# Where does Abortion clinic 'waste' go? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-abortion-clinic-waste-go/454606 "2008-06-28T23:12:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![scrambledeggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@scrambledeggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scrambledeggs)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-abortion-clinic-waste-go/454606/1 "2008-06-28T23:12:11Z")
Possibly starting a controversy . . . but anyways I remember someone arguing against abortion and saying “if you like abortion, stay away from the dumpster behind the clinic”. So i was thinking, where do the clinics dispose of the ‘waste’ (aborted foeti?) You would think that they must have some secret way, because otherwise the operation rescue types will find it and use it to gross people out. So where does it go? For that matter, where does all medical waste go? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-abortion-clinic-waste-go/454606/2 "2008-06-28T23:16:27Z")
They are generally either buried or incinerated. [Cite](http://www.sffaith.com/ed/articles/2001/0601mg.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-abortion-clinic-waste-go/454606/3 "2008-06-28T23:17:21Z")
McDonald’s. 😃 Just kidding. I don’t have a cite handy, but I believe it is incinerated. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-abortion-clinic-waste-go/454606/4 "2008-06-29T00:17:30Z")
In the veterinary world, animals or bits of animals, like aborted fetuses, go to be incinerated if they are small enough. Larger dead animals like horses and cattle often go for rendering, which is when various useful oils, bones, and whatnot are harvested off the carcass and used for other things. For the record, animals that go to rendering do not directly enter the human food chain. Cheers, Pullet ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-abortion-clinic-waste-go/454606/5 "2008-06-29T00:28:03Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] In the veterinary world, animals or bits of animals, like aborted fetuses, go to be incinerated if they are small enough. Larger dead animals like horses and cattle often go for rendering, which is when various useful oils, bones, and whatnot are harvested off the carcass and used for other things. For the record, animals that go to rendering do not directly enter the human food chain. Cheers, Pullet [/QUOTE] Depends… At my vet school, everything was incinerated (taken to the same storage place dumpster). At least everything that was necropsied. It is possible stuff that didn’t go through the necropsy knives went to rendering. ---
**Author:** ![This\_ll\_Do](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/this_ll_do/32/3023_2.png) [@This\_ll\_Do](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_ll_Do)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-abortion-clinic-waste-go/454606/6 "2008-06-29T16:23:08Z")
Aspirated uterine contents, called POCs (products of conception), are examined in the clinic lab. In early abortion procedures, this is to ensure that the tiny embryo is actually present. In later procedures, this ensures that the entire embryo has been removed. The POCs are then packaged in formalin and sent to an outside lab to be examined again for the same reasons. Anything else (disposable instruments, sponges, gloves, etc) that is contaminated with blood or body fluids is medical waste. It is discarded in separate red biohazard bags and picked up by a medical waste processing company. Stuff in the dumpster would be very uninteresting. Mostly things like unsoiled masks, bouffant caps, shoe covers, and lots of paper towels from handwashing. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-abortion-clinic-waste-go/454606/7 "2008-06-29T20:24:25Z")
[QUOTE=This’ll Do] …The POCs are then packaged in formalin and sent to an outside lab to be examined again for the same reasons… [/QUOTE] Does the outside lab dispose of them as medical waste once it’s done running it’s tests? ---
**Author:** ![This\_ll\_Do](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/this_ll_do/32/3023_2.png) [@This\_ll\_Do](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_ll_Do)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-does-abortion-clinic-waste-go/454606/8 "2008-06-29T21:05:56Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Does the outside lab dispose of them as medical waste once it’s done running it’s tests? [/QUOTE] Sorry, I should have included this in my original answer, since it was the main question of the OP. Yes, POCs are, along with other human tissue, classed as “organic medical waste” and are disposed of by incineration. ETA: _as far as I know_. It may not be the same everywhere.