2. Bio medical waste
Waste generated by healthcare activities
includes a broad range of materials, from
used needles and syringes to soiled
dressings, body parts, diagnostic samples,
blood, chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
medical devices, and radioactive
materials.
4. Infectious waste
Infectious waste is that which is suspected
of containing pathogens (bacteria, viruses,
parasites, or fungi) in a sufficiently large
quantity or concentration to result in
disease in susceptible hosts.
5. Pathological waste
Infectious materials containing dead tissue
may conceal especially dangerous and/or
communicable infectious agents. Such
waste includes blood, body fluids, tissues,
organs, body parts, human fetuses, and
animal carcasses. A subcategory of
pathological waste is anatomical waste,
which consists of identifiable human or
animal body parts, healthy or otherwise.
6. Sharps
Sharps are objects sharp enough to cut or
puncture the skin, e.g. knives, scalpels
and other blades, infusion sets, needles,
hypodermic needles, saws, broken glass,
nails, etc. They can transmit infections
directly into the bloodstream. Sharps are
generally treated as highly hazardous
medical waste regardless of whether they
are contaminated or not.
7. Biomedical waste management
Certain treatment solutions that diminish
the risks of infection from medical waste
and preclude scavenging may
concurrently cause other health and
environmental hazards. The incineration of
certain kinds of medical waste, particularly
those which contain heavy metals or
chlorine, may release toxic substances
into the atmosphere
8. methods for waste management
Incineration
Chemical disinfection
Wet thermal treatment (steam sterilization)
Microwave irradiation
Land disposal
Inertization
9. Incineration
Incineration was formerly the most popular
method of disposing of the majority of
hazardous medical waste
The effectiveness of incineration is beyond
doubt, yet the method entails serious
issues concerning air quality.
10. disadvantages of incinerators
The investment and operating costs are
high
Cytotoxics are not completely destroyed.
The emissions of atmospheric pollutants
are significant.
The periodic removal of slag and soot is
necessary.
11. Simple chemical disinfection
processes
Chemical disinfection has an extensive
role in healthcare, being used to eliminate
microorganisms on medical equipment,
and on walls and floors. The addition of
chemicals to the waste destroys or
deactivates the pathogens in it, although
the result is more frequently disinfection
rather than sterilization.
12. The disadvantages of chemical
disinfection
Hazardous substances that require
comprehensive safety measures are used.
In the cases of pharmaceutical, chemical,
and some types of infectious waste, it is
inadequate.
If the chemical disinfectants are costly, the
process is made expensive.
13. Wet thermal treatment
In wet thermal treatment, the waste is first
shredded and then exposed to high-
pressure, high-temperature steam. It has
similarities to the process of autoclave
sterilization. Given a suitable temperature
and contact time, most varieties of
microorganism are inactivated by wet
thermal disinfection
14. The disadvantages of wet
thermal treatment
Operational conditions have a pronounced
influence on the efficiency of disinfection.
An inadequate shredder may retard
efficiency.
It is unsuitable for the treatment of
anatomical, pharmaceutical, and chemical
waste and also for waste materials that do
not easily permit the penetration of steam.
15. Microwave irradiation
At a frequency of about 2450 MHz and a
wavelength of 12.24 cm, microwaves
destroy the majority of microorganisms.
The microwaves rapidly heat the water the
treated waste contains and heat
conduction destroys the infectious
elements.
16. The disadvantages of
microwave treatment
It has comparatively high investment and
operating costs.
There is a risk of operation and
maintenance issues.
It cannot treat metal.
International approval is diminishing on
account of the potential hazards of
microwaves.
17. Land disposal
Land disposal is considered to be an
acceptable solution when there is no
means of treating waste prior to its
disposal. If hazardous and untreated
medical waste accumulates at hospitals,
for example, a far greater risk of infections
being transmitted is posed than if the
waste is carefully disposed of at a landfill
site.
18. cont...
Medical waste must never be disposed of
on or in the vicinity of open dumps.
The dangers of people or animals coming
into contact with active pathogens are
exacerbated by the additional risk of the
subsequent transmission of infections,
either directly via wounds, inhalation, or
ingestion, or indirectly via a pathogenic
host species or the food chain.
19. Inertization
The inertization process minimizes the risk
of toxic materials spreading into surface
water or groundwater by mixing the waste
with cement and other substances before
its disposal. This solution is particularly
appropriate in the cases of
pharmaceuticals and incineration ashes
which have a high metal content (here the
treatment is also known as “stabilization”).
20. purpose of waste management
To reduce the risk of damage to healthcare
personnel, the population, and the
environment
To reduce the amount of waste
To ensure the segregated collection of
waste
To establish proper waste collection sites
in medical departments and in hospitals
21. cont....
To establish a proper in-house
transportation route
To recover waste to the greatest extent
possible
To dispose of waste in an environmentally
and health-friendly way
