Review on distribution, fate, and management of potentially toxic elements in incinerated medical wastes

Bolan，Shiv1,2,3; Padhye，Lokesh P.4; Kumar，Manish5; Antoniadis，Vasileios6; Sridharan，Srinidhi5; Tang，Yuanyuan7; Singh，Narendra8; Hewawasam，Choolaka9; Vithanage，Meththika10; Singh，Lal5; Rinklebe，Jörg11,12; Song，Hocheol12,16; Siddique，Kadambot H.M.1,2; Kirkham，M. B.13; Wang，Hailong14,15; Bolan，Nanthi1,2,3

2023-03-15

10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121080

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION   Impact Factor & Quartile

0269-7491

1873-6424

Medical wastes include all solid and liquid wastes that are produced during the treatment, diagnosis, and immunisation of animals and humans. A significant proportion of medical waste is infectious, hazardous, radioactive, and contains potentially toxic elements (PTEs) (i.e., heavy metal (loids)). PTEs, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg), are mostly present in plastic, syringes, rubber, adhesive plaster, battery wastes of medical facilities in elemental form, as well as oxides, chlorides, and sulfates. Incineration and sterilisation are the most common technologies adopted for the safe management and disposal of medical wastes, which are primarily aimed at eliminating deadly pathogens. The ash materials derived from the incineration of hazardous medical wastes are generally disposed of in landfills after the solidification/stabilisation (S/S) process. In contrast, the ash materials derived from nonhazardous wastes are applied to the soil as a source of nutrients and soil amendment. The release of PTEs from medical waste ash material from landfill sites and soil application can result in ecotoxicity. The present study is a review paper that aims to critically review the dynamisms of PTEs in various environmental media after medical waste disposal, the environmental and health implications of their poor management, and the common misconceptions regarding medical waste.

Incineration Medical waste Medical waste management Organic pollutants Potentially toxic elements (PTEs)

English

Others

ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY

2-s2.0-85147301783

Scopus

1.UWA School of Agriculture and Environment,The University of Western Australia,Perth,6009,Australia
2.The UWA Institute of Agriculture,The University of Western Australia,Perth,6009,Australia
3.Healthy Environments and Lives (HEAL) National Research Network,Australia
4.Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,Faculty of Engineering,The University of Auckland,Auckland,1010,New Zealand
5.CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI),Nagpur,Nehru Marg, Maharashtra,440020,India
6.University of Thessaly,Department of Agriculture Crop Production and Rural Environment,Volos,Fytokou Street,384 46,Greece
7.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
8.Environmental Science Center,Decarbonisation and Resource Managemental,British Geological Survey,Nottinghamshire, Keyworth,NG12 5GG,United Kingdom
9.Department of Civil and Environmental Technology,Faculty of Technology,University of Sri Jayewardenepura,Homagama,Pitipana,Sri Lanka
10.Ecosphere Resilience Research Center,Faculty of Applied Sciences,University of Sri Jayewardenepura,Nugegoda,10250,Sri Lanka
11.University of Wuppertal,School of Architecture and Civil Engineering,Institute of Foundation Engineering,Water- and Waste-Management,Laboratory of Soil- and Groundwater-Management,Wuppertal,Pauluskirchstraße 7,42285,Germany
12.Department of Environment,Energy and Geoinformatics,Sejong University,Seoul,05006,South Korea
13.Department of Agronomy,Kansas State University,Manhattan,66506,United States
14.Biochar Engineering Technology Research Center of Guangdong Province,School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering,Foshan University,Foshan,Guangdong,528000,China
15.Key Laboratory of Soil Contamination Bioremediation of Zhejiang Province,Zhejiang A&F University,Hangzhou,311300,China
16.Department of Earth Resources and Environmental Engineering,Hanyang University,Seoul,04763,South Korea

Bolan，Shiv,Padhye，Lokesh P.,Kumar，Manish,et al. Review on distribution, fate, and management of potentially toxic elements in incinerated medical wastes[J]. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION,2023,321.

Bolan，Shiv.,Padhye，Lokesh P..,Kumar，Manish.,Antoniadis，Vasileios.,Sridharan，Srinidhi.,...&Bolan，Nanthi.(2023).Review on distribution, fate, and management of potentially toxic elements in incinerated medical wastes.ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION,321.

Bolan，Shiv,et al."Review on distribution, fate, and management of potentially toxic elements in incinerated medical wastes".ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION 321(2023).