PPE waste

@kpopovich45 has agreed to help curate looking at PPE waste -- how much is being produced, where does it go, is there any hope of recycling, are there materials that might reduce waste, ...

Who knows what? Who wants to help?

We'll look at this as a topic next week.

cc @palomagr

Interested in helping, a considerable part of shield design research was materials evaluation; thinking about highly reusable materials like Silicone and Polypropylene makes a lot of sense.

Something else that comes to mind, can we repurpose medical waste autoclaves, giant industrial steam ovens, to sterilize PPE en masse?

@Patricia I have this information regarding our hospital's medical waste:

"Hello Willie

Our regulated medical waste numbers are below. Down around 30k pounds vs. the same period last year. I have also cc’d our Stericycle contact Gary Maltais for any other specific questions.

                            QTY                        LBS

Jan 1,502 20,454.5 Feb 1,925 26,307.4 Mar 1,069 15,028.6 Apr 1,164 17,056.9 "

Thank you very much @wbaker for your prompt reply. Just a clarification, the first number next to each month refers to quantity and the second to lbs? What does quantity mean? Do they have any info regarding the type of waste, or PPE amount/percentage in the waste? Thank you in advance.

@Patricia not sure what quantity means, can find out. I don't think I'll get any info regarding the type of waste with respect to PPE from asking about waste... best bet is to research this via questionnaire regarding the supply side (how much/what type PPE is being consumed, estimate kg based on that info

thank you @wbaker

I wish I got to this sooner but my team and I at Makers for COVID-19 created this guide. It's mostly for the reusability of the 3D-printed face shields we donate, however it may have some points that help the larger conversation. Guide to Reusability

Thank you @kpopovich45

I share this SAEM Pulse Article as evidence to support this PPE waste thread, as well as reveal some of the awakening amongst the medical community regarding healthcare's effects on climate and vice versa.

@Patricia and @kpopovich45 Thank you for your work in this area of addressing PPE waste. I had advocated for employing reusable elastomeric respirators "officially" early in COVID, but hospitals were concerned due to potential risks of infection from the user/healthcare worker to others via the exhalation valve. @mcarney 's OSR addresses "source control" via exhalation through the filter media. The Envo mask is a NIOSH approved 1/4 face respirator that has source control. Now, the "big companies" (including 3M, MSA, GVS) have NIOSH approval for reusable elastomeric respirators with source control. Some (like Envo, MSA, GVS) employ Matt's strategy of employing the same filter(s) for inhalation and exhalation filtration (and removes the 1-way inhalation valve from their original respirators and eliminates the exhalation valve). 3M employs a different strategy: maintain original design of inhalation/exhalation valves while adding an optional exhalation filter .

Hospitals are now issuing these source control respirators, in large part due to economic considerations: in the long run, they are cheaper. I have used the MSA Advantage 290 for as long as 9 hours continuously. It is certainly more comfortable than the disposable N-95's that I have used in the past, on par with other reusable elastomeric valved respirator that I've used. Communications is a serious concern while wearing valved reusable respirators. The MSA that I use has better voice transmission than the valved respirators that I've used. The disadvantage that I've identified is that there is condensation within the mask with prolonged use. I also don't know what the implications are of exhalation on P-100 filter life.

Willie BTW: about SAEM.org

thank you for all this info @wbaker. This recent PNAS paper is another interesting read on the pandemic-associated plastic waste and its impacts: https://www.pnas.org/content/118/47/e2111530118