There are more than 6 million people in the U.S. infected with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, syphilis, or other contagious diseases, which can be contracted from a stick with a used hypodermic needle.
Over 3 billion needles are thrown into the trash each year by home users treating illnesses such as diabetes. Even if first placed into a secured container, these containers break open when the trash truck compacts them. Workers are stuck with the needles and must go through months of testing for HIV and hepatitis because they do not know where the needles came from or what diseases they may carry. For this reason, non–business generators of sharps should follow their state requirements or the guidelines established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which state that no sharps should be thrown into the trash, even if they are placed in a plastic or metal container first. Mailback sharps disposal is one of the EPA alternatives included on their website. In addition, states such as California, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and others have either passed laws or established in their regulations that disposal of sharps by home users is prohibited, regardless whether the needles are loose or in containers.