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

Abstract

Studies have shown that severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a highly infectious disease, with global deaths rising to about 360,438 as of 28 May 2020. Different countries have used various approaches such as lockdown, social distancing, maintenance of personal hygiene, and increased establishment of testing and isolation centers to manage the pandemic. Poor biomedical waste (BMW) management, treatment, and disposal techniques, especially SARS-CoV-2 infected BMW, may threaten the environmental and public health in most developing countries and, by extension, impact the economic status of individuals and the nation at large. This may increase the potential for the transmission of air/blood body fluid-borne pathogens, increase the growth of microorganisms, risk of mutagenesis, and upsurge of more virulent strain. In contrast, uncontrolled substandard burning could increase the potential spread of nosocomial infection and environmental exposure to toxic organic compounds, heavy metals, radioactive, and genotoxic bio-aerosols which might be present in the gaseous, liquid, and solid by-products. The paucity of understanding of pathophysiology and management of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has also necessitated the need to put in place appropriate disposal techniques to cater for the sudden increase in the global demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) and pharmaceutical drugs to manage the pandemic and to reduce the risk of preventable infection by the waste. Therefore, there is a need for adequate sensitization, awareness, and environmental monitoring of the impacts of improper handling of SARS-CoV-2 infected BMWs. Hence, this review aimed to address the issues relating to the improper management of increased SARS-CoV-2 infected BMW in low middle-income countries (LMICs).

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

“…Unlike developed countries, developing countries face more challenges in implementing waste management systems owing to technical and economic constraints ( Ferronato and Torretta, 2019 ). Furthermore, without proper waste treatment, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infected wastes containing viable viruses and infectious pathogens could be a source of outbreak and pandemic ( Olaniyan et al, 2022 ). Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a global threat where microbial pathogens continue to evolve and develop resistance to existing antibiotics, putting the world in another pandemic ( Aljeldah, 2022 ).…”

COVID-19 and environmental health: A systematic analysis for the global burden of biomedical waste by this epidemic

“…Research by Rahul Rajak et al, 2021 has shown that India's MW by the COVID-19 pandemic has reached 32,996 tons in only the last 6 months of 2020 [ 29 ]. The study by Olugbemi T Olaniyan et al pointed to the rapid increase in PPE and other biomedical wastes by the COVID-19 pandemic [ 30 ]. At the same time, this study also shows that the loopholes in the medical waste management plan can have serious consequences.…”

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

“…Additionally, the dumping of recyclables causes soil pollution. Olaniyan et al ( 2021 ), Subramanian et al ( 2021 ) …”

“…Nevertheless, there is no such effort for recycling among healthcare centers as well as in 3PL disposal factories (Sharma et al 2021 ). Many 3PL disposal factories dump these wastes in the soil which causes soil pollution as well as the release of different pollutants into the environment (Olaniyan et al 2021 ). In addition, due to fewer traits of recycling, treatment and disposal expense of 3PL increases.…”