Proper Handling Procedures for Sharps
What are sharps?
Sharps include but are not limited to:
- discarded unused or used sharps utilized in animal or human patient care or employed in research laboratories including hypodermic, intravenous, or other medical needles, hypodermic syringes with attached needles, Pasteur pipettes, scalpel blades, or blood vials
- plastic micropipette tips, broken or unbroken glass including slides and cover slips that have been in contact with infectious agents
- glass or rigid plastic culture tubes, flasks, beakers, etc. that have come in contact with infectious agents
When only the barrel of the syringe has been used without contacting infectious agents (e.g., with infusion pumps, buffers, columns), it can be disposed of as solid waste. Other materials that have not come in contact with infectious agents such as broken glass, glass pipettes, plastics, etc., can be collected in a rigid container (i.e., other than a red biohazard container), taped up and disposed of carefully as solid waste.
Dangers of using sharps
The ability of sharps materials to generate puncture wounds or lacerations, which then create a portal of entry for infectious agents, is a very real hazard. Therefore, all laboratories should minimize the handling of syringes and needles and restrict their use to procedures for which there are no other alternatives. Needle locking syringes or disposable syringe-needle units in which the needle is an integral part of the syringe should be used for injection or aspiration of infectious materials. Additionally, aerosol droplets containing biohazardous agents or materials can be produced when withdrawing a needle from a vial sealed under pressure, when forcing material though a needle, or when cutting a needle. When working with potentially infectious or other biohazardous agents you should wear gloves and a lab coat and work in a biosafety cabinet whenever possible (remembering, however, that gloves will not protect against needlesticks, so exercise extreme caution). The syringe should be carefully filled so as to avoid or minimize the production of air bubbles, and all air, liquid, and bubbles should be expelled into a towel or cotton pad moistened with disinfectant.
Sharps containers
Sharps containers are generally red, or labeled with the universal biohazard symbol or the word "BIOHAZARD", rigid, leakproof, and puncture-proof with a lid. They should be readily available in all areas where syringe and needle waste may be generated. Sharps containers are available from the Cornell Distribution Center (CDC sales) in a variety of sizes, or from various scientific supply companies (e.g., Fisher, VWR). Other types of containers such as old coffee cans or empty media bottles are not acceptable.
Disposal of sharps
Contaminated needles shall not be recapped, bent, sheared or removed from the syringe following their use. The total unit should be placed in 
a sharps container and disposed of as regulated medical waste. Thus, the use of needle clippers should be discontinued, and the needle boxes should be disposed of appropriately. However, if recapping and/or needle removal is necessary because of a specific procedure or lack of a readily available sharps container, the cap should be replaced with one of the following methods: a one-handed scoop method whereby the syringe barrel is held in one hand and used to "scoop" the cap, lying horizontally on a surface, onto the needle; or through the use of a mechanical device such as forceps or a clamp.
When sharps containers are approximately 3/4 full, they should be disposed of through the Veterinary School RMW Management system. Sharps containers are accumulated in room S2-041A of Schurman Hall, and then packaged and shipped offsite, by a licensed hauler, for subsequent treatment and disposal. do not dispose of these containers in the regular solid waste stream.
Accidents involving sharps
Broken glassware, Pasteur pipettes, etc. contaminated with infectious agents should not be handled directly with bare or gloved hands, but with tongs and/or a dustpan and broom. This glassware should be discarded into a sharps container. The area contaminated with biohazardous material should be covered with paper towels and soaked with a 1:10 dilution of bleach (or other appropriate disinfectant) starting from the periphery and working towards the center, allowing for a contact time of at least 10 min. Place this refuse into a red biohazard bag and dispose of as regulated medical waste. The tongs, dustpan, or broom can be decontaminated and reused or discarded. Whenever possible substitute plasticware for glassware in the laboratory.
Last Updated : 12.12.00