Environmental noise in hospitals: a systematic review

Environmental noise has been growing in recent years, causing numerous health problems. Highly sensitive environments such as hospitals deserve special attention, since noise can aggravate patients’ health issues and impair the performance of healthcare professionals. This work consists of a systematic review of scientific articles describing environmental noise measurements taken in hospitals between the years 2015 and 2020. The researchers started with a consultation of three databases, namely, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect. The results indicate that for the most part, these studies are published in journals in the fields of medicine, engineering, environmental sciences, acoustics, and nursing and that most of their authors work in the fields of architecture, engineering, medicine, and nursing. These studies, which are concentrated in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, use as reference values sound levels recommended by the World Health Organization. L_eq measured in hospital environments showed daytime values ranging from 37 to 88.6 dB (A) and nighttime values of 38.7 to 68.8 dB (A). L_eq values for outdoor noise were 74.3 and 56.6 dB (A) for daytime and nighttime, respectively. The measurements were taken mainly inside hospitals, prioritizing more sensitive departments such as intensive care units. There is a potential for growth in work carried out in this area, but research should also include discussions about guidelines for improvement measures aimed at reducing noise in hospitals.

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Drivers of food waste generation and best practice towards sustainable food waste management in the hotel sector: a systematic review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The growing volumes of food globally are lost or wasted along the entire food chain. However, a high effort in investigating why food waste (FW)...     

A comparative study on per capita waste generation according to a waste collecting system in Korea

As cities are becoming increasingly aware of problems related to conventional mobile collection systems, automated pipeline-based vacuum collection (AVAC) systems have been introduced in some densely populated urban areas. The reasons are that in addition to cost savings, AVAC systems can be efficient, hygienic, and environmentally friendly. Despite difficulties in making direct comparisons of municipal waste between a conventional mobile collection system and an AVAC system, it is meaningful to measure the quantities in each of these collection methods either in total or on a per capita generation of waste (PCGW, g/(day*capita)) basis. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the difference in per capita generation of household waste according to the different waste collection methods in Korea. Observations on household waste show that there were considerable differences according to waste collection methods. The value of per capita generation of food waste (PCGF) indicates that a person in a city using AVAC produces 60 % of PCGF (109.58 g/(day*capita)), on average, compared with that of a truck system (173.10 g/(day*capita)) as well as 23 %p less moisture component than that with trucks. The value of per capita generation of general waste (PCGG) in a city with an AVAC system showed 147.73 g/(day*capita), which is 20 % less than that with trucks delivered (185 g/(day*capita)). However, general waste sampled from AVAC showed a 35 %p increased moisture content versus truck delivery.     

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of municipal solid waste in Iran for implementation of best waste management practice: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - With the rapid growth of population, development of different industries, and production of several ranges of products, the generation of municipal...     

A systematic review on cigarette butt management as a hazardous waste and prevalent litter: control and recycling

Annually, over 5.5 trillion cigarettes are produced worldwide, and it is estimated that 4.5 trillion cigarette butts (CBs) are still being littered in the world. The dispersal of the CBs has caused this hazardous waste to be considered as one of the most important litters and environmental risks all over the world. This systematic study with the search protocol definition and keyword identification was developed to find the CBs control and recycling methods by searching in five scientific databases. Founded articles were monitored and finally, 35 related articles were selected and studied by the authors. The results of this study showed that CBs recycling methods have been tested in 10 specific categories all over the world. The CBs have been applied without any pre-processing methods in the bricks and asphalt production. However, other applications of the CBs such as the absorbent material production, vector control, and use as a biofilm carrier in wastewater treatment need various processing methods. The researchers also presented models and suggestions such as taxes, penalties, and public education for the control of CBs littering. Despite the innovative methods applied for the CBs recycling in previous studies, CBs have not received much attention in terms of pollutant control and environmental issues in recycling processes.

     

Fractal approach in expansive clay-based materials with special focus on compacted GMZ bentonite in nuclear waste disposal: a systematic review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Knowledge of the behavior of highly compacted expansive clays, as an engineered barrier, in disposal of high-level nuclear waste (HLW) systems to...     

Toxicological aspects of trihalomethanes: a systematic review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Chlorine is considered the most used chemical agent for water disinfection worldwide. However, water chlorination can lead to by-product generation...     

Status of electronic waste recycling techniques: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The increasing use of electrical and electronic equipment leads to a huge generation of electronic waste (e-waste). It is the fastest growing waste...     

Nanomaterials photocatalytic activities for waste water treatment: a review

Water is necessary for the survival of life on Earth. A wide range of pollutants has contaminated water resources in the last few decades. The presence of contaminants incredibly different dyes in waste, potable, and surface water is hazardous to environmental and human health. Different types of dyes are the principal contaminants in water that need sudden attention because of their widespread domestic and industrial use. The toxic effects of these dyes and their ability to resist traditional water treatment procedures have inspired the researcher to develop an eco-friendly method that could effectively and efficiently degrade these toxic contaminants. Here, in this review, we explored the effective and economical methods of metal-based nanomaterials photocatalytic degradation for successfully removing dyes from wastewater. This study provides a tool for protecting the environment and human health. In addition, the insights into the transformation of solar energy for photocatalytic reduction of toxic metal ions and photocatalytic degradation of dyes contaminated wastewater will open a gate for water treatment research. The mechanism of photocatalytic degradation and the parameters that affect the photocatalytic activities of various photocatalysts have also been reported.

     

Disposal and resource utilization of waste masks: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Waste masks pose a serious threat to the environment, including marine plastic pollution and soil pollution risks caused by landfills since the...     

Present status of recycling waste mobile phones in China: a review

A large number of waste mobile phones have already been generated and are being generated. Various countries around the world have all been positively exploring the way of recycling and reuse when facing such a large amount of waste mobile phones. In some countries, processing waste mobile phones has been forming a complete industrial chain, which can not only recycle waste mobile phones to reduce their negative influence on the environment but also turn waste into treasure to acquire economic benefits dramatically. However, the situation of recycling waste mobile phones in China is not going well. Waste mobile phones are not formally covered by existing regulations and policies for the waste electric and electronic equipment in China. In order to explore an appropriate system to recover waste mobile phones, the mobile phone production and the amount of waste mobile phones are introduced in this paper, and status of waste mobile phones recycling is described; then, the disposal technology of electronic waste that would be most likely to be used for processing of electronic waste in industrial applications in the near future is reviewed. Finally, rationalization proposals are put forward based on the current recovery status of waste mobile phones for the purpose of promoting the development of recycling waste mobile phones in developing countries with a special emphasis on China.     

Pollutants and sperm quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Male fertility and semen quality have declined over recent decades. Among other causes, exposure to environmental and occupational pollution has been...     

Qualitative and quantitative assessment of waste generation in a refrigerator-manufacturing plant based on a waste tree and mass balance

In this study, wastes originating at each production station during refrigerator manufacturing were identified and classified based on a waste tree. A mass balance study revealed a total waste production factor of 0.046 kg/kg of a product of which 75.3%, 23.9%, and 0.8% were non-hazardous wastes (NHWs), packaging wastes (PWs), and hazardous wastes (HWs), respectively. Wastes produced during refrigerator manufacturing were grouped under 35 different waste codes. Waste codes that contributed more than 5% by weight were 15 02 02 (contaminated absorbent material), 15 01 10 (contaminated packaging), 16 02 13 (electronic cards), 07 02 14 (polyol) and 08 05 01 (isocyanates), 19 08 13 (treatment sludge), 16 02 15 (capacitors), and 13 01 13 (hydraulic oil) for HWs, 12 01 01 (ferrous metal), and 16 02 16 (components) for NHWs, and, finally, 15 01 03 (wooden), 15 01 01 (paper&cardboard), and 15 01 02 (plastic) for PWs over 5 years. Scrap costs were used as a surrogate to determine production stages that generated high amounts of metal and plastic wastes. Logarithmically, increasing and decreasing trends were observed for PWs and NHWs over the study period, respectively. HW amounts did not exhibit a statistically significant trend. Twenty-eight BATs (best available techniques) were identified that could be applied in refrigerator manufacturing for waste minimization and management. Among those, 8 of them were proposed for further improvement for waste management in the facility.

     

Health effects of waste incineration: a review of epidemiologic studies

There is an increasing trend toward using incineration to solve the problem of waste management; thus, there are concerns about the potential health impact of waste incineration. A critical review of epidemiologic studies will enhance understanding of the potential health effects of waste incineration and will provide important information regarding what needs to be investigated further. This study reviews the epidemiologic research on the potential health impact of waste incineration. Previous studies are discussed and presented according to their study population, incinerator workers or community residents, and health end points. Several studies showed significant associations between waste incineration and lower male-to-female ratio, twinning, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, ischemic heart disease, urinary mutagens and promutagens, or blood levels of certain organic compounds and heavy metals. Other studies found no significant effects on respiratory symptoms, pulmonary function, twinning, cleft lip and palate, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, or esophageal cancer. In conclusion, these epidemiologic studies consistently observed higher body levels of some organic chemicals and heavy metals, and no effects on respiratory symptoms or pulmonary function. The findings for cancer and reproductive outcomes were inconsistent. More hypothesis-testing epidemiologic studies are needed to investigate the potential health effects of waste incineration on incinerator workers and community residents.     

Biodiesel blends: a comprehensive systematic review on various constraints

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A systematic review of the utilization of waste materials as aggregate replacement in stone matrix asphalt mixes

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The daily utilization of a large amount of raw materials is causing a rapid depletion of natural resources. The growth of the human population is...     

Sustainability assurance practices: a systematic review and future research agenda

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Although firms increasingly publish sustainability reports, assuring such reports is relatively new. This study reviews the literature of...     

A systematic and critical review of waste management in micro,small and medium-sized enterprises: future directions for theory and practice

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Waste management (WM) has received increasing attention in recent years in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). However, a...     

Photocatalytic removal of diazinon from aqueous solutions: a quantitative systematic review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Diazinon is a widely used pesticide that can be effectively degraded in aqueous solutions via photocatalytic oxidation. This quantitative systematic...     

Method and mechanism of chromium removal from soil: a systematic review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Heavy metal pollution has increasingly affected human life, and the treatment of heavy metal pollution, especially chromium pollution, is still a...