The Biobrio 8(3 & 4), 2021

A study of medical waste pollution in Kanpur and adjacent areas

Rajesh Kumar & Seema Yadav

ABSTRACT:

The last 2-3 decades have witnessed the extension of health services across the world including India. Due to this, health services are easily available to almost everyone not only in urban areas but in rural regions as well. This has resulted to a new type of environmental hazard worldwide. This hazard has been named as biomedical waste. In fact, all types of waste generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals is known as biomedical waste. Proper management of healthcare waste or medical waste is an important part of infection control and hygiene programmes in the field of healthcare. Healthcare centers play a crucial role in community acquired infection and produce large quantities of biomedical waste. The waste generation in healthcare centers or hospitals ranges between 500 grams to 3 kilograms per bed per day. This includes 7-10% plastic waste, 5-10% disposable syringes, 3-5% used glass material, bandages, linen and other infectious waste is up to 30-35%. Other general waste ranges from 40-45%. The present study deals with medical waste pollution in Kanpur and adjacent areas, and is an effort to provide some suggestions and solutions for reducing and controlling the production of biomedical waste.

Keywords:    

Kanpur hospitals, Biomedical waste, health hazard, waste disposal

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