YOUR report "Syringe horror for office staff" (LET, February 15), illustrates a worrying tendency to which we have all become complacent.

We should not be surprised to find discarded syringes lying around our everyday environment, for are they not only another item of rubbish, like food packaging, which our "throwaway society" sees fit to create into litter?

Used, contaminated syringes, of course, pose far more danger than ordinary litter. Anyone handling a syringe or scalpel, or other sharp instruments needs to have a rigid, lockable, puncture-proof, HSE sharps unit, as supplied, collected and incinerated by this company's Medical Services Division.

The risks from carelessly discarded syringes are very real and there is a potential risk of hepatitis 'B' or even HIV transmission from accidental 'needle stick' injuries.

A A STEPHENS, General Manager, Rentokil Environmental Services, Felcourt, East Grinstead, West Sussex.

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