The Health Authority Abu Dhabi’s Environment, Health and Safety Management System outlines nine types of medical waste. These are:
Anatomical/pathological wastes
Body parts and organs, as well as containers filled with blood and fluid blood products, are categorised under anatomical and pathological wastes. These must be collected in heavy-duty, red polyethylene garbage bags, and marked as ‘Infectious Waste’. Authorised personnel must then store it in a ventilated, closed room where the temperature cannot exceed 15 degrees Celsius. Within 24 hours, the waste must be incinerated at an approved facility.
Sharp waste
Sharp objects, such as lancets, needles, surgical tools, medical equipment vessels and medicines, broken glass and sharp instruments, etc, make up the second category of waste. After use, these must be collected in single-use plastic containers that are unbreakable and puncture-proof, and marked as ‘Sharp Objects’. These too must be incinerated.
Infectious wastes
Infectious wastes are classified as those which are contaminated with blood, bodily secretions, stool or urine, as well as for laboratory waste such as blood and tissue samples, microbial cultures, cell cultures, and gloves. These have to be sterilised within 24 hours in a heated container under high pressure and temperature, a process known as autoclaving. They must then be incinerated. Collection must be done in tear- and moisture-resistant blue medium-duty garbage bags made of polyethylene. Alternatively, they can be stored in marked, sealed containers. After autoclaving, they have to be put in red bags and stored in a closed, ventilated room before incineration.
Pharmaceutical wastes
Pharmaceutical products returned from wards or others that have been spilled, contaminated or expired, must be returned to the pharmacy in their original containers. There, they must be stored in medium-duty yellow bags and sent for incineration.
Carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic-to-reproduction pharmaceuticals, including those that can harm cells, as well as contaminated syringes, gloves, gowns and materials, have to be returned to the pharmacy area where they are prepared. Heavy-duty, marked yellow polyethylene bags are designated for their disposal and transportation to an incineration facility.
Laboratory wastes
Laboratory chemicals, non-infectious diagnostic kits, disinfection and cleaning products as well as acids, bases and solvents should be segregated and returned to the pharmacy or central laboratory. Tags on the pack must clearly identify what is inside, and its hazards. Individual containers are then stored and disposed of as per the manufacturer’s instructions.
Patient wastes
These include patients’ excretions, body fluids, wound dressings, cast, diapers, single-use clothes, and one-time-use medical devices. Patient wastes that are not suspected to be infectious can either be shredded, autoclaved or incinerated. For collection, medium-duty yellow polyethylene bags are specified.
Radioactive medical waste
Radioactive medical wastes are collected in medium-duty garbage bags or containers that feature the Radioactive Waste symbol. Collection, pre-disposal treatment and disposal must follow the Federal Authority of Nuclear Regulation’s standards. These stipulate that radioactive material must be kept in a secure area until activity levels of substances have fallen to a safe level.
Recyclable wastes
Recyclable and reusable items – whether paper, cardboard, metal, glass or plastic – must be segregated into appropriate bins and transported to a recycling unit.
Non-hazardous domestic waste
This category is of waste that is not classified in any other group. It has to be stored in a separate room until it is collected by municipal or waste management contractors. These are disposed of following waste management guidelines, which can include landfilling.
-Compiled by Samihah Zaman
Unused and expired medicines at home can be dropped at select pharmacies
In the UAE, there are strict laws that govern proper disposal of medical waste but there are no rules regarding hazardous waste at home such as syringes used by diabetics for injecting insulin, or blood-stained bandages.
Most of the time, these are thrown into the garbage can along with other household refuse. Many people also get rid of expired medicines by flushing them down the toilet.
A large section of the population use over-the-counter medicines even for simple ailments such as the viral flu. Doctors say many patients also never take the full course of antibiotics, so that results in a number of pill boxes in the medicine cabinet at home that remain unused. The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) was the first local body that began a campaign in 2012 on how to safely dispose of expired medicines and drugs that are no longer used. Last year, it relaunched the Clean Your Medicine Cabinet campaign to help residents dispose of unused medicines or drugs that have expired.
These drugs can be dropped off at the pharmacies located at the 14 DHA Primary Health Care Centres, or at its hospitals such as Dubai Hospital, Rashid Hospital, Latifa Hospital and Hatta Hospital. (For details of these pharmacies, log on to DHA’s website.)
Experts first evaluate the medicines and those that can be used will be donated to charities, the DHA official said. The rest are disposed of in line with international pharmaceutical guidelines.
A senior DHA official says that storing expired drugs at home is a safety hazard. It could lead to inadvertant consumption and this is dangerous as some medicines turn toxic with time. The best practice is to dispose of medicines when they expire.
- By Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter
Pharmacist’s prescription
Dos and dont’s of handling expired medicines at home
1) Do not flush unused or expired medicines down the drain. This could harm the environment.
2) Always store medicines and drugs in a cool, dry environment.
3) Do not place medicines within reach of children.
4) Never store medicines in kitchen or bathroom cabinets because these areas are prone to heat and moisture which will affect the medicine’s condition.
5) If the medicines are few and cannot be taken to the drop-off at the DHA pharmacies, crush the tablets, mix them with the household trash and discard them in the garbage,
6) Separate the needles from the plastic part of the injection, seal them in a bag and then trash it.
7) Break open the gelatine tablets, mix the powder inside with the general trash and dump them in the garbage.
8) Do not give unused medicines that have not expired to friends or relatives. What works for you may not work for them.
9) Controlled substances for depression or narcotic pain relievers are better flushed down the drain so there is no danger of their being misused.
