GREENSBORO -- If you don't properly dispose of your needles or household sharps, experts say the effects could trickle down to sanitation and waste management workers.   

Experts say improperly disposing of needles can cause serious diseases, like Hepatitis B or C, or HIV.

If needles show up at a recycling plant, or stick out of a trash bag from your home, employees are at risk of getting pricked.

Tori Carle, Waste Reduction Supervisor for the City of Greensboro, says, "That's up to 10 years worth of testing that they [workers] have to go through all the time just to make sure that they don't have one of those blood-born illnesses they could have come in contact with."

Experts recommend that you store your needles in a plastic jug or old laundry detergent container, away from children, until you're ready to throw them out.

You should never flush needles down the toilet, always throw out needles, and never recycle them.