"Antivirus" Lid Turns Soda Cans into Needle Containers
Business Week has a sizable profile of the "Antivirus" device and its creator, Hân Pham. Pham suffered a bacterial infection from a dirty needle when she was a child, which eventually inspired her to develop a safer method for needle disposal in developing nations. She won an Index award for the design.After 10 months of work, the result is a device that cannot be opened once it has been attached, thanks to a locking mechanism that suctions the cap firmly onto the can. There's room for 150 to 400 needles, depending on the depth of the container. In production runs of 200,000, each Antivirus cap costs just 83¢.The cap's yellow color is a nearly universal indicator of biohazardous waste, and the thick, large overhang on its edges protects users' hands from being stuck by the needles being discarded, as well as preventing liquid splashback. Made in collaboration with SP-Moulding, a plastics molding company in Juelsminde, Denmark, the cap is designed to be disposed of with the can, eliminating another danger to handlers. And even small children's fingers cannot pass through the opening meant for needle tips.
Life-Saving Design [BusinessWeek.com via Core77]
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That's cool and all, but aluminum cans don't really have the most structural integrity. You'd still have to be super careful when disposing the can.
"The cap's yellow color is a nearly universal indicator of biohazardous waste..."
Well, yeah, except that it's red, not yellow that's the color of biohazard waste packaging.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharps_waste
But uh, gee, who's counting? It's kind of close.
This is perfectly ironic: even the can itself is already labelled for biohazardous waste.
Ths s prtty rtrdd. Wh s gng t spnd cnt n n f ths "n dvlpng cntry"? Wh s gng t gv crp f smn gts stck wth sd ndl "n dvlpng cntry"? Strt stffng ngh ndls n tht gy nd s hw mny pk thrgh th thn lmnm wlls f th cn. Thn whn n f th tw ppl wh ctlly s th thng pcks p ths dssd prcpn thy wll rlly hv sm sss.
Remarkably bad idea. People root through trash for cans. They will rip the top right off the thing. Reminds me of the "Young Ones" episode where a potion that turned anyone who drank it into an axe wielding homicidal maniac was kept in a coke can "so no one would drink it".
Just use a plastic soda bottle. They're tough enough to withstand needles, and they require no special equipment.
Every place I've worked, RED is the color for biohazards. Maybe this is a Denmark (Euro?) thing?
BTW, WTF is up with BB registered people not "having permission" to post on BBG? I had to sign out to post anonymously.
-- ChurchHatesTucker
How is yellow "a nearly universal indicator of biohazardous waste"? I work with/research human viruses and I've never seen yellow used for biohazard, it is always red. Also seems a terrible misnomer to call it "antiviral".
I'd be more worried that a less perceptive person would think it was just a cover for a half-full soda.
Much hilarity will ensue when it is mistaken for an actual beverage container.
That is awesome. Sticking sharp stainless steel needles in an aluminum can that can be punctured by almost anything, even, I'll venture, sharp stainless steel needles!
I hope the "inventor" ends up with the job of disposing of the full cans.
Problems are definitely:
-color
-lack of biohazard symbol
-aluminum cans might be better than nothing or cardboard (although probably about the same as cardboard) but are not really puncture proof at all
-you are filling a brightly colored soda can with infectious waste that also happens to be sharp
-the cap locks on by suction? really? permanently? it wont come off on the way to the landfill where the folks collecting cans for scrap aluminum crush it with their hands only to end up with a palm full of infectious sharps?
Remember that soda bottles and cans are made to be as thin as possible while still holding soda and not breaking. Real sharps containers are designed to never be punctured by sharps.
I am in FULL agreement with the lame design of cardboard sharps containers. But instead of deploying these soda can time bombs into the field I think we should seriously consider getting funding for real, sturdy, sharps containers and educating those who may come into contact with them in a landfill what to look for and avoid (i.e. big red or blaze orange biohazard symbols). There is an answer but it isn't by stuffing food and drink containers full of infectious sharps.
I think it's fantastic...
doctor's offices and such can dump the cans in the alley, and addicts can collect the cans for money, and hopefully a needle to shoot up with...
yes. red-orange, not yellow.
Seriously, their are better containers for this (at least in the more civilized world, probably not the 3rd world).
As I diabetic, I had several hospitals recommend that I could always dispose of my sharps in a laundry detergent bottle. And to be honest, it's worked very well.
I put the sharps in until bottle is full, and then duct tape the hell out of the screw on lid. Never had a problem, and little to no chance of anyone getting stuck as the detergent bottle is VERY sturdy plastic.
The basic idea is good, but as has been pointed out, aluminum isn't exactly that strong. Needles easily pierce it. A similar top to fit on glass bottles would work much better.
I live in a neighborhood infested with junkies (SF's Tenderloin). I also see can gatherers (many of them elderly Chinese and Vietnamese people), who routinely stomp on cans to compact them before putting them into their bag/basket. You can see exactly where this is going: infected needles being driven right into people's feet.
This is one of the most idiotic and problematic "inventions" I've ever seen.
This just seems like a terrible idea, and I think most of the people commenting have already pointed out why. I'm just wondering, if you're going to manufacture the lid, why not just make the rest of the container along with it? That would cost what, 2 more cents?
When I saw the picture and read antivirus lid I thought, oh wow, what a great idea... something I can put on my coke can when I set it down so no one will drink it and give me their germs! Then I read on... good lord.
flat coca cola,heroin dregs and infected blood!!yum yum.By the way sharps containers in the UK are always yellow.
Being a graphic artist for more than 20 years, I can attest that this used to be a good idea. We would fill used soda cans with worn x-acto blades, then mummify the can in duct tape and throw it out when it was full. But sometime in the late 90s this became impractical because the can skin became so thin that even the dull x-acto blades would poke through.
Now, if we go back to the 70s-style straight-side steel cans with the welded seam, this might be practical. But I don't think beer can collectors are going to give them up just for sharps disposal.
Fair points all, but I think if you read the article you'll see two things that might some difference to Antivirus' usefulness: first, this is for developing countries, not 1st world, and the current UN alternative for sharps is a cardboard box; secondly, the big flap of plastic is meant to stay on the can forever, not be removed.
Still, I think the idea to just make the whole damn thing plastic is probably best. I was seduced by clever design!
Your average consumer sharps container, which is made out of much sturdier plastic, can hold probably a year's worth of just needles, and definitely looks like biohazardous waste and retails for $2 and probably costs less than $1 to make, seems like a much better option than this.
In my institution, food containers of any type are not allowed in the lab. For fieldwork, there are many times when empty food containers, especially soda bottles, are great for storing half a liter to a couple liters of chemicals. But the risk of the contents being mistaken for food or drink is so high that it is absolutely prohibited. The risk is high enough that we have institutional and legal penalties that remove any temptation to go this route.
I think that any hazard disposal has to be completely disassociated with a food label. This product seems likely to create more hazard than it prevents, even in the third-world setting.
If you are going to go to the trouble of distributing a sharps disposal product, why not make the trivially greater effort to distribute the real thing as RIGO suggests above?
Ths pst n BB trly lds m t blv tht VRYTHNG thy ffr n thr pgs s rnc.
Jst lk Cry's ywr.
I was pretty excited when I first read the headline. A way to share my soda without passing germs? Sign me up! Then I actually read the story. Just... no. Horrible idea. Very horrible.
Bngbng tght s hw t py 2,000% prmm fr mdfd crdbrd bx r mdfd clck mvmnt.
ntr nw th nfthmd rlm f th pln dngrs.
Wht's wrng wth fll bhzrd cntnrs?
- mn, mgn tht yllw thng mldd wth nc, clsd, bttmy yllw plstc shp t th bttm.
Dd mss th tm whn Bngbng nnncd yllw plstc bttms g fr $4,000 r wht?
Well first off this is a European design which won a European design award. Sharps containers and biohazard waste bags in almost all EU countries are yellow.
True, cans are very thin and won't stop needles puncturing the thin wall. Also there is no internal flap so there is nothing to stop the inserted needle from turning round with movement and poking out through the hole.
Also the product is designed for Leur lock needles not the orange diabetic needles/syringe most widely used in needle exchanges in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.
Better than nothing at all and cheaper than a sharps bin but not much else going for it, unfortunately.
These should be available at needle exchanges and in pharmacies, as readily available and as cheaply as possible.
Though yea, now that you mention it, it should be made for something that is not a semi-precious metal.
As someone touched upon, in developing countries steel cans are still widely used. This may have been designed with 3rd world steel cans in mind, not the aluminum can pictured. Also, the red/orange and biohazard symbols are not truly universal.
To those who question the usefulness in America, keep in mind this was meant for clinics in third world countries, not those in the US, where real plastic containers can be had cheaply. This will pack and ship much smaller than plastic containers, and save money for the aid organizations that would pay for them. It's not a perfect idea, but it's certainly not terrible.
gr wth ths pstr
> Ths pst n BB trly lds m t blv tht
> VRYTHNG thy ffr n thr pgs s rnc.
snc bng bng gdgts s nw, cn smbdy tll m f t spps t hv bnch f wrd slss nd vn dngrs "gdgts" n t t b rnc?
ws hpng t s nvl ffcnt tmsvng tch nnvtns , bt bn mstly dstrbd by th rnclly slss stff. lk tht knf blck tht lghts p. wh's ntrstd n tht?