Abstract

MICUCCI, Horacio Alejandro et al. Biological risks of the solid and liquid biological wastes from health-care establishments compared to household ones. Acta bioquím. clín. latinoam. [online]. 2005, vol.39, n.1, pp.43-57. ISSN 0325-2957.

In previous publications, it has been analyzed the need of establishi special legislations for the management of wastes from health-care derived activities from both public and private primary attention centers due to its importance in the population's sanitary care with the conception of the Primary Health Care postulated by the World Health Organization (WHO). The object of the present work is to make a comparative study of the biological wastes from small health-care establishments and those that derive from domiciliary wastes. Medical laboratories run by independent professionals have been chosen as representative of the small establishments because they are considered as the greatest generators among the smaller ones. Out of the results obtained, it arises that the biological risk associated to solid and liquid wastes from a laboratory of 100 monthly samples are slightly higher than those from a standard household type, and the ones that derive from a laboratory of 500 monthly samples equal something less than eight standard household types. The above-mentioned enforces, from the environmental point of view, the convenience of having these small public and private primary health care facilities, whose advantages in other aspects have been diffused by the WHO. An additional fact worth wearing in mind is the important household contribution of biological risk. This forces us to change the management/treatment of solid and liquid wastes made by the population at present.

Keywords : Biosafety; Risk analysis; Biological agents; Biohazard; Minimum intrinsic biohazard; Health-care waste.

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