Disposal of Sharps contaminated with Radioactive Material

On occasion researchers may use sharps in procedures involving radioactive material. Sharps may include pasteur pipettes, syringes, needles, scalpels, and razor blades . It is important that these sharps be placed in a "sharps container" as with all other sharps. However, the container must be posted with the label "Caution - Radioactive Material". As with all radioactive waste, the label on the sharps container must state the radioisotope discarded in the container, the containers activity, and the date. Sharps containers are not provided through the EH&S Office, the laboratory must purchase their own sharps containers. 

Just as all other radioactive waste streams, the waste must be segregated by radioisotope. If the laboratory works with multiple radioisotopes and uses sharps with each of them, the laboratory should have multiple sharps containers to collect the different radioisotopes sharps waste. If a long-lived radioisotope (half-life > 90 days) is used, the waste will need to be disposed of as dry waste. If a short-lived radioisotope (half-life < 90 days) is used, the waste may be decayed for 10 half-lives. Decayed sharps will be handled the same way as other decayed waste. Please refer to the “Types of Radioactive Waste at Einstein” section for information on sharps and decayed waste.