getting rid of the evidence

[CAP]

Found this pile of tweezers, hemostats and scissors in the woods amidst my relic hunt. Hundreds of them dumped here, must have been several years ago. How could you clean these instruments back to good condition?

Chris

[allen]

not sure if id honestly want too. never know where they came from or who they was used on.

[slow sweeper]

 ? ? Take all but the best to a proper landfill. Boil in water and soak in alcohol the rest. Don't know what you'd do with them. Can't be used for what they were meant to be used for. I wouldn't even want to touch 'em. USE GLOVES!

[hollowpointred]

bleach will kill any germs or microbes that might be on them.

[jeff of pa]

I'm shure If they have been there several Years there should be no Problem with any Diseases

 After all With all the Pleagues this world has gone thru, if Diseases Lasted, We'd be Digging

 Them up and reintroducing them into our lives.

Very Intresting Find, with Several Posabilities of there use.

 CONGRATS on the Cache !

 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? J E F F

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Yea, be carefull. Its a shame someone dumbed those the way they did. I am happy you found them and can take care of them properly. I don't think they have any value unless valuable to you. Best of luck and HH, I think one job of our hobby is to clean up mother nature a little for the rewards she keeps for us.

[Steeler Fan]

I agree with MUD...I personally would dispose of them properly, especially if you do not know the history behind them. Just a thought I would suggest.

Steeler Fan

[slow sweeper]

     I know you're the moderator Jeff but I disagree with you. Without being a licenced medical physician I think it's irresponsible to suggest that there is nothing to worry about the handling of improperly disposed of medical waste. Who ever dumped that there is subject to fines in the thousands of dollars. This is not a matter to be taken lightly.
     And I for one just don't know what you could use them for.

[lobsterman]

 BEWARE !!! , ?i wouldn't be suprised if there were also hundreds of hypodermic needle's in the area , stay away from the area and contact the police imediately, if they do not act to get the area cleaned up, contact the state medical board, if i'm not mistaken illeagal dumping of medical waste is a federal offense,and the title of your post may be more appropriate than you realize. if it is near a residential area with children around, i'd also inform the parents so they can keep the kids out of the area until it is cleared.

 there is no value in them, and they are dangerous liability. do not attempt to clean them or sell them, it's just not worth it.

 Pat.

[treasurekidd]

I second Lobsterman on that one. No good can come from them, and they are considered "medical waste", so even if they are not contaminated, you don't want someone blaming YOU for putting them there or something. I'd call the local PD and have them check the area out, just in case there is more dangerous material in there. If there is, they need to get rid of it properly before something bad happens.

[jeff of pa]

? ? ?I know you're the moderator Jeff but I disagree with you. Without being a licenced medical physician I think it's irresponsible to suggest that there is nothing to worry about the handling of improperly disposed of medical waste. Who ever dumped that there is subject to fines in the thousands of dollars. This is not a matter to be taken lightly.
? ? ?And I for one just don't know what you could use them for.

 ? ?All I am saying is , IF they have Been there for years, there is absolutly no chance of any diseases, other then the Exact same Disease you could get from a Nail, or other metal Object, that has been in the ground for years.
 No matter Who touched it.
 ? ?& I stand by that comment, till someone can 100% prove to me Different.
 ? ? ? ?Would you be afraid to touch a Bullet, that may have passed thru the body of someone with Small Pox ?
 ? ? ? ? ? Or Touch a coin that May have fallen into a Outhouse ?
 ? ?If you are ? maby you better wear gloves & Steralize everything you Dig. and of course every piece of money you get from the store.

 ?No Insult intended here, Just ?my Rational Opinion ?

[resq937]

I would definately agree with reporting this to the local authorities---with any luck they can trace down where they came from.  I wouldnt take that find lightly if they dumped that kind of stuff i wouldnt be surprised to find other biohazards in the area---Just image if it was some young kids that found that stuff and not you.  I'm a EMT and a sight like that makes me shiver.  Some diseases can in fact lay dormant in dry blood and still come back to haunt you (if i recall correctly).  but might wanna check withthe Doc on that one----OSHA may be another resource to contact on this find.   

Might even get to see your name in lights for protecting the local area from that atrocity.

[treasurekidd]

Jeff, I do agree with you that there is little to no chance of those being contaminated, but I also agree with Lobsterman that those are a sign there may be more (worse) stuff in there. Anyone who would dump those there may have dumped other stuff in there, and no sense in taking chances with it, especially if there's kids in the area. PLUS, the write-up in the local paper about a metal detectorist finding and reporting a possible hazardous material find and the subsequent cleanup will look good for the individual, and the hobby in general. Just my 2 cents. With that said, happy hunting all!

[GunFarce]

Sort of answers the age old question your mother used to ask!!!

"Wheres the 'good' scissors" ?

[lobsterman]

 i had also thought it could be good PR for the hobby, but i'd steer clear of any pubicity until it gets cleaned up, but if nothing gets done about cleaning it up, then going to the press may be an option in order to make sure that it does get taken care of. but protect the kids at all costs. and who's to say some local kids didn't find them when they were freshly dumped, it's a scary thought.

  Pat

 P.S. there should be a paper trail to track where they came from

[rasrandy]

Nasty! Give em to someone of authority for testing cause you never know what or who they were used on. Especially since there are hundreds like you say.

[robert_from_austin]

Well, it's a free country - feel free to touch 'em all you want, but I wouldn't go anywhere near 'em...  the only one who needs to worry about catching anything is whoever touches 'em.

But I think it's just a little irresponsible to make a statement like 'there is absolutly no chance of any diseases' when you don't know for sure - none of us do. I've cut myself on glass and metal before while hunting, and even that scares me, so there ain't no way in hell I'd touch that stuff. What you do with it is your business, but think twice before claiming there's no diesease to be caught from them.

? ? ?I know you're the moderator Jeff but I disagree with you. Without being a licenced medical physician I think it's irresponsible to suggest that there is nothing to worry about the handling of improperly disposed of medical waste. Who ever dumped that there is subject to fines in the thousands of dollars. This is not a matter to be taken lightly.
? ? ?And I for one just don't know what you could use them for.

 ? ?All I am saying is , IF they have Been there for years, there is absolutly no chance of any diseases, other then the Exact same Disease you could get from a Nail, or other metal Object, that has been in the ground for years.
 No matter Who touched it.
 ? ?& I stand by that comment, till someone can 100% prove to me Different.
 ? ? ? ?Would you be afraid to touch a Bullet, that may have passed thru the body of someone with Small Pox ?
 ? ? ? ? ? Or Touch a coin that May have fallen into a Outhouse ?
 ? ?If you are ? maby you better wear gloves & Steralize everything you Dig. and of course every piece of money you get from the store.

 ?No Insult intended here, Just ?my Rational Opinion ?

[lobsterman]

  just a thought but they could have come from a vet. but feline aids and feline lukemia can be transmitted to humans, and they are more virulent and contagious. about ten times as many cats die from aids than humans "although it is usually downplayed in the media".
  i think the required disposal of medical wastes and sharps is incineration. but i've also read about needles washing up on New York and New Jersey beaches.

 Pat.

[49er]

I would have to agree with the majority of comments made, call hazmat. Could be an illegal medical dump area and someone was paid big bucks to destroy them, but figured what the heck just dump them in the woods and take home the cash. Could be some nasty and I do mean nasty stuff on them that could expose both you and your family to some serious disease's. Don't take the chance it's not worth your life or others. Think about it!

[slow sweeper]

     No insult intended here either. But maybe you could back up your quote of "absolutely no chance of diseases" with a little history of your medical background. Maybe you have some. I don't know. But without some kind of medical background I sure wouldn't be advising someone that there's nothing to worry about messing with illegally,and improperly disposed of medical waste. That's just nuts. In my humble opinion.

[jeff of pa]

I'm not going to argue with you,

 I posted My opinion

                 Nuff Said 

[resq937]

HERE IS THE BEST USE FOR THEM

TRACK DOWN WHERE THEY CAME FROM---AND OFFER TO SELL THE ITEMS BACK TO THEM---AND IF THEY DONT WANNA BUY EM LET EM KNOW THAT OSHA AND THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES WILL PAY YA GOOD MONEY FOR THEM--I AM SURE THEY WOULD OUTBID EVERYONE AT THAT COMMENT----JUST A THOUGHT THAT COULD TURN THIS FIND INTO YOUR BIGGEST TREASURE EVER


LOL    OH WELL SO IT MIGHT NOT BE THAT EASY

[NC Barefoot2]

You really found the stash today for sure.  I would think you could clean up the better looking one and then put some in each tool box.  They work great for small projects sometimes.  Congrats!

NC Barefoot2

[Free2Dtect]

Some use them as smoking aids so they do not burn their fingers. I seen the picture I only thought if left there some future detectorists well have one heck of a relic find. It is funny how someone can post something are it gets all kinds of replies. It's a free country so someone felt free to dump them there.

[dano91]

Whom ever dumped them there must have been VERY splinter prone. lol or had no eyebrows what so ever hahahah

[Jonster]

Used to be a dump spot near my old home that held similar utensils and needles, along with vials of Novocain and who knows what else. . We sold a Bunch of the stuff to some potheads.

Use anything you'd clean stainless steel with, I guess. They are safer than rusty nails, and a lot less likely to have Anthrax or Ebola than the soil they are sitting on!    Critters that harm us don't do so well outside of the moisture and temperature level of the preferred host. Be careful but no need to freak.

[hollowpointred]

BBQ TONGS HAHAHAHAHA!!!! :Dthose scissors could be some mighty sharp poultry scissors!!if you find syringes they could be flavor injectors!!...........before someone gets upset,im just trying to lighten the mood a little. the best bet is to leave em be and call the authorities.

[rvbvetter]

 ? ? ?I wouldn't go using them to turn over my Johnsonville Brats.
 ?I would say call the authorities. The sheer number of them would make the authorities curious enough to come out to investigate. That way: ?No fuss No muss. ? ? ?HH

[TOWcritter]

I'm curious...whats the half life of the AIDS virus?  Looks like trouble.  Let someone in authority know about it or just bury it your self if it's near a secret MD'ing spot you don't want anyone to know about.

[omnicognic]

You can't beat those things for the tackle box! great for de-hooking fish and tying flies! as far as their previous life after a boil of an hour there is ABSOLUTELY nothing to worry about!

[Free2Dtect]

Towcritter looking at your war of the worlds avatar let me remind you, bacteria are the enemy! 

[lobsterman]

 Aids will not last, but hepatitis B and C will last, possibly for years.
 

[Floater]

I'm not touching this one. Literally

[MDnoob]

I know Anthrax can stay in the ground for 100 years or so, so I assume that other thing can as well.

I can't resist:

"I say we dust off, and nuke the entire site from orbit.? It's the only way to be sure."
Quote from Aliens

[pepperpump]

you need to call your local health dept. and tell them about it and where it can be located...why would you even want to go near it???
pepperpump

[surfrat96]

I'll have to agree with Floater on this one!