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Rutala, William and Glen C, Mayhall (1992) “Medical Waste” []

This article talks about how medical waste is being used illegally by the public after being disposed of. It states that 65% of medical waste that has washed up on beaches was syringe-related and used for illegal drug use and home healthcare. It also discusses the impact on the public.

“Additionally, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents acknowledge that much of the medical waste that washed ashore in the summer of 1988 was syringe-related (65%)and came from home healthcare and illegal intravenous drug use.2,5”

“Fueling the fears of the public about medical waste are such concerns as the hypothetical risk of medical waste for transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and other agents associated with blood borne diseases.”

A few chemical analysis’s of syringes that were collected during the EPA Harbor Studies Program identified insulin and cocaine.

One concern is that medical waste may spread blood borne diseases such as HIV, HBV and AIDS.

Some beaches have had to close because of medical waste, which has caused lost money to the tourist industries.

In this article it discuses how medical waste is being disposed of improperly and how the public is getting concerned about it. There are very big chances for people to get hurt the way the waste is being disposed of.

__Some things I might use in my report are:__

A few chemical analysis’s of syringes that were collected during the EPA Harbor Studies Program identified insulin and cocaine.

One concern is that medical waste may spread blood borne diseases such as HIV, HBV and AIDS.

Some beaches have had to close because of medical waste, which has caused lost money to the tourist industries.

Most of the waste washing up on beaches is not medical waste. The amount of plastic syringes is less than 0.1%.

The public was mostly concerned over the fact that medical waste could spread very fatal diseases such as AIDS and HIV.

You are more likely to catch a disease from medical waste if you have been around that disease before.