Abstract
Healthcare activity inevitably generates waste, which contains pathogens in sufficient concentrations and poses risks for workers who manage it, public health and environment. The main sources of such waste are health units, such as hospitals, pharmacies, diagnostic centres, as well as, research centres and laboratories concerned with medical procedures. According to World Health Organization, 10 % to 25 % of healthcare waste is infectious and hazardous. Therefore good waste management practices that will minimize not only the negative effects of this waste in human health, but also the risk of infections in waste collection and disposal sites, are necessary. In this framework, the development of a litter low density polyethylene (LDPE) bag with encapsulated antimicrobial substances from oregano essential oil (OEO) and organic extract of citrus bioflavonoids (flavomix) through extrusion was performed. The encapsulated agents were gradually released into the inner content of the bag, neutralizing the studied contained microbes. The encapsulated structures were evaluated using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC).
