Ecology Essay on Medical Waste and the Environment

Medical waste is defined as any material produced by healthcare institutions; for example, used needles, syringes, diagnostic samples, and medical devices (Bokhoree et al., 2014). Lack of proper methods or strategies to dispose of the used medical materials has become a great threat to the environmental sustainability mechanisms across the world. However, medical wastes are riskier than other wastes because of its impact not only on the environment but also to the public safety. Medical wastes dumped in improper places may result in other effects; for example, the harmful gases released from the dumped materials may produce greenhouse gas emission products which contain other harmful components like hydrochloric acid and methane. These gases are not friendly to human life; therefore, it may be hazardous both to the environment and also the public safety. This paper is going to examine the impacts of medical waste to the environment.

The medical wastes produced by the developed countries like United States, Canada, and the UK are more than those produced by developing nations. This is due to the increased medical institutions and laboratories that increasingly produce more wastes without proper disposal mechanisms. There are environmental policies designed to oversee the use of environment (Chartier, 2014); however, such laws seem not to be effective due to lack of proper implementation.

Medical wastes can cause pollution to the environment water sources (Agyin-Birikorang & OConnor, 2007). As Pasupathi et al. (2011, p. 472) explain most of the chemicals and pharmaceuticals used in the hospitals are dangerous to the environment. Some of the products they are made of include toxic, genotoxic, corrosive, flammable, and explosive components which pose a threat to the environment when they have dumped anywhere without proper disposal. Some of the toxic substances produced by these chemicals and pharmaceuticals may find their way into the water bodies which may be the primary source of water for the people around the region (Agyin-Birikorang & OConnor, 2007). This, as a result, may cause pollution of the water sources. Again, the medical residues produced into the sewerages system may affect the biological system and the ecosystem as a whole. As much as healthcare is important, the institutions should be concerned with the waste management of the wastes that they produce. Tudor, Noonan, and Jenkin (2005) argue that there should be internal mechanisms to deal with the issue of wastes produced within the organization before the government through its agencies comes in to help. The problem is that most of the institutions dump their used medical materials with the aim that the environmental agencies may come to assist. Indeed, the government has agencies to deal with the environmental management and sustainability. However, this does not mean that everyone to be reluctant in taking care of the environment. The agencies might not able to reach out to every place where wastes are produced especially the private entities (Fadaei, 2014). Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the management of the institutions to ensure that the wastes produced are effectively and properly disposed of so as to minimize the release of hazardous chemical products into the environment (Sneyd et al., 2010).

According to Saunders et al. (2012), inadequate medical waste management may lead to growth and multiplication of vectors such as insects and worms. This, as a result, may contribute to other environmental health hazardous problems such as transmission of diseases ranging from human to the plants. As mentioned in the introduction, some of the products used in the hospitals are from very dangerous components that may pose a threat to the survival of the plants and animals when improperly disposed to the environment. Some of the radioactive waste materials that are improperly disposed can dangerous to the plants as the gases such as hydrochloric acid produced from these materials may affect the photosynthesis process (Khoobdel et al., 2010, p. 47); thus, causing the plants to die. Again, some of the materials produced contain chemicals that might be hazardous to the soil; this as well may contribute to the death of many plants and also the animals that depend on the plants to survive. When the environment is affected, the entire ecosystem is affected (Tudor et al., 2005). Plants will no longer have access to food and clean water.

Inadequate waste management can also cause air pollution that may consequently affect the breathing system of organisms taking in air Pasupathi et al., 2011). Most of the organisms in the environment need air to survive apart from the food and clean water. The point of focus here is both plants and animals who cannot survive without air that is either carbon dioxide or oxygen. Plants require carbon dioxide to carry out the photosynthesis process successfully. On the other hand, animals need oxygen to carry out the respiratory functions successfully. However, when the ecosystem is affected and these organisms no longer receive the gases they need because it has been contaminated with harmful gaseous components such as methane, it may pose a threat to their survival. This mainly applies to the areas where there are systems for waste disposal. There are countries with disposal systems such as UK (Tudor et al., 2005, 607); however, they have not been able to eliminate the air pollution problem due to improper incineration plants. The incineration of medical wastes is one of the widely practiced waste management systems across the world. However, due to inadequate incineration process, some of the harmful gases find their way to the environment. Sometimes, the incinerated materials may contain harmful components such as chlorine which may pose further pose a threat to the air due to the production of dioxins and furans (Coutinho et al., 2006); this can affect the life support systems of plants and also the animals. The heavy metal products or components produced from the incinerated medical waste materials can further affect the survival of plants and animals due to the discharge of toxic materials into the environment.

When talking about the impact of medical waste management, it is impossible to neglect the effects on the marine system. The marine animals and plants are exposed to a greater threat when medical wastes are inadequately disposed. Many people depend on the marine animals such as the fish to survive. Again, the fish also need the water to survive. Therefore, when the water is contaminated it reflects the suffering of humans and also marine animals. The metal materials produced from the medical wastes (Berwick & Hackbarth, 2012); for example, mercury, lead, and cadmium can be harmful to the life support system of the marine animals. This may cause the death of many marine animals that can be further reflected on an inadequate supply of food for the many people who depend on the fish. Therefore, proper management mechanisms should be undertaken to ensure that the wastes produced from the healthcare institutions are properly disposed and may not pose a threat to the survival of organisms in the environment.

To sum it up, despite the fact that waste management has been widely and increasingly recommended by the environmental and health organizations such as the World Health Organization and the UNICEF, it has been a challenge to implement the recommendations because of various reasons. Among the reasons include lack of awareness about the effects or impacts of medical wastes to the public and also to the environment, lack of proper skills due to inadequate training programs or mechanisms about the waste management, and inadequate or lack of proper waste management policies and systems that can help give guidelines on how used materials can be properly and safely disposed without causing further harm to the environment (Rosal et al., 2010). In addition, the inadequate funding of the environmental and waste management agencies has also contributed to the failure of the environmental management and sustainability agencies. However, it is important to consider some of the controlling mechanisms that can help improve the medical waste management systems. Therefore, this study recommends the following mechanisms to assist improve the medical waste management process. First, build a comprehensive system that is able to address the responsibilities, resource allocation and waste handling and disposal. The quantity of waste produced depends on the size of the organization. Therefore, the larger the institution, the more the waste it produces. Such institutions should be leading in adopting the comprehensive system that is able to oversee the process of waste disposal. Secondly, enhance and support the awareness to the public and also the employees in the healthcare institution. This may also include training them on the safe waste management practices. Lastly, the hospitals should select more environmentally-friendly practices and materials so as to reduce the cases of environmental pollution.

References

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