HCW Concepts Flashcards
What are solid or liquid wastes generated by activities involving human health?
Healthcare Wastes
What percentage of Healthcare Wastes are non-hazardous?
75-90%
What percentage of Healthcare Wastes are hazardous, infectious, toxic, and radioactive?
10-25%
True or False: High income countries produce more waste than low income countries
True
What is the amount of daily hazardous bed waste produced by high-income countries?
0.5 kilograms
What is the amount of daily hazardous bed waste produced by low-income countries?
0.2 kilograms
What is the average amount of infectious sharps and pathological waste produced in the Philippines per day?
0.34 kilograms
What is the average amount of general bed waste produced in the Philippines per day?
0.39 kilograms
Definition 1: Everything suspected to contain pathogens that may cause infections and diseases
Definition 2: Materials that come into contact with bodily fluids under testing
Infectious Waste
Definition 1: Tissue sections, body parts, or body fluids derived from biopsies, autopsies, or any surgical procedures that send samples to the lab
Definition 2: Internal organs and tissues used for histopathological samples
Pathological and Anatomical Waste
True or False: Anatomical Waste is a subgroup of Pathological Waste
True
Type of waste that causes cuts, pricks, or puncture wounds
Sharps
True or False: Sharp wastes are NOT the most dangerous healthcare wastes out there
False (It is)
Refers to discarded substances generated during disinfections, sterilizations, procedures involving heavy metals, etc.
Chemical Waste
Refers to expired and contaminated products, drugs, and vaccines
Pharmaceutical Waste
Refers to products exposed to radionuclides; radioactive diagnostic materials, radioactive residue, unwanted solutions, etc.
Radioactive Waste
Waste products that have not come in contact with infectious agents and does not impose any hazards
Non-hazardous/General Wastes
3 Types of General Wastes
- Recyclable
- Biodegradable
- Non-biodegradable
What type of General Waste refers to paper, aluminum, plastic, wood, and electronics?
Recyclable Waste
What type of General Waste refers to leftover food from non-infectious patients and garden wastes?
Biodegradable
What type of General Waste refers to objects that are neither recyclable or biodegradable?
Non-biodegradable Waste
What gets contaminated due to improper landfilling and untreated wastes?
Drinking, surface, and ground waters
What gets released into the environment due to improper waste disposal?
Chemicals
Ash residue, air pollution, and the spread of toxic metals are consequences of what?
Improper incineration
What gets released from the incineration of chlorine-containing substances?
Dioxins and Furans
What temperatures must modern incinerators reach?
850°C - 1,100°C
4 Stages of the HCW System
Segregation, Collection, Storage, and Transport
The HCW System considered the basic elements of?
Minimization, Identification, and Segregation
True or False: Wastes follow a well-defined flow from the point of generation down to their treatment and disposal
True
The most important step in waste management is?
Waste minimization
2 aspects of the Green Procurement Policy
Waste Prevention and Reduction
Definition 1: Waste is converted to fuel to generate electricity
Definition 2: Term used to encompass subsets of waste recovery: recycling, composting, and energy recovery
Recovery
Lowering the amount of waste produced
Reduce
Using materials repeatedly
Reuse
Using materials to make new products
Recycle
Recovering energy from waste materials
Recovery
Location of safe disposal of wastes
Landfill
True or False: The most favored option for waste management is disposal in landfills
False (most favored would be waste reduction)
Refers to changing the biological and chemical characteristics of waste to reduce its health risks
Treatment
Refers to discharging, depositing, placing, or releasing waste on land or water
Disposal
True or False: Highly infectious wastes should be disinfected at the source
True
True or False: Anatomical waste should be disposed through safe burials or cremations
True
True or False: Pathological waste should not be refrigerated if not collected or treated within 24 hours
False (it should be refrigerated)
True or False: Sharps must be shredded or crushed after transportation to the landfill
False (should be before)
True or False: Chemical and Pharmaceutical wastes should be segregated and collected separately
True
True or False: Wastes with high heavy metal content should be collected separately and sent to the treatment facility
True
True or False: Wastes with Mercury can be collected on the same container as other chemicals
False (must be separated)
True or False: Chemical wastes can be disposed down the drain
False (should be stored in leak-proof containers or amber disposal bottles)
True or False: Expired drugs must be returned to the pharmacy for temporary storage before returning to the manufacturer
True
True or False: Expired drugs can be sent back even if they’re not in their original packaging
False (must be returned in original packaging for proper identification and prevention of reactions)
True or False: Expired drugs can be sent back even if they’re not in their original packaging
False (must be returned in original packaging for proper identification and prevention of reactions)
Refers to thermal decomposition of waste in a destruction chamber WITHOUT the use of oxygen; residues may be greasy aggregates, slugs, recoverable metals, or carbon black
Pyrolysis
Refers to combustion of waste in the presence of oxygen; less desirable than pyrolysis due to smog and ash production, and cost
Incineration
Uses steam sterilization to render waste harmless; used for killing pathogenic microorganisms
Autoclave
Pressure, heat, and duration of an autoclave
121°C and 15 psi for 15-30 minutes
What are the indicators of valid sterilization in autoclaves?
Color-changing tapes or biological test ampules
Microorganisms are destroyed by moist heat which coagulates and denatures enzymes with temperatures reaching up to 100°C for at least 30 minutes; comes with a size reduction device too
Microwave
True or False: Waste shredding is done before subjecting to the microwave
True
Fills the containers with waste then immobilizes it before sealing; uses a cubic box made of polyethylene filled with sharps or chemicals which will be filled up with plastic foam, cement, or sand
Encapsulation
Disposal method suitable for pharmaceutical waste; pharmaceuticals are grounded to produce a homogenous mass which will be transported and placed in a landfill
Inertization
Waste disposal method which uses bleach, peroxide, peroxyacetic acid, or alkali to kill and deactivate pathogenic organisms
Chemical
Uses enzyme mixtures that are put through extruders to remove water from waste water disposals; suitable for large-scale applications
Biological
Engineered sites to keep wastes isolated from the environment; site must secure approval from DENR
Landfills
True or False: Treated healthcare wastes can be mixed with general wastes if approved by the DOH
True (must ensure that the organisms WILL NOT regenerate)
What is the alternative for places without landfills?
Burials
True or False: Infectious, sharps, pathological, and anatomical wastes are the only types that can undergo a burial
True
True or False: Sharps and syringes cannot be disposed using septic or concrete vaults
False (can do so if facilities do not have access to treatment system facilities)