Health Care Waste Management Flashcards
infectious, toxic or radioactive
Hazardous waste
hospitals and medical centers, infirmaries, birthing homes, clinics
Health care waste generators
medical, ambulatory & dialysis, health care centers, surgical, alternative medicine, dental & veterinary
other health care related facilities
medical & biomedical, blood banks & blood
collection, dental prosthetics, nuclear medicine, biotechnology, animal research, drug testing & HIV testing laboratories
laboratories and research centers
drug rehabilitation, training centers for embalmers, internship training centers, schools of radiologic technology, medical schools, nursing homes, dental schools
drug manufacturers, institutions
mortuary and autopsy centers
drug manufacturers, institutions
contains pathogens or toxins in sufficient concentration that may cause disease to a susceptible host.
Infectious Waste
tissue sections & body fluids or organ derived form biopsies, autopsies or surgical procedures.
Pathological and Anatomical Waste
can cause cuts, pricks or puncture wounds. The most dangerous health care waste
Sharps
discarded chemicals generated during disinfection & sterilization procedures
chemical waste
expired, spilt & contaminated pharmaceutical products, drugs,
and vaccines including discarded items used in handling pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceutical Waste
waste exposed to radionuclides including radioactive diagnostic materials or radiotherapeutic materials. Examples
are cobalt, technetium, iodine, iridium , irradiated blood products and contaminated waste
Radioactive Waste
waste that doesn’t pose a hazard
Nonhazardous or general waste
May cause injury or infection, spread of drug resistant microorganism
Impact of health care waste
waste prevention and waste reduction
Green procurement policy
safely reusing, recycling & recovering waste
Resource development
energy recovery whereby waste is converted to fuel or heat
Recovery
finding a new application for a used material or using the same product for the same application.
Reusing
processing of used materials into new products
Recycling
changing the biological and chemical characteristics of waste to minimize its potential to cause harm
Waste treatment
discharging, depositing, placing or releasing any health care waste into land, air or water
Waste disposal
treatment and disposal of waste
End pipe approach
thermal decomposition of health care waste in the absence of supplied molecular oxygen in the destruction chamber where the said waste is converted into gaseous, liquid or solid form
Pyrolysis
use of steam sterilization
Autoclave
size reduction device
Microwave
sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, peroxyacetic acid, and heated alkali are added to health care waste to kill or inactivate present pathogens
Chemical disinfection
uses an enzyme mixture to decontaminate health care waste. The resulting byproduct is put through and extruder to remove water for wastewater disposal
Biological process
involves the filling of containers with waste, adding and immobilizing material, and sealing the containers. Use of boxes filled up with plastic foam, bituminous sand and
cement mortar
Encapsulation
