Incineration of medical waste: Emission of pollutants into the environment

Abstract

Medical waste incinerator is a  matter  of  concern  for  the  environment  and public health due to secondary pollutants. The present work aims to evaluate the toxic emissions from medical waste incineration, such as Polychlorinated Dibenzo-Dioxin/Furan (PCDD/Fs), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), and the inorganic components in ambient air and  ash. Hence, this study discusses several strategies to reduce emissions. For this purpose, searches were done in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases from 2000 to 2020. After the search, screening was done according to the predefined criteria, 96 papers were finally selected for this study.   The results show that the emissions levels depend on many factors like the composition of the feeding, waste type, waste classification, segregation practice, types of incinerators, operation conditions (designed temperature, retention time, and excess oxygen), and air pollution control devices. For instance, emissions of Medical Waste Incinerators (MWIs) rise sharply with a decrease in temperature, increase in oxygen levels and chlorine content    in waste, and the absence or weak function of air pollution control systems. This review prepared a comprehensive detailed for decision-makers to help them to understand the environmental consequences of using incinerators. However, there is a gap in finding efficient methods to reduce emissions of incinerators.