Abstract
Laws have been created over the years to curb the impact of wastes upon the environment. Hospital and medical wastes are an important part of environmental degradation, aggravated by the toxicity and health hazard they impose upon living beings, humans, and animals alike. This paper is an exploratory synthesis on research topics related to hospital management waste, as featured in 285 studies indexed on MEDLINE. The methodology applies bibliometric analysis to the main descriptors of publication types, year of publication, country, and journals. The paper uses the NLMMedical Subject Headings (MH) controlled vocabulary of biomedical terms and the EC/RN number classification of MEDLINE to classify the most recurrent research topics. Papers retrieved and the incidence of biomedical terms and EC/RN number combinations are described. The literature reviewed focuses mainly on methods and guidelines for the management of disposal of hospital wastes related to human health and on the environmental impact of hazardous substances and products. The phases of product segregation, packaging, storage, collection, transportation, and treatment are less researched than the routines and methods of waste disposal.
