Effective September 25, 2007, we revised the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) section 601.10.17.5 for mailing medical waste so that medical professionals, as well as individuals, can use a larger container to mail medical waste to disposal sites. The new standards allow a maximum mailpiece weight limit of 35 pounds for packages approved as “Medical Professional Packaging.”
The rule allows a variety of sharps receptacles, currently used in doctors’ offices, to be contained in one mail-back parcel. Small medical facilities will be able to package whichever brand of sharps containers they use in one mailpiece to be picked-up by their Postal Service™ carrier or taken to the Post Office™ to be shipped through the mail for disposal.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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600 Basic Standards for All Mailing Services
601 Mailability
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10.0 Hazardous Materials
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10.17 Infectious Substances (Hazard Class 6, Division 6.2)
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10.17.5 Sharps Waste and Other Mailable Regulated Medical Waste
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[Add a new second sentence to item b.5 as follows]
***Medical Professional Packages, as identified in 10.17.5c, may not weigh more than 35 pounds.***
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[Reletter current items c through f as new items d through g. Add a new item c as follows:]
c. Medical Professional Packages. Medical Professional Packages, while intended for use by small medical offices, is not limited to use by medical offices only. One primary receptacle larger than 5 gallons in volume may be used for mailing pre-primary sharps receptacles (sharps receptacles normally used in doctors’ offices) and other regulated medical waste under the following conditions:
1. The mailpiece must meet all the requirements in 601.10.17.5 except for the primary receptacle capacity limits of 10.17.5b1.
2. Only rigid, securely closed, puncture and leak-resistant pre-primary sharps receptacles that meet or exceed Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards as identified in 29 CFR 1910.1030 may be placed inside the primary receptacle. Each pre-primary sharps container may contain no more than 50 ml (1.66 ounces) of residual waste liquid. Several pre-primary sharps receptacles may be enclosed in the single primary receptacle.
3. Multiple tie-closed plastic bags of regulated medical waste may be placed inside the single primary receptacle.
4. The primary receptacle must be lined with a plastic bag at least 4 mil in thickness and must include sufficient absorbent material within the liner to absorb all residual liquid in the primary receptacle.
5. The mailpiece must not weigh more than 35 pounds.
d. Mailpiece Labeling, Marking, and Documentation.***
[Renumber current items 1 through 7 as new items 2 through 8. Add new item 1 as follows:]
1. For Medical Professional Packages, the additional marking “Medical Professional Packaging” must be clearly printed in lettering at least 2 inches high on the address side of the outer shipping container.
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[Add two new sentences to the introductory text at the beginning of relettered item f as follows:]
f. Testing Criteria. Packages tested for approval as Medical Professional Packages may not be tested using pre-primary containers that are currently, or have previously been, approved as USPS primary containers. Test reports must identify by brand name the pre-primary containers used during testing. ***
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the DMM and into the monthly update of the online DMM available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Mailing Standards,
Pricing and Classification, 10-11-07
