Washington, D.C. - infoZine - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - Improperly managing and disposing of human tissue and body fluids can infect not only the handler but also an entire neighborhood. Blood-borne pathogens can be brought into homes when people or animals unknowingly step in the remnants and contaminate other areas.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has worksite standards that apply to handling and packaging blood and body tissue remnants, and the U.S. Department of Transportation requires training for anyone moving biohazardous materials - items that are caked with or soaked in blood and fluids.

After that, it's up to state and local governments, said Tisha Petteway, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Agency.

State statutes vary and use different names for blood and body fluids. Among them are "infectious wastes" and "regulated medical wastes." Sometimes "medical waste" encompasses "biohazardous waste." The term "hazardous waste" never applies.

The waste generated from these cleanup sites avoids federal control because the EPA does not categorize it as "hazardous waste." The agency regulates incinerators that burn biohazardous medical waste.

A number of states - including California, Tennessee, Virginia and Florida - have detailed statutes for disposal of waste.

Some states also require companies to register with health or environmental departments. Most statues, however, are less clear and specifically target "health-care facilities," which may exclude crime scene cleanup companies. Some states - including Idaho, Kentucky and Wyoming - have no medical or infectious waste disposal regulations. In Kentucky, only health-care facilities must incinerate waste.

Dean Ehlert, solid waste coordinator at the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, said that, unless there is an exception in a contract between a business and a client, Idaho requires that companies treat biohazardous waste as solid waste.

So, blood and body fluids could be put in a bag and dumped in a landfill?

"Yes," Ehlert said.

American Bio-Recovery Association Vice President Gordy Powell is fighting for more standardization.

"Everything contradicts itself, and there's not one golden message to send out to the masses," he said.

A majority of state regulations cite incineration as the preferred way to dispose of biohazardous waste, and CTS decon companies often contract with professional medical waste disposal companies to do that. There are other acceptable ways - including autoclaving, which is industrial steam cleaning - to kill pathogens in biohazardous waste.

Solo-cleaner Eddie Evans, 62, Orange County, Calif., has been in the business for eight years, after leaving his job as a high-school English teacher. He offers information on one of his Web sites for people who want to clean a death scene themselves.

"People are going to do it anyway," he said. He offers a phone number people can call for advice to "do it right."

Other companies stress that untrained people should not attempt to clean remnants of a death because of the health risks - for instance, the Hepatitis B virus is able to live outside the body for at least a week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because most types of insurance cover the cost of cleanups, families are encouraged not to endanger their physical and psychological health.

Evans said a company picks up the biohazardous waste that cannot be flushed down the toilet, adding that he also uses other processes that he calls a "trade secret" to turn the biohazardous waste into solid waste that he's takes to solid waste plants.

"How do I know its dead?" he asked. "It has to be. I'll testify in court about it."

His favorite solid waste plant is in Las Vegas because it's open 24 hours.

Although the EPA regulates chemicals and products that can turn medical waste into solid waste, or render it non-biohazardous, spokesman Dale Kemery said the products are not readily available to individuals.

State-level health and environmental protection agencies say landfills and solid waste plants have the right to refuse any garbage.

Cathy Guess, spokeswoman for medical waste for the division of waste management in Kentucky said that landfills will not accept liquids, for example.
"If it's blood-soaked, you want to make sure that it's double bagged, at least," she said.

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