The Advantages and Disadvantages of Microwave Irradiation
Medical instruments and chemicals are used to treat diseases, injuries, infections and to improve our long-term well-being. However, it can also be infectious and pose an increasing problem to our health and safety if its wastes are not disposed of using the proper methods. Fortunately, one currently investigated solution to sterilize and treat medical wastes can be easily found in a conventional microwave oven (Gulyurt, 2012). This technology is called microwave irradiation or microwave synthesis, in which heat and moisture are used with radiation to penetrate and sterilize shredded medical wastes (Drake, 1993). However, like other treatment methods, microwave irradiation has both advantages and disadvantages (Veribesi et al., 2007).
Table 1. Comparison of 4 medical waste treatment technologies. Retrieved from Veronesi, 2007.
Microwave irradiation is one of the current sterilization methods being investigated to treat medical instruments and shredded wastes. One advantage of using microwave irradiation is its suitability to the wide variety of materials; both dry and wet wastes can be sterilized by using the microwave technology (Drake, 1993). Microwave irradiation can be used for sharps, such as needles, knives and wastes containing pieces of metal, as well as soft materials containing blood and body fluids, such as gauze, bandages, drapes, gowns and beddings. This process is also known to utilize smaller equipment, sterilize faster, and create the possibility of indoor operation for hospitals. One experiment showed that some medical instruments could be sterilized within 30 seconds by using a microwave (Border, 1999). However, despite all its advantages, microwave irradiation comes with its own set of problems.
The disadvantages of microwave irradiation are from its limitations and preparation. Although it can sterilize just as much and some cases even a wider variety of materials, this procedure can only sterilize a limited amount of materials at a time. To sterilize waste materials, the wastes must be shredded and prepared properly to be completely sterilized. This process can cause pollutants and infectious particles to be released into the atmosphere and spread contagion. Additionally, after the wastes are treated they still need to be transported to a landfill to be incinerated, which may persist to pollute the air and acid rain around the disposal sites (Bridges et al., 1995). In some cases, microwave irradiation does not possess the necessary heat or power to penetrate a large scale boxed medical waste, which could result in a less efficient procedure than other methods. In addition, its capital investment is relatively high (Gulyurt, 2012).
In conclusion, microwave irradiation proposes a mediocre method in sterilizing and treating medical wastes and instruments. It can sterilize equipment at faster speeds and in a reduced space. However, it is limited to process a small amount of wastes at a time. By shredding the wastes, it requires less power and can sterilize the wastes more efficiently. However, the process of shredding the wastes can cause pollutants to be airborne and spread diseases. Additionally, after the sterilization the wastes are still needed to transport to landfills to be incinerated, which persists to pollute the air and land once the landfill is incinerated.
Sources:
Border, B.G., Rice-Spearman, L. (1999). Mircrowaves in the laboratory: effective decontamination. Clin Lab Sci.Drake, R.C. (1993). Apparatus for Sterilizing Medical Waste by Microwave Autoclaving. US Patent.
Drake, R.C. (1993). Apparatus for Sterilizing Medical Waste by Microwave Autoclaving. US Patent.
