPA, Department of Transportation (DOT) and Centers for Disease Control) CDC regulations.