What are the effects of disposing medical waste in the environment? ( READ DETAILS)?

Question

I have a research on the dangers of disposing medical waste in the environment, and if you can tell me also how are medical wastes treated, and please give me your sources whatever they were. Thanks.

Answer 1

For safety's sake, follow protocols when disposing pharmaceuticals

Are there hormones, antibiotics, cancer chemotherapy and other potentially harmful drugs lurking in our environment? The federal government recently raised questions about the impact of disposing unused pharmaceuticals. ......................
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Another area of concern is the safe disposal of medical waste such as used syringes and lancets. In the United States, more than 1 billion syringes, needles and lancets will be used each year for diabetes care. Used syringes and lancets can carry the risk of transmitting serious viral diseases such as hepatitis and HIV. ......................................

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070510/SPECIALSECTION/705100380/1002/NEWS01


Going Green
By Timothy A. Mercer

Janet Brown, partner coordinator with Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), has vivid memories of tremendous piles of medical waste.

"I used to work for a consulting firm that had a contract to develop a medical waste plan for the city of New York," she said. "We literally dug through thousands of pounds of medical waste in the late 1980s.

“It was pretty interesting,” Brown said. “I was only 24, looking at the 'red bags' or medically dangerous waste bags to see what should or shouldn't be there, looking at the clear bags to see what should or shouldn't be there, and then helping come up with some ideas so we could make less waste.

"Back then, the public fear associated with medical waste was heightened because it was washing up on the eastern seaboard," she said. "Much of this fear was associated with the AIDS epidemic, which also fed into how hospitals were disposing of various materials. People were just red-bagging everything in sight, and waste removal fees were skyrocketing.

“It did not take long to realize we could not go on like that and we had to make decisions based on science and not perceived risks."

Late to the Party
Brown eventually went to work for one of her firm's clients, Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, as waste management manager. She spent 13 years in that position, addressing an increasing number of issues surrounding health care's environmental footprint.

Health care as an industry has become increasingly environmentally conscious during the past two decades. Spurred by new information regarding health care's environmental impact, evolving regulatory requirements and increasing public awareness, hospitals are "going green" in almost all aspects of their operations.

"We in health care need to be proactive about environmental issues because it's our obligation to model good behavior in terms of the way we improve our environment," said Mary Daubach-Larsen, director of material operations for Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill.

"If we do not respect and bring attention to the links between our environment and our health, if we do not show a good social conscience, who will?"

Daubach-Larsen's comments reflect a growing consensus in an industry that was not always cognizant of environmental impact issues prior to the late 1980s. Then environmental engineers began to look more closely at pollution prevention in health care.

Increased regulatory activity in the industry led to waste reduction recommendations aimed at cutting costs. And rumors of offshore dumping as well as fears surrounding public health issues like HIV/AIDS had the public thinking more than ever about medical waste streams.

Disturbing Discoveries
As the public started to consider health care waste streams more carefully and providers recognized opportunities to reduce costs, sobering numbers from federal studies added to the dialogue.

By the mid-'90s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had identified medical waste incinerators as the leading source of dioxin in the environment. They also were implicated as the major source of mercury in the environment.

"That was really a wake-up call within the industry," Brown said. "Here we were, providers in an industry that's about healing and health, but we're causing these huge issues within our communities.”

In response to EPA's revelations, a group of 28 organizations formed Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) in 1996. Since then, HCWH has grown into a broad-based international coalition of more than 440 organizations in 52 countries. Its growth and its initiatives illustrate the broad range of issues that have come to be considered part of the dialogue surrounding "green" health care environments.

In the past decade, HCWH has helped eliminate markets for mercury-based medical equipment, generating demand for safe alternatives; created new markets for safe and healthy products by leveraging the purchasing power of the health care industry; initiated a green building program specifically geared toward hospitals; and developed a project to change the way hospitals purchase food to support sustainable agricultural practices.

In addition, HCWH created H2E in partnership with the EPA, AHA and the American Nurses Association to implement a shared agenda of toxics reduction and environmental sustainability. Brown said H2E recently transitioned from a grant-funded project to an independent nonprofit organization.

'No One Untouched'
Lindsey Waterhouse works for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. As manager of safety and environmental programs, Waterhouse handles issues like EPA compliance and hazardous waste disposal, air quality, water quality and elements covered under the environment of care sections of the JCAHO standards.

He works alongside two other departments, creating a cross-functional triumvirate of sorts that tackles the wide array of environmental issues affecting health care providers.

"There really is no one left untouched by the reach of our environmental protection work, but to some extent I think that is the hallmark of a good program," he said. The issues that now fall under this umbrella of environmental protection are multifaceted and interconnected.

Waterhouse confirmed that the development of groups like H2E have helped bring more scrutiny to health care. In addition, the EPA stepped up its efforts to bring health care in line with environmental standards in light of continued improper waste disposal, which brought focused audits and large fines, particularly in the Northeast.

JCAHO has been forward-thinking, Waterhouse added, adopting new standards within the environment-of-care sections of the JCAHO standards.

Page 2 - http://physician-assistant.advanceweb.com/Common/editorial/editorial.aspx?CC=88671&CP=2

Managing Regulated Medical Waste -
http://www.health.state.ny.us/facilities/waste/index.htm

Sanitec Industries Hired to Dispose of Medical Waste and Destroy ...
http://www.pr-inside.com/sanitec-industries-hired-to-dispose-of-r126459.htm

Medical Waste Treatment Technologies: Evaluating Non-Incineration Alternatives
http://www.noharm.org/library/docs/Medical_Waste_Treatment_Technologies_Evaluatin.pdf

Hope that helps ..

Answer 2

The specific consequences of improper disposal of medical waste is dependent on what the medical waste is. It could be blood or bodily fluids, media containing viruses/microorganisms/pathogens, or sharps like glass or needles. An organism that comes into contact with the medical waste can be infected with the transmittable agent in question. Medical waste (often called potentially infectious medical waste) is either incinerated or treated to sterilize its infectious nature and then landfilled. If incinerated this is done at a licensed TSDF (disposal facility with adequate pollution control equipment to minimize regulated air emission). Most medical incinerators are privately held by national waste management companies. Medical waste can also be autoclaved (cleaned using high pressure, high temperature water or steam). Other methods of sterilization include chemical immersion (using solutions such as chlorine, ozone or other disinfectants) or even irradiation. After sterilization the waste can then be disposed of as non-hazardous waste.

Answer 3

I know that I have seen things on our local news about this and remember hearing that some female medications were disposed of and certain male fish have taken on female characteristics like producing eggs

Answer 4

They should burn it first