Clinical laboratories regularly produce hazardous waste, including infectious biohazardous and hazardous chemical waste, which is regulated nationally and locally.
The CDC and DOT have jointly stated that no evidence suggests that COVID-19 specimen laboratory waste needs additional packaging or disinfection procedures. Therefore, laboratories can safely handle their waste by testing suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patient specimens and all other biohazardous waste in the laboratory.
A method for decontaminating all laboratory wastes should be available in the facility, or there should be plans for how laboratory wastes will be stored and handled if they will be transported off-site. All materials that have come in contact with potentially infectious substances should be decontaminated entirely or discarded in biohazardous waste as soon as possible to minimize further contamination. Follow routine clinical laboratory practices and procedures for decontaminating work surfaces and managing laboratory waste.
