Assessment of medical waste generation, associated environmental impact, and management issues after the outbreak of COVID-19: A case study of the Hubei Province in China.

ABSTRACT: COVID-19 greatly challenges the human health sector, and has resulted in a large amount of medical waste that poses various potential threats to the environment. In this study, we compiled relevant data released by official agencies and the media, and conducted data supplementation based on earlier studies to calculate the net value of medical waste produced in the Hubei Province due to COVID-19 with the help of a neural network model. Next, we reviewed the data related to the environmental impact of medical waste per unit and designed four scenarios to estimate the environmental impact of new medical waste generated during the pandemic. The results showed that a medical waste generation rate of 0.5 kg/bed/day due to COVID-19 resulted in a net increase of medical waste volume by about 3366

SUBMITTER: Ye J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8786120 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature