AB 333, as introduced, Wieckowski. Biohazard bags.
Existing law regulates the disposal of medical waste and requires specified biohazard materials to be disposed of in biohazard bags. Existing law defines a biohazard bag as a disposable red bag that has the strength to preclude ripping, tearing, or bursting under normal conditions of usage and handling and that is constructed of material of sufficient single thickness strength to pass the 165-gram dropped dart impact resistance test, as specified, and certified by the bag manufacturer.
This bill would change the definition of a biohazard bag to a film bag certified by the manufacturer as having passed specified tests for tear resistance and impact resistance. The bill would require a biohazard bag to be red unless other colors are used to further segregate the waste stream. If additional colors are used, the bill would require the color assignments to be designated in the facility’s medical waste management plan.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 117630 of the Health and Safety Code
2 is repealed.
“Biohazard bag” means a disposable red bag that is
4impervious to moisture and has a strength sufficient to preclude
5ripping, tearing, or bursting under normal conditions of usage and
6handling of the waste-filled bag. A biohazard bag shall be
7constructed of material of sufficient single thickness strength to
8pass the 165-gram dropped dart impact resistance test as prescribed
9by Standard D 1709-85 of the American Society for Testing and
10Materials and certified by the bag manufacturer.
Section 117630 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
12to read:
“Biohazard bag” means a disposable film bag that is
14impervious to moisture. The film bags that are used for transport
15shall be marked and certified by the manufacturer as having passed
16the tests prescribed for tear resistence in the American Society for
17Testing Materials (ASTM) D1922, “Standard Test Method for
18Propagation Tear Resistance of Plastic Film and Thin Sheeting by
19Pendulum Method” and for impact resistence in ASTM D 1709,
20“Standard Test Methods for Impact Resistance of Plastic Film by
21the Free-Falling Dart Method,” as those documents are published
22on January 1, 2014. The film bag shall meet an impact resistence
23of 165 grams and a tearing resistence of 480 grams in both parallel
24and perpendicular planes with respect to the length of the bag. The
25color of the bag shall be red, except when other colors
are used to
26further segregate the waste stream, including for trace
27chemotherapy wastes, laboratory wastes, and other subsets of the
28waste stream. If additional colors are used other than the standard
29red bag, the color assignments shall be designated in the facility’s
30medical waste management plan.
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