A review on: Effect of bio-medical waste on neonatal health

Abstract

Biomedical waste (BMW) epitomizes an exigent global public health and ecological exigency, exacerbated by the accelerated proliferation of medical infrastructure and entrenched inefficiencies in systemic waste governance. Constituted of predominantly non-hazardous (85%) and a consequential proportion of hazardous (15%) constituents—including pathogenic, cytotoxic, and radiological agents—BMW poses a profound peril to clinical personnel, patients, and the broader populace. This review delineates the taxonomy, provenance, and multidimensional ramifications of BMW, with an accentuated emphasis on its deleterious repercussions for neonatal and adult morbidity. Improvident disposal practices precipitate the bioaccumulation of toxicants within environmental matrices and potentiate the propagation of virulent pathogens and intractable disease states. Neonates, by virtue of their physiological immaturity, are acutely susceptible to teratogenic effluents, while frontline healthcare operatives are recurrently subjected to nosocomial transmission of bloodborne viruses such as HIV, HBV, and HCV. The observations accentuate the imperative for stringent, evidence-based bio-waste management protocols to attenuate biohazardous exposure and preserve both human and environmental health.