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PubMed1993

Lowbury Lecture. Infection control--a challenge in a land of contrasts.

The general level of health care in any country will dictate to a large extent the amount of attention paid to the control of nosocomial infections. In South Africa the apartheid era, although initially supporting a strong economy, did little to foster a good education system among the mass of the population. With the imposition of sanctions and the decline in the economy, the health services which had been curative in nature and centred around the medical schools of the country and their teaching hospitals, began to suffer the effects of rampant inflation and financial cutbacks. Nevertheless, virtually all the medical schools support infection control programmes of one sort or another. In addition, there are a number of Infection Control Societies in the country. With the present political instability and violence in the country, the health services have not escaped. Staff cutbacks are inevitable and wards may have to close; the academic hospitals are under threat. Privatization is strongly favoured by government. The present population of approximately 30 million could double by the year 2020, putting enormous pressure on limited resources. The squatter problem worsens every month. The spectre of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection increases yearly. Any assessment of priorities must therefore be made against this background. Only proven methods of infection control should be encouraged. In the light of the foregoing, three areas of practical activity are examined: the re-processing of heat-labile equipment, the re-use of disposables and the disposal of clinical waste.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cross Infection↗
PubMed2004

Disposal frequencies of selected recyclable wastes in Dar es Salaam.

A statistical survey of households based upon questionnaires distributed via primary schools has been carried out in five wards of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to estimate disposal frequencies (number of items disposed per week) for newsprint, metal cans, glass and plastic containers and plastic shopping bags. Plastic shopping bags are disposed most frequently while glass containers are disposed least frequently. The statistical distribution of disposal frequencies, which seems to be influenced by household income, is well described by Poisson distribution. Disposal frequencies are mutually correlated at 95% level of probability despite the differences in disposal patterns of individual households.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed1998

Near-surface disposal of concentrated NORM wastes.

Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) in concentrated forms arises in nature and in industry where natural radioisotopes become mobile and then accumulate at particular sites. In industry this often occurs in an acidic environment, where precipitates containing radionuclides plate out onto pipe walls, filters, tank linings, etc. As the radionuclides are selectively deposited, they build up and there is a multiplying effect in terms of the radioactivity concentration. Conditions often tend to favour the build-up of radium, particularly when barium is present and can cause the co-precipitation of radium compounds. As radium is highly radiotoxic, the handling and disposal of such material requires careful management. The state of Western Australia currently has the only low level waste repository in Australia, located at Mt Walton East. To date this repository has been used predominantly to dispose of packaged radioactive waste containing artificial radioisotopes, but there is an increasing demand for the repository to accept bulk concentrated NORM wastes from mining and related industries. Already steelwork from a dismantled phosphoric acid plant and other items contaminated with NORM have been disposed of. The Mt Walton East repository is now proposed as the disposal site for 6000 tonnes per annum of gangue residue from the processing of monazite. The residue contains thorium and a small amount of radium. This paper looks at the technical and related considerations of these disposal operations.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed1978

The current status of hazardous solid waste management.

Growth of the population and of industrialization, and substandard disposal of the increased waste products thus generated, have resulted in numerous documented cases of harm to human, plant, and animal health. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976), its stated goals, and its intended means of implementation, are discussed relative to hazardous waste problems. Subtitle C of this Act, and the authority granted by it to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are explained. Standards and regulations have been imposed upon those responsible for generating and transporting hazardous wastes, to ensure the ultimate safe disposal of such wastes in environmentally suitable, properly licensed facilities.

Environmental Pollution↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Acidification-neutralization processes in a lignite mine spoil amended with fly ash or limestone.

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the longterm effects of amending sulfide-rich lignite mine spoil with fly ash (originating from a coal-fired power station and largely comprised of aluminosilicates) and/or agricultural limestone. The experiment was carried out with soil moisture maintained at field capacity or alternate cycles of wetting and drying. Results obtained suggest that the principal acidification processes were oxidation of sulfide and formation of hydroxysulfate (FeOHSO4), whereas the main neutralization processes were weathering of aluminosilicates in fly ash-treated samples and dissolution of calcium carbonate in limestone-treated samples. The highest dose of limestone rapidly raised the pH of the spoil, but this increase was not maintained throughout the one-year experiment. In contrast, fly ash-treated samples showed a more sustained increase in pH, attributable to the gradual weathering of aluminosilicates. The best results (i.e., good short- and long-term neutralization) were obtained in samples treated with both fly ash and limestone. The low liming capacity of the fly ash (47.85 cmol kg(-1)) means that it must be used in large quantities, an advantage in achieving the further aim of disposing of the fly ash.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1988

[Dry-distillation of experimental animal wastes containing radioisotopes].

Mice were dry-distilled at 800 degrees C for 10 min, after [32P]orthophosphate or L-[4,5-3H]leucine was intraperitoneally administered. Phosphorus-32 was quantitatively recovered in the residual solid, whereas 95% of 3H was found int he distillate (condensed water). When 14C (L-[U-14C]malic acid or L-[U-14C]leucine) was administered to mice and they were dry-distilled, 14C-radioactivity was distributed into two fractions; residual solid and exhaust gas. In these cases, the recovery percentage of 14C in residual solid was not very high but increased as the treating temperature decreased. It reached about 40% of the administered 14C at 400 degrees C for 120 min. By the dry-distillation of animals, their weight was reduced to about 10% in every animal tested (mice, rats and rabbits). The volume was reduced to about 20% in cases of mice and rats, and about 30% in case of rabbits. It was concluded that the dry-distillation can be useful as a pre-treatment for disposal of animal wastes containing radioisotopes.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Waste not. Hospitals reduce, recycle and manage waste.

In the '80s, medical waste became a dirty word. On the heels of popular, and often distorted, fears about the dangers of medical waste, hospitals faced a monumental task: to evaluate their current handling of waste and, in many cases, develop new programs and disposal methods.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Waste management: three R's (reduce, reuse, recycle) reduce waste, save money.

This article outlines the problems of waste disposal in health care facilities and offers practical ways to reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost waste in the health care setting. The author presents data on medical waste, gives alternatives to incineration, and describes recycling practices at various hospitals.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed1976

Lead encephalopathy: case reports.

Six cases of lead encephalopathy in Black children are described. There was a delay in the diagnosis of the first 4 cases, partly owing to a lack of awareness of the possibility of exposure to lead in this population. The importance of the safe disposal of industrial wastes is stressed.

Brain Diseases↗