Page 42 - Mechanic Diesel - TT

MECHANIC DIESEL - CITS

• Yellow Bag - All dressings, bandages and cotton swabs with body fluids, blood bags, human anatomical waste,
body parts are to be discarded in yellow bags.
• Cardboard box with blue marking - Glass vials, ampules, other glass ware is to be discarded in a cardboard
box with a blue marking/sticker.
• White Puncture Proof Container (PPC) - Needles, sharps, blades are disposed of in a white translucent
puncture proof container.

• Black Bags - These are to be used for non-bio-medical waste. In a hospital setup, this includes stationary,
vegetable and fruit peels, leftovers, packaging including that from medicines, disposable caps, disposable
masks, disposable shoe-covers, disposable tea cups, cartons, sweeping dust, kitchen waste etc.
The syringe tide environmental disaster
The syringe tide environmental disaster of 1987-1988 raised awareness about medical waste as medical syringes
washed ashore in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. A similar situation occurred in 2013 at Island Beach
State Park in New Jersey, and brought about the Floatables Action Plan. The syringes endangered marine
species and posed a threat to humans who visited the beach. The crises spurred scientists and lawmakers
to create mechanisms, policies, and laws so that health care providers would process their bio-waste in an
environmentally friendly way. Improper management of health care waste can have both direct and indirect health
consequences for health personnel, community members and on the environment. Indirect consequences in
the form of toxic emissions from inadequate burning of medical waste, or the production of millions of used
syringes in a period of three to four weeks from an insufficiently well planned mass immunization campaign.
Biomedical waste is not limited to medical instruments; it includes medicine, waste stored in red biohazard bags,
and materials used for patient care, such as cotton and band aids. The high volume of plastic use in the medical
field also poses a dangerous threat to the environment. According to North and Hilden, 85% of disposable plastic
materials make up all medical equipment. Our current reliance on plastic materials is rooted in their unique
capabilities to be lightweight, cost-effective, and durable while preserving the sterility of medical equipment. In
addition to the serious health implications of releasing harmful toxins in the environment from medical waste
deposits, introducing this volume of single-use plastics can catalyze the compounding health detriments caused
by macro and micro plastics.
Methods of biomedical waste incineration: The three type of medical waste incinerators are controlled air,
excess air, and rotary kiln. Controlled air is also known as starved-air incineration, two-stage incineration, or
modular combustion. This is the process of which waste is fed to a combustion chamber and combustion air begins
to dry and facilitates volatilization of the waste. As a result, carbon dioxide and other excess gases are released
into the atmosphere. The second type of incineration is the excess air process. This is similar to the controlled air
process, such as the waste being dried, ignited, and combusted by heat provided by the primary chamber burner.
However, the main difference is that moisture and volatile components in the waste are vaporized. In a rotary kiln,
the process is similar to the two mention above, however, it is more versatile in terms of being able to mix wet and
dry waste components and viewed by many waste engineers as being the most environmentally friendly.

Impact on the environment: Post incineration process, toxic ash residue is produced and is often disposed at
landfills. These landfills are not protected by any barrier and the residue has the potential of reaching underground
water that is often exposed to human use. The combustion of plastic material releases toxic gases that escapes and
joins breathable air. Human and animal exposure to such gases can cause long term breathing and health issues.
Air pollution caused by the incinerators depletes the ozone layer, causes crop and forest damage, and increases
climate change. Constant exposure to such toxins and chemicals in the air could be deemed detrimental to trees
and plants and could eventually lead to extinction of certain plants in specific areas. Pollution and chemical leaks
also affect the fruits of trees and would cause them to be poisonous and therefore, inedible.
Environmentally friendly alternatives: Reusable RMW or sharps containers reduce the amount of plastic sent
to landfills and CO 2 emissions. Non-incineration treatment includes four basic processes: thermal, chemical,
irradiative, and biological. The main purpose of the treatment technology is to decontaminate waste by destroying
pathogens. Modern technology invented mechanics that would allow medical professionals and hospitals to
dispose medical waste in an environmentally friendly way; such as: autoclaving, plasma pyrolysis, gasification,
chemical methods, and microwave irradiation. These alternatives are also highly versatile and can be used for all
different types of waste.

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CITS : Automotive - Mechanic Diesel - Lesson 01 - 04