Gerenciamento de residuos hospitalares e avaliação da secagem como metodo de redução de volume e grau de periculosidade

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2003

RESUMO

In this work infectious healthcare waste (IHW) produced in a blood bank facility was investigated. Aspects of IHW such as production, internal handling, physical and microbiological characterization as well as evaluation of a drying process for volume and microbiological load reduction were studied, using surrogate IHW and indicator microorganism for effectiveness testing of the latter. The daily healthcare waste production at the healthcare establishment was approximately 229 kg/day, 51% (by weight) being c1assified as IHW. The IHW average composition inc1uded main1y ofplastics (39%), blood (19%), paper/cardboard (17%), and other liquids (12%) by weight. The microbiological analysis of the IHW produced by four different sectors of the healthcare establishment showed low concentration of the microorganisms investigated. Staphilococcus aureus used in this analysis as a contamination indicator was isolated on1y in one sample from one sector, in one of the five replications of the sampling. The assessment of the internal handling of IHW via the Preliminary Risk Analysis (PRA) technique was found to be suitable and suggested prioritization and corrective actions for procedure failures that may cause exposure to untreated IHW. Results of the IHW composition and physical characterization were used for the attainrnent of surrogate IHW employed to evaluate the drying processo This stage of the work consisted initially of the drying system designing and installation. An analysis of the drying rate curve of surrogate IHW showed that the influence of the airflow was more significant than that of the temperature. However, higher sample initial moisture contents affected significantly the waste drying kinetics. In the microbial inactivation study by drying, B. subti/lis spores were used as indicator microorganism for effectiveness testing of the processo According to resuIts obtained jn this study, the drying process presented a satisfactory performance as evidenced by inactivation ofthe 5,0 x 106 spores/tray, under eight different process conditions for a residence time of 70 minutes. The investigation of the thermal inactivation kinetics of the indicator microorganism confirmed these results, since an indicator microorganism population of 8,0 x 106 (spores/tray) was inactivated by 42 minute residence time. The results obtained in these study as well as the volume reduction by drying estimated for the volumetric shrinkage parameter, were comparable to the results obtained from IHW treatment technologies currently in operation

ASSUNTO(S)

residuos secagem

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