Soheil Sobhanardakani
1, Raziyeh Zandipak
2*, Mehrdad Cheraghi
1, Mehdi Mokhtari
1, Zahra Derakhshan
1, Zahra Raeisi
1*, Zahra Soltaniyanzadeh
1, Gholamreza Manuchehri
1, Fatemeh Babai
1, Elham Mahdavian
11 Environmental Sciences and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, IR Iran
*Corresponding Authors: Email:
raziyeh.zandi@yahoo.com; * Corresponding author: Zahra Raeisi, Environmental Sciences and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, IR Iran. Tel: +09369673654, , Email:
z.raeisi32@gmail.com
Abstract
Compared to other medical clinics, dental centers produce a relatively small amount of healthcare waste. However, they are responsible
for the production of certain amounts of waste that can cause serious health and environmental hazards if not treated properly.
Determining the quantity and quality of dental waste is quite necessary to plan the machinery, personnel, and transportation
methods. In the current analytical cross-sectional study, 22 dental clinics were randomly selected from among 145 dental centers in
Yazd. For each clinic, three samples were manually collected and distributed at the end of the work day once a week (the day was
randomly chosen). The components were classified into four groups based on their characteristics and potential risk. Afterward,
the collected data were analyzed using Excel. The mean per capita daily waste generation in the Yazd dental clinics was 80.179 g for
each patient. In general, the Yazd dental clinics generate approximately 4 tons of waste every year. Out of this amount, infectious
waste, domestic waste, chemical-pharmaceutical waste, and sharp waste account for 49.30%, 33.33%, 13.7%, and 4.2%, respectively. The
results of the current study and the small amount of waste generated in Yazd suggest that a special safe site should be constructed
for infectious, sharp, and keen waste; private companies should collect such waste and transfer it to this site after the waste is disinfected;
and the waste should then be transferred to a municipal waste hygienic disposal site. In regard to chemical waste that may
contain hazardous materials, like mercury, no suggestions other than safe burial are made.