Iranian Journal of

Background and Objective: Clinics, laboratories and health care centers are considered as one of the main waste generating sources in solid waste management. The problems associated with the generated health-care waste in clinics, laboratories and health care centers have been rarely investigated in Iran. Therefore, the present study was developed to investigate the status of health care waste in clinics, laboratories and health care centers of Mahmoudabad, Mazandaran in 2017.
Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the status of solid waste management in 117 medical centers in Mahmoudabad, Mazandaran, 2017. The solid waste data in terms of waste generation rate, storage, collection, and disposal were surveyed through interview and questionnaire that were validated by Iran’s ministry of health.
Results: The average health-care waste generation in medical centers in Mahmoudabad was found to be 248 g/day. The mean and standard deviation for environmental health criteria in all medical centers were 248.3 and 41.1, respectively. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference between the amount of waste generation in private and governmental medical centers (p=0.111).
Conclusion: The results obtained from the present research indicated that the medical waste management in Mahmoudabad, particularly in private centers, face serious problems. Improper waste collection technology, mixing municipal and medical waste, requirement for training the personnel in medical waste management and surveillance can be considered as important concerns in health-care waste management in Mahmoudabad.
 

Background and Objective: The activities of various industries produce a wide range of pollutants and toxic compounds. One of these compounds is the catechol, a cyclic organic compound with high toxicity and resistant to degradation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate efficiency of powder activated carbon magnetized with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles in the removal of catechol from aqueous solutions by response surface methodology.
Materials and Methods: The co-precipitation method was used to synthesize magnetic powder activated carbon and its properties were analyzed by SEM and XRD analysis. Then, the effect of the parameters such as pH, contact time, absorbent dose, initial concentration of catechol and temperature on the efficiency of adsorption process were investigated using a response surface methodology (Box–Behnken). The residual concentration of catechol was measured by HPLC at 275 nm.
Results: The results showed that the maximum efficiency of the adsorption process was obtained at concentration of 20 mg/L, pH=3, contact time 90 minutes, at 25 °C and absorbent dose of 1.5 g/L. The study of isotherm and kinetics showed that the experimental data of the catechol adsorption process correlated with the Langmuir and pseudo-second order models, respectively. Thermodynamic study of the reaction also expresses the Exothermic and Spontaneous process.
Conclusion: The results showed that the adsorption process using powder activated carbon magnetized with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles at acidic pH had better efficiency. As a result, the studied process as an effective, rapid and inexpensive method for removal of catechol from aqueous solutions is proposed. Due to its short reaction time, it is economically affordable process.
 

Background and Objective: Hospital wastes with the content of infectious, pathologic, sharp, pharmaceupitical and genotoxic materials are classified as hazardous wastes. Of which, genotoxic residues wirh mutagenic and teratogenic effects are of most great concern on human health. Genetic wastes are referred to as cytotoxic, chemical, and radioactive drugs used to treat cancer or treat transplantation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the management of hospital wastes in Mazandaran province with emphasis on genotoxic waste.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in 35 governmental and social hospitals in Mazandaran province to determine the satus of hospital waste with focus on geotoxic waste. The quanity, quality and management approaches of hospital and genotoxic wastes in the studied hospitals were surveyed with a validated questionnaire. Results obtained from the present study were analyzed with Excel software.
Results: The average waste per each hospital bed was estimated to be 3.51 kilograms. Of which, 2.2, 1.24, 1.9 kg were categorized as municipal, chemical, and genotoxic wastes, respectively. The average of the hospital waste management index in Mazandaran province was found to be about 84 out of 100, indicating good management of these wastes. The management of genotoxic waste in 7 specialized chemotherapy hospitals was estimated to be 64 out of 100, indicating the average state of genotoxic waste management for these hospitals. In 28 non-chemotherapy hospitals, the genotoxic waste management index was approximated 42 out of 100, indicating poor management of these wastes.
Conclusion: The main weaknesses in hospital waste management are associated with the management of chemical-pharmaceutical and genotoxic wastes. Accordingly, improvement the quality of genotoxic and chemical-pharmaceutical wastes should be concerned in the future planning.