Solid Waste Management in Physician's Offices in Sabzevar

Medical wastes produced in physicians’ offices are one of the most important environmental problems in developing countries. Medical wastes are heterogeneous in nature and contain infectious compounds. There is no appropriate strategy to separate medical wastes of physicians’ offices in Sabzevar. The aim of this study was to assess quantity, composition, and the way of management of wastes of physician's offices in Sabzevar in 2009. In this descriptive study, we collected three samples of wastes at the end of working day from both GP's and specialist's offices. The waste components were classified based on the category proposed by World Health Organization. The wastes were separated into four categories (domestic, infectious, sharp devices, and pharmaceuticals) and were weighted. According to the results, total annual wastes produced from physician's offices were 37276Kg/yr. Offices of the GP's and specialists produced 18965 and 18311 Kg/yr wastes, respectively. The amounts of domestic type, potentially infectious, and sharp wastes were 70%, 14% and 16%, respectively. The statistical analyses showed that the mean ± SD weight of wastes (sharps, infectious, and domestics) for both types of medical offices were 185.99 ± 45.29, 165.52 ± 35.99 and 818.75 ± 114.32, respectively. This study indicated that separation procedures of medical wastes were incomplete in Sabzevar. In order to reduce these kinds of pollutants, appropriate measurements should be taken to deal with the pollutants at their source of generation. The staff members involved in waste collection and transport should apply all personal protection measures.