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PubMed1991

Medical Waste Act. Requires physician compliance.

In Michigan, the medical care community has a long history of carefully managing infectious medical wastes within their facilities to control communicable diseases. Never the less, concerns have surfaced about health risks posed by medical waste because of the notoriety of reported incidents of improperly disposed medical waste that led to the promulgation of emergency rules and now permanent statutes. As the environment reemerges as a national issue, the proper disposal of medical waste remains, at the very least, a highly visible and volatile part of this nation's solid waste crisis. To better develop appropriate controls for dealing with regulated medical waste, we will need to work together. Journal articles such as this provide an important opportunity to share and more forward our understanding of this problem so that we may all enjoy a safer and better environment. Proper handling and disposal of medical waste will remain a public issue as long as wastes believed to be of medical origin are found on beaches or at unauthorized storage or disposal locations. Hence, compliance with the regulations for the handling, storing, treating, transporting and ultimate disposal of regulated medical waste by providers of health care in Michigan must be observed.

Medical Waste↗
PubMed1992

Health care: a leader or a follower? Reducing disposable waste.

We clearly have the means to examine and reduce the amounts and types of disposable medical waste that health care institutions are creating. Although there may be special circumstances that prevent specific hospitals, or specific departments within a hospital, from converting to alternative products, much improvement can still be made. There are several strong examples of hospitals across the United States with programs that have drastically cut the amount of waste they are generating. They have eliminated disposable cups and eating utensils from the cafeterias, shifted to reusable underpads and surgical linens, and established recycling programs for paper and cardboard. These few cases are not enough. We cannot be lulled into believing that these exceptional efforts on the part of a few institutions are all that is needed. We should remember that if Mother Nature had intended for us to pat ourselves on the back, our hinges would be different. What is needed is a clear statement from the health care industry of its responsibility to society with regard to managing its waste. Leadership begins with action. If the health care industry does not take steps to regulate its disposable waste, the government undoubtedly will. We do not need to wait for our supervisors or administrators to fashion credos for us. All staff members know there are numerous ways that they can affect the amount of waste produced at their hospitals. They can also begin to affect the attitudes of those working around them. The consequences of inaction are simply too great. As fictional as half-empty grocery stores may have sounded at the beginning of this article, the problems that we face with waste disposal are certainly as grim. If we wait for our state and federal governments to solve the problems, it may be too late; and if it is too late, the solutions that they develop will certainly be extreme. We have the technology and the ability to cut dramatically the amount of disposable waste that health care generates. In practically every case, the lower-waste options also save the institution money. It is time that we honestly challenged our need for today's convenience at the expense of tomorrow's quality of life.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed2000

[Proper disposal(management) of medical wastes--management of medical waste at University Hospital attached to School of Medicine, Nagasaki University].

University hospitals, not only provide medical care but also perform education and research activities. The waste at university hospital differs from waste at another medical institutions. Because there are various kinds of waste containing toxic chemical substances and recombinant DNA, care should be taken in treating such waste.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

[Proper disposal(management) of medical wastes--the appropriate management of medical waste in laboratory].

In accordance with "The Manual for Management of Infectious Waste" which is based on the "Waste Management Law", a counterplan for the appropriate management of medical waste must be carried out in every hospital. This requires establishing "a committee for the appropriate management of medical waste" and to assign a "responsible person for management of medical waste" (an administrator for managing industrial waste under special control) inside the hospital. Since the law requires hospitals to take responsibility for discharging medical waste, hospitals must adopt a prudent policy for waste management. It becomes a most critical issue for hospitals, because medical waste is the subject of spot inspection under the supervision of MHW, and also the subject of border transgression prohibition between countries(both import and export) by the Bazel Treaty (1989) that Japan ratified in 1993. In this study, we discuss medical waste management in the central laboratory based upon the counterplan for appropriate management of medical waste at our hospital.

Containment of Biohazards↗
PubMed1998

Medical waste treatment and disposal methods used by hospitals in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

This study investigated medical waste practices used by hospitals in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, which includes the majority of hospitals in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Region 10. During the fall of 1993, 225 hospitals were surveyed with a response rate of 72.5%. The results reported here focus on infectious waste segregation practices, medical waste treatment and disposal practices, and the operating status of hospital incinerators in these three states. Hospitals were provided a definition of medical waste in the survey, but were queried about how they define infectious waste. The results implied that there was no consensus about which agency or organization's definition of infectious waste should be used in their waste management programs. Confusion around the definition of infectious waste may also have contributed to the finding that almost half of the hospitals are not segregating infectious waste from other medical waste. The most frequently used practice of treating and disposing of medical waste was the use of private haulers that transport medical waste to treatment facilities (61.5%). The next most frequently reported techniques were pouring into municipal sewage (46.6%), depositing in landfills (41.6%), and autoclaving (32.3%). Other methods adopted by hospitals included Electro-Thermal-Deactivation (ETD), hydropulping, microwaving, and grinding before pouring into the municipal sewer. Hospitals were asked to identify all methods they used in the treatment and disposal of medical waste. Percentages, therefore, add up to greater than 100% because the majority chose more than one method. Hospitals in Oregon and Washington used microwaving and ETD methods to treat medical waste, while those in Idaho did not. No hospitals in any of the states reported using irradiation as a treatment technique. Most hospitals in Oregon and Washington no longer operate their incinerators due to more stringent regulations regarding air pollution emissions. Hospitals in Idaho, however, were still operating incinerators in the absence of state regulations specific to these types of facilities.

Idaho↗
PubMed2002

Handling, storage, treatment, and disposal of mixed wastes at medical facilities and academic institutions.

Mixed waste includes hazardous/ toxic chemicals and radioactive materials mixed together. Most mixed wastes are difficult and costly to work with safely. Meeting the legal and regulatory requirements to generate, use, store, treat, and dispose of mixed waste can also be costly and difficult. The regulations that govern mixed waste, from creation to final disposition, are extensive and complex to implement. Complete and documented compliance with the applicable regulations is essential to demonstrate that personnel and environment safety has been assured. Noncompliance with the multitude of government's requirements for mixed waste can lead to serious repercussions. Noncompliance may cause serious harm to individuals and the environment, fines and penalties against a facility, and/or suspension of a facility's operations. Each facility that generates, uses, or possesses mixed waste must employ adequate expertise to assure full regulatory compliance. This paper introduces the large scope and variety of mixed waste and the current and potential methods to treat and ultimately dispose of, or recycle, mixed waste. Alternatives for regulatory compliance are also discussed and effective means to control mixed waste are presented. The paper is based on my Master's Thesis (Hageman 2001).

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed2004

Hospital waste management status in university hospitals of the Fars province, Iran.

Hospital waste contains large quantities of hazardous materials. In Iran, as in many developing countries, not much attention has been paid to this matter. Little information is available regarding the generation and disposal of medical waste in Iran, and this fact hinders planning for a better management of the aforementioned waste. This paper describes a survey performed on the collection and disposal of waste in the university hospitals of the Fars province, which are the medical referral centres in the southern half of the country, and the results obtained are fully discussed. The lack of separation between hazardous and non- hazardous waste, an absence of necessary rules and regulations applying to the collection of waste from the hospital wards and the on-site transport to a temporary storage location, a lack of proper waste treatment, disposal of hospital waste along with municipal garbage, insufficient training of personnel, insufficient personal protective equipment and lack of knowledge regarding the proper use of such equipment, were the main findings. For a rapid improvement of existing conditions, performing extensive research for the assessment of present situation in the hospitals of this country, compilation of rules and establishment of standards along with effective training for the personnel is recommended.

Data Collection↗
PubMed2005

A survey on home generated medical waste in Mauritius.

This study was carried out to evaluate home-generated medical waste in Mauritius. A questionnaire survey was undertaken among a random sample population in 250 houses in the nine districts of the island. Results of this study showed an overwhelmingly large proportion of medical waste arising from the domestic environment joins the common municipal solid waste stream and ends in landfills. This improper disposal process poses a serious health hazard to the general public, waste haulers and landfill personnel. It is therefore recommended that a national policy on medical waste management be urgently implemented, proper training of waste haulers be offered and education campaign be carried out to sensitize the general public on safe disposal of medical waste.

Data Collection↗