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