Post No. 42. Final
Disposition of Gloves and masks and other PPE in times of COVID-19.
The general idea
has been developed is that when a product is consumed and deposited in a
garbage dump and collected by the local collection trucks, the problem is solved.
In reality, what is being done is transferring the problem of solid waste
contamination from one place to another.
The real problem we are facing until now is that
water, air, and soil had been contaminated and as a consequence of this the proliferation of vectors are offensive to public health and may be a factor to
spread viruses that affect us and bring epidemics and even more serious
pandemics like COVID-19 and this is quite alarming. The consequences are not
reflected only in public health and financial but threat the future of our
society in every country of the world.
There is a news
source of contamination and this time is caused by COVID-19 appeared. As masks and gloves are required and most of
them are not reusable a huge number are not disposed properly and have been
dumped in parking lots, beaches or other public sites. When they are thrown in
beaches the marine life can mistake them for foods and also causes a health
problem is disposed in public locations as parks, corners, and others.
There are some
considerations we need to take into account. People think they are protecting
themselves but it’s not just about protecting themselves but at the end
improper disposal of these materials will help to spread the virus and cause
additional consequences and risk for sanitation workers and community in
general.
This is the case of face masks
and gloves. They should be disposed when the mask becomes soiled on either side
of the mask or when the user is done with wear. It is important not to re-use single-use masks and as gloves are not recyclable and may be picked by someone else
and the virus could be transported to the person throwing them away and continuing
to spread the virus.
Then, we need to place the mask
in a plastic bag, like a grocery shopping bag or a zip lock bag, secure bag
tightly, place it into the garbage tank and wash hands immediately after
disposing. A hint is to stay as far as possible from the garbage can be located outside your home when the material is disposed and wash both hands after
completing this operation.
The community garbage can must be disinfected regularly, and Sanitation workers should use standard practices
including basic hygiene precautions and wear the recommended PPE (Personal
Protective Equipment) as prescribed for their current work tasks when handling
untreated waste.
The following PPE is recommended
for workers handling human waste or sewage:
·
Goggles: To protect eyes from splashes of human
waste or sewage
·
Protective face mask or splash-proof face
shield: to protect nose and mouth from splashes of human waste or sewage.
·
Liquid-repellent coveralls: To keep human waste
or sewage off clothing.
·
Waterproof gloves: To prevent exposure to human
waste or sewage.
·
Rubber boots: To prevent exposure to human waste
or sewage. (CDC for Disease Control and Prevention. Guidance for Reducing
Health Risks to Workers Handling Human Waste or Sewage).
It is imperative to begin a new
PPE waste management because the practice of mixing solid wastes of any kind
could be hazard to the environment and community and a way to spread the virus.
The waste management for PPE
should be different than the conventional that has been used before the
pandemic. Some recommendations are as follow:
·
Select designated vehicles to handle PPE wastes
and disinfect should be sprayed on discard masks, gloves and other PPE.
·
Select designated trash bins with a different
color as centralized points to dispose the face masks. This is a good way to
educate consumers and help to stop spreading the virus.
·
Discard PPE wastes should be collected by
sanitation workers with protective equipment.
·
These designated trash bins should be
transferred to a PPE waste transfer station.
·
Discard wastes should be incinerated immediately
to prevent further contamination and trash bins returned after a deep cleaning.
·
A Mobile Management Technology for the final
disposition of PPE will enable a daily disposal to optimize routes improve
customer service, documentation and audits and to get the maximum value from the
data is collected it will be necessary to work together with Data Science and
Artificial Intelligence.
·
Data Science will help to get optimal solutions
in a final disposition of PPE because enable agencies to analyze a health map
to monitor and surveillance to target the disease areas and as the machines
will absorb a large amount of structured or unstructured with continuous texts data
the practice of predictive Data Analytics to extract the information absorbed using
Data Mining and Genetic Algorithm will be essential to determine patterns and predict future
outcomes and trends. These predictive analytics will forecast what might happen
in the future with an acceptable level of reliability and Artificial
Intelligence will implement a predictive model to forecast future events with
the use of computer algorithms.
·
In summary, it is necessary to prepare and encourage
population to safely discard used masks
and other PPE and establish a separation system and establish a PPE waste
management to regularly pick and dispose the discarded wastes properly and
coordinate with the general population in order to halt the COVID-19
·
Finally, it may be concluded that is necessary
to understand that disposal of waste material is a never-ending task that needs
to be upgraded regularly.
References and Information Sources:
CDC- Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention:
How to properly dispose a
surgical/face mask. Time: 1:37:
How to properly remove and
discard face masks to reduce the risk of infection. Time: 2:37:
Doffing PPE: Remove and Discard Outer
Gloves.
Problematic of Solid Wastes
Disposition in Panama City.
Thesis project for a Civil
Engineering degree. University Santa Maria. 1980.
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