BIOLOGICAL WASTE DISPOSAL

LIQUID BIOHAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL

All liquid biological waste from the lab must be treated prior to disposal. Examples of biological waste include: cell lines, recombinant DNA, recombinant proteins, and biological agents. The procedures below outline the steps to take to treat liquid biohazardous waste generated on Tusculum University Campus.

  1. Always wear appropriate PPE, such as disposable gloves, lab coat, and eye protection (safety glasses or goggles) when working with biohazardous waste.
  2. When liquid biohazardous waste is anticipated to be generated, add 100 ml of undiluted bleach into a 1L beaker
  3. As experiments are performed and completed pour the biological waste into the beaker with the bleach.
  4. Once experiments are complete and if the beaker contains less than 1L add enough water to bring the volume to 1L.
  5. Once the beaker is full the bleach has been diluted to a 10% solution.
  6. Let the 10% bleach and biological waste solution stand for at least 1 hour
  7. Dispose of the solution with care to avoid splatter down the lab sink and rinse the beaker.

SOLID BIOHAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL

The procedures below outline the steps to take to treat solid biohazardous waste generated in any lab on the Tusculum University Campus, prior to disposal in a sanitary landfill.

  1. All solid lab waste that has come in contact with biological waste from the lab must be treated prior to disposal. Examples of biological waste include: personal protective equipment such as disposal gloves, paper towels, pipette tips, disposal Petri dishes, pipettes, and culture flasks.
  2. Always wear appropriate PPE such as disposable gloves, lab coat, and eye protection (safety glasses or goggles) when working with biohazardous waste.
  3. Place all potentially contaminated items in biohazardous waste container.
  4. Place in the autoclave
    1. Autoclave biohazardous waste following manufacturers’ recommendations for autoclave operation.
    2. Once the autoclave cycle is complete the load within has been sterilized and now the bag can be placed into a black garbage bag prior to disposing of the waste in the dumpster.
  5. If an error occurred during the operation or an incomplete cycle, the load has not been sterilized. Notify the Chemical Hygiene Officer as the load is still considered biohazardous.

SHARP WASTE DISPOSAL

The procedure below outlines the steps to carefully handle sharps in any lab on the Tusculum University Campus.

  1. All used sharps must be immediately discarded into a sharps container
    1. Sharps containers must be kept upright
    2. Never reach into a sharps disposal container
    3. Sharps containers must be easily located in the immediate area where sharps are used.
  2. When sharps waste has reached the pre-marked “fill line” of the sharps container close and lock the lid.
  3. Contact Head Athletic Trainer Adjunct Faculty and Clinical Instructor to have sharps containers picked up and replaced.