 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Jorge Emmanuel, PhD, PE, CHMM, The Environmental & Engineering Research Group, 628 2nd Street, Rodeo, CA 94572, 510 799-2551, jemmanuel@mindspring.com
Abstract: California's last remaining commercial medical waste incinerator closed in December 2001. Prior to the plant's closure, California law required that some kinds of regulated medical waste - pathological waste, trace chemotherapeutic waste, and expired pharmaceuticals - be treated by incineration. With the end of incineration for medical waste in California, these wastes suddenly required shipment to Utah, and accompanying costs skyrocketed.
As a result, there has been intense interest in evaluating alternative treatment technologies for their efficacy in California. The State of California has both devised interim strategies as well as accelerated its approval process in order to give hospitals more options to safety treat their medical waste while keeping costs down.
Learning Objectives:
Related Web page: www.noharm.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.