Tennessee Medical Waste Disposal

Tennessee has given America some of the best music ever produced. From Elvis at Graceland in Memphis, to Dolly Parton and the Grand Ole’ Opry–the longest running radio program in the world–genres like country, rock and roll, blues and rockabilly all have roots in this land-locked southern state. The Appalachian Mountains take up a large part of Eastern Tennessee while the Mississippi River runs along the state’s western border. Visitors also come to Tennessee for its more than 3,800 caves and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most popular national park in the U.S. Cotton has always been a big crop for Tennessee. The Memphis Cotton Exchange manages one-third of the country’s cotton every year. Tennessee, don’t let toxic medical waste make you sing the blues. Cyntox is a leader for medical waste disposal in Tennessee. We handle everything from sharps container disposal to safe pharmaceutical disposal.

The State of Tennessee Definition of Medical Waste:

In Tennessee, medical waste is considered a Special Waste, which is a solid waste that is either difficult or dangerous to manage and may include. Medical waste means the following solid wastes:

• Wastes generated by hospitalized patients who are isolated to protect others from communicable diseases.
• Cultures and stocks of infectious agents, including specimen cultures from medical and pathological laboratories, cultures and stocks of infectious agents from research and industrial laboratories, wastes from the production of biologicals, discarded live and attenuated vaccines, and culture dishes and devices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures.
• Waste human blood and blood products such as serum, plasma, and other blood components.
• Pathological wastes (i.e., tissues, organs, body parts, and body fluids) that are removed during surgery and autopsy.
• All discarded sharps (e.g., hypodermic needles, syringes, pasteur pipettes, broken glass, scalpel blades) used in patient care or which have come into contact with infectious agents during use in medical, research, or industrial laboratories.
• Contaminated carcasses, body parts, and bedding of animals that were intentionally exposed to pathogens in research, in the production of biologicals, or in the in vivo testing of pharmaceuticals.
• The following wastes from patients known to be infected with blood-borne disease: Contaminated wastes from surgery and autopsy (e.g., soiled dressings, sponges, drapes, lavage tubes, drainage sets, underpads, surgical gloves).
• Wastes from medical, pathological, pharmaceutical, or other research, commercial, or industrial laboratories that were in contact with infectious agents (e.g., specimen containers, slides and cover slips, disposable gloves, lab coats, aprons).
• Wastes that were in contact with the blood of patients undergoing hemodialysis, including contaminated disposal equipment and supplies such as tubing, filters, disposable sheets, towels, gloves, aprons, and lab coats.
• Discarded equipment and parts that were used in patient care, medical and industrial laboratories, research, and in the production and testing of certain pharmaceuticals and that may be contaminated with infectious agents.