{"title":"Medical waste management practices in primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals in Anhui Province, China.","authors":"Yi-Yu Lyu, De-Quan Wu, Ruo-Jie Li, Xue-Ping Wang, Xiao-Qian Hu, Kai Huang, Xiang Yan, Xi-Yao Yang, Qiang Zhou, Yi-Le Wu","doi":"10.1080/09603123.2025.2486593","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Improper medical waste management threatens public health and the environment. The objective of this study was to investigate the practices of medical waste management in different level hospitals. A multicenter study was conducted in 566 hospitals in Anhui Province, China. A self-designed online questionnaire was applied to collect the hospital's characteristics, amount and handling practices of medical waste, and occupational safety measures. The average generation rates of medical waste were 0.62 kg/bed, 0.43 kg/bed, and 0.46 kg/bed per day in tertiary hospitals, secondary hospitals, and primary hospitals, respectively. Different levels of hospitals varied in implementing medical waste management in regulations and processes, segregation, collection, transport, temporary storage centers, disposal, special medical waste, and disposal personnel's protective measures. Partial practices of medical waste management in some surveyed hospitals were not well performed, especially in primary hospitals. Hospitals should pay more attention to all processes of medical waste management, strengthen management of highly infectious and hazardous waste, and provide sufficient training and protective measures. Besides, effective policies are recommended for monitoring compliance with regulations and improving proper medical waste management.</p>","PeriodicalId":14039,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Environmental Health Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Environmental Health Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09603123.2025.2486593","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Medical waste management practices in primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals in Anhui Province, China.
Improper medical waste management threatens public health and the environment. The objective of this study was to investigate the practices of medical waste management in different level hospitals. A multicenter study was conducted in 566 hospitals in Anhui Province, China. A self-designed online questionnaire was applied to collect the hospital's characteristics, amount and handling practices of medical waste, and occupational safety measures. The average generation rates of medical waste were 0.62 kg/bed, 0.43 kg/bed, and 0.46 kg/bed per day in tertiary hospitals, secondary hospitals, and primary hospitals, respectively. Different levels of hospitals varied in implementing medical waste management in regulations and processes, segregation, collection, transport, temporary storage centers, disposal, special medical waste, and disposal personnel's protective measures. Partial practices of medical waste management in some surveyed hospitals were not well performed, especially in primary hospitals. Hospitals should pay more attention to all processes of medical waste management, strengthen management of highly infectious and hazardous waste, and provide sufficient training and protective measures. Besides, effective policies are recommended for monitoring compliance with regulations and improving proper medical waste management.
期刊介绍：
International Journal of Environmental Health Research ( IJEHR ) is devoted to the rapid publication of research in environmental health, acting as a link between the diverse research communities and practitioners in environmental health. Published articles encompass original research papers, technical notes and review articles. IJEHR publishes articles on all aspects of the interaction between the environment and human health. This interaction can broadly be divided into three areas: the natural environment and health – health implications and monitoring of air, water and soil pollutants and pollution and health improvements and air, water and soil quality standards; the built environment and health – occupational health and safety, exposure limits, monitoring and control of pollutants in the workplace, and standards of health; and communicable diseases – disease spread, control and prevention, food hygiene and control, and health aspects of rodents and insects. IJEHR is published in association with the International Federation of Environmental Health and includes news from the Federation of international meetings, courses and environmental health issues.
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