Needle Disposal Survey

[farhaneh]

Dear All,

I am investigating how diabetics currently dispose of their needles. This is to help with devising a new efficient and environmentally-friendly way to dispose of needles at home. If you are an insulin-dependent diabetic (type 1 or 2), please participate in a short (3-min), anonymous survey. Your input will be much appreciated.

To take the survey please follow the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TSBKBHD

Many thanks for your contribution!

 

[Northerner]

This has been approved, please help if you can! 🙂

 

[Pumper_Sue]

With respect the survey is irrelevant in the UK as it's asking about how much we would pay for this device! In the UK are clinical waste is collected free of charge or we take to a collection point for disposal.

 

[farhaneh]

Good point Pumper_Sue! But this varies depending on where you live (some boroughs charge for collection services). Furthermore, it is also a matter of convenience as some diabetics have to travel very long to dispose of their sharps bins (not all GPs/pharmacies are happy to take them)

 

[DeusXM]

Just to reiterate, you can legally throw your needles in the bin if you clip them first with a Safeclip, which is available free on prescription or for less than a fiver if you choose to buy. No need at all for sharps collections or tubs or feeling like a drug addict. So a safe, environmentally friendly, low-hassle and cheap way already exists. I think theoretically you can even throw a full safeclip in the bin after use so you don't even need to take it to a chemist etc.

 

[farhaneh]

Just to reiterate, you can legally throw your needles in the bin if you clip them first with a Safeclip, which is available free on prescription or for less than a fiver if you choose to buy. No need at all for sharps collections or tubs or feeling like a drug addict. So a safe, environmentally friendly, low-hassle and cheap way already exists. I think theoretically you can even throw a full safeclip in the bin after use so you don't even need to take it to a chemist etc.

I don't know about that. BD Safe-Clip website it says you still have to dispose of the rest of the needle in a sharps bin:

https://diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=547337

It makes sense, since the needle is still intact and can cause an injury!

 

[trophywench]

And if you pump, some of the needles that go in the sharps bin, are actually so shrouded in hard plastic you can't clip them - but should the hard plastic get smashed - or burned away - you are still left with a sharp!

The end off the Combo reservoirs for instance - there's the needle that goes into the vial, but there is a shorter needle on the other end that goes into the reservoir - a double pointed needle. Both ends are shrouded but if I can get the end of MY little fingers down the shrouds, I'm darned sure a child could. So into the sharps bin they go but because of the plastic - they take up FAR much more room than a pen needle. But there again, it may only be 3 or 4 a month rather than several a day!

I sometimes see folk say they stick used cannulas in the sharps. WHY? - it's only 'clinical' waste - like used plasters - not sharps. (Unless they are the stainless steel needled ones of course.)

 

[Vicsetter]

The main reason for sharps bins are to enable the safe disposal of contaminated pointy objects. So primarily Needles and Lancets which have entered your body. Once clipped Needles are no more dangerous than any other pointed or sharp object that you wouldn't think twice about disposing in the general waste (every broken a wine glass or bottle? do you look for a sharps bin - no of course not).
On this subject, are the days not long gone since dustmen were liable to touch the contents of waste bins?

The BD SafeClip only works on needles and specifically states it doesn't work on lancets, so these still have to go in a Sharps bin.
I note the survey is specifically aimed at insulin users, do you not think that other diabetics (not on insulin) inject as well, I know I do.

What is the background to this 'research'?
How about Q1: Do you have a problem safely disposing of your needles and/or lancets?

 

[AlisonM]

Done, but with reservations about the usefulness/purpose of the questionnaire. What are you hoping to achieve with this? I have a clip device these days but still use a bin for the lancets which I get from, and return to the surgery with no problems. It's free, simple to do since I'm there often and I have the assurance of knowing the doings are correctly disposed of. It would have to be something pretty revolutionary to persuade me I should pay for a new system when the current one works so well.

 

[Northerner]

There's a really good service here. I get a 5L bin which takes me about 2-3 years to fill, then I call and they collect it and replace it. 🙂 Only problem was once they took me off the list as it had taken so long to fill, so I had to get my GP to register me again.

 

[Sally71]

We have a 1 litre one which takes us a good 9 months to fill usually. When it's full I request a new one on daughter's prescription (I put one in once a month usually) and then drop the full one off at the GP's surgery for disposal. Easy peasy.

 

[AlisonM]

I'm a little confused by point 1 Farfaneh, though the premise sounds interesting. It seems to me you'll have a challenge making something so thin 'not sharp'. Are you planning to melt them somehow?

 

[trophywench]

I'm not sure how one COULD destroy surgical grade stainless, doesn't incineration just render it sort of rusty, err oxidised?

 

[Vicsetter]

I'm not sure how one COULD destroy surgical grade stainless, doesn't incineration just render it sort of rusty, err oxidised?

No, it melts at the right temperature, duh!