key: cord-0955029-iansqaqt authors: Singh, Deval; Aryan, Yash; Chavan, Digambar; Tembhare, Mamta; Dikshit, Anil Kumar; Kumar, Sunil title: Mask consumption and biomedical waste generation rate during Covid-19 pandemic: A case study of central India date: 2022-04-30 journal: Environ Res DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113363 sha: a5e1a3c6d075b5dc1dfd54e2ba515b043dd4ad13 doc_id: 955029 cord_uid: iansqaqt The rapid generation of biomedical waste (BMW) due to covid-19 pandemic has created burden on the existing municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system in both developed and developing countries. The substantial influx of covid patients in Maharashtra, India has influenced the pattern of BMW generation, especially for the yellow category of BMW and incineration facilities. The daily consumption of face mask and the rate of BMW generation for covid-19 patients have been estimated which indicated that Mumbai, Pune, and Thane districts, India contributed up to 60% of the total mask consumption and BMW generation in Maharashtra. It was found that daily mask consumption by non-covid patients was higher compared to covid patients. Further, it was revealed that BMW generated in the months of July 2020 (152 tons/day), August 2020 (228 tons/day), September 2020 (364 tons/day), October 2020 (177 tons/day), March 2021 (405 tons/day), April 2021 (1102 tons/day), May 2021 (705 tons/day), June 2021 (194 tons/day), and July 2021 (149 tons/day), exceeded the existing BMW treatment capacity of 132 tons/day. It was also evident that BMW-incineration caused maximum emission of PM(10) (85.61 kg of pollutant/day). The daily emission rates from BMW-incineration was in the order PM(10)> NO(2)> CO > SO(2). It is expected that the present study may encourage the policy maker and researcher across the globe to develop and adopt the alternative precautionary measures. The sudden outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic on March 11, 2020 led to chaos, resulting in the closure of necessary amenities across the globe (Saadat et al., 2020) . Globally, the international borders were closed to avoid the spread of covid-19 virus (Saadat et al., 2020) . As precautionary measures, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its health care guidelines, including home quarantine rules and compulsory usage of personal protective equipment (PPE) (surgical masks, cloth masks, face shields, gloves, etc.) (WHO, 2020). The pandemic spread across more than 219 countries led 5.89 million death and 422 million confirmed covid-19 cases (as of Feburary 19, 2022) (Worldometer, 2022) . India has reported about 0.51 million death and 42 million confirmed covid-19 cases as of Feburary 19, 2022 (Worldometer, 2021 . Maharashtra is the most affected region of India, with more than 7.8 million covid-19 cases (Worldometer, 2022) . The burden to manage the increased cases of covid-19 was faced by the health care facilities (Sangkham et al., 2020) . Many countries also failed to address this situation due to lack of resources, such as quarantine camps, isolation buildings, research facilities, personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, chemicals, reagents, medicines, etc. Nzediegwu., 2020). The quantity of BMW generated in the pandemic phase has surpassed its maximum limit. The BMW generated was 15 times more during than during non pandemic period The BMW comprises non-hazardous waste (80%) and hazardous waste (20%), consisting of 15% infectious waste and 5% chemical or radioactive waste (WHO, 2014). In addition, the unorganized handling, management, and disposal of BMW can cause a nuisance for residents and covid-19 patients. Improper handling, treatment, and disposal of these BMW might result in environmental J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f and health hazardous. The studies evaled that an increase in covid-19 cases is directly proportion to the rate of BMW generation. Studies also reported that a sudden increase in Covid-19 cases and medical facilities have caused a rise in the generation of BMW (Sangkham et al., 2020) . Moreover, the domestic usage of masks was made compulsory among the residents to maintain hygiene and safety, which led to excess disposal of masks and other than PPE kits (Sangkham et al., 2020) . The unorganized BMW management from domestic and medical sectors in Maharashtra have been a potential source of infection. Presently, no such study was reported to estimate the BMW generation and mask consumption rate for highly covid affected state in the country. The present study is an attempt to motivate scientific community ino developing better treatment and handling methods to prevent the rates of disease transmission from hospitals and residential sectors. It is illustrated that the pandemic has caused severity and challenges in BMW treatment facilities in India. At present, the state of Maharashtra in India lacks treatment facilities with a simultaneous increase in covid cases and mask consumption rate, and safe disposal of BMW is a serious challenge. Therefore, it is essential to develop alternative preventive measures and treatment facilities to meet the future demand at such panademic, resulting in low risk to the environment, public health, and safety. The present study provides a comprehensive research, projecting BMW generation and masks consumption rates in Maharashtra. The Maharashtra state in India, located at 19.7515° N latitude and 75.7139° E longitude, was selected as the study area, as shown in Fig 1. In terms of the geographical stretch, it is the second-J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f largest state in India, spread over 0.308 million square km. It occupies India's central and western parts with a coastline stretch of 720 km along the Arabian Sea. The state comprises 36 districts divided into six revenue divisions for administrative purposes viz. Konkan, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Amravati, and Nagpur. The districts are Ahmednagar (Ah), Akola (Ak), Amravati (Am), Aurangabad (Au), Beed (Be), Bhandara (Bh), Buldhana (Bu), Chandrapur (Ch), Dhule (Dh), Gadchiroli (Ga), Gondia (Go), Hingoli (Hi), Jalgaon (Ja), Jalna (Jal), Kolhapur (Ko), Latur (La), Navi Mumbai (Nm), Mumbai (Mu), Nagpur (Nag), Nanded (Na), Nandurbar (Nan), Nashik (Nas), Osmanabad (Os), Parbhani (Par), Palghar (Pal), Pune (Pu), Raigad (Rai), Ratnagiri (Rat), Sangli (San), Satara (Sat), Sindhudurg (Si), Solapur (So), Thane (Th), Wardha (Wa), Washim (Was), and Yavatmal (Ya). In the present study, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai districts were considered single districts due to the availability of compiled data for confirmed covid-19 cases. J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f The population data for 2001 and 2011 were retrieved from Census, (2011). The data on confirmed covid-19 cases data over 16 months from May 2020 to August 2021 were retrieved from covid-19 updates (2020). Depending upon the reported number of covid cases, the data set was categorized as low, medium and high group i.e., phase 1 (May 2020 to August 2020), phase 2 (September 2020 to December 2020), and phase 3 (January 2021 to August 2021). The projected populations for 2020 and 2021 were estimated using Eq.1 and 2 (Talaiekhozani et al., 2018). The method of variations in covid-19 cases in each district of Maharashtra state was used. The projected population data was further used to estimate the quantity of BMW. Where, PP is the projection population, P1 is population as per census 2011, P2 is population as per census 2001, r is the rate of increase in population, n is the number of decades, N is a number of the year from 2001 to 2011. The monthly face mask usage for covid and the non-covid patient was estimated using Eq. Further, to determine the load on the treatment facilities in Maharashtra, the BMWC and BMWCY were compared to net incineration capacity in Maharashtra. The pollutants released due to the incineration process were calculated using the net weight of BMW and the emission factor reported for each pollutant. The statistical analysis was preformed using one-way ANOVA in Microsoft Excel (2019). The study examined the significance of variance in DCFM and BMWCY for covid affected population in all the three phases of study area. The problem was defined using null hypothesis i.e., the increase in covid cases will cause increase in DCFM and BMWCY. The pearson correlation coefficient was analysised to understand the dependence of DCFM and BMWCY with respect to reported covid cases. The State of Maharashtra in India is among the highest contributor to India's economy and population growth rate. The state contributes 9.29% to the overall population of India with 45% residing in cities and towns. This change in population growth rate and industrialization have boosted the financial model of the state (Census, 2011). However, during the covid-19 pandemic, the state has faced a drastic economic drop-down, lack of resources, and load on treatment facilities. The hike in BMW was also predominant due to the higher population and covid infection rate. Therefore, it is essential to estimate the population forecast and BMW generation. In the present study, the growth rate model was used to forecast the population for the year 2020 to 2021. The percentage change in growth rate (r) for the pandemic year was similar to the Census, (2011). The detailed population forecast for each district has been estimated using Eq 1 and discussed in Since April 2020, the subsequent increase in covid cases has enforced compulsory usage of masks among the residence. However, the masks consumption depends upon residences acceptability, literacy, active covid cases, and many others. In the present study, the questionnaire survey was conducted in NEERI colony (Nagpur, India) to estimate the approximate quantity of masks used by covid patients and non-covid residents during the pandemic. During pandemic phases 1, 2, and 3, the non-covid residence had a mask usage rate of 3, 6, and 10 masks/person/month, respectively. At the same time, the covid patients had a higher mask consumption rate of 15 masks/person/month during all the phases. It was concluded that during phase 1 of the pandemic, the mask usage was ≤ 3 masks/person/month due to the lockdown imposed by the Maharashtra state government and strict restrictions in the mobilization of residence. However, the mask consumption was increased to 6 masks/person/month after implementing the first unlock in August 2020. The study also relieved a decline in masks consumption (≤ 3 to 2 masks/person/month) from October to December 2020, which was prominently due to the decrease in covid cases within the states. The study J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f reported maximum consumption of masks during phase 3 due to the sudden increase in covid cases within the states. During phases 1, 2, and 3, the estimated mask consumption for non-covid residence and covid patients were 853,738,094, 3,517,721,331, 16,808,295,786 and 5,344,650, 8,637,118, 29,934,995 ; respectively, as shown in Pune, and Thane to dispose of the high quantity of masks consumed per day. Mask consumption by covid and non-covid-19 patients in phase 1, 2, and 3. The average BMW generation (BMWG) considered for the present study in India is 3.5 kg/day Figures 4 (a), (b), (c) and 5 (a), (b) The data for BMW treatment and disposal facilities in Maharashtra was collected from MPCB Report, (2020). As per the report, Maharashtra state has a BMWG rate of 82 tons/day as represented in Table 2 . The rate of BMWG was maximum and minimum for Mumbai (21.16 tons/day) and Hingoli (0.15 tons/day) districts. The treatment facilities include incineration, autoclave, and other facilities (pyrolysis, plasma, and chemical disinfection techniques). Technologies such as plasma and pyrolysis are less preferred due to high energy consumption demand compared to incineration and autoclave (CPCB, 2020). Besides this, it may also cause extra maintenance and fuel charge expenses. In the present study, the quantity of BMWCY is only considered for treatment facilities, as 40% to 50% of BMW comprising recyclable matters. can be a major source for direct transmission of the covid virus. Therefore, it is essential to install more treatment facilities to avoid direct transfusion of the covid virus into the residents residing near the dumpsites. From 2020 to 2021, the varying rate of covid cases in each district has made it essential to facilitate more treatment facilities apart from incineration. The Table 3 . The pollutants were categorized as PE1, PE2, PE3, PE4, and PE5. Table 4 represents the estimated data for pollutant emission due to BMWCY incineration. From Table 4 Pearson correlation coefficient was found to be 1 for DCFM and BMWCY with repect to increase in covid cases. In the present study, p-value less than 0.05 was set to be significant to prove the hypothesis. The existing relation between DCFM and covid cases had a p-value of 0.00053, suggests that there is a strong relation and dependency of both the variables. Similarly, BMWCY and covid cases had a strong relation with the p-value of 4.60 ×10 -6 . The F-statistic of the hypothesis test is compared with F-critical to conclude the results of one-way ANOVA, as shown in Table 5 . The F-satistic of DCFM is more than the F-critical, i.e., 8.11>3.08, which revealved that the increase in covid cases had a significant effect on mass consumption rate. The F-satistic of BMWCY is more than the F-critical, i.e., 13.89>3.08, indicating that the increase in covid cases had a significant effect on BMWG. The present study provides comprehensive information about projecting monthly mask consumption and BMW generation in Maharashtra, India during thr pandemic. From the results, it has been observed that Mumbai, Pune, and Thane districts contributed up to 60 % of the total mask consumption and BMW generation in Maharashtra. It was also found that the daily mask consumption by non-covid residents was higher compared to covid patients. Further, it was revealed that the BMW generated in the months of July 2020 (152 tons/day), August 2020 ( The daily emission rate of different pollutant from BMW-incineration was PM10> NO2> CO> SO2. It is excepted that the present study may encourage the researcher and also policy makers across the globe to develop and adopt the alternative precautionary measures to manage increaded loads of BMW wastes generated due to covid-19. 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