Medical Waste Disposal
...r. Incinerators are usually operated so that the combustion gases are raised to a minimum temperature of about 1300 F (700 C). Combustion of the waste material alone may supply enough heat to maintain the proper combustion temperature, or an excess of heat. Additional heat, if necessary, can be supplied by a gas or oil burner. Incinerators reduce community refuse approximately 90% by volume and 75% by weight. The "missing" material is discharged innocuously into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide and water vapor. The remaining incombustible solid residue may be processed to remove the useful metals, but more commonly it is deposited in a landfill. On-site incineration is useful in reducing the amount of residue to be hauled away if the incinerator is operated under properly controlled conditions. One major problem with incineration is that many incinerator units contribute to air pollution by spewing carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter into the air. Afterburners can burn most of the polluting gases, and special dust collectors can be used where needed to clean the exhaust gases, but the smaller the incinerator, the more difficult it becomes to reduce air pollution. Accordingly, there is a trend to using large municipally operated incinerators that are controlled by trained operators and equipped with highly effective air-pollution-control devices. Though highly effective incinerators have had their confrontation with the public. A medical institution in Seattle is threatening its neighbors’ health. Northwest Hospital is burning medical waste containing deadly polyvinyl chloride plastic (PVC), and spewing dioxin. Seattle citizens have banded together to support an end to PVC burning. Even at extremely low doses, dioxin has toxic effects — including cancer, male and female reproductive-system disorders, birth defects, impaired neurological development, impaired immune-system function, endocrine disruption, and liver, spleen, thymus, and skin-organ toxicity. Research indicates that children, infants, and fetuses are especially vulnerable to the effects of dioxin exposure. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that the number-one source of dioxin is the burning of medical waste. A private firm, Stericycle, has proposed a trial "cleanup" project to heat the medical waste using electrothermal deactivation and then ship it off to the Holman Cement kiln south of...