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Regulated Medical Waste Resource Locator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mississippi

Infectious
Medical Waste

Waste Categories
Definition of Infectious Medical Waste
Managing Infectious Medical Wastes
OSHA Regulations
Contacts
Statutes, Regulations and Guidelines
More Information

Waste Categories

Mississippi classifies wastes generated by health care facilities into four main categories:

Hazardous wastes. This refers to a class of wastes specifically defined in a federal law (the Resource conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA).  These wastes contain certain toxic chemicals or have certain characteristics that cause them to be a significant risk to the environment and/or human health.  Some certain chemotherapy waste is hazardous waste.  In Mississippi, hazardous waste regulations are enforced by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

Medical waste.  Medical waste is defined as all waste generated in direct patient care or in diagnostic or research areas that is non-infectious but aesthetically repugnant if found in the environment.

Infectious medical waste (IMW).  This is a special subcategory of wastes that presents significant health risks such as the potential for infectious disease transmission, and special rules apply to this. 

Municipal solid waste.  These wastes present fewer environmental or health risks than medical wastes.  Municipal solid waste can be disposed of into dumpsters.

It is important that you categorize your facility's waste accurately.

  • Hazardous waste disposed of as infectious medical waste or municipal solid waste, or infectious medical waste disposed of as municipal solid waste are violations of the law and can result in substantial penalties.
  • Conversely, most medical waste may be handled as general solid waste and does not require special handling or treatment. 
  • Correctly identifying and segregating your IMW can reduce the cost of disposal.  Infectious medical waste makes up only a small portion of the total medical waste stream.  Some facilities, such as long-term care facilities, generate medical waste, but little or no infectious medical waste. Use the guidance and references below to accurately categorize your wastes.  For additional help, see Contacts below.
  • Infectious medical waste that is treated to specific standards can be disposed of as municipal solid waste, provided that no local rules prohibit it.

Definition of Infectious Medical Waste

“Infectious Medical Waste” includes solid or liquid wastes, which may contain pathogens with sufficient virulence and quantity such that exposure to the waste by a susceptible host has been proven to result in an infectious disease.  The following wastes are considered to be infectious medical waste:

  • Wastes resulting from the care of patients and animals who have Class I and /or Class II diseases that are transmitted by blood and body fluid.
  • Cultures and stocks of agents; including specimen cultures collected from medical and pathological labs, cultures and stocks of infectious agents from research and industrial labs, wastes from the production of biologicals, discarded live and attenuated vaccines, culture dishes and devices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures.
  • Blood and blood products such as serum, plasma, and other blood components.
  • Pathological wastes, such as tissues, organs, body parts, and body fluids that are removed during surgery and autopsy.
  • Contaminated carcasses, body parts, and bedding of animals that were exposed to pathogens in medical research.
  • All discarded sharps which have come into contact with infectious agents.
  • Other wastes determined infectious by the generator or so classified by the Mississippi Department of Health.

Managing Infectious Medical Wastes

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has not, at this time, developed comprehensive regulations regarding the transportation and management of infectious medical waste.  However, the proper transportation, management and disposal of infectious medical waste in Mississippi are regulated under the general provisions of the Mississippi Solid Waste Law and the Mississippi Nonhazardous Waste Management Regulations.

The Mississippi State Department of Health regulates the on-site storage and management of medical waste through the “Adopted Standards for the Regulation of Medical Waste in Health Care Facilities Licensed by the Mississippi State Department of Health”.  For information on the regulation of commercial management of medical wastes, contact the Solid Waste Management Branch at the Department of Environmental Quality.

The off-site management and disposal of infectious medical waste is regulated by the Department of Environmental Quality under the provisions of the Mississippi Non-hazardous Solid Waste Management Regulations and the Mississippi Solid Waste Law.  Disposal of such waste at a landfill or other solid waste facility is addressed through specific conditions in that facility’s solid waste management permit.  These permit conditions generally prohibit municipal solid waste disposal facilities from accepting infectious medical waste that has not been rendered non-infectious.  State regulations also require that, prior to the establishment of any commercial facility in the State specifically for the storage, transfer, treatment or processing of infectious medical wastes, the owner or operator of the facility must obtain environmental operating permits form the Department for a solid waste management facility.

Treatment and Disposal of Infectious Medical Waste

Treatment or disposal of infectious medical waste shall be by one of the following methods:

  • By incineration in an approved incinerator which provides combustion of the waste to carbonized or mineralized ash.
  • By sterilization by heating in a steam sterilizer, so as to render the waste non-infectious. Infectious medical waste so rendered non-infectious shall be disposable as medical waste.
  • Use of heat sensitive tape or other device for each container that is processed to indicate the attainment of adequate sterilization conditions.
  • Use of the biological indicator Bacillus stearothermophilus placed at the center of a load processed under standard operating conditions at least monthly to confirm the attainment of adequate sterilization conditions.
  • By discharge to the approved sewerage system if the waste is liquid or semi-liquid, except as prohibited by the State Department of Health.
  • Recognizable human anatomical remains shall be disposed of by incineration or internment, unless burial at an approved landfill is specifically authorized by the Mississippi State Department of Health.
  • Chemical sterilization shall use only those chemical sterilants recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances. Ethylene oxide, glutaraldehyde, and hydrogen peroxide are examples of sterilants that, used in accordance with manufacturer recommendation, will render infectious waste non-infectious. Testing with Bacillus subtilis spores or other equivalent organisms shall be conducted quarterly to ensure the sterilization effectiveness of gas or steam treatment.

Treatment and disposal of medical waste that is not infectious shall be by one of the following methods:

  • By incineration in an approved incinerator which provides combustion of the waste to carbonized or mineralized ash.
  • By sanitary landfill, in an approved landfill which shall mean a disposal facility or part of a facility where medical waste is placed in or on land, and which is not a treatment facility.

OSHA Regulations

In addition to the state medical waste environmental regulations there are some Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rules that apply to medical/infectious waste.  Mississippi is one of 26 states covered entirely by the federal OSHA program.  This program is operated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  OSHA rules (Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens Standards) impact various aspects of medical/infectious waste, including management of sharps, requirements for containers that hold or store medical/infectious waste, labeling of medical/infectious waste bags/containers, and employee training.  These requirements can be found in the HERC section entitled OSHA Standards for Regulated Waste.

Contacts

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

For additional specific information on the Standards for the Regulation of Medical Waste in Health Care Facilities Licensed by the Mississippi State Department of Health, contact the Health Facilities Licensure and Certification Division of that agency at (601) 576-7300.  For information on the regulation of commercial management of medical wastes, contact the Solid Waste Management branch at the Department of Environmental Quality at (601) 961-5171.

Statutes, Regulations and Guidelines

Nonhazardous Solid Waste Management Regulations & Criteria

More Information

In this section, you will find links to points of contacts at the Mississippi agencies responsible for regulation healthcare facility waste, links to the text of the regulation, and additional resources that you might find of interest on this topic.

Adopted Standards for the Regulation of Medical Waste in health care facilities licensed by the Mississippi State Department of Health.

Medical Waste Fact Sheet.