European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 20, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Now. Wilh a new Beach season fast approaching government officials Are hoping to prevent a repeat of the nightmares of 1988 with new rules on How hospitals dispose of their used Needles blood bags and other potentially infectious waste the u s environmental Protection Agency Epa is work my to put in place by the Lirett Day of summer a new Pilot medical waste tracking program Lor new Jersey and Connecticut As Well As for new York and seven other states that Border the great lakes even at that the Agency cautions that ils new rules May not significantly reduce the amount of medical Wasle deposited on beaches " Federal of goals Moutal that the medical trash that made the headlines including More than 100 bloody vials Lound on the Shoreline behind Bayonne High school Here last july came from hospitals or other medical facilities covered by the new tracking system let s not delude ourselves into thinking that this program is going to instantaneously capture All medical says or. John Moore Deputy Epa administrator and chairman of an Agency task Lorce on medical the Federal tracking program will cover hospitals and other facilities that generate 50 pounds or More per month of medical Wasle doctors dentists and clinics that generate lesser amounts will have to weigh and log their medical wastes but not fill Oul the Cradle to grave tracking forms none of this tracking or log keeping will capture any of the syringes that the nation s diabetics use at Home and throw Oul in the Irish or the Needles that drug addicts use in the streets and discard Down sewer grates ii you think of a couple of million people a Day in the privacy of their Home using a Needle or syringe Lor medical purposes that s a lot of Moore says let s not delude ourselves into assuming that none of his Lulf is going to Lind ils Way on some Beach somewhere experts say medical waste is part of a broader problem of floating garbage that sullies All american shores we Ireat medical Wasle no better or no worse than we treat any other kind of solid says Tom super a special assistant to Moore. But aids has heightened the Public s concern about the Sale disposal of blood Needles and the tons of other potentially hazardous trash produced in abundance at health care facilities the Epa says that 32 million tons of the 160 million ions of solid waste generated each year in the United states is Hospital medical waste but Only 10 percent to 15 percent of Hal 3 2 million tons is regarded As potentially infectious. Into this category Lall human blood and blood products used Needles and scalpels pathological wastes from surgery and autopsies cultures and stocks of infectious agents and contaminated animal carcasses irom research labs. Most hospitals have in House incinerators to Burn such waste rendering it harmless. The Epa estimates Hal 70 percent of Hospital Wasle is incinerated in House 15 percent is sterilized in autoclaves and 15 percent is transported Oil site Lor incineration or burial. Apart irom Public repugnance at the sight of Needles or bloody vials on a Beach the Epa says. Several studies have shown thai medical waste is generally less virulent than typical Domestic Public health officials including the centers Lor disease control believe the risk of contracting such diseases As aids irom exposure to these wastes is very Low the Agency says. Those most Al risk Are the medical personnel and sanitation workers who must handle these wastes on the Job. Or. James h. Sammons executive vice president of the american medical association cautioned the Epa in a recent letter against defining medical waste Loo broadly he said soiled diapers were More of a threat than most of the Irish that hospitals and doctors produce dirty diapers Are Lull of bacteria says the Epa s Moore but there s no evidence that suggests you need a special tracking system for disposable Moore says the Epa tried to Deline medical waste narrowly enough to capture the stuff that s worthy of capture because of infectious potential or the potential environmentalists used drilling plastic bottles to Trace the origin of the medical waste pollution. Lor physical harm bul not capture the disposable Pillowcase that just happens to be on a Hospital bed used by a heart attack patient " some lawmakers have accused the Epa of casting too Small a net in a letter to the head of the Epa. 19 members of Congress charged that the Agency had exempted too much medical waste from its tracking system. There is a real threat thai the same offensive and potentially dangerous medical trash will once again Wash up on our beaches because Epa has issued this sweeping said the group led by rep. James Florio . Florio says that under the Epa plan Bedpan sponges bandages and sutures will not be subject to the tracking system unless they Are soaked with blood. The Epa estimates it will Cost health care providers and facilities in the 10 demonstration states $55 million a year to comply Wilh its tracking and reporting requirements. Average costs Range from $3,757 per year for hospitals to $71 Lor dentists Bayonne Hospital and other hospitals in new Jersey have been operating under a waste tracking system the state instituted last fall. And even before Hal concern about aids and other blood borne diseases had prompted changes in the handling of patients blood and used Needles we use precautions now for All patients says Thomas Pontoriero. The Hospital s director of environmental services that led to the installation of nest. Locked containers on the Wall of each patient room where nurses Deposit Needles immediately Aller they Are used the sealed containers Are picked up and dropped in a special Cage before being emptied and the contents incinerated likewise there Aie now special White baskets with red liners in each room Lor other medical waste bound for the incinerator. And even the Linen baskets in the hallways now have a special Vinyl liner to keep blood from seeping through Bayonne a prosperous Community that celebrated ils Centennial last year is hiring an extra sanitation worker Lor its 299-Bod Hospital to Deal exclusively with the medical waste including weighing and logging it before incineration. In retrospect Pontoriero says we have always followed precaution procedures. Most hospitals have handled it properly. But it s Good to have a Normal protocol to mow in handling this stuff. It s better to be Safe than the Hospital s incinerator broke Down last july and was out of operation for nearly four months. Pontoriero spent $24,000 having a waste company cart the medical waste off twice a week Lor eventual incineration in South Carolina the disposal company Eastern chemical Wasle systems had a foolproof Manifest Pontoriero says. We had their documentation signed by them about the number of boxes that went out and the total weight. Fifteen Days alter they picked it up we received a copy Back signed by the outfit in South Carolina that was burning this Stull for the Federal Pilot program will rely on similar logs that both the health facilities and transporters will fill out. Ii a Hospital fails to get a signed receipt Back from the Wasle destination Point in 45 Days it must notify both the Epa and the slate. Violators can be lined up to $50,000 per Day and sent to jail Lor up to live years. It was just after the Hospital incinerator broke Down Hal some teen agers walking on the Shoreline behind Bayonne High school found the first blood vials. It was just a coincidence but it caused a few anxious moments Lor Pontoriero and Kathleen Mckeand the Hospital s director of marketing and Public relations. We knew what Eastern chemical s credentials were Mckeand says. But once it s out of our hands it s not like vie ride Shotgun on i hair trucks to make sure it is going to South the medical trash on Bayonne s Shoreline was never traced to the source. But the Epa s super said that the evidence Points to individuals not facilities As being responsible Lor the bulk of the medical waste that washed up on beaches irom Maryland to Massachusetts last year. One of the great myths of this past summer was that the facilities were somehow Midnight dumping their he says. A clean up team clears debris from a Shoreline. Beaches Are becoming a garbage dumping ground. Saturday May 20, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 17
