Increase in SARS-CoV-2 infected biomedical waste among low middle-income countries: environmental sustainability and impact with health implications

Evaluation of pre-treated healthcare wastes during COVID-19 pandemic reveals pathogenic microbiota, antibiotics residues, and antibiotic resistance genes against beta-lactams

The disposal of healthcare waste without prior elimination of pathogens and hazardous contaminants has negative effects on the environment and public health. This study aimed to profile the complete microbial community and correlate it with the antibiotic compounds identified in microwave pre-treated healthcare wastes collected from three different waste operators in Peninsular Malaysia. The bacterial and fungal compositions were determined via amplicon sequencing by targeting the full-length 16S rRNA gene and partial 18S with full-length ITS1-ITS2 regions, respectively. The antibiotic compounds were characterized using high-throughput spectrometry. There was significant variation in bacterial and fungal composition in three groups of samples, with alpha- (p-value = 0.04) and beta-diversity (p-values <0.006 and < 0.002), respectively. FC samples were found to acquire more pathogenic microorganisms than FA and FV samples. Paenibacillus and unclassified Bacilli genera were shared among three groups of samples, meanwhile, antibiotic-resistant bacteria Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus faecalis were found in modest quantities. A total of 19 antibiotic compounds were discovered and linked with the microbial abundance detected in the healthcare waste samples. The principal component analysis demonstrated a positive antibiotic-bacteria correlation for genera Pseudomonas, Aerococcus, Comamonas, and Vagococcus, while the other bacteria were negatively linked with antibiotics. Nevertheless, deep bioinformatic analysis confirmed the presence of blaTEM-1 and penP which are associated with the production of class A beta-lactamase and beta-lactam resistance pathways. Microorganisms and contaminants, which serve as putative indicators in healthcare waste treatment evaluation revealed the ineffectiveness of microbial inactivation using the microwave sterilization method. Our findings suggested that the occurrence of clinically relevant microorganisms, antibiotic contaminants, and associated antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) represent environmental and human health hazards when released into landfills via ARGs transmission.

Third-party Logistics in Bio-medical Waste System: a Path Towards a Risk-free Sector

After the sudden advent of COVID-19, the amount of medical waste has escalated to a great extent. The incremented medical waste amidst the pandemic exposes the improper waste management system of various developing countries. India, being one of the prominent developing countries, produces the largest waste in the world. Nonetheless, the Indian waste management system is not able to manage the massive amount of waste generated. Henceforth, this research study approaches to reveal the prominent factors which are causing failure in the system of medical waste management in India. This manuscript mainly focuses on two aspects. Firstly, this paper illuminates the factors which are hindering medical waste management by third-party logistics (3PL). Secondly, this study discusses a unique interval-value intuitionistic fuzzy set (IVIFS) based on Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to depict graphical causal interrelationships among the factors. In addition, the analytic network process (ANP) is utilized to estimate the influence ranking of each factor. The results of this research anticipate that the transportation and disposal-related constraining factors require more attention from 3PL managers. The current study is unique as it enriches the various hindering factors on 3PL BMW management by discussing the ranking and relationship among factors.