Baths – closets – sinks – and spittoons – Dry closets – Receptacle type
Reexamination Certificate
1998-02-23
2001-11-20
Fetsuga, Robert M. (Department: 3751)
Baths, closets, sinks, and spittoons
Dry closets
Receptacle type
Reexamination Certificate
active
06317900
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods for the removal of pharmaceutical agents from human waste that is completely segregated from all other types of waste matter. More specifically, this invention relates to a method in which a permanent or portable device is provided to be used by individuals who have been treated with pharmaceutical agents, which if released into the environment could pose an environmental hazard. The portable device is configured for two types of toilet facilities. One type can be transported and used daily by outpatients and patients recovering at home. Another type of unit is removably installed semi-portably in a hospital facility to allow isolation of a patient's waste from the sewage system and, thus, from the ecosystem. Thereafter the waste as an isolated unit is transported to a facility where the pharmaceuticals can be harvested, isolated and then either disposed of or recycled.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In response to ecological considerations, the proper treatment and disposal of waste materials have become increasingly of concern. Much interest has been directed toward solid waste management, with recent emphasis on the exclusion of toxic materials from landfills. A counterpart to solid waste management is the treatment of human wastes. Sewage treatment plants have long been used to purify sewage through the activity of aerobic or anaerobic bacteria which digest sewage. The bacteria convert the sewage into a sludge which, when filtered and dried, can be used as a fertilizer base.
While such techniques serve their purpose well, the processes involved generally do not have any effect on pharmaceutical wastes expelled into the ecosystem from the patient and those pharmaceuticals are toxic to all when present in the sewage system. No regard has been given to pharmaceutical wastes present in homes which rely on septic tank systems. Generally, and as used herein, pharmaceutical wastes are pharmaceutical agents and their metabolized byproducts which are excreted by individuals being treated with such agents. An example of the toxic oncology drugs secreted in human waste and the length of time for their excretion is illustrated in the following chart.
A Partial List of the Toxic Oncology Drugs Secreted In Human Waste And the Length of Time for Their Excretion
Bleomycin
excreted in urine 72 hrs. 50% in 1
st
day
Busulfan
excreted in urine 12-24 hrs.
Carboplatin
excreted in urine 24 to 48 hrs.
Carmustine
excreted in the urine over 96 hrs.
Chlorambucil
excreted in urine in 48 hrs.
Cistplatin
excreted in urine in 7 days
Citrate
excreted in feces and urine
Chlorambucil
excreted mostly in urine 60% in 24 hrs.
Cyclophosphamide
excreted in urine 72 hours (i.v.)
Cytarabine
excreted in the urine within 1
st
day
hydrochioride
Dacarbazine
excreted in the urine 30-46% within 6 hrs.
Dactinomycin
excreted in urine in 5 days 20% in first 24 hrs.
Daunorubicin
excreted in feces 7 days 48 hrs. in urine
Doxorubicin
excreted in feces 7 days urine 6 days
Epirubicin Hydo
excreted in urine 7 days and feces 5 days
Etoposide
excreted in urine in 4 days feces in 7 days
Fluorouracil
excreted in urine in 48 hrs.
Floxuridine
excreted in the urine
Hydrochloride
60% excreted in urine 40% in feces
Hydroxyurea
excreted in urine
Ifosfamide
excreted in urine 48 hrs.
Limustine
excreted principally in the urine
Mechlorethamine
hydrochloride
excreted in urine in 48 hrs.
Megestrol Acetate
excreted in urine 57-78%
Melphalan
excreted in urine 48 hrs.
Mercaptopurine
excreted in urine in 72 hrs.
Methotrexate
excreted in the urine 72 hrs.
Mitomycin
excreted in urine first day
Mitoxantrone
excreted in urine
Hydrochloride
Plicamycin
excreted in urine 40% in 15 hrs.
Streptozocin
excreted principally in urine
Tamoxifen
research not completed
Thiotepa
excreted in urine in 72 hrs.
Thioguanine
excreted in urine in 72 hrs.
Vincristine sulfate
excreted in urine 4 days
Vinblastine Sulfate
excreted in urine 4 days
Often, the agents and/or their metabolized byproducts are carcinogenic, particularly those pharmaceuticals used in oncological treatments and chemotherapy, and therefore pose a toxic hazard risk. Consequently, sewage treatment plants and septic systems typically generate some level of carcinogens, which are released into the environment as a byproduct of sewage treatment plants and septic systems.
The hazards of such carcinogenic wastes have been recognized, and in response hospitals employ appropriate waste disposal techniques for medical devices such as syringes, clothing, pharmaceutical containers and mixing equipment, and for unused medicinal portions, but no thought has been given to their patients who have been treated with pharmaceuticals whose human metabolic waste could pose a hazard to the environment. Moreover, patients are often released from the hospital while therapeutic drug levels are still in their bodies, or are treated on an outpatient basis. As such, any harmful pharmaceuticals within their systems may or may not be eliminated within the controlled environment of the hospital, but will generally be eliminated elsewhere for up to about three days, such that the pharmaceuticals are again released directly into a municipal sewage system or septic system.
Various approaches to isolating constituents of human waste have been proposed in the past, though none have been addressed to solving the problem outlined above. Moreover, the devices taught for isolating human waste constituents have not been adapted or suitable for use by patients on an individual basis. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,077 to Braxton teaches a portable public toilet which is equipped with a filtering device disposed in the drain conduit of a urinal bowl. The filtering device serves to collect pharmaceutically useful trace elements within urine which passes through the filtering device. While well conceived for its purpose, the large portable toilet taught by Braxton is impractical for use by individual patients over a brief period after treatment and after release from the hospital. Furthermore, the portable toilet is only directed to isolating certain trace elements from urine.
Current disposal and contamination prevention procedures do not take into account the hazards of burning toxic medical wastes that contain remnants of toxic pharmaceuticals. The burning procedure simply changes the pollution from a water borne pollutant via the sewage treatment system to an airborne pollutant via current incineration procedures. Most approved incinerators today cannot effectively or safely destroy the toxic drugs by burning.
From the above, it can be appreciated that the prior art is lacking a method for preventing the release of potentially hazardous pharmaceuticals into municipal sewage systems by patients who have undergone treatment with such pharmaceuticals. Accordingly, what is needed is a reliable and sanitary method by which human wastes can be collected, to isolate, remove and treat toxic components in a cost efficient manner, such that the pharmaceuticals can be properly disposed, recovered or recycled. Ideally, such a method would enable such pharmaceuticals to be reclaimed and recycled when possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention there is provided a method for collecting, segregating by type, and removing pharmaceutical agents introduced into the human body for medical treatment of patients from human wastes. Such pharmaceuticals may include their metabolized byproducts, either or both of which may be harmful as a toxin or a carcinogen. The method generally includes the use of a portable human waste containment unit (WCU) or permanent unit configured to adapt to a standard toilet and removably attached thereto which serves as a toilet for an individual who has been treated with a pharmaceutical agent. The permanent unit is identical to the portable unit but designed to custom fit existing toilet facilities and be equipped with a removable waste containment suction that is removed on a regular basi
Fetsuga Robert M.
Vanophem & Vanophem, P.C.
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