Environmental management of the disposal of waste from orthopedic metallic explants in hospitals
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6008/CBPC2179-6858.2022.004.0030Keywords:
Waste from health services, Use of solid waste, Prostheses and implants, Environmental managementAbstract
Metal explants from orthopedic surgical therapy are classified as solid waste with a potential risk for contamination. Objective: To analyze the literature on how environmental management occurs in hospitals through the disposal of waste from orthopedic metallic explants. Methodology: This research was an applied, practical, quantitative, experimental, exploratory, empirical, and cross-sectional study with the investigative objective of confirming the hypotheses. The research was carried out in all Brazilian States, in public and private hospitals considered as references for the treatment of orthopedics and traumatology. Three distinct groups were compared: Brazilian hospitals certified by ISO 14 001; hospitals with ONA accreditation with a level of excellence; and non-certified hospitals, using the inductive method. Main findings: The explants must be registered and controlled in order to be recycled, which is a step included in the health waste management plan (PGRSS). However, their final destination is a large-scale problem due to obstacles in law application created by economic issues. When it comes to the recycling of surgical explants, stainless steel can be completely reused, for instance. Main conclusions: In Brazil, there are limited data regarding the number of generators or the amount of waste produced from health services, and, additionally, explants are improperly discarded as sharps waste.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Ibero-American Journal of Environmental Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The CBPC - Companhia Brasileira de Produção Científica (Brazil CNPJ: 11.221.422/0001-03) the material rights of the published works. The rights relate to the publication of the work anywhere in the world, including rights to renewals, expansions and dissemination of the contribution, as well as other subsidiary rights. All electronically published works may subsequently be published in printed collections under the coordination of this company and / or its partners. The authors preserve the copyright, but are not allowed to publish the contribution in another medium, printed or digital, in Portuguese or in translation.