Effects of Mismanagement of Medical and Plastic Waste in Pre and During COVID-19 Outbreak

Many countries already have problems with waste management, but when the COVID-19 outbreak happens, the existing problems are worsened. This review aims to examine how mismanagement of medical and plastic waste affects the environment and people, especially those who work in healthcare facilities. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear that the majority of issues stemmed from mismanagement of plastic waste. For example, plastic waste can be seen in various places, such as the deepest oceanic floor, The Mariana trench, which is proved by microplastics found in amphipods’ digestive tract living down there. Apart from environmental effects, the economy is also affected by plastic pollution as the tourism business has decreased in Korea and USA due to the increasing amount of plastic waste. While normal plastic waste can largely affect society, medical wastes seem to pose more severe consequences as medical wastes might be contaminated, pathologic, and radioactive. However, during the pandemic, the usage of both medical and plastic waste has increased in general. Mismanaged waste also carries COVID-19 like other pathogens, and the virus can survive on it for a long period of time, making any mismanaged waste a risk factor. Incinerated ashes from medical waste used for fighting the virus can also cause pollution as they contain heavy metals. In conclusion, mismanaged plastic waste mostly affects the environment, while mismanaged medical waste might carry harmful pathogens, including the COVID-19, putting people at risk. More actions need to be done to improve the effectiveness of waste management procedures.

Liquid fuel oil produced from plastic based medical wastes by thermal cracking

The present work is an effort to produce liquid fuel oil from plastic based medical wastes through thermal cracking process under oxidizing conditions. The mixed plastics from medical wastes were considered as a feedstock, shredded into small pieces and heated at 773 ± 10 K for 40 min with a heating rate of 20 K/min in a batch reactor for thermal cracking process. The feedstock was characterized by proximate and ultimate analysis along with thermogravimetric investigation. Moreover, chemical compositions of the liquid fuel oil were examined by FTIR and GC–MS spectroscopy. The properties of liquid product were also examined and compared to the commercial fuel oil. The average yield of brownish and sticky liquid fuel was obtained to be 52 wt% and the gross calorific value of the liquid was found 41.32 MJ/kg which is comparable to that of commercial diesel. FTIR spectrum showed characteristic absorption bands of C–H and =CH2 groups indicating presence of alkane and alkene compounds. GC–MS study demonstrated the chemical constituents of the liquid product that is mostly aliphatic compounds of mainly alkanes (16.28%), alkenes (10.67%), alcohols (14.65%) and ester groups (10.38%) including iso-phthalate (40.02%) as a predominant product. This experiment concludes that the liquid oil derived from thermal cracking of mixed plastics comprised of a composite mixture of organic components. A significant amount of non-degraded constituents like plasticizers, precursors, etc. remained in the product having some economic values with human health and environmental impacts during burning has been addressed in the current issue.

Legal regulation of medical waste disposal in foreign law

Introduction. The article considers international and national experience in legal regulation of medical waste disposal. The special attention is given to foreign experience and possibility of application and perfection of the legislation on medical waste recycling in the Russian Federation.Materials and methods. Realization of research tasks has been reached on the basis of studying theoretical and practical experience of foreign countries concerning regulation of medical waste utilization. The study is based on the method of analysis of the current regulatory and legal framework in the Russian Federation, the practice of applying the legislation by judicial and other competent authorities and existing European (world) standards for the purposes of legal unification. Study results. In the article experience of the foreign countries concerning legal regulation of medical waste recycling, presented in the works of foreign and domestic researchers, the legislation of foreign countries is considered; the analysis of the sources regulating recycling of medical waste is conducted; various concepts of classifications of medical waste are revealed.Discussion and conclusions. The study showed that polymorphism of medical waste is both an epidemiological and environmental hazard. The problem is compounded by the potential hazards that arise from contact with these wastes, such as toxicity, radioactivity and infection. This is why environmental and environmental legislation is of particular importance, along with health and sanitary legislation. These legal norms should be taken into account by medical institutions when developing procedures for handling hospital waste. On the basis of the above-stated it seems expedient to study the experience of developed countries, in particular of the USA and the European states, concerning legal regulation of utilization of medical wastes as the problem of safe handling of medical wastes is important for each subject of the Russian Federation.

Knowledge and practices of health workers on safe disposal of sharp medical wastes in selected hospitals

Sharp medical waste is infectious and hazardous because of their high potential diseases transmission and injury. It poses serious threats to environmental health. A cross sectional study was done to assess the level of knowledge and practices of health workers on safe disposal of sharp medical wastes. This study was done in Pirojpur Sadar Hospital, Nazirpur Upazilla Health Complex and Zia Nagar Upazilla Health Complex. Sample size was 200 Health Workers. A Semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected data were processed and analyzed with the help of SPSS (Version 20) software on the basis of different variables. The period of study was from January to December 2016. The study result shows that among 200 respondent mean age was 44.05 (±7.01) years. The designation varieties were nurses (70.0%), doctor (10.0%), Aya/ward boy (15.0%). This study found that, majority of the respondents had knowledge about the concept of medical waste and sharp medical waste. Among the respondents (90.0%) respondents knew the correct color bin to segregate sharp medical waste. Multiple responses of the respondents (80%) mentioned that they got information from Course curriculum. Knowledge of the respondents on sharp medical waste disposal (64.5%) had Good knowledge, (23%) had Fair Knowledge and (12.5%) had Poor Knowledge. Most of the respondents (47.5%) had Good practices, (33%) had Fair and (20%) had Poor practices regarding safe disposal of sharp medical waste disposal. Adequate supply of equipment’s and strict monitoring system should be established to improvement the practice of the health care providers regarding safe disposal of sharp medical waste. Training on sharp medical waste disposal will help the participants to improve their knowledge and practices. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. December 2020, 6(4): 802-808

Poor COVID 19 Pandemic Waste Management Outcome in Nigeria: A Possible Potential Public Health Threat and Promoter of Community Transmission

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic outcome which is an emerging infectious disease that potentially originated from Wuhan in China has seen an upsurge of cases and deaths globally over time. One of the consequences found in the course of the management of these viral pandemic involves the massive production and usage of different myriad of medical supplies to meet up the increasing demands by health workers, patients and the public. This trend has resulted in the proliferation of medical wastes against a backdrop of poor waste management outcome especially in Nigeria. Aim The aim of this article borders on bringing to light the effects of improperly managed medical wastes, and the risks it poses to human health and the environment at large. Furthermore also, to outline various types of medical wastes and the guidelines associated with their disposal, especially those associated with management of COVID-19 pandemic saga. Method/Methodology The study approach follows the systematic review of peer-reviewed published articles as well as online publications and articles derived from various databases with search keywords relevant to the topic of discourse. Findings and Results Findings from this study show that the coronavirus disease of 2019 has spread widely globally with massive socio-economic and socio-cultural consequences. Over time there has been a progressive increase in cases and deaths due to Covid-19 in Nigeria and most other countries. The management of COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the proliferation of medical wastes. Medical wastes are those generated from the use of medical supplies in the course of healthcare delivery and disease prevention such as hand gloves, facemasks, and hazmat suits etc. Medical wastes legislations that support the proper disposal of medical wastes in Nigeria and most other developing nations have been very weak and have failed to achieve the desired results, with high incidences of infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis still being transmitted through improperly disposed of wastes. Therefore improperly waste disposal may probably serve as a very potent means of community transmission of COVID-19 transmission, if not handled in good time especially the freshly disposed materials Conclusion and Recommendation While the generation of massive wastes is being seen in this COVID-19 pandemic period, it may be unavoidable that there could be re-infection of subjects from improper medical waste disposal strategies. Thus, it is pertinent that relevant regulations are put in place, enforced and monitored to ensure that improperly managed wastes do not form another avenue for widespread of the virus in our communities. It is also very necessary to organize massive campaigns aimed at creating enough public awareness of the risks associated with medical wastes and on the need for proper disposal especially COVID 19 associated waste materials.