Medical waste autoclaves: not just a lot of hot air.

Over the past ten years, the treatment of medical waste has received much attention. During this time, an entire new industry to develop "alternate medical waste treatment technologies" has emerged. Much of this has been in response to increasingly stringent air quality standards along with public sentiment opposed to incineration, with a resultant decline in the use of on-site medical waste incinerators. However, in between incinerators and alternative treatment systems is a technology that is as much a part of American healthcare as hospitals themselves. Medical waste regulation in all fifty states recognize steam sterilization as an acceptable method of treatment prior to disposal. Within this category of medical waste treatment technology, there is a wide array of systems available, many of which have altered the basic, simple principles of steam treatment to make it more conducive to this application. This Professional Development Series reviews some the basic and newer innovative techniques of steam treatment of medical waste.