|
BIO-MEDICAL WASTES AND INCINERATION: The Burning Issues
Medical waste can be defined as waste generated as a result of diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of humans or animals. Unfortunately, there is no one common specific definition of what constitutes medical waste so each facility must determine this based on applicable regulations. Bio-medical wastes basically refer to all materials, biological or non-biological, that are discarded in any health care facility and not intended for any other use. General categories of medical or hospital wastes may be grouped as : General trash (recyclable or compostable materials, residuals are disposed of as municipal solid waste); Regulated medical waste or infectious waste (waste that is capable of producing infectious disease, including pathological waste); and Hazardous waste (waste that may cause or significantly contribute to mortality or serious illness, or pose a substantial hazard to human health and the environment if improperly managed or disposed of). In a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), the distribution of hospital wastes in developing countries are 80% general health care wastes, 15% pathological and infectious waste, 1% sharp waste, and 3% chemical or pharmaceutical wastes. These bio-medical wastes may be generated from any of the following facilities : hospitals, health centers, clinics (medical, dental, veterinary), pharmaceutical laboratories, blood banks, funeral parlors, medical schools, and research institutions. 2. How will incinerators solve the problem of increasing hospital wastes? Hospitals generate a vast amount of medical wastes each year. A Health Care Waste (HCW) Generation study conducted by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) revealed that there are 3,760 health care facilities in Metro Manila alone, which generate some 47,228 kilograms of bio-medical wastes a day. Out of this, 56% are considered infectious. In the past, many hospitals simply dumped all waste streams together, from reception-area trash to operating room waste, and burned them in incinerators. However, incineration has been found to be the leading source of highly toxic dioxin, furans, mercury, lead, and other dangerous air pollutants. These emissions have serious adverse consequences on worker safety, public health, and the environment. Dioxins, for example, have been linked to cancer, immune system disorders, diabetes, birth defects, and other health effects. Medical waste incinerators are a leading source of dioxins and mercury in the environment. These recent developments have moved policy makers and sectors of society to push for the banning of incineration. In other words, incinerator is NOT considered an option for proper disposal and management of bio-medical wastes. 3. What are the legal backbones that support the ban on incineration? There are three laws that tackle the proper management of hospital wastes. These are Republic Act No. 6969 (Toxic and Hazardous Substances and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990), RA No. 8749 (Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999) and RA No. 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000). A milestone development concerning hospital waste management was the phasing out of incinerators on July 17, 2003, stated under Section 20 of the Clean Air Act. This environmental law also exhorts for the use of best available technology in lieu of incinerators, thus to “promote the use of state-of-the-art, environmentally-sound and safe non-burn technologies for the handling, treatment, thermal destruction, utilization and disposal of sorted, unrecycled, uncomposted municipal, bio-medical and hazardous waste.” The Toxic and Hazardous Substances and Nuclear Wastes Control Act, on the other hand, covers the management of all unregulated substances while the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act institutes measures in the minimization, recovery and disposal of hospital wastes. Putting Out the Flames 4. How do you manage the disposal of regulated medical waste or infectious waste in hospitals? The Clean Air Act promotes the use of alternative non-burn technologies such as size reduction and compaction, autoclave and microwave for thermal technologies, which are among the most common technologies used in the country today. Other alternatives include the use of chlorination and ozonation, as well as radioactive methods such as electron beam and Cobalt-60, which are quite expensive and biological processes like the enzymatic process or composting. The DENR is in close coordination with Department of Health in enforcing concrete and specific steps to tackle the wastes generated by health care establishments. For inquiries, please contact: Hazardous
Waste Management Section National
Solid Waste Management Commission Secretariat www.emb.gov.ph
|