11: HEALTHCARE WASTE MANAGEMENT Flashcards
- Includes all the solid and liquid wastes generated as a result of any of the following:
a. Diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings;
b. Research pertaining to the above activities;
c. Research using laboratory animals for the improvement of human health;
d. Production or testing of biologicals; and
e. Other activities performed by HCF (Health Care Facility)
HEALTHCARE WASTE (HCW)
- are public, private and non-governmental institutions/facilities that contribute to the improvement of the health status of an individual.
HEALTH CARE FACILITY (HCF)
- All waste suspected to contain pathogens (or their toxins) in sufficient concentration to cause diseases to a potential host.
INFECTIOUS WASTE
______________ is from patients with infectious disease (e.g., dressings, swabs, blood bags, urine bag, sputum cups)
Solid wastes
___________ from patients with infectious disease (e.g., feces, urine, blood or other body secretions).
Liquid wastes
_____________ (liquid or solid) of patients with highly infectious disease.
Food wastes
Items that can cause cuts or puncture wounds.
SHARPS WASTE
____________ are considered as the most hazardous waste generated in HCF and must be managed with utmost care this is because of the double danger it poses.
* It can cause injuries through accidental pricks, cuts or punctures one can also be infected with a pathogen through these injuries.
Sharps
Refers to tissue sections and body material derived from biopsies or surgical procedures that are then examined in the laboratory.
PATHOLOGICAL AND ANATOMICAL WASTE
is a subgroup of pathological waste. This type of waste refers to recognizable human body parts such as amputated limbs, etc.
Anatomical waste
consists of tissues, organs, body parts, blood, body fluids, other waste from surgery and autopsies, including human fetuses and animal carcasses. Recognizable human or animal body parts are also called anatomical waste.
Pathological waste
- Refers to expired, spilt and contaminated pharmaceutical products, drugs and vaccines.
- Also refers to discarded items used in handling pharmaceuticals.
PHARMACEUTICAL WASTE (INCLUDING GENOTOXIC/CYTOTOXIC/ANTINEOPLASTIC WASTE)
- Pharmaceutical wastes include ______________, __________, and ____________ waste.
antineoplastic, cytotoxic, genotoxic
is a word in genetics defined as a destructive effect on a cell’s genetic material (DNA, RNA) affecting its integrity.
Genotoxicity
_____________ are mutagens; they can cause mutations. _________ include both radiation and chemical genotoxins.
Genotoxins
_________ can be carcinogens, or cancer-causing agents, mutagens, or mutation-causing agents, or teratogens, birth defect-causing agents.
Genotoxins
- Are discarded chemicals (solid, liquid, or gaseous) generated during disinfecting and sterilizing procedure.
- ____________ also include wastes with high content of heavy metals and their derivatives.
Chemical wastes
- Chemical wastes can be further classified into _________________________
corrosive, reactive, toxic and flammable
Most ___________ are either acids or bases.
corrosives
_____________ are materials that can attack and chemically destroy exposed body tissues. ___________ can also damage or even destroy metal.
Corrosives
____________ is a term given to a chemical class that displays a broad range of reactions.
Reactive Chemicals
The toxicity of a chemical refers to its ability to damage an organ system (kidneys, liver), disrupt a biochemical process (e.g., the blood-forming process) or disturb an enzyme system at some site remote from the site of contact.
Toxic Chemicals
______________ of a chemical refers to its ability to inflict systemic damage as a result (in most cases) of a one-time exposure to relative large amounts of the chemical.
Acute toxicity
________________ refers to a chemical’s ability to inflict systemic damage as a result of repeated exposures, over a prolonged time period, to relatively low levels of the chemical.
Chronic toxicity
_____________ are those gases, liquids and solids that will ignite and continue to burn in air if exposed to a source of ignition.
Flammable Chemicals
Many flammable and combustible liquids and solids are ___________ in nature; that is, they evaporate quickly and are continually giving off vapours.
volatile
______________ represents a subcategory of hazardous chemical waste and refers to metallic elements that have high densities and relatively toxic at low levels
Waste with high heavy metal content
- Wastes exposed to radionuclide. Residues from shipment of radioactive materials and unwanted solution of radionuclides intended for diagnostic or therapeutic use.
- Liquids, gas and solids contaminated with radionuclides whose ionizing radiations have genotoxic effects.
RADIOACTIVE WASTE
- Waste that has not been in contact with communicable or infectious agents, hazardous chemicals or radioactive substances, and does not pose a hazard.
- Papers, cardboards, empty bottles, tetra packs, scrap materials, pressurized containers, office wastes, food waste and other materials of patients with non-communicable disease, x-ray plates.
NON-HAZARDOUS OR GENERAL WASTE
According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), only __________ of the wastes coming from HCF are hazardous.
30.37%