Air Waste. 1994 Oct;44(10):1176-9.
Medical (biomedical) wastes pose numerous potential health and safety hazards. In addition to their infectious and toxic characteristics, the highly variable and inconsistent nature of medical waste streams has increased public concern about storage, treatment, transportation, and ultimate disposal. In recent years, techniques have been developed to reduce human exposure to the toxic and infectious components of medical wastes. The most commonly used techniques include internal segregation, containment, and incineration. Other common techniques include grinding, shredding, and disinfection, e.g., autoclaving and chemical treatment followed by landfilling. Of all the available technologies for medical waste treatment and disposal, incineration has been found to be the most effective method overall for destroying infectious and toxic material, volume reduction, and weight reduction in the medical waste stream. Incineration destroys the broadest variety of medical waste constituents and can recover energy from the medical waste stream. Incineration also is an appropriate alternative to burial of human pathological remains.
医疗（生物医学）废物带来众多潜在的健康和安全危害。除了具有传染性和毒性特征外，医疗废物流的高度可变和不一致性增加了公众对储存、处理、运输及最终处置的担忧。近年来，已开发出减少人类接触医疗废物有毒和传染性成分的技术。最常用的技术包括内部隔离、密封和焚烧。其他常用技术包括研磨、粉碎和消毒，例如高压灭菌和化学处理后填埋。在所有可用的医疗废物处理和处置技术中，焚烧被认为是总体上销毁医疗废物流中传染性和有毒物质、减少体积和重量的最有效方法。焚烧能销毁种类最为广泛的医疗废物成分，并能从医疗废物流中回收能量。焚烧也是埋葬人类病理遗体的合适替代方法。
