Lichtveld M Y, Rodenbeck S E, Lybarger J A
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Atlanta, GA 30333.
Environ Health Perspect. 1992 Nov;98:243-50. doi: 10.1289/ehp.9298243.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) report "The Public Health Implications of Medical Waste: A Report to Congress" has been finalized and submitted to Congress. The report is a comprehensive review of all available data and information on the subject. Based on the data developed in the report, ATSDR concludes that the general public is not likely to be adversely affected by medical waste generated in the traditional health setting. However, the increase of in-home health care and other sources of nonregulated medical waste (e.g., intravenous drug users) provides opportunities for the general public to contact medical waste. In addition, ATSDR concludes that public health concerns exist for selected occupations involved with medical waste. These populations include janitorial and laundry workers, nurses, emergency medical personnel, and refuse workers. The ATSDR report also defines what material should be managed as medical waste and identifies research needs related to medical waste.
有毒物质与疾病登记署（ATSDR）的报告《医疗废物对公众健康的影响：提交给国会的报告》已最终定稿并提交给国会。该报告全面回顾了有关该主题的所有现有数据和信息。基于报告中得出的数据，ATSDR得出结论，传统医疗环境中产生的医疗废物不太可能对普通公众产生不利影响。然而，家庭医疗保健的增加以及其他不受监管的医疗废物来源（如静脉注射吸毒者）为普通公众接触医疗废物提供了机会。此外，ATSDR得出结论，与医疗废物相关的特定职业存在公共卫生问题。这些人群包括清洁和洗衣工人、护士、急救医疗人员和垃圾处理工人。ATSDR报告还定义了应作为医疗废物管理的物质，并确定了与医疗废物相关的研究需求。
