تحليل مكاني للآثار البيئية للنفايات الطبية في قضاء المسيب

Rp-A Spatial Analysis of the Environmental Impacts of the Medical Wastes in Al Musayab District.pdf

The pollutants produced from the medical wastes are considered as one of the most contemporary challenges that require research, study, and the accurate environmental evaluation due to their negative impacts on human health and on the environmental systems safety. However, mistreatment of the medical wastes and the unsound practices concerning collection, transferring, tackling, and the final disposal leads to hazard in increasing of diseases and pollutants transference to water, soil, and air. Based on this, the current study sheds the light on the environmental traces of the medical wastes by the reality of tackling the medical wastes in the area of the study and analyzing its matching extent with the adopted environmental sanitary criteria reaching to a suggestion of solutions and recommendations that improve administration efficiency and reducing the negative environmental impacts.
The current study aims to analyze spatially the environmental traces of the medical wastes in Al Musayab district beside to study the influential natural and human factor in its geographical distribution and its spatial diversities throughout the governmental hospitals and the primary health care centers including their numbers. The study also dealt with the followed procedure in tackling the medical wastes and the obstacles that they face as well revealing Al Musayab district impacts produced which are represented in polluting the air, water, and soil; in addition to the visual and noise pollution.
The study adopted the analytical method relying on the available data from the engaged offices and institutions in the area of the study beside the researcher’s filed study and the laboratory analyses for samples of water and prepared soil in the laboratory of Dr. Azam Hmoud (private laboratory), and samples of prepared air in laboratories of Ministry of sciences and technology as well as the direct interviews. The study was carried out depending on collecting and analyzing samples by the use of a group of reliable laboratory and field devices.
Water samples included four sites represented in the different branches and Euphrates River within Al Musayab district. Soil samples included six ones whereas air samples included six sites whereas the visual pollution was studied by documenting the visual pollution aspects of the medical wastes by the use of photographs.
However, readings of the noisy pollution in the area of the study included five sites inside and outside of the hospitals and health centers, the matter that helps assess the environmental impact and contribute in presenting practical recommendations to tackle these negative aspects. The results showed that Al Musayab district includes four governmental hospitals that produce about (186, 738 kg/year) of the medical wastes, in addition to nine the primary health care centers that produce (1,855 kg/ year). It was also shown that waste quantities spatially differ in districts and hospitals influenced by human and natural factors. Results stated that procedure of getting rid of the medical wastes suffer from administration weakness and disorganization that participated in increasing of the environmental pollution levels including water, soil, air, and visual and noise pollution.
The study concluded a number of important results that reflect management and reality of the medical wastes in Al Musayab district. It was shown that percentages of the health institutions that apply sorting system and color classification of wastes did not exceed (30%) whereas more than (70%) of institutions mix the dangerous medical wastes with the normal wastes, the matter increases hazards of infection and pollution spreading. Results of water analysis also showed that concentrations of some chemical and biological pollutants exceeded environmentally the limited borders with a percentage ranged from (15%) to (25%) of the standard Iraqi attributes. Soil sample recorded a rise in some pollution indicators with heavy elements like lead and cadmium with percentages reached (20%) above the natural borders. Concerning samples, measurements showed a decrease in concentration of the pending particles (PM10) that exceed the recommended criteria (40%) of the study sites which refers to presence of explicit environmental and healthy impacts