I have a friend in Californa who was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. She says she has to dispose of her used needles at a hazardous materials depot in another city because the pharmacies from whom she buys her new needles won't take them for disposal once they've been used. She can't (or isn't supposed to) dispose of the needles in the trash, even though they're stored in a special locked box that's supposed to be hard to break into. I wonder if any of y'all have any thoughts on needle disposal -- is this situation true all over the U.S.? I live in Germany and I have no direct experience with diabetes, so I don't know how else to find info except to ask y'all. I've read all sorts of medical info about diabetes, but there's not much about the practical side of actually living with it on the medical websites.

Thanks, rheanna

Hi Rheanna,

I live in New York. I don't know about anywhere else in the US, but I dispose of my sharps in either a sharps container or a bleach/clothes detergent container. The detergent container works well. It's a lot bigger than the sharps container I've found and cheaper!

Sharon :)

Yes, it's true... you have to use some type of bio hazard (or sharps) container. Even if you use a sharps container, there is still a possibility that the container could get crushed in the garbage hurt someone. So, it's best not to dispose of them in the garbage for any reason.

I take my full sharps container to the local fire department. They give me a new sharps container when I take the other one back. I thought most states do this (I know for a fact Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida)? I could be wrong? Just have her call her local fire department, and ask if they take full sharps containers for disposal.

Hope this helped,
Zurpster

I live in Massachusetts, and here it's up to the individual towns to set up hazardous waste collections. The town I live in stopped collecting medical waste nearly 5 years ago, so now I use a detergent container, duct tape it all around, and throw them in the regular trash. I HATE doing this...but haven't found any other solution, as my doctor's offices won't take them either.

Ruth

Thanks all for the responses. I've been reading for years about how we're creating waste products which we can't get rid of, such as huge mounds of disposable diapers in the landfills and nuclear waste which is deadly for thousands or millions of years. Of course I've been reading about diabetes with ever more frequency, as the news reports that more and more people are diagnosed with it. But now that I know someone personally who's struggling with adjusting to her new situation, I realize that this is one more waste that communities are too short-sighted to deal with.

Ah, humans!

--Rheanna

Where I live, there are no laws for private citizens' needle disposal. The Drs of course recommend putting them in a puncture proof container and taping it shut before putting in trash. When I was taking insulin at bedtime, I put the syringes and lancets in an empty soda can and taped it shut before putting in trash. Now I'm using the pen, which has a larger needle thingie, and have been putting in an opaque plastic container because they are too big for the pop can.
By the way, I visited a local casino, and there was actually a standard biohazard sharps container mounted on the wall in the ladies room - I guess because they have lots of sr citizens who may have diabetes and play there all day and eat at the buffet etc. I'd hate to think there were illegal drug users roaming around there. :eek: