Abstract
Incinerated medical waste residue has more heavy metals than municipal solid waste which if not well disposed of, could pollute the environment and pose a great danger to public health. A study was done on incinerators at Kenyatta National Hospital – Nairobi and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital – Eldoret to assess levels of total chromium, cadmium, mercury, lead and silver from the bottom ash. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used for analysis. At KNH, incinerator bottom ash had mean concentrations of 5297, 140, 4299, 2092 and 57 mg/kg of total chromium, cadmium, lead, silver and mercury respectively. At MTRH, the concentrations in the ashes of 3870, 250, 4340, 1360 and 40 mg/kg of total chromium, cadmium, lead, silver and mercury were found. These exceeded the maximum limits specified by the Kenyan National Environmental Management Agency and European Union Standards for ordinary disposal. Regular quality monitoring of heavy metals in bottom ash of the two institutions’ incinerators to guide safe disposal of the residues was not practiced.
Highlights
Medical waste forms 10% to 25% of the health-care waste which is considered as hazardous and may be toxic or radioactive (WHO, 1994)
The metals, chromium, cadmium and lead and mercury fall above the maximum levels permitted by the standards (National Environmental Management Agency/Water Services Regulatory Board Guidelines, 2006) levels as in Table 2.0 and are significantly higher than the standard, p = 0.000
Chromium, cadmium, lead and mercury are of higher concentrations than those permitted for disposal by National Environmental Management Agency and Water Services Regulatory Board Guidelines and are significantly higher, p = 0.000
Summary
Medical waste forms 10% to 25% of the health-care waste which is considered as hazardous and may be toxic or radioactive (WHO, 1994). Waste from dental clinics, broken thermometers mistaken as sharps contain mercury (US, EPA, 2011; Vieira et al.,2009; Mazrui, 2010; Calhoum, 2003) which if incinerated leave mercury residue in the bottom ash while the rest is released as gaseous emission in the environment posing a great risk to public health. A heavy metal common in red bags used to store infectious waste ( Hill, 1997; Lee and Huffman, 2002) if incinerated and taken by humans, bioaccumulates in kidneys with the content increasing with age. It causes human kidney damage and emphysema. In its ionic form, it is more toxic to aquatic organisms than any other metal except mercury
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