Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of hospital waste in the city of Behshahr-2016

Background: Recently, the rapid increase in quantity and type of waste has resulted to environmental pollution and health hazards which serve as a major challenge to humans. The level of this waste can be so high that dangerous chemicals and biological contaminants can be found in ordinary household waste. Major sources of waste in every city are mostly from care/health centers. Hence, this study aims to investigate the quantitative and qualitative waste taken from hospitals in the city. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, four city hospitals were examined in the city. For this purpose, a questionnaire was designed for quantitative analysis method and weighing scales based on the Ministry of Health questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and for statistical analyses, Excel and Graph Pad Prism 5 were used. Results: According to findings, the total amount of hospital waste comprising infectious waste, sharp and pharmaceutical chemicals were related to Imam Khomeini hospital with values of 44 220 012 and 10 kg per day respectively, with 220 kg per day of general waste related to same hospital. Hence, the total weight of waste produced per capita, for infectious waste, general waste, chemical waste, and sharp - machinery were 2.35 ± 0.25, 0.39 ± 0.075, 1.25 ± 0.66, 0.05 ± 0.028 and 0.021 ± 0.015 kg per day per bed respectively. Conclusion: The data should be more focused on waste management and frequent orientation to hospitalized patients. This evaluation indicates the poor management of hospital wastes in view of collection, separation, infectious waste care, temporary storage station and on-time transmission and health disposal.