Used Test Strips - Page 2

Harold · #16 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 10:17 AM

Throw mine in the trash if available, and in the case when not. Then it goes in the trash when I get home. Asked one time about it being a biohazard, and was told once the blood dries out the virus I have (Hep C) dies and it is no longer a hazard.

One fellow diabetic I worked with, and I watched him, would just lay his strips down after testing. This was on a break table that people used to eat lunch. Now that was disgusting! At first I noticed several strips laying on the floor around the table and on the table. Since we had several people with diabetes I paid attention until I caught the culprit. Then I jumped all over him. Said he did not realize it, but he at least stopped doing it for as long as I was there.

Chris Graham · #17 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 10:23 AM

I have been wondering if they are flushable??? Probably not, huh?

princesslinda · #18 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Graham

I have been wondering if they are flushable??? Probably not, huh?

Yes, they are flushable....I usually wrap them in toilet paper and away they go!

Glucoweb · #19 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 10:33 AM

I just noticed that even though I started the thread; I did not say what I do. I have an old strip container, labeled "USED" and put the strips in there. Every so often at work I take it and put it in one of the "Sharps" containers we have at work. This is the only place I have worked where there are Sharp container in every single restroom in all the buildings. Make it pretty convenient. I think it would be nice if all restroom facilities had this convenience.

Harold · #20 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Graham

I have been wondering if they are flushable??? Probably not, huh?

Quote:

Originally Posted by princesslinda

Yes, they are flushable....I usually wrap them in toilet paper and away they go!

Unfortunately they do not break down in the sewage treatment plant. What this means is that someone has to dispose of them after screening the sewage. Better to just put them in the trash for the landfill or incinerator.
.

princesslinda · #21 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 10:36 AM

It would be GREAT to have sharps containers in public restrooms...i've only seen this a couple of times while traveling....nowhere around where I live.

princesslinda · #22 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harold

Unfortunately they do not break down in the sewage treatment plant. What this means is that someone has to dispose of them after screening the sewage. Better to just put them in the trash for the landfill or incinerator.
.

Good to know....guess i'll have to come up with "plan B."

patricia52 · #23 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 10:51 AM

I don't even think the hospitals around here have a sharps box in their restrooms. They do have them in the patients rooms.

Might not be a good idea to have sharps containers in public restrooms since drug users might try to get used needles. I have heard that some of them share needles. If they did have a sharps container, it should be fixed so no one can take it or get to the needles. I guess I will just have to deal with the inconvenience.

UpNorth · #24 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 11:18 AM

I put my used strips in the meter case if i'm not at home, if at home, they go into my sharps bin

parrotletzoo · #25 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 01:05 PM

Like Savoir-Faire, they're everywhere.

notme · #26 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 01:13 PM

I keep mine in an empty strips container. I occassionally just put them in the zipper container in my meter pouch and toss them when I get home. I am good with them because I find my darn dog chewing on them if I don't take care.

Anyone seen the top of my thumbdrive? Hmmmm guess I will go scoop and see if it shows up.

solox316 · #27 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 07:25 PM

Mine go in 1 of 3 places...

Trash can...
Meter case... then to trash can
Night stand, or somewhere in the vicinity, until my wife yells at me... then to trash can.

The American Camping Association and the ADA do not consider them sharps. They are disposed of in trash cans at my diabetes camp... Only lancets and needles...

Scrabblechick · #28 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 07:59 PM

If I'm at home, I put them and my used lancets in an empty plastic water bottle that serves as "sharps and strips." If I'm out, I leave the lancet in the pen and wrap up the strip in a piece of toilet paper or paper towel and put it in the trash can.

RobiJo · #29 (**permalink**) 03-31-2008, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scratch

You can throw them away?

Oh.

Hhahahah. I love it.

Mine collect in the meter case until they finally spill all over when I open it. I don't throw them on the floor or anywhere else though... at least in my meter case they are all in one spot and easy to dump when it gets full.

Now back 10-15 years when I used the One Touch Basic and needed like 300% more blood for the test---now that created a nasty mess in the meter case and left blood all over my meter. Still didn't throw them right in the trash though.

TexChem · #30 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 07:57 PM

I'm new to all this and so far haven't had the need to test anywhere other than in my own home. But here, I do use alcohol to swab the test site and I use the same swab to apply gentle pressure to encourage coagulation at the site after testing. I then remove the strip, wrapping the sampling end in the alcohol swab. I toss this into the bathroom trash can for the maids to empty on Fridays. After exposure to the alcohol any blood on the outside of the strip is wiped off. And the blood on the cotton swab is brown in color. I guess being brown in color doesn't prove anything but it suggests to me that the alcohol is interacting with blood.

The lancets have a cover that snaps tight, so they go in the same bathroom-trash-can. If I were testing in a public restroom, I suppose I'd rinse off the strip, wrap it in toilet tissue and place it in the trash.