residuos biológicos peligrosos
/residwos bjoloxikos peliɡɾosos/from spelling rules
The English phrase "biohazard waste" is translated into Spanish as residuos biológicos peligrosos.
Residuos biológicos peligrosos refers to waste materials that are contaminated with potentially infectious biological agents. You can also use desechos biológicos peligrosos as a synonym, replacing residuos with desechos. If you want to emphasize the infectious nature of the materials, you may use desechos infecciosos. In a healthcare or hospital context, the phrase desechos hospitalarios is sometimes used to specifically describe this type of waste.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of residuos (wastes), biológicos (biological) and peligrosos (dangerous).
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase must agree in number. If you are referring to a single unit of waste, you should use the singular form residuo biológico peligroso.
Did you know?
- In Mexico, the official regulation for these materials uses the acronym RPBI, which stands for residuos peligrosos biológico-infecciosos. This abbreviation is so common in clinics that doctors often say 'RPBI' instead of the full phrase.
- The word peligroso comes from peligro, which is a distant relative of the English word 'peril'. Both words trace back to the Latin 'periculum', meaning 'trial' or 'danger'.
- While residuos refers to waste in general, the word desecho often implies something that is completely useless and must be discarded. Choosing desechos over residuos can subtly change the tone from 'industrial byproduct' to 'trash'.
Examples in context
- No debes tocar los desechos biológicos peligrosos sin la protección adecuada.You should not touch biohazard waste without proper protection.
- Debemos desechar los residuos biológicos peligrosos correctamente.We must dispose of biohazard waste correctly.
- El hospital tiene un protocolo para los residuos biológicos peligrosos.The hospital has a protocol for biohazard waste.
- ¿Dónde guardamos los residuos biológicos peligrosos del laboratorio?Where do we store the laboratory's biohazard waste?
Example conversation
Two colleagues are organizing a medical clinic.
- MaríaDaniel, ¿tienes el contenedor para los residuos biológicos peligrosos?Daniel, do you have the container for biohazard waste?
- DanielSí, María, ya está listo en la mesa.Yes, María, it is already ready on the table.
- MaríaPerfecto, hay que limpiar todo muy bien.Perfect, we need to clean everything very well.
- DanielTranquila, yo me encargo de la limpieza.Don't worry, I will take care of the cleaning.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
