Biodegradable and self-disinfecting medical supplies to reduce hazards of medical waste

Medical waste is posing a growing problem worldwide, jeopardizing the health of staff, patients, disposal workers and anyone else coming into contact with the often hazardous materials discarded by hospitals and other health-care sites.

Medical waste can include a wide range of hazardous materials, such as infectious waste, anatomical and pathological waste, obsolete or expired chemical products and pharmaceuticals, radioactive materials and so-called “sharps,” medical instruments or devices that are no longer used. The problem is rising particularly quickly in developing countries, where the amount of waste being generated is rising rapidly as health-care services in those States are expanded, and the technological and financial tools to ensure the waste is managed responsibly may not exist.

Two ways to improve this: i. an effective method of self-sterilization, ii. Using biodegradable plastics to manufacture medical supplies A recent advance in technology in which verifiable on-site sterilization as waste of various medical items including disposable syringes is achieved by the use of special temperature-calibrated thermoplastic formulated, shaped and arranged to achieve liquefaction or phase change only at a temperature and within a time frame which equals or exceeds the scientifically established and accepted temperature-time death curve for the destruction of all known microbial life, including spore forms, which infect human and other animal life.

Biodegradable plastics are plastics that can be decomposed by the action of living organisms, usually bacteria. Biodegradable plastics use alternate materials or specialized enzymatic or chemical reactions to break down the material quickly once exposed to the elements. This technology offers a number of advantages over traditional plastic materials. This reduces the waste produced once a medical supply has completed its use.