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A biological hazard, or biohazard, is a biological substance that poses a threat (or is a hazard) to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This could include a sample of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can adversely affect human health. A biohazard could also be a substance harmful to other living beings. [a]
Daily exposure to the wastes (landfills) leads to accumulation of harmful substances or microbes in the person's body. A 1990 report by the United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry concluded that the general public is not likely to be adversely affected by biomedical waste generated in the traditional healthcare setting ...
Biosafety level 4 laboratories are designed for diagnostic work and research on easily respiratory-acquired viruses which can often cause severe and/or fatal disease. What follows is a list of select agents that have specific biocontainment requirements according to US federal law.
Although the Federal Government, EPA & DOT provide some oversight of regulated medical waste storage, transportation, and disposal the majority of biohazard medical waste is regulated at the state level. [30] Each state is responsible for regulation and management of their own biohazardous waste with each state varying in their regulatory process.
The UN has a mandate on hazardous substances and wastes with recommendations to countries for dealing with hazardous waste. [ 18 ] 199 countries signed the 1992 Basel Convention , seeking to stop the flow of hazardous waste from developed countries to developing countries with less stringent environmental regulations.
In addition to needles and blades, anything attached to them, such as syringes and injection devices, is also considered sharps waste.. Blades can include razors, scalpels, X-Acto knives, scissors, or any other items used for cutting in a medical or biological research setting, regardless of whether they have been contaminated with biohazardous material.
In the absence of LC 50 data on the poisonous (toxic) constituent substances, the mixture may be assigned a packing group and hazard zone based on simplified threshold toxicity tests. When these threshold tests are used, the most restrictive packing group and hazard zone must be determined and used for the transportation of the mixture.
Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. [1]