No abstract

Every year municipal solid waste continues to grow as the US population expands. Municipal solid waste includes substances that pose a harmful risk for the environment such as medical waste or pharmaceutical agents. Health-care related waste increases annually by 15% and thus concerns for proper disposal of hazardous agents such as medical waste or pharmaceutical agents increases. It is important that these agents are disposed of properly to mitigate the chances of toxins and hazardous materials from tampering with the environment, and ultimately the US’s water supply. Additionally, medical waste can contribute to illicit drug abuse and potential overdoses. Methods such as flushing and disposing of these wastes in regular garbage are most common. However, medical waste disposal devices have been marketed to help reduce the risk of potential toxicities to the environment. These medical devices can be broken up into three categories: storage, sequestering agents, and immediate destruction devices. Sequestering agents are the most common devices within this review. The objective of this review is to highlight these different devices as well as describe what each can or cannot do.