For the third time in just over a month, a healthy human placenta has been found by workers at the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District. Urbana Police contacted the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD), and the Champaign County Coroner's Office for assistance with this unusual situation. According to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Rules and Regulations, human placentas are considered potentially infectious medical waste, and should not be disposed of in the municipal sewage system.
"I can say with absolute certainty that the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has never received a call of this nature," said Julie A. Pryde, Public Health Administrator at CUPHD. "CUPHD has been asked by local authorities to assist with disseminating information to the community to ensure that this situation does not occur again."
Persons assisting with home births, human or animal, should not dispose of placentas through the municipal sewage system-through flushing down the toilet or depositing them in a storm sewer. Placentas should be treated as any other solid, potentially infectious medical waste, and disposed of properly. Hospitals, clinics, and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District have contracts with licensed medical waste disposal companies.
[vie io9]
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