Decision means hospitals will have
less onerous handling requirements

Minnesota officials recently clarified online that epinephrine salts, which hospitals use widely, are not considered acute hazardous waste and therefore do not need to be handled as such.

The regulatory consensus document from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the metropolitan county Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board (SWMCB) is available at www.pca.state.mn.us/publications/w-hw4-45b.pdf. The agencies enforce hazardous-waste regulations in Minnesota.

Posted in November, the document says that facilities must determine what form of epinephrine is contained in their pharmaceutical epinephrine solutions. That's because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that "epinephrine salts, which comprise the majority of pharmaceutical forms of epinephrine, were not intended to be included in the PO42 acute hazardous-waste listing." The MPCA and Metro Counties have adopted that same interpretation.

Therefore, only waste that contains "epinephrine base, Chemical Abstract Service Registry number 51-43-4," as its sole active ingredient will be considered a PO42 hazardous waste, according to the document.

All forms of waste epinephrine are still subject to evaluation for all characteristics, including lethality, MPCA and SWMCB said in the notice.

Epinephrine salts are widely used by hospitals in local anesthetics, treatment of severe allergic reactions and certain surgeries. Wastes containing epinephrine salt solutions include vials, bottles, bags, tubing and syringes, all of which can be generated in large amounts.

Hospitals that were previously considered "large quantity generators" of epinephrine salts now might be considered "small quantity generators," according to FacilitiesNet, a Web site aimed at managers of large facilities such as hospitals.

For more information contact Tanya Maurice, senior pollution control specialist, at (651) 297-1793 or e-mail her.