The COVID-19 crisis has led to an unprecedented increase in hazardous and medical waste production. To safeguard human health as well as the environment, it is crucial to ensure proper handling and disposal of these wastes. The Environment Program expert explains the dangers of poor clinical waste management. He also outlines the most efficient strategies for the future.
Can You Give A Brief Description Of Various Hazards Of Medical Waste?
Healthcare waste includes all medical facilities’ waste such as medical labs, biomedical research centres, and also the waste generated by minor or scattered sources.
Although hospitals are the primary source of healthcare waste quantity. They represent only a tiny percentage of the total number of sources.
Healthcare waste is classified in accordance with the categories that follow:
- Sharps waste
- Pathological waste
- Other hazardous waste
- Pharmaceutical waste, including toxic waste
- Chemical waste that is hazardous
- Radioactive waste
- General (non-risk) garbage.
Infectious waste is a waste that may contain pathogens (disease-causing bacteria, viruses’ parasites and fungal organisms) in sufficient quantity or in sufficient quantity to cause disease in hosts that are susceptible.
The improper management and disposal of mercury spillage kit from healthcare could pose serious dangers of spreading secondary diseases from exposure to infectious agents by waste workers, waste pickers, health workers, patients and even the general public in which waste is improperly removed.
Incineration and open burning with inadequate protection against pollution exposes workers as well as the communities around them to toxic pollutants in air emissions as well as the ash.
What Are The Most Hazardous Types Of Medical Waste, And How Can We Manage Them?
There is no one-size-fits-all response to the questions. What the risk of a particular type of waste is is dependent on the nature and quantity of clinical waste management. However, it also depends heavily on the local vulnerability. The vulnerability, in turn, is dependent on exposure, sensitivity, and capacity for adaptation.
The most hazardous waste could not have catastrophic, immediate consequences to just a few people but one that impacts the systemic health of millions of people directly or indirectly via ecosystems.
For instance medical waste has many plastics that, when burned, releases known carcinogens in the air and the rest of the ash.
In the same way, chemical compounds in medical wastes, such as mercury (though its medicinal uses are rapidly being eliminated worldwide due to the ratification of Minamata Convention on Mercury) is able to bioaccumulate in the natural environment and harm the human population through food sources.
Certain techniques, like incineration for instance, is a good option if the equipment is properly maintained and utilised in the context of rigorous supervision and oversight by law. However, they could pose a danger if not maintained, or are pushed to the limits of their design.
Do We Need To Enforce Separation Of Waste In The Facilities That Treat COVID-19 Cases?
In general between 75% to 90 percent of the waste generated by hospitals is considered to be non-hazardous (non-infectious and safe) general waste, similar to the domestic waste.
Segregation is therefore an essential component of efficient medical waste disposal. By segregating hazardous and non-hazardous waste, you can drastically reduce the amount of waste that requires special treatment.
Other components of managing clinical waste services include waste sorting and minimisation. Containerisation is also an option. Labels, colour-coding, signage, handling, transportation storage, treatment, and finally disposal. Of course maintaining an effective system requires ongoing training as well as budgeting, planning and monitoring, as well as evaluation, record-keeping and documentation.
What Other Methods For Managing Waste Might Be Suggested Now To Be Implemented Immediately?
The best method to manage the urgent decontamination and removal of COVID-19-related debris is to utilise established, tested and proven medical waste management methods.
If such equipment for managing medical waste aren’t available or overwhelmed, it is occasionally possible to utilise in conjunction with the appropriate operational adjustments to safeguard the health of those managing waste, the existing municipalities’ waste disposal facilities.
In this regard it is essential to recognize the vital importance of waste workers and the ongoing nature of their services and the appropriate adaptations they make in times of emergency and natural disasters.
A good source for specific details is the COVID-19 waste management guidelines issue by the International Solid Waste Management Association.
Does Involving Manufacturers In Managing Medical Waste (Eg. By Using Mail-Back Disposal Methods) Is It A Viable Idea?
In the initial phase of tackling this epidemic, it’s likely that an untest. New technology or a new producer responsibility system can be implement.
Remember that mail-back isn’t an option for disposal. It’s an opportunity to shift the burden of disposal from the users to the manufacturers. The issue of disposal will always remain.
Going beyond health-relate wastes, the overall notion of ‘extend producer accountability’ is widely use across the world to deal with a variety of waste in various methods, with different degrees of effectiveness.
Biomedical Waste Management And Its Value
Biomedical waste is extremely hazardous that could cause serious illnesses that can be fatal. Which is why it’s a matter of global scale. The management of biomedical waste is of vital importance to reduce the serious health risks.
The Necessity Of Biomedical Waste Management
Inadequate disposal of waste in health care facilities creates an immediate health risk for people in general, on health professionals, and the environment.
It is mandatory to supervise the control of biomedical wastes to minimise the possibility of contamination beyond the hospital, for those who handle the waste, as well as scavengers, and residents living in the vicinity of hospitals.
Biomedical Waste Management
Biomedical waste management has a significant importance as biomedical waste could have a negative impact on health, causing serious consequences for those who come involved with it. Separation, storage, and secure disposal of waste is vital to the successful disposal of biomedical waste at an office.
The separation of waste plays an essential role in enhancing biological waste administration. It is essential to reduce the amount of infectious waste, or else the volume of waste produced can be beyond the control of management.
The clinical waste solution is divided by colour according to a variety of coding systems for waste containers. The system can be find below:
Bags Of Red
Recyclable and contaminated waste, such as tubes, bottles catheters, urine bags, catheters as well as syringes and gloves.
Yellow Bag
Animal and human body wastes, dirty trash including blood-contaminated items and body fluids such as dressings, plaster casts and cotton swabs and other expired or destroyed medications, chemical waste (liquid) as well as discarded beddings, mattresses, beddings which are infected with blood or body fluids microbiology, biotechnology, and the like.
Bags Of Black
Incineration ash, and chemicals (solid).
White Bag
Scrap sharps such as scalpels, needles, blades or any other sharp object which could cause cuts or punctures.
Blue bag
Metal body implants, glassware like ampoules, ampoules and medicine vials.
The Storage Of Biomedical Waste
Healthcare facilities should provide an area to store medical waste until it can be take care of and clear. Storage areas should be identify cautiously, which is away from the general public. It should have warning symbols and warnings.
It is best to place it in a dry and secure place prior to being move. The area should be protect from wind, water rodents, insects, and other animals. Biomedical waste that poses a risk to health must not be keep for more than three months.
Treatment Of Biomedical Waste
Clinical waste collection treatment refers to methods to reduce negative effects cause by waste. There are a variety of methods of treatment that ensure the safety of managing and disposing of the waste.
It also decreases the environmental dangers. Incineration, Autoclaving, Irradiation and chemical treatment are the most popular methods use to manage and cleaning from biomedical waste.
