HEALTHCARE WASTE MANAGEMENT Flashcards
Review the health care waste management hierarchy in the book
According to WHO, between 75-90% of wastes generated by health care activities on average are ____________
non-hazardous
Refers to all wastes suspected to contain pathogens or toxins in sufficient concentration that may cause disease to a susceptible host
infectious waste
includes discarded materials or equipment used for diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with infectious diseases
infectious wastes
refers to tissue sections and body fluids or organs derived from biopsies, autopsies, or surgical procedures sent to the laboratory examinations
pathological and anatomical wastes
refers to waste items that can cause cuts, pricks, or puncture wounds
sharps
considered the most dangerous health care waste because of their potential to cause both injury and infection
sharps
refers to discarded chemicals (solid, liquid, or gaseous) generated during disinfection and sterilization procedures. It includes wastes with high content of heavy metals and their derivaties
chemical wastes
acetic, chromic, hydrochloric, nitric, sulfuric
acids
ethanol, isopropanol, phenols
alcohols
formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, ortho-phthaladehyde
aldehydes
ammonium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate
bases
calcium hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide, iodine solutions, iodophors, sodium dichloroisocyanurate, sodium hypochlorite (bleach)
halogenated disinfectants
chloroform, methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, refrigerants, trichloroethylene
halogenated solvents
arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, silver
metals
acetone, acetonitrile, ethanol, ethyl acetate, formaldehyde, isopropanol, methanol, toluene, xylenes
Non-halogenated solvent
Refers to expired, spilt, and contaminated pharmaceutical products, drugs, and vaccines including discarded items used in handling pharmaceuticals
pharmaceutical waste
refers to wastes exposed to radionuclides including radioactive diagnostic material or radiotherapeutic materials
radioactive wastes
refers to wastes that have not been in contact with communicable or infectious agents, hazardous chemicals, or radioactive substances, and do not pose a hazard
non-hazardous or general wastes
Most important step in the proper management of health care wastes
waste minimization using an approach known as Green Procurement policy
Refers to either finding a new application for a used material or using the same product for the same application repeatedly
reusing
refers to the processing of used materials into new products
recycling
it is defined into two wastes (1) energy recovery, and (2) as a term used to encompass three subsets of waste recovery: recycling, composting, and energy recovery
recovery of wastes
Whereby waste is converted to fuel for generating electricity or for direct heating of premises
energy recovery
The process of changing the biological and chemical characteristic of wastes to minimize its potential to cause harm
waste treatment
refers to discharging, depositing, placing, or releasing any health care waste into air, land, or water
waste disposal
Bin color: yellow
Bin desc: strong leak-proof bin with cover labelled “infectious” with biohazard symbol
Plastic bag/liner: yellow plastic that can withstand autoclaving with 0.009 mm thickness and labelled
Infectious wastes
Bin color: yellow
Bin desc: strong leak-proof bin with cover labelled with biohazard symbol
Plastic bag/liner: yellow plastic that can withstand autoclaving with 0.009 mm thickness and labelled
Pathological and Anatomical Wastes
Bin color: red
Bin desc: puncture-proof container with wide month and cover labeled with biohazard symbol
Plastic bag/liner: N/A
sharps
Bin color: yellow
Bin desc: Labeled as such. For liquids, bin is a disposal bottle made of amber-colored glass with at least 4 liters capacity
Plastic bag/liner: yellow with black band plastic with 0.009 mm thickness
chemical wastes
Bin color: yellow
Bin desc: Strong leak-proof bin with cover labelled “______ wastes” for expired drugs and drug containers, and “cytotoxic wastes” for cytotoxic, genotoxic, and antineoplastic wastes
Plastic bag/liner: yellow with black band plastic with 0.009 mm thickness
pharmaceutical wastes
Bin color: orange
Bin desc: radiation proof repositories, leak-proof, and lead-lined container labelled with name of radionuclide
Plastic bag/liner: orange plastic with 0.009 mm thickness
radioactive wastes
Bin color: green
Bin desc: optional recycle symbol for recyclable non-hazardous wastes
Plastic bag/liner: black or colorless plastics for non-biodegradable and green for biodegradable with thickness of 0.009 mm
general wastes
The thermal decomposition of health care wastes 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 to render waste harmless and is an efficient wet thermal disinfection process
- method of using pressure of 15 psi for 15 to 30 minutes.
autoclave
- A technology that typically incorporates some type of size reduction device
- Shredding of wastes is done before disinfection
- in this process, waste is exposed to microwaves that raise the temperature to 100°C (237.6 °F) for at least 30 minutes
microwave
- chemicals like sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, peroxyacetic acids, and heated alkali are added to health care wastes to kill or inactivate present pathogens.
- recommended that sodium hypochlorite with a concentration of 5% be used
- This method, however, generates chemical wastes from the used chemical disinfectants
chemical disinfection
- Uses an enzyme mixture to decontaminate healthcare wastes
- resulting by-product is put through an extruder to remove water for wastewater disposal
- technology is suited for large applications and is also being developed for possible use in the agricultural sector
biological process
- involves filling containers with waste, adding and immobilizing material, and sealing the containers
- process either use cubic boxes and made of high-density polyethylene or metallic drums that are three-quarters filled with sharps, or chemicals or pharmaceutical residues
encapsulation
- Especially suitable for pharmaceutical waste that involves the mixing of wastes with cement and other substances before disposal
- process is relatively inexpensive and can be performed using relatively unsophisticated equipment
Inertization
- Registered site designed to keep waste isolated from the environment
- site must secure paper permits from DENR before it can accept wastes
landfill
