Processes for treatment and disposal of animal biosafety level 1 (ABSL-1) animal carcasses have been updated with input from the UW Infectious Waste Committee and the UW Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC). These updates were made to align with current regulatory requirements and best practices.
Updated ABSL-1 waste treatment and disposal procedures
ABSL-1 animal waste will now be packaged and sent for off-site incineration.
- Trained DCM personnel will package and offer the waste for shipment.
- Collection of ABSL-1 waste will continue at centralized locations within DCM vivaria.
For questions or approval to bring ABSL-1 waste to a vivarium, contact the appropriate DCM Facility Supervisor (UW NetID log-in required).
The procedural changes will mainly impact the Department of Comparative Medicine (DCM), which handles the treatment and disposal of animal waste. DCM internal procedures for handling animal waste will be updated, and training will be provided by DCM.
Updated animal waste definitions
Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) will update the animal waste definitions in the UW Biohazardous Waste Management Plan to include two categories of animal waste based on the biosafety level. The updated waste plan will be posted on the EH&S website later this year when other annual updates are made.
Animal waste consists of two categories:
- ABSL-1 animal waste includes animal carcasses from standard vivarium rooms and may include wildtype animal carcasses, transgenic animal carcasses, and animals exposed to biohazards requiring ABSL-1 containment. ABSL-1 waste is considered to be non-infectious to healthy humans.
- Biohazardous animal waste includes waste from ABSL-2 and higher containment where animals may have been exposed to pathogenic microorganisms that are infectious to humans. This includes carcasses, bedding, and other items that came into contact with infected animals.
Updated waste flowcharts, templates and training
The following EH&S resources were updated with the ABSL-1 waste changes.
Animal Research Waste Flow Chart updates include:
- ABSL-1 animal carcasses will be packaged and shipped for off-site incineration.
- For ABSL-1 cages and bedding, cages can be secured with plastic wrap rather than bags for transport to the vivarium washroom.
- Procedures for disposal of formalin-fixed animal carcasses are provided with a link to guidance on formalin neutralization on the EH&S Chemical Treatment and Recycling webpage.
- Guidance for non-research animals was added in the first footnote. For teaching lab dissection animals and museum specimens, disposal via municipal waste may be acceptable. To confirm disposal options for non-research animals, contact EH&S Biosafety and UW Recycling.
- Instructions about transport to a DCM vivarium were removed from containment and treatment. The disposal instructions direct the waste to centralized DCM collection points.
Site-Specific Procedures for Shipping Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) template updates include:
- The term “animal waste” is generally used instead of “animal carcasses” unless specifically referring to an animal carcass.
- Inner packaging instructions are now specified for both ABSL-1 and biohazardous animal waste.
Shipping Regulated Medical Waste Online training updates include:
- The term “animal waste” is generally used instead of “animal carcasses” unless specifically referring to an animal carcass.
Questions?
For questions or approval to bring ABSL-1 waste to a vivarium, contact the appropriate DCM Facility Supervisor (UW NetID log-in required).
For questions related to any biohazardous waste, contact EH&S Biosafety at ehsbio@uw.eduor
For guidance on disposal of non-research animal waste, contact EH&S Biosafety at ehsbio@uw.eduor