According to Xinhua News Agency (Reporter Hou Dawei Hao Yunfu), medical waste is extremely dangerous because it may contain harmful substances such as infectious bacteria, viruses, chemical pollutants and radioactive pollutants. In foreign countries, medical waste is regarded as the "number one danger" and "fatal killer". In China, it has long been listed as the number one hazardous waste. It is expressly stipulated in our country that medical waste must be incinerated to ensure sterilization and avoid environmental pollution.
Public health experts from Sichuan Provincial Health Department told reporters that the great harm of medical waste lies in that the germs it contains are dozens or even thousands of times that of ordinary domestic waste. In addition, the harm of medical waste is that it may become a potential health "killer" due to improper treatment methods. Experts say that if medical waste is mixed with domestic waste, it will produce black malodorous gas, which contains a carcinogen. If buried at will, it will take hundreds of years to degrade, which will seriously harm the ecological environment.
For the treatment of these medical wastes, although China's health department has strict treatment regulations, there are still a large number of medical wastes that have not been disinfected or deeply treated, but are directly lost to the society. For example, xiazhai village, Dongyang City, Zhejiang Province illegally purchased, processed and sold discarded disposable syringes, infusion sets and other medical supplies for 10 years, and was not investigated until it was exposed by the news media in July 2000.