Colorado Code § 25-15-402

Infectious waste - definitions
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(1) For the purposes of this part 4 and
statewide applicability:
(a) "Infectious waste" means waste capable of producing an infectious disease and
requires the consideration of certain factors necessary for induction of disease. These factors
include:
(I) Presence of a pathogen of sufficient virulence;
(II) Dose;
(III) Portal of entry;
(IV) Resistance of host.
(b) For a waste to be infectious, it must contain pathogens with sufficient virulence and
quantity so that exposure to the waste by a susceptible host could result in disease. All the
factors specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) must be present simultaneously for
disease transmission to occur and must be present in a manner which constitutes a substantial
risk of infection to humans.
(2) (a) Infectious waste shall be designated as such by the generator in accordance with
this part 4. Such designation shall not be based solely upon any source or type of waste but shall
be based upon the factors specified in subsection (1) of this section.
(b) It is recommended by the general assembly that the following categories of waste, as
published in the "EPA Guide for Infectious Waste Management", May 1986, by the United
States environmental protection agency, be designated as infectious:
(I) Isolation wastes from persons diagnosed as having a disease caused by an organism
requiring, pursuant to recommendations by the centers for disease control in the 1988
publication "Biosafety in the Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratory" (second edition),
biosafety level IV containment;
(II) Cultures and stocks of infectious agents and associated biologicals;
(III) Human blood and blood products and body fluids consisting of serum, plasma and
other blood components, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, peritoneal fluid,
pericardial fluid, and amniotic fluid;
(IV) Human pathological/anatomical waste consisting of tissues and body parts that are
discarded from surgical, obstetrical, autopsy, and laboratory procedures;
(V) Contaminated sharps;
(VI) Contaminated laboratory or research animal carcasses, body parts, and bedding.

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