What to do if I found a syringe in my house.

[worrywart29]

Not long ago my roomate found a syringe in our washing machine. It probably belonged to my other roomates boyfriend who is an meth addict. My roomate found the syringe, she took it out of the washing machine placed it in a plastic baggy and put in on the ledge of the stairs that lead to the basement. Not sure what to do, I sprayed a one to ten percent solution of bleach water on the inside and outside of the washing machine and on the ledge where she placed the needle. I want to know if this was enough to kill any viruses that might have transmitted from the needle to any surface.There was no visible blood on the needle but I'm not sure if invisible amounts of blood got spread from surface to surface. I just want to make sure I contain any contamination. Also, I wanted to know if bleach would actually kill hepatitis, I know it kills hiv, not sure about the former.

[Debbie Miller, RN]

Hello,
The only risk to you would be if you or someone else were stuck by the syringe. Just the presence of it is not a danger and the virus cannot be transmitted easily outside of deep body fluid contact (sex or blood). You should be fine unless skin was penetrated. It should be disposed of in a sharps container so nobody will accidentally get stuck.

Best wishes.