PRINCIPLES OF MEDICAL LABORATORY
SCIENCE PRACTICE 1 • Rehabilitation centers, hospices, psychiatric
SAS 11: LABORATORY WASTE MANAGEMENT
A. What is Healthcare Waste?
- Healthcare waste includes all forms of waste
generated as a result of any of the following:
• Diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human
beings;
• Research pertaining to the above activities;
• Research using laboratory animals for the
improvement of human health;
• Production or testing of biologicals; and
• Other activities performed by Healthcare Facilities
Examples of Healthcare waste include but are not
limited to:
• discarded diagnostic samples
• swabs, bandages and disposable medical
devices
• human tissues, organs or fluids, body parts
and contaminated animal carcasses
• syringes, needles, disposable scalpels and
blades
• expired, unused and contaminated drugs and
vaccines
•radioactive diagnostic material or radiotherapeutic
materials
B. What are Healthcare Facilities?
- Healthcare facilities are public, private, and non-
governmental institutions or facilities that contribute
to the improvement of the health status of an
individual which includes:
• Hospitals and medical centers
• Clinics and healthcare units related to patient care
centers, and centers providing long-term healthcare
services
• Related laboratories and research centers
• Ambulance and emergency care mobiles
• Teaching and training hospitals and medical
schools
C. Categories of Healthcare Waste
• Infectious Waste
• Sharps
• Pathological and Anatomical
• Waste
• Pharmaceutical Waste
• Chemical Waste
• Radioactive Waste
• Non-hazardous general waste
C. Categories of Healthcare Waste
1. INFECTIOUS WASTE
• All waste suspected to contain pathogens (or their
toxins) in sufficient concentration to cause diseases
to a potential host
• Discarded materials or equipment used for
diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease of
patients with infectious disease
• Highly infectious waste includes microbial cultures
and stocks of highly infectious agents from Medical
Analysis Laboratories and biofluids from patients
with highly infectious disease (require disinfection
at source)
2. SHARPS
• Items that can cause cuts or puncture wounds
• Used or expired sharps e.g., hypodermic
intravenous or other needles; auto-disable syringes
infusion sets; scalpels; pipets; broken glass; wet
ampules
• Does not include syringes and needles used
for antineoplastic purposes.
3. PATHOLOGICAL AND ANATOMICAL WASTE
• Refers to tissue sections and body material
derived from biopsies or surgical procedures that
are then examined in the laboratory
• Anatomical waste is a subgroup of pathological
waste that refers to recognizable body parts such
as amputated limbs and the like.
• Liquids, gas and solids contaminated with
radionuclides whose ionizing radiations have
genotoxic effects
7. NON-HAZARDOUS OR GENERAL WASTE
• Includes waste that has not been in contact with
communicable or infectious agents, hazardous
chemicals or radioactive substances, and does not
pose a hazard.
D. Labelling, Markings and Color- coding of
plastic liners and bins for proper waste
segregation

4. PHARMACEUTICAL WASTE

• Refers to expired, split and contaminated

pharmaceutical products, drugs and vaccines; as
well as discarded items used in handling
pharmaceuticals

• Pharmaceutical wastes include antineoplastic,

cytotoxic, and genotoxic waste

• Drugs usually used in oncology (antineoplastic

drugs) or radiotherapy units have a high hazardous
mutagenic or cytotoxic effect.

5. CHEMICAL WASTE

• Refers to discarded chemicals (solid, liquid, or

gaseous) generated during disinfecting and
sterilizing procedures.

• Chemical wastes can be further classified into

corrosive, reactive, toxic and flammable.

• Chemical waste also include waste with high

content of heavy metals and their derivatives.

6. RADIOACTIVE WASTE

• Wastes exposed to radionuclide

• Resides from shipment of radioactive materials

and unwanted solution of radionuclides intended for
diagnostic or therapeutic use