SACRAMENTO – Assemblymember Sandré R. Swanson’s (D-Oakland) AB 501, which would require pharmaceutical manufacturers of syringes and other injection devices to provide their consumers with a safe needle disposal kit, passed the Assembly Health Committee on a 9-6 vote.  The bill, sponsored by the Alameda County Sharps Coalition and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, seeks to address the unnecessary public health risk of the unsafe disposal of 400 million sharps and syringes into non-medical waste management systems that end up in California landfills each year.

"We can no longer ignore the burden that this problem has on our environment, our health, and our children.  Throwing these needles in the trash endangers and poses a significant risk of injury and infection to both children and workers at solid waste and recycling facilities,” said Swanson. 

Nationally, at least 3 billion injections occur yearly outside of the health care setting, including about 2 billion injections administered by people with diabetes and patients receiving home health care. 

Approximately 1 in 12 households have someone who must self-administer injections to treat diabetes, serious allergies, multiple sclerosis or other medical conditions.  Most of these unsafe used needles end up in household trash.  The urgent need to keep more than 3 billion used medical sharps out of the municipal waste stream each year has gained serious attention as evidenced by recent U.S. Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) regulations and the passage new state laws, making it illegal to throw sharps into the household trash. 

“Most people are unaware of the change in the State law making it illegal in 2008 to throw used needles in their regular trash cans, and they will continue to throw their sharps in the trash unless we help inform them of convenient safe disposal methods.  In addition, we must be sensitive and provide a method of disposal that will allow some patients who are physically unable to comply with any particular disposal method to be allowed to mail their sharps in for safe disposal,” stated Assemblymember Swanson. 

"Legislative and community experts agree that sharps mail-back programs, utilizing containers and packaging approved by the United States Postal Service, offer one of the most convenient means for collecting and destroying home-generated sharps.  In addition, I believe that the pharmaceutical industry will cooperate in the development of a safe needle disposal system for California.  AB 501 helps to effectively accomplish this objective,” concluded Swanson.

AB 501 is expected for a full Assembly Floor vote by the end of this month.