"People are afraid when they hear the words infectious waste."

A major factor in the increase is confusion over just what constitutes infectious waste.

Containers of infectious waste were found on the floor in several areas."

Right now 31 states, including New York, have infectious waste regulations.

New York law now requires that infectious waste be segregated in red bags.

But infectious waste production is far outstripping the capacity to deal with it.

I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing others were handling my infectious wastes."

Typically, doctors' offices have taken their infectious waste to hospitals for disposal.

While most hospitals have incinerators, they cannot handle the enormous amount of infectious waste produced.

State law does not mandate that all infectious waste "be segregated in red bags and burned."

That something else, usually, is to hire a hauler equipped to handle infectious wastes.

A medical center's liability would be limited, he said, if a carter illegally dumped the infectious waste and provided a false manifest.

But the expense also prompts some state officials to consider simply burning the infectious waste in municipal incinerators.

Incineration and steam sterilization have long been the chief ways of neutralizing infectious waste.

A 1985 law requires all hospitals in New York to separate all potentially infectious waste.

Infectious waste, the most troublesome component of medical waste, has become an environmental pariah.

He has received a patent for a modified garbage truck that can grind sterilized infectious waste.

Although his department "envisions regional facilities for the disposal of infectious wastes," he conceded that finding such sites would be difficult.

Most of that comes from hospitals, which generate about four pounds of infectious waste products per bed per day, the department said.

More efficient and economical means of handling infectious waste - without neglecting the associated hazards - must be devised.

Doctors outside New York City had been permitted to dispose of infectious waste along with other garbage.

"It's another instance of someone illegally dumping infectious waste," Mr. Turso said.

New York State officials said yesterday that they would soon impose new controls on the disposal of infectious waste from medical centers.

It's that it's an unlicensed facility dealing with infectious waste, and we've already got five homes here."

No Formal Regulations Connecticut has never formally regulated the handling of infectious wastes.