Investigating motivating factors for sound hospital waste management

Sustainable management of hospital waste requires an active involvement of all key players. This study aims to test the hypothesis that three motivating factors, namely, Reputation, Liability, and Expense, influence hospital waste management. The survey for this study was conducted in two phases, with the pilot study used for exploratory factor analysis and the subsequent main survey used for cross-validation using confirmatory factor analysis. The hypotheses were validated through one-sample t tests. Correlations were established between the three motivating factors and organizational characteristics of hospital type, location, category, and size. The hypotheses were validated, and it was found that the factors of Liability and Expense varied considerably with respect to location and size of a hospital. The factor of Reputation, however, did not exhibit significant variation. In conclusion, concerns about the reputation of a facility and an apprehension of liability act as incentives for sound hospital waste management, whereas concerns about financial costs and perceived overburden on staff act as disincentives.

Implications: This paper identifies the non economic motivating factors that can be used to encourage behavioral changes regarding waste management at hospitals in resource constrained environments. This study discovered that organizational characteristics such as hospital size and location cause the responses to vary among the subjects. Hence a policy maker must take into account the institutional setting before introducing a change geared towards better waste management outcomes across hospitals. This study covers a topic that has hitherto been neglected in resource constrained countries. Thus it can be used as one of the first steps to highlight and tackle the issue.     

Risk assessment of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in the Klang River estuary,Malaysia

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - The concentration profile, distribution and risk assessment of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in the coastal surface water from the Klang River...     

Sago pith waste ash as a potential raw material for ceramic and geopolymer fabrication

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This study focuses on the potential usage of sago pith waste ash (SPWA) obtained from sago pith waste (SPW) calcined from 500 to...     

Association of textile industry effluent with mutagenicity and its toxic health implications upon acute and sub-chronic exposure

Complex industrial discharges pose certain risks to the ecosystem. This study was aimed at identifying acute and sub-chronic toxicological effects of the textile industry wastewater. The textile wastewater was evaluated for the metals and organic pollutants by atomic absorption spectrophotometer and GC-MS respectively. In vitro genotoxicity and mutagenicity were assessed by Comet assay in peripheral lymphocytes isolated from Ovis aries and Ames test in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA-100 and 102 respectively. Physiological and behavioral changes along with systemic toxicity were determined in Rattus norvegicus albinus following acute and sub-chronic exposure. High amount of heavy metals such as Cr, Pb, Hg, As, and Cd were detected in textile wastewater. Organic pollutants such as 25-deacetoxy cucurbitacin-b, E-14-Hexadecenal, 11-Tricosene, and phthalates were also found. In vitro genotoxicity assessment in lymphocytes showed statistically significant DNA damaging potential of textile wastewater. Textile wastewater also showed significantly higher (p? 0.05) mutagenic potential in Salmonella TA-100 and TA-102 strains than sodium azide and 2-amino anthracycline. Acute exposure of textile wastewater to Rattus norvegicus was associated with several physiological changes and behavioral symptoms. Sub-chronic exposure of textile wastewater in Rattus norvegicus instigated the degeneration and necrosis of epithelial cells in renal tubules, hydropic degeneration and necrosis of hepatocytes, peri-bronchiolar infiltration and emphysema of the alveoli, and the degradation of myocardial cells. This study concludes that the textile wastewater may cause genotoxicity and mutagenicity, result in physiological and behavioral changes upon acute exposure, and inflict various pathological lesions upon sub-chronic exposure.     

Assessment of risk factors in forest road design and construction activities with fuzzy analytic hierarchy process approach in Turkey

Forest road design and construction are time-consuming and complicated because various risk factors can be encountered during the process. The aim of this study is to comprehensively assess the risk factors in forest road design and construction using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method in Turkey, thus contributing to the proper performance of these activities. Within the scope of the study, six main risk factors and 22 sub-risk factors were identified based on literature review. In order to determine the weights of the relevant risk factors, the opinions of three different groups [(group 1: academicians), (group 2: forest engineers (private sector employees + public sector employees)), (group 3: group 1 + group 2)] about the risk factors were obtained. Relevant risk factor weights were determined using the fuzzy AHP method. According to group 3, the most important main risk factors are technical risks and environmental risks. In addition, the most important sub-risk factors for each relevant main risk factor were incorrect road alignment, inadequate work safety in the field, insufficient capital, legal problems on the road alignment, landslide risk during road construction, and illegal logging. Differences were observed between groups 1 and 2 in the weight rankings of relevant risk factor. The results demonstrate that the fuzzy AHP method can be used effectively to assess the risks of forest road design and construction.     

Synthesis of magnetite-based nanocomposites for effective removal of brilliant green dye from wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present study aims at evaluating the batch scale potential of cotton shell powder (CSP), Moringa oleifera leaves (ML), and magnetite-assisted...     

Evaluation of metal contents of household detergent samples from Turkey by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

The concentrations of cadmium, copper, chromium, cobalt, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, and zinc in detergent samples from Kayseri, Turkey were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. HClO₄ (10 mL)/HNO₃ (10 mL) mixture was used for the digestion of household detergent samples. The correctness of the analytical procedures was checked with standard addition–recovery tests in different detergent samples for the investigated metal ions. The concentration ranges of the elements in the detergent samples were found as 17.2–60.1, 11.1–40.1, 2.5–32.3, 8.1–10.5, 7.2–21.6, 9.8–17.9, 1.7–3.8, 12.5–22.5, and 2.0–5.8 μg/g for iron, manganese, zinc, copper, lead, cobalt, cadmium, nickel, and chromium, respectively. The values found in this work were compared with some other studies around the world conducted on detergent samples.     

Heavy metal contents of organically produced, harvested, and dried fruit samples from Kayseri, Turkey

Organically produced, harvested, and dried fruit samples bought at organic markets in Kayseri, Turkey have been analyzed for their trace element contents. In the determinations, flame atomic absorption spectrometer (FAAS) was used. This pilot study is the first to be performed for organically produced, harvested, and dried fruit samples from Kayseri, Turkey. The copper, iron, manganese, and zinc concentrations were found to be 1.6–15.5, 10.3–144, 23.0–211, and 23.3–91.6 μg/g, respectively. The cobalt, lead, cadmium, chromium, and nickel concentrations in all analyzed organic fruit samples were below the quantification limits of FAAS. SRM 1570A spinach leaves and SRM 1515 apple leaves were used to check the accuracy of the procedure. The results for the dried fruit samples found in this work were compared with the values from some studies from the world. The results found in the presented work may also be useful for future studies about organically produced, harvested, and dried fruit samples.     

Levels of heavy metals in tissues of shingi fish (Heteropneustes fossilis) from Buriganga River, Bangladesh

Heavy metal pollution was reported in commercially valuable freshwater edible fish in the Buriganga River, Bangladesh. The concentrations of As, Pb, Cd, Cr, Zn, and Cu were investigated in the muscle, gill, stomach, intestine, and liver of Heteropneustes fossilis caught at three stations to assess the degree of fish pollution by heavy metals. Significant differences in concentrations of analyzed elements were observed among different tissues, but not among the stations. The ranges of the measured concentrations (μg/g dry weight) in the tissues of H. fossilis were as follows: arsenic concentration was (0.2–0.4), (0.82–0.90), (3.29–3.99), (2.20–2.80), and (2.41–2.90), that of lead was (1.79–2.20), (4.95–6.55), (10.36–13.38), (5.74–9.70), and (18.20–18.79), that of cadmium was (0.3–0.4), (2.87–4.27), (1.03–1.63), (1.55–4.59), and (2.25–5.50), that of chromium was (1.40–1.70), (3.52–3.72), (2.28–5.29), (2.77–3.79), and (4.25–8.65), that of zinc was (24.47–28.82), (16.82–18.80), (20.22–22.20), (22.86–26.68), and (60.82–67.80), and that of copper was (7.80–8.50), (6.22–6.81), (38.21–44.25), (17.07–21.03), and (43.24–47.30) in the muscle, gill, stomach, intestine, and liver, respectively. This research showed that the liver appeared to be the main heavy metal storage tissue, while the muscle had the lowest levels of analyzed metals. The concentrations of metal in the muscles not exceeded the acceptable levels for a food source for human consumption.