Re: I131 Hospital Waste

[Ccja@aol.com]

Yes, perhaps I should have been more specific. I assumed that it was
understood, following the original question, that we were talking about
patient excreta to the sanitary sewer system, not the storm drain system.
Anyway, it's difficult to envision why, or how, a hospital would try to dump
patient excreta in the latter. Furthermore, to my knowledge, the discharge of
any hazardous, or radioactive, waste to the storm drains is, everywhere,
illegal, unless (I suppose) one has a permit from the appropriate regulatory
agency.

The term "patient excreta", in this context, is usually taken to mean urine,
feces, or sputum, in their raw form, or attached to a medium that is, or will
become, readily dispersible in water, e.g., toilet paper. A diaper
constitutes solid waste (unless there is a new technology, of which I'm not
aware), and, technically, should be decayed prior to disposal. Without that
new technology, one should not put a diaper down the toilet, either.

chris alston
ccja@aol.com