Hospital Incinerator Research Articles

Evaluation of Radioactivity Concentration and Hazard Indices in ash Some Hospitals Incinerators in Baghdad / Al Resafa

Due to their harmful effects on human health and their tendency to cause cancer, radionuclide concentrations and risk indicators have been measured in hospital incinerator ash. This was done by collecting samples ash of Hospitals Incinerators, examining them, and identifying the risks that emerged from the examination. Three samples Only taken for the study from certain hospitals affiliated with the Baghdad Al-Rusafa Health Department. High purity germanium gamma spectrometer (HPGe) were used to analyze the samples. The concentrations of potassium isotopes (K-40) range from (147.1±16.5 to 214.4±21.1 Bq/kg), While the range of concentrations for Ra-226 isotopes is (7.52±1 to 19±1.8 Bq/kg), and lead (Pb-212) isotope concentrations ranged from (10.1±1.1 to 11.1±1.5 Bq/kg). In addition, the isotope concentration of actinium (Ac-228) is 8.05±1. Radium equivalent (), risk index , annual effective dose equivalent radioactivity level index ), absorbed dose rate D, and lifetime cancer risk were calculated. The results showed that no radiation risk Only indicated by any of the risk indicators. This indicates that the ash from the hospital incinerator does not pose any radioactive danger.

Chemical characteristics of bottom ash from biomedical waste incinerators in Ghana.

Biomedical waste (BMW) incineration is the most used alternative disposal method in developing countries, such as Ghana. The improper disposal of incinerator-generated bottom ash (BA) is a significant concern due to the hazardous nature of waste. A study was conducted at Tema Hospital (TGH) and Asuogyaman Hospital (VRAH) incinerator sites. The BA samples were sent to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Institute of Industrial Research, Ghana. The BA samples were weighed with fisher analytical balance, ground, and sieved with standard grade meshes of 120, 100, and 80 to determine the BA particle size distribution. The chemical composition and heavy metals were analysed using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) techniques. The results indicated the chemical composition of the analysed BA samples was CaCO3 (49.90%), CaO (27.96%) and MgCO3 (6.02%) for TGH and CaCO3 (48.30%), CaO (27.07%), and SiO2 (6.10%) for VRAH, respectively. The mean concentration (M) (kg m-3) and standard deviation (SD) for TGH in the BA were 7.082 ± 0.478 (Ti), 4.657 ± 0.127 (Zn) and 4.271 ± 1.263 (Fe), while that of VRAH consisted of 10.469 ± 1.588 (Ti), 7.896 ± 2.154 (Fe) and 4.389 ± 0.371 (Zn). Therefore, the heavy metals' mean concentration at the BA is above the WHO permissible limits of soil, i.e., 0.056kgm-3 (Ti), 0.085kgm-3 (Pb), 0.100kgm-3 (Cr) and 0.036kgm-3 (Cu). Furthermore, the heavy metal mean concentrations of TGH and VRAH present in the BA analysed samples were ranked in descending order: Ti > Zn > Fe and Ti > Fe > Zn, respectively. It is therefore recommended that BA must be properly disposed of because of the hazardous nature of heavy metals present in the analysed samples, which are able to cause environmental and public health issues.

Design and construction of a gas filter system for hospital incinerators

An incinerator is designed to burn combustible waste materials such as municipal solid waste and infectious waste into inert ash. The design reduces waste volumes and subsequently destroys pathogens. A gas filtering unit is designed, constructed, and fitted on an existing incinerator for cleaning the smoke from medical waste treatment. Its main components are a framework whose material is made of galvanized diamond, three wire meshes, made of steel, to serve as filter bed supports, an inlet and 2 sampling holes of diameter 1.5cm beneath the wire meshes, and an outlet and 2 sampling holes of 1.5 cm above the wire meshes. As part of the gas filter design considerations, the amounts of dry volumetric gas discharged during combustion, and of particulate matter produced per cycle of combustion in the chosen incinerator were estimated to be 12,051.86 m3 /cycle, and 2.17 kg PM/cycle of incineration respectively. The novelty in this design consisted in adapting the impingement plate type of wet scrubbing unit for dry adsorption of organic pollutants in smoke using locally-activated charcoal powder. The incorporation of powdered activated charcoal in the filter unit as adsorbent material significantly reduces the emission of harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. As a result, pollution of the environment is minimized. The smoke was sampled before and after filtration, and the samples were later tested in the laboratory for 14 polychlorinated biphenyls, namely PCB 18, PCB 28, PCB 31, PCB 44, PCB 52, PCB 101, PCB 118, PCB 138, PCB 149, PCB 153, PCB 170, PCB 180, PCB 194 and PCB 209. The three charcoal filter beds used in the evaluation study achieved target pollutant reductions in smoke ranging from 2.03 % - 71.85%. An Air Pollution Control Device with such pollutant reductions should justify the continued use of incinerators if they are properly mounted and secured on the incinerators and can curb the problem of air pollution from point sources.

Effectiveness of Charcoal Adsorbent in Flue Gas Filters for PCB Reduction in Smoke from Hospital Incinerators

The release of gas-phase polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as one of the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is an unfortunate result of combustion, especially from medical waste incinerators. This tends to make incinerators unpopular. The idea of a cheaply available air pollution control device fitted to incinerator chimneys can justify the continued use of incinerators. A gas filter unit, consisting of 3 filter beds with activated charcoal as an adsorbent, was designed, constructed, and fitted onto an existing incinerator at a university hospital in Ghana. Flue gas from the incinerator was sampled before and after the filter beds, using cylindrically-shaped mini-polyurethane foam (mini-PUF) samplers, and the analytes in the samples were then Soxhlet-extracted, purified, and analyzed for certain PCBs using the gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) technique. Twelve of the 14 indicators PCBs analyzed in the smoke samples were present, and 11 of them saw mean reductions ranging from 3.67% to 54.9% by the charcoal filter beds. These were PCB 18, PCB 28, PCB 31, PCB 44, PCB 101, PCB 118, PCB 138, PCB149, PCB 153, PCB 170, and PCB180. The gaseous concentrations of PCBs before filtration ranged from 0.0000788 ng/m3 for PCB 180 to 0.00129 ng/m3 for PCB 153. After the filtration by the charcoal adsorbent, they ranged from 0.00003734 ng/m3 for PCB 170 to 0.00112016 ng/m3 for PCB 153. The highest mean reduction of 54.9% came from the homologue, PCB 180, whilst the homologue with a dioxin-like character (PCB 118) saw a 22.44% reduction. This suggests that dioxins and other dioxin-like compounds are most likely adsorbed by the charcoal adsorbent. This gas filter unit should further be investigated for its effectiveness at removing other dioxin-like PCBs, dioxins, and furanes and for testing the effectiveness of thermophilic bacterial strains that can further metabolize these POPs into less harmful products.

Design and Construction of Gas Filter System for Hospital Incinerators

Design and Construction of Gas Filter System for Hospital Incinerators

Projection of incinerators for medical waste processing during a pandemic: a case study of COVID-19 in Jakarta Province

Medical waste management due to the COVID-19 pandemic is important and urgent. An approach is needed to assess the weight of medical waste and to design appropriate waste management. The research was conducted in 2020 when the pandemic was still ongoing and had not yet reached the peak of the outbreak. Thus, the analysis was built based on assumptions and available data. The research was quantitative. Data were collected digitally (by big data retrieval and web survey) on the COVID-19 referral hospitals in Jakarta Province. The results showed that before the pandemic the weight of inpatients' medical waste was 1.57 kg/bed/day, while for COVID-19 inpatients was 1.84 kg/bed/day. The last number was processed with a limited projection of Jakarta population in 2020, then tested using two scenarios. First scenario was a pandemic condition without treatment. Second scenario was a pandemic condition plus vaccinations on D11. First scenario resulted that on D75, almost all residents of Jakarta would be infected with the SARS-COV2 virus and the maximum capacity of hospital incinerators in Jakarta was reached on D11. Second scenario resulted that the plague rate is resolved so that it does not infect all residents of Jakarta, but the capacity of hospital incinerators in Jakarta is still not adequate (limit on D11). Research has implications for environmental management budget planning in dealing with infectious disease outbreaks. The research recommendation is to calculate the weight of COVID-19 medical waste according to current conditions, which includes parameters such as the maximum hospital occupancy rate and the availability of large-scale incinerators belong to third-party.

Assessing the management of healthcare waste for disease prevention and environment protection at selected hospitals in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Incineration is the most used healthcare waste (HCW) disposal method. Disease outbreaks due to Ebola virus and SARS-CoV2 require attention to HCW management to avoid pathogens spread and spillover. This study describes HCW management prior to incineration and hospital incinerators performance by analysing bottom ashes from hospitals in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. We used semi-structured interviews to capture information on pre-incineration waste management and analysed the chemical composition of 27 samples of incinerator bottom ashes using the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. Neither sorting nor waste management measures were applied at hospitals surveyed. Incinerator operators were poorly equipped and their knowledge was limited. The bottom ash concentrations of cadmium, chromium, nickel and lead ranged between 0.61-10.44, 40.15-737.01, 9.11-97.55 and 16.37-240.03 mg kg-1, respectively. Compared to Chinese incinerator performance, the concentrations of some elements were found to be lower than those from China. This discrepancy may be explained by the difference in the composition of HCW. The authors conclude that health care waste in Kinshasa hospitals is poorly managed, higher concentrations of heavy metals are found in incinerator bottom ashes and the incinerators quality is poor. They recommend the strict application of infection prevention control measures, the training of incinerator operators and the use of high-performance incinerators.

Coloured sintered glass-ceramics from hospital incineration fly ash

AimsThe thermal plasma treatment is an effective method which can be used to convert hazardous waste into less toxic or inert glassy products. The aim of this paper is to show the experimental use of a thermal plasma treatment process to transform the hospital incineration fly ash into glassy products (vitrificates) that can be stored on the land without harmful environmental effects or sintered for producing with some additives coloured tiles useful as construction materials. ScopeThe aims were achieved by: (i) optimization of temperature and energy used adjusting the process to minimum cost and (ii) stabilization of vitrificates with different compositions of waste mixtures. The chemical stabilization of final products was examined by heavy metals leachability tests. Hardness measurements were done to verify the physical stabilization of vitrificates. Also, it has been tested if the reinforcement and coloration of raw material by various pigments as well as the chemical compounds affect the stability of the final products. ConclusionIt was seen that chemical composition of raw materials influenced the chemical and physical properties of the vitrificates and decided about their internal structures.

Solidification/Stabilization of Hospital Waste Incineration Bottom Ash using Ordinary Portland Cement

Solidification/stabilization is an alternative treatment for hazardous and toxic waste materials. The research aims to study solidification/stabilization of bottom ash from hospital incinerator using Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and to evaluate the effect of a composition ratio of mortar mixture to heavy metal leaching which influenced by pH, stirring, and leaching time. The rough texture of bottom ash was crushed manually to 4 mm in size, and mortar fabrication was carried out based on the practical instructions for mixing mortar according to ASTM C 305, and mortar molds were prepared based on standard procedures of SNI 03-6825-2002. Leaching test for heavy metals from a mortar sample was carried out by immersing it in 500 mL of aquadest. Results showed that bottom ash from hospital waste incinerator could be mixed with cement as a binder in the solidification/stabilization process. The addition of bottom ash 25-75% of the weight of sand occurred in increased compressive strength. However, the addition of bottom ash greater than 50% by weight of fine aggregate would be reduced the compressive strength of mortar. The compressive strength of all mortar samples of this study met to the standard value (SNI 03-6882-2002). Furthermore, the results of the study showed that there was an influence of changes in pH conditions. These results were indicated by the presence of Cu metal content of 0.0109 mg/L at 50 rpm shaking with pH = 11 and Cu metal content of 0.0101 mg/L at 50 rpm shaking with pH = 7 on mortar baths.

Preliminary Assessment of the Status of Hospital Incineration Facilities as a Health Care Waste Management Practice in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia

Healthcare institutions generate different types of infectious and/or hazardous medical waste that poses enormous risk to patients, healthcare providers, waste pickers, and the community at large, if their disposal is not comprehensively and scientifically managed. This study was focused on the assessment of waste management practice, the status of existing medical waste incinerator facility found in Addis Ababa city government and private hospitals. A cross sectional descriptive study was carried out with the aim of assessing the current facility status and practices. The study approach involved literature review, use of survey, an empirical investigation comprising physical visit, observation checklist, and group discussion. The results showed that poor hazardous waste handling practice indicating all hospital incinerator have 100% some sort of incinerator but in different grade level which were categorized in three groups such as 93% of them were local ordinary brick incinerator in various and poorly designed, constructed and operated manner, whereas 7% of them were modern imported incinerator still among these only 5% of them were functional but still operated below the standard whereas the rest were old and nonfunctional. This paper has highlighted the pitfalls of poor status of incinerator facility and management practices in hospital waste management.

Physicochemical characteristics and heavy metal levels in soil samples obtained from selected anthropogenic sites in Abeokuta, Nigeria

This study assessed the effect of heavy metals introduced into the soils through human activities which can bio-accumulate in plants and passed to man via the food chain that can pose health risk. Topsoil samples were collected from selected anthropogenic and control sites (dumpsites, mechanical workshops, abattoirs, fuel filling stations and hospital incinerators) in Abeokuta, Nigeria at the depths 0-5cm, 5-10cm and 10-15cm. Physicochemical parameters such as pH, moisture content, bulk density, organic matter, organic carbon, particle size distribution and Mn, Zn, Pb, and Cd were analyzed in soils using standard methods. Soil pH values ranged from 5.17 - 8.28, moisture content ranged from 3.50 - 28.55 %, bulk density ranged from 0.78 - 2.29 gcm-3, organic matter ranged from 0.09 - 16.01 %, organic carbon ranged from 0.02 % - 8.48 %. Mean concentrations of heavy metals (mgkg-1) ranged from 182.69 ± 61.95 - 697.06 ± 85.62; 122.69 ± 30.04 - 632.94 ± 508.79; 19.38 ± 6.72 - 158.50 ± 71.41; 0.25 ± 0.00 - 1.63 ± 1.38 for Mn, Zn, Pb and Cd respectively. Distribution pattern of heavy metals in petrol stations, abattoirs, mechanic workshops and hospital incinerator sites were Mn > Zn > Pb > Cd, while for dumpsites Zn > Mn > Pb > Cd. Pollution index indicated that soil qualities varied between slightly contaminated to severely polluted status. This showed that the heavy metal contamination of the soils does not call for any alarm; proactive measures must be taken to minimize accumulation of these metals.Keywords: Heavy metals, dumpsites, pollution, physicochemical parameters, abattoirs and soils

Immobilization of hospital waste incineration ashes in glass-ceramic composites

In the paper process of sintering of hospital incineration ash as a counterpart of low-level active waste with borosilicate glass frit is presented. It is shown that low porosity glass-ceramic waste-form can be obtained at a temperature range of 850–900°C. In the sinter, the main crystal phases are wollastonite and aegirine-augite pyroxenes which have a large isomorphous capacity of binding hazardous elements. The crystal phases are fully encapsulated by the glass that provides additional protection against environmental influence. Thus, multibarrier material can be obtained at a temperature considerably lower than vitrification. This, in turn, can improve the economics of immobilization process.

Heavy Metal Determination in the Bottom Solid Waste Ash Produced from Sabah and Shuaiba Hospital Incinerators in Kuwait

Heavy Metal Determination in the Bottom Solid Waste Ash Produced from Sabah and Shuaiba Hospital Incinerators in Kuwait

Thermal and physicochemical technologies used in hospital incineration fly ash utilization before landfill in Poland

AbstractBACKGROUNDUtilization and safety storage of hazardous waste like hospital incineration fly ash is an important ecological problem. In Poland the dominant process of waste storage is landfill. The characteristics of the raw waste as well as their transformation products after various utilization processes is very important to minimize the environmental impact.RESULTSThe research presented compares product stabilization obtained using two investigated technologies: thermal plasma treatment in a vitrification process, and solidification with Portland cement as the binder in hydration and granulation processes. The leachability of six heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr), indicated in the Council Decision 2003/33/EC as the main parameters influencing the environment, were studied.CONCLUSIONThe most stable products were vitrificates – immobilization exceeded 90%. The immobilization of heavy metals in solidified waste using Portland cement in a hydrated process were estimated at between 60 and 90%. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry

Heavy Metal Concentrations around a Hospital Incinerator and a Municipal Dumpsite in Ibadan City, South-West Nigeria

Studies to determine the concentrations of heavy metals in the surrounding soils and bottom ash of a hospital incinerator and a municipal dumpsite were carried out in Ibadan City, South-West Nigeria from November 2010 to January 2011. Samples were analyzed for Pb, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cr and Ni using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. Data obtained were analyzed using ANOVA, Students T-test and Pearson correlation. Mean concentrations of heavy metals in the sampled soils at the incinerator were 185.22±72.88, 16.22±13.13, 69.11±54.26, 2.33±2.53, 22.48±21.00 and 0.58±0.30 for Fe, Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb and Ni respectively, mean concentrations in the incinerator bottom ash were 5357.52±4671.89mg/Kg, 938.2±428.42mg/kg, 10670±3852.44mg/kg, 72.96±15.14mg/kg, 427.2±197.69mg/kg and 34.78±11.69mg/kg for Fe, Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb and Ni respectively and mean concentrations in sampled soils of municipal dumpsite were 290.67±78.66mg/Kg, 7.86±1.68mg/kg, 132.87±39.40mg/kg, 2.58±1.48mg/kg, 14.52±6.76mg/kg and 0.79±0.26mg/kg for Fe, Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb and Ni respectively. ANOVA showed that Fe (F = 11.254), Cu (F = 5.678), Zn (F = 20.399) and Pb (F = 3.679) had significant variations with sampling site, with bottom ash having the highest concentrations. The concentrations of heavy metals from both locations were higher than in the control site, indicating pollution. The heavy metal contents of the soils analyzed were all below the USEPA standard limits. However, the bottom ash contained high levels of Zn and Pb, that exceeded the standard limits. There is a need to appropriately dispose off the bottom ash from incinerators.. @ JASEM

Metabolomic Profiling of In Vivo Plasma Responses to Dioxin-Associated Dietary Contaminant Exposure in Rats: Implications for Identification of Sources of Animal and Human Exposure

Dioxin contamination of the food chain typically occurs when cocktails of combustion residues or polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) containing oils become incorporated into animal feed. These highly toxic compounds are bioaccumulative with small amounts posing a major health risk. The ability to identify animal exposure to these compounds prior to their entry into the food chain may be an invaluable tool to safeguard public health. Dioxin-like compounds act by a common mode of action and this suggests that markers or patterns of response may facilitate identification of exposed animals. However, secondary co-contaminating compounds present in typical dioxin sources may affect responses to compounds. This study has investigated for the first time the potential of a metabolomics platform to distinguish between animals exposed to different sources of dioxin contamination through their diet. Sprague-Dawley rats were given feed containing dioxin-like toxins from hospital incinerator soot, a common PCB oil standard and pure 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) (normalized at 0.1 μg/kg TEQ) and acquired plasma was subsequently biochemically profiled using ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) quadropole time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (QTof-MS). An OPLS-DA model was generated from acquired metabolite fingerprints and validated which allowed classification of plasma from individual animals into the four dietary exposure study groups with a level of accuracy of 97-100%. A set of 24 ions of importance to the prediction model, and which had levels significantly altered between feeding groups, were positively identified as deriving from eight identifiable metabolites including lysophosphatidylcholine (16:0) and tyrosine. This study demonstrates the enormous potential of metabolomic-based profiling to provide a powerful and reliable tool for the detection of dioxin exposure in food-producing animals.

Groundwater Pollution Risk from Incinerated Health-Care Waste Bottom-Ash at a National Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya

The bottom-ash left after incinerating health-care waste may contain heavy metals which may leach and pollute the environment if not properly disposed of. Bottom ash samples were taken from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital incinerator, and disposal pit ashes from an excavation of an adjacent abandoned pit. Concentrations of total chromium, cadmium, lead, silver and mercury were analyzed with Atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Concentration of the heavy metals in the bottom ash and soils were found to exceed the maximum levels specified by National Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act and European Union Standards. There was evidence of heavy metals leaching from pit-ashes and permeating along the ground profile. These were traced at intervals of 250mm along the 2m excavated profile. The disposal pit was not lined making it possible for the leaching heavy metals to permeate and pollute the groundnut whose phreatic surface was at 2m depth.

Geographic information system-based healthcare waste management planning for treatment site location and optimal transportation routeing

In Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), a growth of healthcare centres, and the environmental hazards and public health risks typically accompanying them, increased the need for healthcare waste (HCW) management planning. An effective planning of an HCW management system including components such as the treatment plant siting and an optimized routeing system for collection and transportation of waste is deemed important. National government offices at developing countries often lack the proper tools and methodologies because of the high costs usually associated with them. However, this study attempts to demonstrate the use of an inexpensive GIS modelling tool for healthcare waste management in the country. Two areas were designed for this study on HCW management, including: (a) locating centralized treatment plants and designing optimum travel routes for waste collection from nearby healthcare facilities; and (b) utilizing existing hospital incinerators and designing optimum routes for collecting waste from nearby healthcare facilities. Spatial analysis paved the way to understand the spatial distribution of healthcare wastes and to identify hotspots of higher waste generating locations. Optimal route models were designed for collecting and transporting HCW to treatment plants, which also highlights constraints in collecting and transporting waste for treatment and disposal. The proposed model can be used as a decision support tool for the efficient management of hospital wastes by government healthcare waste management authorities and hospitals.

Hospital waste incinerator bottom ash leachate induced cyto-genotoxicity in Allium cepa and reproductive toxicity in mice

The potentials of hospital incinerator bottom ash leachate (HIBAL) to induce cyto-genotoxicity in Allium cepa and reproductive anomalies in the mouse were investigated. The leachate obtained from simulation of the bottom ash was analyzed for some physico-chemical parameters. The A. cepa, mouse sperm morphology and histopathological tests were carried out at concentrations ranging from 1% to 50% of the leachate sample. In A. cepa, HIBAL caused significant (p < 0.05) inhibition of root growth and induction of chromosomal aberrations. In the animal assays, there was 100% mortality at the 50% concentrations. The leachate caused insignificant (p > 0.05) concentration-dependent induction of various types of sperm morphology. There was accumulation of fluid in the seminiferous tubule lumen and necrosis of stem cells in the testes. These effects were believed to be provoked by the somatic and germ cell genotoxins, particularly the heavy metals in the leachate. Our finding is of environmental and public health significance.

Use of the Moss Dicranum montanum to Evaluate Recent Temporal Trends of Mercury Accumulation in Oak Forests of Pennsylvania

The epiphytic corticolous moss Dicranum montanum, a common inhabitant of upland Quercus rubra (northern red oak) trunks in southwestern Pennsylvania, is a useful biomonitor to evaluate levels of total mercury (Hg) in stemflow within mixed-oak forests. Moss samples were collected annually during October–November of 2000–2005 at 11 permanent research plots on a ridgetop and analyzed for total-Hg concentrations. The mean total-Hg concentration in moss tissue across all 11 plots for all 6 years (n = 66) was 424 ng/g dry wt. Total Hg for 9 of the 11 plots exhibited a downward time trend during the 6-year period; the trend line for the remaining two plots was nearly horizontal. When all data were combined, the linear regression based on mean Hg values for all plots was significant at p = 0.028 over the 6-year study period, with an adjusted R-square of 67.6%. This downward trend likely reflects reduction of airborne Hg emissions in the region due to several factors, including closure of steel mills and coke ovens in the Johnstown–Pittsburgh area, co-benefit of sulfur dioxide emissions controls, and reduction of Hg emissions from municipal and hospital incinerators.