Page 39 - Mechanic Diesel - TT

MECHANIC DIESEL - CITS

Biomedical waste is generated from biological and medical sources and activities, such as the diagnosis,
prevention, or treatment of diseases. Common generators (or producers) of biomedical waste include hospitals,
health clinics, nursing homes, emergency medical services, medical research laboratories, offices of physicians,
dentists, veterinarians, home health care and morgues or funeral homes. Medical facilities generate waste
hazardous chemicals and radioactive materials. While such wastes are normally not infectious, they require
proper disposal. Some wastes are considered multi hazardous, such as tissue samples preserved in formalin.

Characteristics of Bio-medical waste: Disposal of this waste is an environmental concern, as many medical
wastes are classified as infectious or biohazardous and could potentially lead to the spread of infectious disease.
The most common danger for humans is the infection which also affects other living organisms in the region. Daily
exposure to the wastes (landfills) leads to accumulation of harmful substances or microbes in the person’s body.
Biomedical waste those settings may pose an injury and exposure risks via occupational contact with medical
waste for doctors, nurses, and janitorial, laundry and refuse workers. Further, there are opportunities for the
general public to come into contact medical waste, such as needles used illicitly outside healthcare settings, or
biomedical waste generated via home health care.
Techniques of bio-medical waste management: Biomedical waste must be properly managed and disposed of
to protect the environment, general public and workers, especially healthcare and sanitation workers who are at
risk of exposure to biomedical waste as an occupational hazard. Steps in the management of biomedical waste
include generation, accumulation, handling, storage, treatment, transport and disposal. The development and
implementation of a national waste management policy can improve biomedical waste management in health
facilities in a country.

Generation, accumulation and collection of biomedical waste: Biomedical waste should be collected in
containers that are leak-proof and sufficiently strong to prevent breakage during handling. Containers of biomedical
waste are marked with a biohazard symbol. The container, marking, and labels are often red. Discarded sharps
are usually collected in specialized boxes, often called needle boxes.
Storage & Handling of biomedical waste: Storage refers to keeping the waste until it is treated on-site or
transported off-site for treatment or disposal. There are many options and containers for storage. Regulatory
agencies may limit the time for which waste can remain in storage. Handling is the act of moving biomedical waste
between the point of generation, accumulation areas, storage locations and on-site treatment facilities. Workers
who handle biomedical waste must observe standard precautions.

Treatment of bio-medical waste: The goals of biomedical waste treatment are to reduce or eliminate the
waste’s hazards, and usually to make the waste unrecognizable. Treatment should render the waste safe for
subsequent handling and disposal. There are several treatment methods that can accomplish these goals. It
includes segregating the bio waste.
Biomedical waste is often incinerated. An efficient incinerator will destroy pathogens and sharps. Source materials
are not recognizable in the resulting ash. Alternative thermal treatment can also include technologies such as
gasification and pyrolysis including energy recovery with similar waste volume reductions and pathogen destruction.
An autoclave may also be used to treat biomedical waste. An autoclave uses steam and pressure to sterilize the
waste or reduce its microbiological load to a level at which it may be safely disposed of. Many healthcare facilities
routinely use an autoclave to sterilize medical supplies. If the same autoclave is used to sterilize supplies and
treat biomedical waste, administrative controls must be used to prevent the waste operations from contaminating
the supplies. Effective administrative controls include operator training, strict procedures, and separate times and
space for processing biomedical waste.
Autoclave (Fig 24)

Microwave disinfection can also be employed for treatment of biomedical wastes. Microwave irradiation is a
type of non-contact heating technologies for disinfection. Microwave chemistry is based on efficient heating of
materials by microwave dielectric heating effects. When exposed to microwave frequencies, the dipoles of the
water molecules present in cells re-align with the applied electric field. As the field oscillates, the dipoles attempts
to realign itself with the alternating electric field and in this process, energy is lost in the form of heat through
molecular friction and dielectric loss. Microwave disinfection is a recently developed technology which provides
advantage over old existing technologies of autoclaves as microwave based disinfection has less cycle time,
power consumption and it requires minimal usage of water and consumables as compared to autoclaves.

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CITS : Automotive - Mechanic Diesel - Lesson 01 - 04