For the disposal of hospital refuse, the bag made with cadmium is not used because incineration of the bag causes poisonous toxic fumes evolution. The colour of the bag is –
Most medical waste is incinerated, a practice that is short-lived because of environmental considerations.
The burning of solid and regulated medical waste generated by health care creates many problems.
Medical waste incinerators emit toxic air pollutants and toxic ash residues that are the major source of dioxins in the environment.
The toxic ash residues sent to landfills for disposal have the potential to leach into groundwater.
Medical waste has been identified by US Environmental Agency as the third largest known source of dioxin air emission and contributor of about 10% of mercury emissions to the environment from human activities.
The air emissions affect the local environment and may affect communities hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Dioxin is one of the most toxic chemicals known to humankind.
Dioxins have been linked to cancer, immune system disorders, diabetes, birth defects and disrupted sexual develop­ment. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of WHO, acknowledged dioxins cancer causing potential and classified it as human carcinogen.
To avoid dioxin production, no chlorinated plastic bags (and preferably no other chlorinated corn pounds) should be introduced into the incinerator.


Red bags must not be incinerated as red colour contains cadmium, which causes toxic emissions.

If mercury-containing items are put into a red bag for infectious waste and sent to an incinerator or other waste treatment technology, mercury will contaminate the environment.
Airborne mercury then enters a global distribution cycle in the environment, contaminating fish and wildlife. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can cross the blood- brain barrier as well as the placenta.
Public concerns about incinerator emissions, as well as the creation of federal regulations for medical waste incinerators, are causing many health care facilities to rethink their choices in medical waste treatment. As stated by Health Care without Harm, an international coalition of 470 organizations in 52 countries, non-incineration treatment technologies are a growing and developing field.
Some technologies are still essentially prototypes, while others, such as autoclave technology, have been used for decades.
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