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Safe potable water is a luxury that is generally unavailable to the majority of rural and suburban populations of developing, underdeveloped, and often developed countries. Important considerations in the development and maintenance of safe water supplies is the availability and use of efficient, inexpensive, and appropriate technology for removing microbial hazards, parasites, and toxicants. The Manz intermittent slow sand filter was known to be user friendly, small enough to fit into the smallest kitchen, and could remove up to 97% of the fecal coliforms present in the raw water before treatment by the Manz filter. This filter was evaluated for its ability to remove parasitic cysts and toxicants as well as bacteria. Using two different filters and two different water supplies our results indicated that the intermittent slow sand filter could remove 83+% total heterotrophic bacterial populations, 100% of Giardia cysts, 99.98% of Cryptosporidium oocysts, and 50–90% of organic and inorganic toxicants when administered in concentrations varying from 10–>100× environmental pollution levels. Methodology details are provided in the paper. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol 14: 217–225, 1999

Background While petroleum-based plastics are extensively used in health care, recent developments in biopolymer manufacturing have created new opportunities for increased integration of biopolymers into medical products, devices and services. This study compared the environmental impacts of single-use disposable devices with increased biopolymer content versus typically manufactured devices in hysterectomy. Methods A comparative life cycle assessment of single-use disposable medical products containing plastic(s) versus the same single-use medical devices with biopolymers substituted for plastic(s) at Magee-Women's Hospital (Magee) in Pittsburgh, PA and the products used in four types of hysterectomies that contained plastics potentially suitable for biopolymer substitution. Magee is a 360-bed teaching hospital, which performs approximately 1400 hysterectomies annually. Results There are life cycle environmental impact tradeoffs when substituting biopolymers for petroplastics in procedures such as hysterectomies. The substitution of biopolymers for petroleum-based plastics increased smog-related impacts by approximately 900% for laparoscopic and robotic hysterectomies, and increased ozone depletion-related impacts by approximately 125% for laparoscopic and robotic hysterectomies. Conversely, biopolymers reduced life cycle human health impacts, acidification and cumulative energy demand for the four hysterectomy procedures. The integration of biopolymers into medical products is correlated with reductions in carcinogenic impacts, non-carcinogenic impacts and respiratory effects. However, the significant agricultural inputs associated with manufacturing biopolymers exacerbate environmental impacts of products and devices made using biopolymers. Conclusions The integration of biopolymers into medical products is correlated with reductions in carcinogenic impacts, non-carcinogenic impacts and respiratory effects; however, the significant agricultural inputs associated with manufacturing biopolymers exacerbate environmental impacts.

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