GB2330063A

GB2330063A - Medical waste containers

Info

Publication number: GB2330063A
Application number: GB9821805A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Scarrow
Original assignee: Rexam Medical Packaging Ltd
Current assignee: Amcor Flexibles Winterbourne Ltd
Priority date: 1997-10-07
Filing date: 1998-10-06
Publication date: 1999-04-14
Anticipated expiration: 2018-10-06
Also published as: GB2330063B; GB9821805D0; GB9800579D0

Abstract

An article, such as a container for medical waste or a sharps bin, comprises a body 10 with a retaining cavity and an absorbent mat 20 located within the cavity. The mat 20 is able to take up a volume of aqueous liquid which is at least 3%, or preferably at least 6%, of the volume of the cavity. The article can alternatively take the form of a tray or a plastic bag. The mat 20 is preferably a laminate comprising a layer (24, Figure 2) of an absorbent polymer material, such as sodium polyacrylate, sandwiched between layers (22) of a permeable or porous material. The mat 20 may incorporate fragrances and/or disinfectants which can be encapsulated in water-soluble microcapsules. When the article is a container for the disposal of medical waste it is preferably incinerated.

Description

MEDICAL WASTE CONTAINERS The present invention relates to medical waste containers such as sharps bins and other medical or clinical waste containers or other articles liable to come into contact with medical liquids (which term includes body fluids and drug solutions).

When contaminated sharps, e.g. needles, syringes, scalpel blades etc., and used drug vials are to be disposed of, there are a number of potential risks in addition to the obvious cut or needle stick injuries.

The various parts could have been in contact with contaminated fluids, e.g. blood, body fluids etc. and thus be infectious. It is also possible for them to be contaminated with cytotoxic drugs which may have been used in the needles and syringes. Thus when these parts are disposed of into a sharps container, toxic liquid can accumulate in the bottom of the container.

Cytotoxic drugs are used in the treatment of various forms of cancer and due to their level of toxicity can be dangerous if accidentally handled during collection, storage and transportation of any unused drug or contaminated instruments or swabs.

There are various standards for the performance of sharps containers e.g. British standard BS7320:1990 and the Australian Standard AS4031. Within these standards there are tests which require that the containers can retain specified amounts of liquid when the containers are subjected to a drop test. The design of sharps containers requires certain features such as openings in their lids to allow the used/contaminated instruments to be placed inside. The opening must then be able to be closed and finally locked when the container is full.

The mechanical operation of the closure, ease of use and market place price constraints, make it difficult for sharps containers to be totally leakproof.

According to the present invention there is provided an article having a retaining cavity, and a sorbent mat located within the cavity.

The article may be a container such as a sharps bin or other medical waste container, or a tray (e.g. for catching drips and spillages). A container may be rigid or flexible (e.g. a plastics bag). A container may comprise a container body and a closure (e.g. a lid for a rigid container, or sealing means for a flexible bag).

The mat is desirably able to absorb a volume of liquid which is at least 3% and preferably 6% or more of the internal volume of the cavity (particularly, the internal volume of a container).

The mat may be a laminate incorporating one or more permeable or porous layers, e.g. of paper or fabric (typically nonwoven), and a layer of highly absorbent polymer. The absorbent polymer may be sandwiched between two layers of the permeable or porous material. It may comprise sodium polyacrylate. Many highly absorbent polymers are known, e.g. in the arts of disposable nappies and mopping up chemical spilLages. Preferred mats are very thin prior to use - generally under 5 mm, preferably 2 mm or less.

In a second aspect the invention provides a method of disposing of medical waste comprising placing it in a waste container containing a sorbent mat, and then incinerating the container.

Generally, the sorbent mat is placed in the bottom of a sharps (or other) container, or on a tray. The mat material may be manufactured by taking two webs of cellulose based non-woven material and applying between the two sheets a polymer, using heat. Thus when the lamination is complete the mat appears to be one single thickness. The inner material usually consists of a polymer (sodium polyacrylate) which has the property that it can take up large amounts of liquid and convert this liquid into a gel. The result is that the liquids free flowing properties no longer exist and thus it cannot leak from the container or spill from the tray.

Whilst the concept of sorbent materials is not new this mat has been developed by incorporating very large amounts of the sorbent polymer so as to be capable of collecting large amounts of liquid in relation to the size of the mats. The mats vary in size to suit the inside base dimensions of the different size sharps containers or other articles.

Regarding the previously mentioned sharps container test standards, for example the British standard specifies that when the container is performance tested it should be filled with a water mixture, equivalent to 6% of the fill volume of the container. Thus a 25 litre container would be tested with a fill of 1,500ml of liquid. The mat which we would use for such a 25 litre container is capable of absorbing this amount of liquid.

Should for whatever reason larger amounts of liquid be required to be absorbed multiple mats can be placed inside the container.

It is also possible to incorporate other ingredients into the mats during manufacture such as fragrances and disinfectants which enable the mat to remove unpleasant smells from the contaminated ingredients as well as disinfecting the waste. In some circumstances it would be necessary to dose the mat with a liquid, such as water in order to activate the properties of these additional additives. For example the additives may be encapsulated in water-soluble microcapsules.

The mat can be cut to fit any shape. Such mats can be used in all clinical waste containers which can also contain free liquids such as water, body fluids etc.

An embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sharps bin embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view, on a large scale, of a mat; and Fig. 3 is a view like that of Fig. 2 but showing the mat after it has absorbed an aqueous liquid.

Fig. 1 shows a sharps bin such as a SHARPAK container of Rexam Medical Packaging Limited. This has a container body 10 closed by a lid 12. The lid 12 incorporates a rotatable disc 14 having an access opening 16 movable into and out of register with a corresponding opening in the underlying lid surface. There is also a locking button 18 for locking the disc in its closed situation (that is, with its aperture 16 out of register with the underlying lid aperture) when the container is to be disposed of. The lid 12 is snap-engaged on complementary formations at the top of the container body 10.

Thus far the sharps bin is essentially conventional.

However, in the base of the container, there is a sorbent mat 20. As shown in Fig. 2, this is a laminate having upper and lower layers 22 of cellulose-based nonwoven material, between which there is a heat-applied layer of a sodium polyacrylate polymer 24. This has the ability to take up a large volume of water, or aqueous liquid.

In the process it swells and becomes granular, as shown schematically in Fig. 3. In this state, the outer layers 22 are required to retain the mat in one piece.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. An article having a retaining cavity and a sorbent mat located within the cavity, the mat being able to take up a volume of aqueous liquid which is at least 3% of the volume of the cavity.
2. An article according to claim 1 wherein said mat is able to take up a volume of aqueous liquid which is at least 6% of the volume of the cavity.
3. An article according to claim 1 or claim 2 which is a container for medical or clinical waste.
4. An article according to claim 3 which is a sharps bin.
5. An article according to claim 1 or claim 2 which is a tray.
6. An article according to claim 1 or claim 2 which is a plastic bag.
7. An article according to any preceding claim wherein the mat is a laminate having a layer of an absorbent polymer material sandwiched between layers of permeable or porous material.
8. An article according to claim 7 wherein said absorbent polymer material comprises sodium polyacrylate.
9. An article according to any preceding claim wherein the mat incorporates one or more materials selected from fragrances and disinfectants.
10. An article according to claim 9 wherein one or more of said materials is encapsulated in water-soluble microcapsules.
11. An article having a retaining cavity and a sorbent mat substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
12. A method of disposing of medical waste comprising placing it in the cavity of a waste container which is an article according to any of the preceding claims.
13. A method according to claim 12 including a subsequent step of incinerating the container.