Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Medical Wastes of Shariati Hospital in Tehran

Background: Given the increasing need for health care and the expansion of various medical facilities in health care centers, it is necessary to determine the adverse effects of subsequent medical wastes. In this study, we aimed to perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of medical wastes of Shariati public hospital in Tehran. Methods: We weighted the medical wastes to determine the share of each hospital section in total hazardous medical wastes generation. Then, the components of common and infectious medical wastes were analyzed. The raw data were analyzed using Excel and R software. Results: The total amount of generated medical wastes of common, infectious, sharp, and chemical/ pharmaceutical wastes in the hospital were 982.78 ± 27.08, 885.76 ± 26.11, 37.062 ± 1.55, and 45.33 ± 3.2 kg/day, respectively, and the average amount of wastes generation in each ward of the hospital per day was between 1.47-6.86 kg/bed. Also, we considered the production of medical wastes in detail and found that it was 0.61-3.11, 0.77-4.78, 0.03-0.23 and 0.01-0.91 Kg/patient/day for common, infectious, sharp and chemical/pharmaceutical wastes, respectively. Conclusion: The average amount of wastes produced in the hospital was consistent with the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) report based on the amount of daily wastes generation in academic hospitals (4.1-8.7 kg/bed/day). However, the overall amount of infectious and sharp wastes in the hospital was 47.37% which exceeded the recommended amount by the WHO (15-25%).