Infectious waste
Description
Infectious waste can be toxins, Prions, viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites which can cause disease in humans, animals or plants. Infectious agents are divided into 4 categories according to their human pathogenicity.
- Biological agents which normally does not cause infection, e.g. non-pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli och Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
- Infectious agents which can cause transient or curable infections, e.g. Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Influenza. Blood and tissue are routinely handled in this category.
- Infectious agents which can cause very serious infections, e.g. Escherichia coli O157:H7, bacillus anthracis, HIV, Echinococcus multilocularis, and all human prions.
- Infectious agents which can cause very serious infections with little or no effective treatment, e.g. Ebola and Crimean-Congo virus. There is no research with any risk class 4 infectious agents at Uppsala University.
For a complete list see AFS 2018:4
Other biological waste fractions, which for practical purposes can be handled as infectious waste, are:
- Genetically modified micro/organism (GMM/O)
- Biological agents in risk class 1, if they produce unhealthy concentrations of allergens or toxin
- Contaminated material (gloves, needled, scalpels, pipettes etc.) carcasses, cage bedding, cell lines, etc. Do a risk assessment and assign the waste to the suitable category.
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Carcasses generated at CFVUU are handled according to a separate routine available at CFVUU
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Some biological material and animal by-products, se biological section.
- If the infectious material is also radioactive, see the “radioactive and infectious waste”.
Handling
Since the research and routines differ at each campus, it’s important that you ask the campus management how to hand over your infectious waste. However, in general risk class 3 waste should be inactivated before it leaves the laboratory, this also includes GMM/GOM R-verksamhet, infectious agents which are highly pathogenic for plants or animals, and infectious agents which can not with certainty be classified as risk class 1-2.
Risk class 1-2 infectious agent (including GMM/GMO L-verksamhet) should be inactivated as close to the use as possible, and then handled as regular waste. However, risk class 1-2 waste can also be labelled as infectious waste (e.g. UN3291) and sent sent directly for incineration in proper hard plastic laboratory waste bins with completely sealable lids, or laboratory waste cardboard boxes with plastic bags. In both cases make sure that:
- The boxes are intact and clean on the outside
- The boxes can’t be opened after closing
- The boxes contain absorbents to handle any leakage inside
- Cutting and puncturing material can’t penetrate the box
Infectious waste boxes should be labelled with:
- Institution/department, group, name, phone number, date. In case of an accident, it could be of vital importance for the responders to have access to your information about the content.
- Biological hazard pictogram (and if applicable other relevant pictogram e.g. cutting/puncturing, radioactive), and specific UN-code, which is provided by the campus management.
At some campuses, the user should also hand over a form, which is archived together with the transport document for 3 years. Ask your campus management for local routines.
Correctly, packaged infectious waste may be stored in suitable waste rooms prior to transport to incineration. Normally it is the temperature of the waste room which dictates how long the waste may be stored: room temperature max 1 days, ≤ +8°C max 6 days, ≤ -1°C max 1 year.