Every September, Blood Cancer Awareness Month brings attention to the people living with blood cancer, the families and caregivers supporting them, and the healthcare professionals working to improve treatment and quality of life. It is also a time to recognize that support extends across the entire care experience, from research and diagnosis to treatment, recovery, and the everyday safety practices surrounding care.
Blood cancer is not a single disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, the term describes cancers that begin in blood-forming tissue, such as bone marrow, or in cells of the immune system. Leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma are among the most recognized examples.
Awareness months create space for conversations that can otherwise be difficult to begin. They encourage people to learn more about blood cancers, listen to patient and caregiver experiences, support research, and become familiar with trusted resources. Blood Cancer United describes September as an opportunity for patients, survivors, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and advocates to come together around greater awareness and action.
That visibility matters because every person’s experience with blood cancer is different. The diagnosis may be leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, or another hematologic cancer, and the treatments can vary widely. Behind every diagnosis is a network of people coordinating appointments, explaining treatment, conducting tests, preparing medications, supporting daily needs, and helping patients navigate uncertainty.
Recognizing Blood Cancer Awareness Month means recognizing this entire community. It means honoring those living with blood cancer and those remembered, while also acknowledging the researchers, clinicians, pharmacists, laboratory teams, caregivers, advocates, and support organizations working alongside them.
Cancer care is often discussed in terms of medical breakthroughs and treatment outcomes. Those are essential conversations, but a safe care environment also depends on the routines that happen before, during, and after each procedure.
Across healthcare settings, blood draws, injections, medication preparation, and other procedures can generate used needles, syringes, lancets, and related sharps. Once used, these items can present an injury risk if they are left unsecured, placed in ordinary trash, or handled incorrectly. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends placing used needles and other sharps into an appropriate sharps disposal container immediately after use to help reduce the risk of injury and infection.
In clinical environments, this responsibility is supported by established workplace safety practices. OSHA’s sharps-handling guidance directs healthcare employers to properly handle and dispose of needles and other sharps under the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard. A dependable disposal process helps protect not only the person using the sharp, but also nurses, pharmacists, laboratory personnel, environmental services teams, caregivers, and waste workers who may encounter it later.
Not every item generated during cancer care belongs in the same container. A used needle may be regulated as a sharp, while unused or partially used medication may fall under pharmaceutical or hazardous waste requirements. Materials associated with certain hazardous drugs can require additional handling and disposal procedures.
The distinction is important. OSHA notes that healthcare waste can involve biological, chemical, and physical hazards, including sharps, pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy drugs, and materials contaminated with biological or chemical agents. Its healthcare waste-management guidance emphasizes planning from the point where waste is generated through its final disposal. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also maintains specific standards for hazardous waste pharmaceuticals generated by healthcare facilities and reverse distributors.
For healthcare organizations, this makes waste identification more than a compliance exercise. Clear procedures, appropriate containers, staff education, and a reliable disposal partner can help prevent confusion at the point of care. Because requirements may differ by waste type and jurisdiction, facilities should follow applicable federal, state, and local regulations and consult a qualified waste specialist when classification is uncertain.
Working with one reliable company for both chemotherapy waste containers and disposal containers can make it more convenient for healthcare organizations to obtain the medical disposal supplies needed across different waste streams.
Blood cancer care can take place across multiple locations, including hospitals, cancer centers, specialty pharmacies, physicians’ offices, laboratories, and the home. Maintaining safe, consistent processes across those environments helps care teams focus their attention on where it belongs: the patient.
For organizations, that can mean evaluating whether disposal containers are located close to the point of use, whether staff understand which waste stream applies, whether containers are replaced before they are overfilled, and whether disposal records are managed consistently. For patients and caregivers managing sharps outside a healthcare facility, it means receiving clear instructions and having access to an appropriate disposal option that fits their care routine.
These details may seem small compared with the larger challenges of a blood cancer diagnosis. Yet dependable systems can reduce avoidable risk and uncertainty during an already demanding time. Safety is not separate from compassionate care. It is one of the ways compassion becomes visible in everyday practice.
At PureWay, our part in this work is focused and practical. We help healthcare providers, pharmacies, laboratories, care programs, and other organizations manage medical waste through solutions designed around safety, convenience, and responsible disposal.
PureWay offers sharps disposal options, including mail-back systems that combine a sharps container with return packaging, a prepaid shipping label, and disposal documentation. For organizations managing multiple waste types, PureWay can also help identify solutions suited to their volume, care setting, and operational needs.
Organizations can conveniently obtain both chemotherapy waste containers and medical waste containers from PureWay, providing one reliable source for essential medical disposal supplies.
Our role is not to define the experience of blood cancer. It is to support the people and organizations providing care by helping make one essential responsibility simpler and more consistent. During Blood Cancer Awareness Month and throughout the year, we remain committed to supporting safer healthcare environments.
Blood Cancer Awareness Month is important, but patients and families need informed support every day of the year. Lasting awareness means continuing to learn, sharing trustworthy resources, supporting research and advocacy, and strengthening the systems that surround care.
For PureWay, that includes continuing to educate organizations about responsible medical waste management. Safe disposal may represent only one part of the care journey, but it is a meaningful one. When every step is handled with intention, healthcare becomes safer for everyone involved.
Blood Cancer Awareness Month is recognized in September. It raises visibility for blood cancers and encourages education, advocacy, research support, and greater understanding of the experiences of patients, survivors, and caregivers.
The National Cancer Institute identifies leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma as examples of blood cancer. Blood cancers begin in blood-forming tissue, such as bone marrow, or in cells of the immune system.
Blood cancer diagnosis and care can involve procedures that use needles, syringes and other medical waste. Proper containment after use helps reduce the risk of accidental needlestick injuries and exposure for healthcare workers, patients, caregivers, and others who handle waste.
PureWay provides sharps and medical waste disposal solutions for a range of healthcare settings. Available options include sharps mail-back systems with containers, return materials, prepaid shipping, and disposal documentation, as well as solutions for organizations with broader medical waste needs. Visit www.pureway.com to learn more.