L. Liberti et al., OPTIMIZATION OF INFECTIOUS HOSPITAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ITALY .2. WASTE CHARACTERIZATION BY ORIGIN, Waste management and research, 14(5), 1996, pp. 417-431
This second paper in a two-part series offers more detailed data on th
e physicochemical characteristics of normal (NHW) and infectious (IHW)
hospital waste determined experimentally in a large sanitary district
that includes four hospitals, public and private, with 164 sanitary d
epartments, 40 analytical laboratories and 2500 rehabilitation beds, n
ear the town of Bari (Southern Italy). The wide variation of experimen
tal results may be better understood if reference is made to the origi
n of such waste, i.e. to the types of medical departments and sanitary
services wherein waste production appears to be related strictly to t
he therapeutic or diagnostic procedures adopted. In all cases, IHW was
shown to be classified as ''non-toxic'' deserving 950 degrees C rathe
r than 1200 degrees C incineration temperature according to Italian le
gislation. (C) 1996 ISWA