Abstract
Medical centers including hospitals, clinics and places where diagnosis and treatment are conducted generate wastes that are highly hazardous and put people under risk of fatal diseases. Although the understanding of medical waste management and control techniques is important, technical elective courses that are offered in undergraduate chemical, civil or environmental engineering place less emphasis on this area of education. In this paper, the meaning of medical waste, the risks of exposure, medical waste management regulatory acts, medical waste management procedures and control techniques are presented. The contents presented in this paper served as a supplementary material in an undergraduate elective course on waste management and as an educational guide for medical staff training on waste handling.
Highlights
Waste in general is any substance that has no direct use and is discarded permanently
The understanding of medical waste management and control techniques is important, technical elective courses that are offered in undergraduate chemical, civil or environmental engineering place less emphasis on this area of education
Medical waste is limited to infectious, hazardous, and any other wastes that are generated from health care institutions, such as hospitals, clinics, dental offices, and medical laboratories [2]
Summary
Waste in general is any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) that has no direct use and is discarded permanently. The study reveals that there is no proper, systematic management of medical wastes except in a few private hospitals that segregate their infectious wastes. The generation of medical waste in Korea has been increasing in quantity and variety, due to the wide acceptance of single-use disposable items (e.g. gloves, plastic syringes, medical packages, bedding, tubing, and containers) [4]. Incineration is the main method of medical waste treatment in Korea. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there are over 800 clinics and hospitals that generate hazardous medical wastes [5,6]. The main method of medical waste treatment in most countries of the Middle East is incineration; other techniques that produce less pollution are being introduced. The objective of this paper is to introduce readers about the medical waste management regulatory acts, definition of medical wastes, risks of exposure, medical waste management procedures and control techniques
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