Academic literature on the topic 'Hospitals – Waste disposal – Oregon'

Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge and practices of hospital administrationregarding hospital waste management at Tertiary Care Hospitals of Karachi. Study Design:Cross sectional study. Period: June 2014 to December 2014. Methods: Study was conductedin fifteen tertiary care hospitals. Five government, eight private and two trust hospitals wereselected by quota sampling technique. Information was collected from selected hospitalwaste management staff, using a pretested questionnaire regarding knowledge and practicesof hospital waste disposal. Results: Data shows that only 33.3% had knowledge regardinginfectious and noninfectious waste disposal and 27% of the understudy hospitals wereseparate infectious and noninfectious waste. Only 20% of the total hospitals were using propermethod for the separation of the sharps.93.3% hospital waste management staff was notvaccinated against hepatitis ‘B’ and tetanus. Only 53.3% hospitals have their own incineratorfacilities. Conclusions: This study showed that the practices employed by the hospital wastemanagement staff were not safe. There is a need to implement the recommended SOP’s ofhospital waste management program.

Introduction: Hospital waste is a special type of waste which carries high potential of infection and injury. Objectives: Thisstudy was conducted to examine Medical Waste Management Practices in different hospitals of Peshawar. Methodology: Simpleobservational, cross-sectional study. was conducted with a case study approach. Aug-Sep 2011, with selection of 15 hospitals. The datawas collected through a pre-designed questionnaire with a checklist. Results: The study showed that 80% of the hospital personnel knewhospital waste and its management. There was waste management plan present in 30% of hospitals. Although hospitals did not quantifiedwaste amounts but on average the amount of waste generated daily was 0.5-1 kg/bed/day. Segregation into risk and non risk waste wasdone in 93.3% of hospitals. For non risk waste, disposal through Municipal Corporation was conducted in 86.67% of the hospitals, whilein 13.3%, it was burnt. For risk waste, either it was buried or burnt. Proper incineration was carried out in only 33.3% of the hospitals.Discussion: Hospital waste generation, segregation, collection, transportation & disposal practices were not in accordance with standardguidelines. The average waste generation in most of the hospitals was almost equivalent to other under developed countries but less thanthat of developed countries. Conclusions: The hospital waste in the majority of hospitals of Peshawar was mismanaged. No properhospital waste management plan existed except at few hospitals.

Objectives: To know the amount of total waste generated in the hospital daily,to know the types of waste and the amount of infectious waste generated daily, and to know about knowledge andattitude of the health care workers, doctors nurses and sanitary staff about hospital waste. Setting: The study areais the Pakistan Railway Hospital a tertiary level care Hospital consisting of 380 beds and all the essential Departments.Study Period: the study was conducted from June 2006 to September 2006. Material and methods: study design:This was a cross sectional study Single tertiary level care hospital was studied due to limitation of time and resources.Data collection: Data was collected by using structured questionnaire and weighing of one day (24 hours) waste fromall the units. Other relevant data was collected by structured interviews, meetings, discussions. Results: wastegenerated in twenty four hours is 229.75 Kg. The average waste generated per patient per day is 1.05 Kg, the quantityof infectious waste generated is 104.8 Kg i.e. 0.478 Kg per patient per day. Quantity of waste generated in order ofmaximum to minimum waste was Gynae/Obs 1.29Kg, Paediatrics1.15Kg, Surgery 1.13 followed by Orthopaedics0.80Kg, ENT 0.71 Medicine 0.48 and ophthalmology 0.4Kg all per bed per day. The responses show that all thecategories of hospital workers are nearly not having the proper knowledge about the hazards and therefore unable togive suggestion or solution of the problem. Conclusion: Health care waste management in Railway Hospital is in badshape. The general awareness on the subject is very much lacking both by the producers as well as handlers of waste.There is acute need for training and sensitization of managers, staff and sanitary staff for safe disposal of waste.

ABSTRACT Various national and international agencies have shown their concern towards proper handling, treatment and disposal of biomedical waste, as they may cause serious infectious diseases like hepatitis, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Most of the hospitals do not have effective disposal system leading to complex problem of hygiene and sanitation in hospitals. The use of disposable items has reduced the rate of infection but at the same time has increased the volume of the waste which needs to be disposed properly. Effective waste disposal can be achieved only by considering the various components of the waste management system and this should be made an integral part of hospital planning and designing.

<div><p><em>Biomedical waste management is receiving larger attention because of recent regulations of the biomedical Wastes (Management &amp;amp; Handling Rules, 1998). Inadequate management of biomedical waste may be associated with risks to healthcare employees, patients, communities and their environment. The current study was conducted to assess the quantities and proportions of different constituents of wastes, their handling, treatment and disposal way in numerous health-cares. In this research, we try to elaborate and discuss the of Bio-medical waste management procedure of Ujjain city. Various health care units were surveyed using a modified survey form for waste management. This form was obtained from the world Health Organization (WHO), with the aim of assessing the processing systems for biomedical waste disposal. Hazards related to poor biomedical waste management and shortcomings in the existing system were identified. The development of waste management policies, plans, and protocols are suggested, in addition to establishing training programs on correct waste management for all healthcare workers.</em></p></div>

The injury medical waste is the most serious infectious, which serious impact on human health and environmental issues. There are many hidden dangers in the injury medical waste processing, particularly in small and medium-sized hospitals. The current situation, classify and hazard are analysed, as well as problems and difficulties in injury medical waste disposal. The disposal mechods and countermeasures are put forward to dispose the injury medical waste for small and medium-sized hospitals. The research has certain practical significance for injury medical waste disposal.

AbstractThis research article is to survey the practice of biomedical waste such as collection, storage, transportation and disposal along with the amount of generated biomedical waste in various hospitals in Davangere city, and create awareness among the staff and patient about biomedical wastes. The survey result on biomedical waste generation, disposal and methods adopted in various hospitals of Davangere city are discussed.

This thesis critically evaluates the policies, processes and practices of medical waste management in selected rural hospitals in the Eastern Cape. Medical Waste Management is a growing public health and environmental issue worldwide. Research shows large scale incapacity in dealing with medical waste in an efficient and sustainable fashion globally, which demonstrates that it is not merely a developing world problem alone. This study is conducted against the backdrop of an increasing medical waste crisis in South Africa. Although there are an abundance of studies on solid waste management, there is a lack of data and research particularly on medical waste management in rural hospitals. The crisis of medical waste management in South Africa is closely intertwined with the collapsing health care system and an overburdened natural environment. It is an undisputable fact that South Africa’s generation of medical waste far exceeds its capacity to handle it effectively. This thesis argues that the neglect of medical waste as an environmental-health issue and the absence of an integrated national medical waste management plan aggravate the medical waste problem in the country. In explaining the medical waste crisis, this thesis adopts a Marxist perspective which is based on the premise that industrial capitalist societies place economic growth and production at high priority at the expense of the natural environment; creating a society that is engulfed by high health risk due to the generation of hazardous and toxic waste. Industrial societies view themselves as superior and separate from the natural environment, whereas one cannot separate nature from society as they are interlinked. As society attempts to adopt a sustainable environmental approach towards environmental management, science and technology are enforced as a solution to environmental problems in order to continue developing countries’ economies whilst sustainably managing and protecting the environment, which is contradictory. This thesis emphasises that medical waste management is a socio-political problem as much as it is an environmental problem, hence the need to focus on power relations and issues of environmental and social justice. The results of the study identified gaps in policy framework nationally and institutionally on medical waste management. In addition, there were poor waste management practices due to poor training, inadequate infrastructure and resources as well as poor budget support.

Thesis (MTech(Environmental Health))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011.
Pharmaceuticals have been formulated to influence physiological systems in humans, animals, and microbes but have never been considered as potential environmental pollutants by healthcare professionals. The human body is not a barrier to chemicals, but is permeable to it. Thus after performing their in-vivo functions, pharmaceutical compound introduced into the body, exit mainly via urine and faeces. Sewage therefore contains highly complex mixtures of chemicals in various degrees of biological potency. Sewage treatment works including those in South Africa, on the other hand, are known to be inefficient in removing drugs from sewage and consequently either the unmetabolised pharmaceutical compounds or their metabolites emerge in the environment as pollutants via several trajectories. In the environment, the excreted metabolites may even undergo regeneration to the original parent molecule under bacterial influence, resulting in “trans-vivo-pharmaceutical-pol ution-cycles”. Although all incinerators are known to generate toxins such dioxins and furans from the drugs they incinerate, all the medicines disposed by the hospitals under research, were incinerated, as the preferred option of disposal. The incineration process employed was found to be environmentally unsafe. Expired and unused medicines which the general public discard as municipal solid waste become landfilled. Because many landfill sites are not appropriately engineered, the unwanted drugs landfilled therein, leach into the surrounding ground water, which is the influent source of water treatment plants. Water treatment plants, including those in South Africa, are also inefficient in eliminating pharmaceutical compounds, releasing them in sub-therapeutic concentrations into potable tap water as pollutants, the full effects of which are yet to be determined.

Thesis (MTech (Environmental Health))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011.
Pharmaceuticals have been formulated to influence physiological systems in humans, animals, and microbes but have never been considered as potential environmental pollutants by healthcare professionals. The human body is not a barrier to chemicals, but is permeable to it. Thus after performing their in-vivo functions, pharmaceutical compound introduced into the body, exit mainly via urine and faeces. Sewage therefore contains highly complex mixtures of chemicals in various degrees of biological potency. Sewage treatment works including those in South Africa, on the other hand, are known to be inefficient in removing drugs from sewage and consequently either the unmetabolised pharmaceutical compounds or their metabolites emerge in the environment as pollutants via several trajectories. In the environment, the excreted metabolites may even undergo regeneration to the original parent molecule under bacterial influence, resulting in "trans-vivo-pharmaceutical-pollution-cycles". Although all incinerators are known to generate toxins such dioxins and furans from the drugs they incinerate, all the medicines disposed by the hospitals under research, were incinerated, as the preferred option of disposal. The incineration process employed was found to be environmentally unsafe. Expired and unused medicines which the general public discard as municipal solid waste become landfilled. Because many landfill sites are not appropriately engineered, the unwanted drugs landfilled therein, leach into the surrounding ground water, which is the influent source of water treatment plants. Water treatment plants, including those in South Africa, are also inefficient in eliminating pharmaceutical compounds, releasing them in sub-therapeutic concentrations into potable tap water as pollutants, the full effects of which are yet to be determined.

Altered flows that are low-MgO chemical types of the Grande Ronde Basalt crop out in the steep walls of the Grande Ronde River canyon near Troy, Wallowa County, Oregon. The alteration effects in these flows are being investigated as a natural analog system to a high level nuclear waste repository in basalt. The flows within the study are referred to as the analog flow, in which the alteration effects are the strongest, and the superjacent flow. The analog flow crops out at Grande Ronde River level and a roadcut-outcrop is developed in the flow-top breccia of this flow. The two flows have been divided into flow zones based on intraflow structures observed in the field and primary igneous textures observed in thin section. These zones include, from the base upward, the flow interior, transition, and flow-top breccia zones of the analog flow, the interflow contact zone, and the flow interior and flow-top breccia zone of the superjacent flow. The intraflow structures and textures of the transition and interflow contact zones are atypical of Grande Ronde Basalt flows. The transition zone is transitional in textures between the flow interior zone and flow-top breccia zone, and includes holocrystalline spines mantled with fused in situ breccias. The interflow contact zone reflects the dynamic interaction during the emplacement of the superjacent flow manifested as invasive basalt tongues, clasts shed from tongues, pipe vesicles and tree molds, and pockets of breccia caught up in the base of the superjacent flow.

The Second-Hand Society tells the stories of people in Portland, Oregon who redefine waste by making use of objects others discard. The author spends time in repair shops watching craftsmen hammer and polish broken typewriters, vacuum cleaners and shoes back to life. She follows book scouts, clothes pickers and liquidators as they gather merchandise to resell and spends hours at nonprofits that collect and redistribute unwanted electronics and building supplies. She watches junk artists and fashion designers assemble found objects into display pieces, accompanies Dumpster divers and "freegans" along their regular collection routes and visits the homeless encampment by the airport to see how an entire community of people survives on nothing but reclaimed materials. The members of the second-hand society challenge the traditional conception of things as "broken" or "unwanted" and assert that forward movement and new-new-new is not always optimal. By examining the motivations and practices of the people who make use of our discards and looking at the contradictions they run up against, this thesis develops a more complete understanding of the reality that's possible if we think differently about our waste.

Orientador: Li Li Min
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T04:54:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Eid_NayeneLeocadiaManzutti_D.pdf: 3371365 bytes, checksum: c5958487d4a3f2d1c58e3f284b78b334 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010
Resumo: Embora o avanço tecnológico tenha viabilizado o uso dos sistemas digitais para a aquisição de imagens radiográficas, ainda hoje, no Brasil, os filmes radiográficos convencionais continuam sendo os tipos de receptores mais utilizados nos consultórios odontológicos. Deste modo, após a exposição aos raios X, os filmes radiográficos devem ser processados em soluções químicas a fim de que a imagem latente seja convertida em imagem real, passível de análise para diagnóstico. Sabe-se que, tanto o revelador quanto o fixador radiográfico contém em sua composição substâncias químicas altamente tóxicas, podendo apresentar risco à saúde de profissionais, que podem desenvolver lesões cutâneas e dermatites em decorrência do manuseio e manipulação destas soluções de processamento, além de apresentarem risco à saúde pública, caso ocorra a ingestão de produtos oriundos do meio ambiente previamente contaminado e ainda, sérios prejuízos ao meio ambiente, contaminação da fauna e flora, em virtude do descarte indevido destas soluções após seu uso. Tendo isto em vista, os objetivos deste trabalho foram: 1) Avaliar a eficácia de um novo modelo de recipiente para processamento radiográfico manual em câmara-escura portátil, para uso em consultórios odontológicos; 2) Avaliar qualitativamente e quantitativamente as imagens radiográficas obtidas por meio do processamento radiográfico nos diferentes recipientes; 3) Comparar os resultados obtidos em ambas as análises; sob a hipótese de que, devido às suas configurações geométricas, este novo modelo de recipiente propiciaria a economia de soluções químicas para que a execução do processamento radiográfico manual, reduziria os custos aos profissionais da área odontológica e, além disto, promoveria a redução do impacto ambiental devido à minimização da quantidade de químicos usados nestes recipientes. Para atender aos objetivos e conhecer sobre a aplicabilidade deste trabalho, realizou-se um outro estudo no qual se fez uma investigação sobre o descarte dos Resíduos de Serviço de Saúde produzidos em consultórios odontológicos localizados no Estado do Tocantins, Brasil. O estudo abordou aspectos relacionados ao conhecimento e atitudes dos cirurgiões dentistas frente aos resíduos gerados em seu ambiente de trabalho, e sua percepção sobre os resíduos gerados nos demais consultórios odontológicos. Um questionário foi aplicado a 239 cirurgiões-dentistas. Destes, 78,2% trabalhavam em clínica particular e 68,6% já haviam cursado alguma pós-graduação. Do total dos entrevistados, 87,9% afirmaram realizar exames radiográficos em seu consultório e estes foram unânimes em afirmar que o processamento das imagens era realizado manualmente em câmara-escura portátil e a maioria dos entrevistados (88,1%) afirmou que, em média, a cada 5 dias, descartava no esgoto as soluções químicas de processamento utilizadas. Ademais, 30,1% dos participantes acreditavam que os resíduos de amálgama eram descartados, por outros profissionais, em lixo comum e outros 8,8% supunham que o descarte era feito na pia dos consultórios; 61,9% acreditavam que o lixo contaminado (infectante) era disposto juntamente com o lixo comum e, em relação os resíduos perfurocortantes, 14,2% acreditavam que eram descartados em recipientes plásticos e 9,2% em lixo comum. Por meio deste trabalho, concluiu-se, que, em geral, os cirurgiões-dentistas entrevistados desconheciam sobre o correto descarte dos resíduos de serviço de saúde, uma vez que foi observada negligência desta prática por muitos deles, além da percepção de que outros profissionais também realizavam o descarte incorreto dos resíduos gerados em seu ambiente de trabalho. De posse destas informações, testou-se um novo modelo de recipiente para processamento radiográfico manual. Foram obtidas imagens radiográficas dos dentes posteriores de um phantom de mandíbula humana macerada e em seguida, estas imagens foram processadas em quatro câmaras-escuras portáteis. Em uma delas foram colocados dois recipientes convencionais (R1) abastecidos com 200ml das soluções de processamento e, em cada uma das demais câmaras-escuras, para este mesmo propósito, foi disposto um par de cada um dos três tipos de recipientes desenvolvidos pelos autores, R2, R3 e R4, abastecidos com 12, 19,2 e 24ml das soluções reveladora e fixadora respectivamente. Foram processadas 184 películas em R1, 40 em R2, 48 em R3 e 56 em R4. As películas radiográficas foram digitalizadas e posteriormente submetidas à análise objetiva no programa MaZda; em seguida, foram dispostas de maneira ordenadas, obedecendo a sequência do processamento, em papel cartão preto, para que pudessem ser submetidas à análise subjetiva. Os resultados da análise subjetiva mostraram que houve concordância dentre os cinco examinadores em relação às imagens consideradas aceitáveis para diagnóstico para os quatro recipientes estudados, e os resultados da análise objetiva mostraram que as imagens foram consideradas satisfatórias para diagnóstico até o 15º dia de pesquisa para R1, até o 4º dia para R2 e R3, e 5º dia para R4. A análise subjetiva mostrou-se menos sensível que a objetiva na avaliação da qualidade das imagens radiográficas processadas nos recipientes convencionais (R1), porém, mostrou grande correlação com a objetiva na avaliação da qualidade das imagens processadas nos demais recipientes (R2, R3 e R4). Deste modo, concluiu-se que o novo modelo de recipiente viabilizou o processamento de películas radiográficas em câmara-escura portátil, utilizando menor quantidade de soluções químicas para o processamento radiográfico manual, sendo que estas se apresentaram com qualidade satisfatória para diagnóstico.
Abstract: Even though the technological advances have allowed the utilization of digital systems for acquisition of radiographic images, conventional radiographic films are still the most used in dental offices in Brazil. Thus, after X-ray exposure, the radiographic films must be processed in chemical solutions to change the latent stored images into visible images for diagnostic purposes. Both the developer and fixer contain highly toxic chemical substances that may endanger the health of professionals, who may present skin lesions and dermatitis due to handling of these solutions. These chemicals may also constitute a public health problem if contaminated products of the environment are ingested, besides posing serious risks to the environment by contamination of the fauna and flora if these chemical solutions are improperly discarded after utilization. Therefore, this study aimed to: 1) evaluate the efficacy of a new container for manual radiographic processing in portable darkrooms for utilization in dental offices; 2) qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the radiographic images obtained by radiographic processing in the different containers; 3) compare the results obtained in both analyses, considering that the design of the new container would allow dental professionals to save the chemical solutions used for manual radiographic processing, reducing the costs and also the environmental impact, considering the minimization of the quantity of chemical solutions used in these containers. To meet these objectives and know the applicability of this study, a previous study was conducted in which we investigated the discard of Health Service Wastes produced in dental offices of the state of Tocantins, Brazil. The study discussed the aspects related to the knowledge, perception and attitudes of dentists towards the waste generated in their work environment. We interviewed 239 dentists using a structured questionnaire, of whom 78.2% worked at private offices and 68.6% had post-graduate degree. From the total of respondents, 87.9% stated that they did perform intraoral radiographic exams in their offices, and these professionals unanimously used portable dark rooms from commercial brands for radiographic processing. Most dentists (88.1%) that perform radiographic exams in their offices declared that the mean period for changing the radiographic processing chemicals was 5 days. Conversely, 30.1% of participants believed that amalgam wastes were discarded in common garbage, and 8.8% believed that amalgam wastes were discarded in the offices' sink; 61.9% of them believed that the infectious waste were discarded together with the common garbage. Regarding the sharp objects, 14.2% believed that these were discard in plastic recipients, and 9.2% believed that the majority of dentists discarded sharp objects in the common garbage. The data obtained in this study revealed that, in general, the dentists interviewed were unaware of the correct procedures for the discard of health service waste, since there was both negligence in these practices by many of them and the perception that other professionals also performed incorrect discard of waste generated in their work environment. After achievement of these data, a new model of container for manual radiographic processing was tested. Radiographic images were obtained from the posterior teeth of a phantom dry human mandible and processed in four portable darkrooms. One darkroom had two conventional containers (R1) filled with 200ml of processing solutions. For the same purpose, each of the other darkrooms had one pair of the three types of containers designed by the authors, namely R2, R3 and R4, filled with 12, 19.2 and 24ml of developing and fixer solutions. A total of 184 films were processed in R1, 40 in R2, 48 in R3 and 56 in R4. The films were digitized and objectively analyzed using the software MaZda; following, they were arranged according to the sequence of processing in black cardboards for subjective analysis. The results of the subjective analysis revealed good agreement between the five examiners concerning the images considered acceptable for diagnosis for all four containers investigated. The results of the objective analysis demonstrated that the images were considered satisfactory for diagnosis until the 15th day of investigation for R1, fourth day for R2 and R3, and fifth day for R4. The subjective analysis was less sensitive than the objective analysis to evaluate the quality of radiographic images processed in the conventional containers (R1), yet presented high correlation with the objective analysis for evaluation of the quality of images processed in the other containers (R2, R3 and R4). Thus, it was concluded that the new model of container allowed processing of radiographic films in portable darkrooms using a smaller quantity of chemical solutions for manual radiographic processing and presenting satisfactory quality for diagnosis.
Doutorado
Neurocirugia
Doutor em Fisiopatologia Medica

Waste generated by the health care industry has been cited as a major source of toxic pollution, including mercury and dioxins, which poses a serious threat to public health. The purpose of this study was to investigate pollution prevention activities of health care facilities in Oregon related to environmentally preferable purchasing practices, recycling, mercury reduction efforts, and written policy. Surveys were sent to 57 hospitals in Oregon, 24 facilities responded (42.1 %). Results indicate that the following environmentally-preferable purchasing practices are being implemented: purchasing reduced hazardous material (92%); using recycled packaging (75%); and, using products made from recycled content material (83%). Other practices, such as the purchasing of cadmium-free red bags (25%), supplies shipped in reusable shipping containers (34%), and using minimal packaging (46%) are being implemented in a few hospitals. None of the hospitals are purchasing chlorine-free office paper. The majority of participating Oregon hospitals are recycling paper (96%), cardboard (96%), clear glass (67%), linens (87.5%), batteries (67%) and X-ray film (83%). Fewer hospitals are recycling plastics: #1 PET and #6 polystyrene (37.5%), #2 HDPE (42%), #5 polypropylene (33%). Fewer hospitals are also composting food (46%), computers and equipment (42%), fluorescent lamps (21%) and solvents/fixers (29%). Major barriers to recycling in hospitals include lack of established markets for some materials, limited space to collect the materials, and low employee participation. The majority of participating hospitals are reducing the purchasing of mercury containing products, replacing mercury blood pressure units and gauges, replacing lab and housekeeping chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. Fewer than 50% of then participating hospitals are replacing switches, recycling batteries and conducting an inventory of mercury sources. Few hospitals are checking drains and pipes for mercury contamination (13%), recycling fluorescent lamps (21%) and requiring vendors to disclose mercury content below 1% (17%). While most hospitals no longer purchase new mercury-containing devices, the cost associated with disposal of mercury as a hazardous waste is a major barrier to elimination. Hospitals located in urban areas in Oregon are more likely to implement pollution prevention strategies than rural hospitals. Nearly all Oregon hospitals lack a corporate policy on pollution prevention/source reduction, or written goals on waste volume reduction or waste toxicity reduction efforts. The few hospitals (8%) that have put policies in place have done so voluntarily, and with the full support from upper-level management. Based on theses findings recommendations include the following: 1) Establish a "Green Team" of hospital staff from diverse departments. This group can then strategize about courses of action for the facility with input from all responsible sectors. 2) Conduct a waste audit. This establishes a baseline of existing hospital waste and will help determine how to shape a waste minimization program and pollution prevention plan. 3) Pollution prevention education should be a top priority for all departments within each hospital including purchasing, nursing, housekeeping and top management. Many health care professionals are not aware of the link between the products and practices they choose and the environmental consequences of these choices. 4) Rural hospitals can join pollution prevention email list serves such as the Oregon Health Care Without Harm list (HCWHoregon-health.org) or the H2E list serve (www.h2e-online.org) to share, learn and identify practical strategies for pollution prevention and waste minimization. 5) Approach and involve upper level management to work with hospital "green teams" to develop and implement a hospital policy on pollution prevention.
Graduation date: 2003

The link between human health and environmental quality is made clearer; the commitment to safeguarding the natural environment is growing in major institutions as the health care industry. New and greater opportunities will open up to reinforce our primary institutional mission-that of caring for the health needs of the community we serve, which include caring for the environment. Developing and implementing effective programs to reduce, recycle and minimize the toxicity of hospital generated wastes (even wastes generated in the care and treatment of patients can be reduced) is one of the most significant environmental challenges the health care industry faces. Hospitals generate one of the most diverse and difficult to manage waste. The amount of medical waste produced by hospitals may vary due to a number of factors, including the hospital type and size, occupancy rate, in- and outpatient ratio, geographic location, state and local waste handling regulations, and hospital waste disposal policies.

When Sherlock Holmes solves a mystery, he studies the strengths, weaknesses, foibles, egos, sensitivities, and other traits of the villains. It is the same with wastes: a detailed understanding of their characteristics is fundamental to being able to manage them properly. To determine the size of a disposal facility, we must know the volumes and rate of generation of waste. A MRF cannot be designed unless it is known what recyclables are contained in the waste stream. A knowledge of the physical and chemical nature of waste allows engineers to select landfill construction materials that will be compatible with the waste. We must understand the toxic and hazardous components in order to design the facility to endure for a period of time commensurate with the hazardous lifetime of the waste. Because of the incredibly large number of existing waste compounds, it is useful to categorize them. Unfortunately, there are no well-established categorization systems in place. We will describe wastes using two main classification systems, and then we will describe their most important characteristics. The first system is a functional one; that is, the wastes are classified by generator. The second is a classification by chemical type. This somewhat arbitrary system combines different kinds of waste primarily by the group or industry that generates the waste. These waste types include: • municipal wastes • industrial wastes • hazardous wastes • radioactive wastes This is a convenient classification because each of these waste classes is generally managed and disposed of as a group. In addition, substantial volumes of waste are generated by the mining and agricultural sectors; these are not discussed in this book. Municipal solid wastes, as the name implies, are produced by the everyday activities in a community. They arise from the following sources: • residential—houses and apartments • commercial—stores, restaurants, office buildings, service stations, etc. • institutional—schools, courthouses, hospitals, etc. • construction and demolition—construction sites, road repair, building demolition, etc. • municipal services—street-cleaning, garden and park landscaping, wastewater treatment, etc. We are a wasteful society. Every person in North America generates approximately 2 kilograms of garbage each day.

Hazardous waste has emerged as an issue of major concern that has negative impact both on human health as well as on the environment. Hazardous and infectious agents are handled in daily routine in biomedical laboratories. Their effects are increasing continuously in the environment. Hazardous waste includes solid, liquid, sharp and pathological waste. Workers in hospitals and health care, agricultural and fishing occupations are at particular risk of exposure to hazardous biological agents. Recently, more systematic and strict steps have taken by the Indian government regarding the public concern to prevent the proliferation of hazardous waste and its improper disposal. However, management of waste are still not well promoted. So, to intercept the build-up of biohazards into the environment, waste from biohazardous operations must be disposed or treated appropriately in a special way and it also intends to create awareness amongst the personnel involved in these sectors to develop and implement hazardous waste management and mitigation strategies.

The UK Surplus Source Disposal Programme (SSDP), managed by the Environment Agency, was designed to remove redundant radioactive sources from the public domain. The UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was concerned that disused sources were being retained by hospitals, universities and businesses, posing a risk to public health and the environment. AMEC provided a range of technical and administrative services to support the SSDP. A questionnaire was issued to registered source holders and the submitted returns compiled to assess the scale of the project. A member of AMEC staff was seconded to the Environment Agency to provide technical support and liaise directly with source holders during funding applications, which would cover disposal costs. Funding for disposal of different sources was partially based on a sliding scale of risk as determined by the IAEA hazard categorisation system. This funding was also sector dependent. The SSDP was subsequently expanded to include the disposal of luminised aircraft instruments from aviation museums across the UK. These museums often hold significant radiological inventories, with many items being unused and in a poor state of repair. These instruments were fully characterised on site by assessing surface dose rate, dimensions, source integrity and potential contamination issues. Calculations using the Microshield computer code allowed gamma radiation measurements to be converted into total activity estimates for each source. More than 11,000 sources were disposed of under the programme from across the medical, industrial, museum and academic sectors. The total activity disposed of was more than 8.5E+14 Bq, and the project was delivered under budget.

Since August 2015 a new classification of radioactive waste was issued by Italian Ministry of Economic Development, in order to adapt Italian historical classification to European standards. This new classification provides 6 categories, from exempt to high level waste, and it is based on the waste final destination: from free release to final disposal or interim storage (high level waste and intermediate level waste with α-content higher than 400 Bq/g) [1]. Nucleco is a State owned Company acting as Waste Management Organization for radioactive waste coming from hospitals, industries and research and development activities not related to electricity production by nuclear plants. Nucleco collects, safely manages and temporarily stores waste that will be sent to the National Repository (site definition phase is still ongoing), while for the Short Lived Radionuclides and Very Low Activity waste Nucleco performs all necessary operations to be compliant with the conditions of release prescribed by the Italian Control Authority. Short Lived Radionuclides are those whose half-life is shorter than 100 days or reach the condition of non-radiological relevance in 5 years: they are mainly produced by bio-medical applications of radioactive materials. Very Low Activity waste are characterized by activity concentrations lower than 100 Bq/g (of which less than 10 Bq/g of α-emitting radionuclides) and reach the condition of non-radiological relevance in 10 years: these waste usually came from research institutions and industrial activities. This work presents the authorized operating procedures, the radiological measurements criteria and the technical know-how put in place by Nucleco to fulfil the provisions of Italian regulations for unconditioned release of radioactive waste. A case study of ISO 20’ containers is discussed in the current paper. Main emphasis will be addressed to: • gathering of historical information about the state of the material to be released and definition of the reference radiological spectrum; • sampling procedures to ensure representativeness of the samples from homogeneous waste batch to be released and then subjected to radiological characterization; • characterization phase consisting of the integration of several state-of-art techniques aiming to collect the most complete set of radiological data; • data processing protocols needed for the calculation of the activity concentrations for each radionuclide of the reference spectrum (or other radionuclides eventually detected); • evaluation of the main sources of uncertainty affecting the results; • comparison of the activity concentration (including the uncertainty) of each radionuclide with the corresponding authorized concentration limits.

Abstract There are a number of applications in nuclear energy and hazardous waste disposal that require monitoring of fluids under extreme environments, including high levels of temperature, pressure, toxicity and radioactivity. Many of these applications will benefit from a monitoring technique that is external and non-invasive. Currently the sensors used are invasive, must reside inside the pressurized vessels and must penetrate the vessel walls, which can create a weakness in the vessel. Additionally, instruments that are used inside such containers must be exceptionally hardened to the environment. Information Systems Laboratories (ISL) has developed an external mass (gravimetric) measuring technique for monitoring nuclear coolant in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), which will also work for measuring fluid levels in waste tanks, that avoids the problems inherent in invasive sensors. It utilizes a COTS gravitational sensor of unprecedented accuracy, leveraged via proper sensor placement geometry, to detect fluid changes of small amplitude from an outside position, obviating the need to penetrate the vessel. The technique is called Gravisense™. ISL has proven via simulation and experiment that this concept can be usefully applied to monitoring fluid levels in both nuclear reactors and large waste tanks. Numerical simulation algorithms were developed to calculate the gravity effect of small changes in water level, which were verified by experiments at the NIST Physical Simulator facility at the Oregon State University. The measured ultra-low noise levels of the superconducting gravimeter type which utilizes a Niobium sphere suspended in a magnetic field to attain its phenomenal accuracy, demonstrated that fluid levels in SMRs can be measured at least to within 3 cm. Furthermore, the method can distinguish between a contained leak (from reactor to containment vessel) from an external leak (from reactor to outside of containment). Additionally, simulations of waste canisters that hold spent fuel rods show that the fluid level measuring accuracy can potentially do better than 1 cm accuracy by measuring from below the vessel, and judicious placement of sensors on top of large waste tanks can potentially achieve a very impressive 2 mm measurement accuracy. These encouraging results prove that the Gravisense™ technique for fluid determination can be very useful in nuclear energy generation, testing, and research, as well as in waste monitoring situations that are difficult to monitor via traditional sensing technology. We believe that the next step should be to test the technique on canisters of the type that are currently storing waste in various DOE locations.