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Analysis of quality and quantity of health-care wastes in clinical laboratories: a case study of Ilam city

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Abstract

Generation of health-care wastes is one of the major concerns in health-care institutions worldwide due to direct and indirect impact on human health and environment. The purpose of the present work was to estimate the quantity and quality of clinical laboratory wastes in the city of Ilam, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, randomly eight clinical laboratories including five in private sector and three governmental clinical laboratories were selected for sampling according to the purpose of the study. The results showed that the total amount of waste generation was 27,700.90 kg/year. The average amount of health-care wastes generation in Ilam city was 0.2 kg/person/year. The portions of general, pathologic, sharp, infectious, and pharmaceutical and chemical wastes were 37, 5, 2, and 56% (by weight), respectively. As a considerable amount of waste is generated in clinical laboratories of Ilam city, therefore, it is necessary to implement integrated plans for the proper management of these wastes. Thus, sufficient training and education programs must be developed for all clinical staffs and that the existing training and education procedures should also be promoted.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would thank Professor Mehdi Zarrei in Sickkids—Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and Mansoureh Farhang in Gonabad University of Medical Sciences for valuable comments and suggestions, allowing us to improve this paper.

Funding

This study was financially supported by Ilam University of Medical Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran

    Sajad Mazloomi, Shokoufeh Alasvand, Atefeh Farhadi & Heshmatoallah Nourmoradi

  2. Biotechnology and Medicinal Plants Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran

    Sajad Mazloomi

  3. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Social Development and Health Promotion Research Center, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

    Ahmad Zarei

  4. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Ziaeddin Bonyadi

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  1. Sajad Mazloomi
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  2. Ahmad Zarei
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  3. Shokoufeh Alasvand
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  4. Atefeh Farhadi
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  5. Heshmatoallah Nourmoradi
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  6. Ziaeddin Bonyadi
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Correspondence to Ziaeddin Bonyadi.

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Mazloomi, S., Zarei, A., Alasvand, S. et al. Analysis of quality and quantity of health-care wastes in clinical laboratories: a case study of Ilam city. Environ Monit Assess 191, 207 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7345-z

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