ABSTRACT
The identification of infectious waste is a troublesome issue because there is no consensus about which wastes should be managed as infectious. Various terms are being used more or less synonymously with infectious waste, including biohazardous waste, biological waste, medical waste, hospital waste, medical hazardous waste, infective waste, microbiological waste, pathological waste, and red bag waste. Standards published by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations state only that there should be a program for managing infectious waste and that the hospital must determine which wastes are infectious. Waste human blood and blood products should always be classified and managed as infectious waste because of the possible presence of infectious agents that cause blood-borne disease. Cultures and stocks of infectious agents should always be managed as infectious wastes because they contain large numbers of infectious microorganisms at high concentrations. Pathological wastes are body tissues that are removed during surgery or autopsy.
