How to do an ecologycal cleaning

[Sonia Salamuri]

Hi, I would like to question how can I make the cleaning of ultrasonics disinfectant without throwing it directly down the drain, in the sewer? It looks that, to the point I am aware, people don't really care about this type of residues, but the truth is that they are toxic to the aquatic environment. I would like to know how it is done in your country.
Thank you very much!
Salamuri

 

[Busybee]

They only worry about having separate waste/filters for amalgam here. But I'm sure there is a market for having separate hazardous domestic and clinical waste drainage systems. Chemical manufacturers must have systems in place that could be shared with other industries.

 

[MattKW]

Disinfectants are not used in ultrasonic baths; you should be using a detergent or enzyme-based product. It's purpose is to remove minute debris, not to disinfect or sterilise. Before instruments are placed in the bath, they should already have been scrubbed of most heavy debris (which goes down the sink). What product are you using?

 

[Sonia Salamuri]

Disinfectants are not used in ultrasonic baths... What product are you using?

Hello! Thank you for your reply!
You are right, it is an enzyme-based product. I'm still studying to work as a dental assistant, and I've worked for one month in a clinic to achieve practical experience. The truth is that I saw many wrong practices there, mostly because of a lack of knowledge from other assistants or wrong teaching. The term "disinfectant" was used to refer the liquid for the ultrasonic. So, I used the wrong term.
I clean the instruments before putting on the ultrasonics, but many don't do this correctly. So, I used to change the liquid every time there was a surgery or tooth extraction to avoid that debris you were referring, and cross infection. (I couldn't actually say that I was doing that, because the colleague didn't like any "suggestion" from someone with no experience...) They usually clean with water the instruments after they were removed from the ultrasonic, with no other "detergent". Is this correct? I mean, the cleaning was to see if any organic residue was still there, but shouldn't be used something else besides water?
Thank you for your help!

Salamuri

 

[Sonia Salamuri]

They only worry about having separate waste/filters for amalgam here.

Thank you for your reply.
They do the same here, along with needles, anestubes (not sure about the term in English) and surgical cutting material. There are specific places to put those things safely.

Best regards
Salamuri

 

[MattKW]

1. Scrub off heavy debris under running water in "contaminated" sink;
2. Put through ultrasonic with detergent solution to remove fine debris; change solution at least once daily.
   
3. Rinse under running tap water again to remove detergent
   
4. Dry
5. Place in autoclave bags and sterilise.

 

[Sonia Salamuri]

That's what I'm going to do for now on.
Thank you for the good advice

Salamuri