Monitoring of environmental aspects and impacts in research/educational laboratories

The purpose of this study was to determine the types of waste produced by the research laboratories of the Department of Environmental Engineering at Tehran University of Medical Sciences and to assess the environmental impact of these waste products.

In order to determine the environmental impact, parameters such as wastewater quantity and quality, solid waste production, noise, particulate matter (PM1, PM10, PM25), heat, light as well as the probability of occurrence and significance of impact were monitored in 2006.

These parameters were selected for monitoring and analysis of various laboratory types such as chemical, microbiologic and pilot laboratories and those dealing with air pollution. We first classified the environmental effects as those of very high, high, moderate, and low significance. It then emerged that overall, chemical and sewage laboratories were posing a greater environmental danger because they produced three waste materials that have very significant environmental effects.

We suggest that the chemical laboratory should be monitored constantly due to its higher rate of hazardous waste production and safety precautions should be put in place to protect staff and students.