That is medical waste in your child's mouth
Medical waste is in our homes as plastic water bottles, pouches, tiffins, toys, and even combs
By Yogesh Avasthi and Ruturaj Jadav
Posted On Sunday, March 01, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2009030120090301025755263aab287d0)
As Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) continues to crack down on medical clinics and scrap dealers trading in bio-medical waste, ponder over those water bottles
your children carry to school, the toys they play with, trays you are served food in at malls, plastic cups you drink tea in and even combs in your drawer.
Chances are, a lot of stuff in your house — and all over the city — is created from medical waste, and can cause serious health problems. That is why there are strict guidelines in place for doctors and hospitals for disposal of such waste.However, as a series of raids AMC has carried out on city clinics (see accompanying story) and warehouses in the past two days shows that a lot of this deadly stuff has been finding its way out from clinics and into plastic manufacturing units.
Ahmedabad Mirror on Friday visited warehouses in Naroda, Odhav, Vatva and Asarva, where AMC officials carried out raids on February 26-27, to understand how medical waste finds it way from clinics into our homes.Medical waste is purchased by scrap dealers at the cost of around Rs 17 per kg. Plastic is extracted from medicine packaging, syringes, IV fluid pouches and turned into small pellets.
While these pellets are sold to plastic manufacturing units for around Rs 35 per kg, medicines and needles are used for more sinister purposes. Every small and medium-sized plastic manufacturing unit prefers to buy the raw material from scrap dealers, as virgin plastic costs around Rs 90 per kg.
Plastic prepared in these warehouses is technically called thermoplastic polymer or Polypropylene. It is used in a wide variety of applications, including household items, toys, stationery, containers, ropes and even textiles. Experts have confirmed that food and water stored in containers made from medical waste can lead to serious, even fatal, health complications.Long-term use of products made from medical waste can lead to allergies, ulcers, acidity and even cancers.
Said Kartikeya Sarabhai, director, Centre for Environment Education, “Who will be responsible if somebody dies as a result of using products made from medical waste? How can we treat our health in such a careless manner? I read about some clinics selling medical waste instead of disposing it of in Ahmedabad Mirror (AMC seals 15 clinics, February 27) and I was shocked.”
Health Officer, AMC, Dr S P Kulkarni, said it is proven fact that products made of medical can cause many health problems.
“Many a times we develop an allergy out of nowhere. It could be a result of contact with products made out of medical waste. It is an open secret that the handling of medical waste itself is not done properly.”Solution to this problem is plastic manufacturing units using only virgin plastic. But that is easier said than done. Said P K Sahoo, manager (technical services), Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology, “If manufacturing units use only virgin plastic, this menace will end but nobody does that. We have no choice. The enforcement agencies will have to come down heavily on those trading in medical waste.”
By Yogesh Avasthi and Ruturaj Jadav
Posted On Sunday, March 01, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=2009030120090301025755263aab287d0)
As Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) continues to crack down on medical clinics and scrap dealers trading in bio-medical waste, ponder over those water bottles
your children carry to school, the toys they play with, trays you are served food in at malls, plastic cups you drink tea in and even combs in your drawer.Chances are, a lot of stuff in your house — and all over the city — is created from medical waste, and can cause serious health problems. That is why there are strict guidelines in place for doctors and hospitals for disposal of such waste.However, as a series of raids AMC has carried out on city clinics (see accompanying story) and warehouses in the past two days shows that a lot of this deadly stuff has been finding its way out from clinics and into plastic manufacturing units.
Ahmedabad Mirror on Friday visited warehouses in Naroda, Odhav, Vatva and Asarva, where AMC officials carried out raids on February 26-27, to understand how medical waste finds it way from clinics into our homes.Medical waste is purchased by scrap dealers at the cost of around Rs 17 per kg. Plastic is extracted from medicine packaging, syringes, IV fluid pouches and turned into small pellets.
While these pellets are sold to plastic manufacturing units for around Rs 35 per kg, medicines and needles are used for more sinister purposes. Every small and medium-sized plastic manufacturing unit prefers to buy the raw material from scrap dealers, as virgin plastic costs around Rs 90 per kg.
Plastic prepared in these warehouses is technically called thermoplastic polymer or Polypropylene. It is used in a wide variety of applications, including household items, toys, stationery, containers, ropes and even textiles. Experts have confirmed that food and water stored in containers made from medical waste can lead to serious, even fatal, health complications.Long-term use of products made from medical waste can lead to allergies, ulcers, acidity and even cancers.
Said Kartikeya Sarabhai, director, Centre for Environment Education, “Who will be responsible if somebody dies as a result of using products made from medical waste? How can we treat our health in such a careless manner? I read about some clinics selling medical waste instead of disposing it of in Ahmedabad Mirror (AMC seals 15 clinics, February 27) and I was shocked.”
Health Officer, AMC, Dr S P Kulkarni, said it is proven fact that products made of medical can cause many health problems.
“Many a times we develop an allergy out of nowhere. It could be a result of contact with products made out of medical waste. It is an open secret that the handling of medical waste itself is not done properly.”Solution to this problem is plastic manufacturing units using only virgin plastic. But that is easier said than done. Said P K Sahoo, manager (technical services), Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology, “If manufacturing units use only virgin plastic, this menace will end but nobody does that. We have no choice. The enforcement agencies will have to come down heavily on those trading in medical waste.”
