Canadians are seeing an unprecedented rise in COVID-19 cases logged across the country. Along with it has come a sharp increase in demand for rapid antigen tests (RATs), devices that offer on-the-spot results letting users know whether they have COVID-19 in 20 minutes or less.
Aside from questions about where to access these tests and , it鈥檚 also important to consider how to dispose of rapid test kits after they鈥檝e been used.
Under the best circumstances, used tests would be disposed of as biohazardous waste at an authorized disposal site, said Miriam Diamond, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Toronto. This is because they contain biological material collected from the nose.
But the reality is that most people will likely just toss them in their household garbage, she said.
鈥淭hey will de facto be going into the garbage because it's highly unlikely that people will have segregated garbage [for biohazardous waste],鈥 Diamond told CTVNews.ca on Wednesday in a phone interview.
She also pointed out the possibility that certain chemicals included in these tests could be hazardous. The Abbott Laboratories is one of several testing devices . One of the active ingredients in the buffer solution is , which is especially hazardous if disposed down the sink, Diamond said. Despite this, it鈥檚 likely that only a small amount would be used and that any risk associated with using the test would be minimal.
鈥淢y bet is the risk is low because people will not come into direct contact with [the chemicals] because they're contained in small quantities in these pre-packaged test kits,鈥 she said.
WEIGHING THE RISKS
The for business owners when it comes to disposing of rapid COVID-19 test kits state that kits should be discarded at an authorized hazardous waste disposal site. There are for the disposal of biomedical waste listed on the province鈥檚 website. But these types of regulatory guidelines don鈥檛 necessarily apply to waste generated from rapid antigen tests performed at home, said Brad Sheeller, director of safety and business operations for the faculty of science at York University in Toronto.
When determining whether an item should be considered biomedical waste that requires disposal at a specific site, or basic health-care waste that can be disposed of at home, part of this depends on the context, Sheeller said. Changing the gauze on a wound at home, while considered home health-care waste and safe to dispose of in the garbage, would be considered biomedical waste in a hospital setting, he said. The concept would apply similarly to rapid antigen tests performed at a testing centre versus at home, he said.
鈥淚t goes back to the difficulty in managing biomedical waste in general at home, and why it's usually considered home health-care waste,鈥 Sheeller said. 鈥淭he possibility of trying to manage that or expecting people to do that is so difficult.鈥
The difficulty that comes with managing household waste and imposing additional regulations to what can and can鈥檛 be disposed of at home needs to be weighed against the potential risk of throwing these tests out as part of household trash, both experts said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a cost-benefit analysis, because we need these tests,鈥 Diamond said.
Ultimately, according to Sheeller, the potential risk that comes from disposing of a used rapid test at home is low.
鈥淲ith the at-home antigen rapid test, the amount of biological material collected would be less than what is left on a tissue when you blow your nose, for example,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o the added risk from the test kits used in the home is very minimal.鈥
He does, however, recommend consulting with municipal bylaws for guidance on disposal to confirm whether tests can be thrown out along with household trash.
Different Canadian cities such as and suggest it鈥檚 OK to dispose of COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits along with household garbage. This includes the buffer bottle, extraction tube, swabs, swab packaging, testing device and any additional plastic components. Some cities such as , for example, recommend that any waste be double bagged before placed in a garbage container.
鈥淓ven though it might be acceptable to dispose of them through regular household trash, it's always good to have people take a look at their local municipalities and see how it's expected within that municipality to dispose of them because there may be different rules,鈥 Sheeller said.
