We are having a heated dispute in my Pharmacy. I just found out that the Assistant Director had been lining chemo bins with plastic liners. Having the disposal company pull the bins from the 797 compliant negative pressure chemo room, then removing and transferring the liners to another container to be hauled out of the pharmacy. I was incredulous! While we use Phaseal, thiose liners do contain some sharps. Plus during the transfer the contents of the liners are exposed to room air (non negative pressure) and people are present. I said this practice must stop and I don't understand any logic or rationale that could explain or justify such a practice.. If we have to store unopened packages of chemo in the negative pressure due aerozolation etc., how could one justify this practice. I told them I wanted the sealed chemo waste been removed from the chemo room, nothing transferred with bin being sealed the whole time. Then those bins should be removed from the premises and disposed of properly by the waste handler.
The AD argues that others use the plastic liner method, and that replacing the disposal bins each time is way too expensive. I don't really care what it costs in order to protect the individuals handling the waste and team member in the room during transfer.
Am I correct? Does anyone know of justifiable and acceptable way to use liners?
I received out to Charlotte Smith, Pharmaceutical Waste Stream Management Guru and we agree with you that neither yellow trace chemotherapy bins or black hazardous waste bins should be lined and then the liner removed. The yellow trace chemo bins are expected to contain needles and other sharps, making this a potential needlestick hazard as well as a chemo exposure hazard. The black containers should contain any bulk chemotherapy (non-empty) vials, etc. As a cost saving measure, we do promote and support using yellow chemo hamper bags for all soft trace contamination items, including gowns, gloves, wipes, etc. This reduces the purchase of yellow trace chemo containers significantly.
FYI: Charlotte just published a great article on managing Pharmaceutical Waste. It was published in Pharmacy Practice News:
