Medical Waste Management and Control
Author(s)
Zarook M. Shareefdeen*
ABSTRACT
Medical centers including hospitals, clinics and places where diagnosis and treatment are conducted generate wastes that are highly hazardous and put people under risk of fatal diseases. Although the understanding of medical waste management and control techniques is important, technical elective courses that are offered in undergraduate chemical, civil or environmental engineering place less emphasis on this area of education. In this paper, the meaning of medical waste, the risks of exposure, medical waste management regulatory acts, medical waste management procedures and control techniques are presented. The contents presented in this paper served as a supplementary material in an undergraduate elective course on waste management and as an educational guide for medical staff training on waste handling.
Medical centers including hospitals, clinics and places where diagnosis and treatment are conducted generate wastes that are highly hazardous and put people under risk of fatal diseases. Although the understanding of medical waste management and control techniques is important, technical elective courses that are offered in undergraduate chemical, civil or environmental engineering place less emphasis on this area of education. In this paper, the meaning of medical waste, the risks of exposure, medical waste management regulatory acts, medical waste management procedures and control techniques are presented. The contents presented in this paper served as a supplementary material in an undergraduate elective course on waste management and as an educational guide for medical staff training on waste handling.
Cite this paper
Z. Shareefdeen, "Medical Waste Management and Control," Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 3 No. 12, 2012, pp. 1625-1628. doi: 10.4236/jep.2012.312179.
Z. Shareefdeen, "Medical Waste Management and Control," Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 3 No. 12, 2012, pp. 1625-1628. doi: 10.4236/jep.2012.312179.
References
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[1] G LaGrega, M. D., Buckingham, P. L. and J. C. Evans, “Hazardous Waste Management,” 2nd Edition, Mc-Graw Hill, 2001. [2] US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, “Issues in Medical Waste Management—Background Paper,” US Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1988. [3] M. M. Hassan, S. A. Ahmed K. A. , Rahman and T. K. Biswas, “Pattern of Medical Waste Management: Existing Scenario in Dhaka City, Bangladesh,” BMC Public Health, Vol. 8, 2008, p. 36. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-8-36 [4] Y.-C. Jang, C. Lee, O.-S. Yoon and H. Kim, “Medical Waste Management in Korea,” Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 80, No. 2, 2006, pp. 107-115. doi:/10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.08.018 [5] UAE Yellow Pages, “Clinics and Hospitals,” 2010. http://www.yellowpages.ae/category/clinics-/ http://www.scribd.com /doc/4100881/ [6] “Middle East Health Care Intelligence,” 2010. http://biomedme.com/uae/dubaisclemenceau-medical-center amongst-top-ten-best-hospitals-for-medical-tourism_6555. html [7] Medical Waste Management Act (MWMA), El Dorado County, 2010. http://www.edcgov.us/Government/EMD/Hazardous Ma terials/ Medcal Waste Management Act.aspx [8] US Environmental Protection Agency, US Environmental Protection Agency, “Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988,” 2010. http://www.epa.gov/wastes/ nonhaz/industrial/ medical/track ing.htm [9] WasteMed, Types of Medical Waste, 2010. http://www.wastemed.com/types.htm [10] WHO, (The World Health Organization), “Waste Management at Medical Centers,” 2010. http://www.who.or.id/eng/contents/aceh/wsh/books/es/ES08CD.pdf [11] J. M. Alhumoud and H. M. Alhumoud, “An Analysis of Trends Related to Hospital Solid Wastes Management in Kuwait,” Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 18, No. 5, 2007, pp. 502-513. [12] Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, “Handling of bio-medical waste,” 2010. http://www.mppcb.nic.in/Bio_Categories.htm [13] Innovative Environmental Product, 2010. http://www.elastec.com/ portableincinerators/ drugterminator/ [14] G. Rutberg, N. Bratsev, A. Safronov, V. Surov and V. Schegolev, “The Technology and Execution of Plasma Chemical Disinfection of Hazardous Medical Waste,” Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions, Vol. 30, No. 4, 2002, pp. 1445-1448. [15] Waste Treatment Technology News, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency Issues, Draft Dioxin Assessment, 2010. [16] W. Lersner, The Process and Device for the Disposal of Medical Waste, “Canadian Patents Database,” Patent Number 2079003, 2007. http://www.ecolotec. com/patents.html [17] N. R. Soelberg, R. A. Rankin, K. M. Klingler, C. W. Lagle and L. L. Byers, “Eliminating Medical Waste Liabilities Through Mobile Maceration and Disinfection,” WM’06 Conference, Tucson, 26 February-2 March 2006. http://www.inl.gov/technicalpublications/Documents/ 3394936.pdf