Open AccessMercury hygiene and biomedical waste management practices among dental health-care personnel in public hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria
Author(s) -
John O. Makanjuola,
Uyi Idah Ekowmenhenhen,
Lillian Lami E,
DC Umesi,
O M Ogundana,
Godwin Toyin Arotiba
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
african health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.391
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1729-0503
pISSN - 1680-6905
DOI - 10.4314/ahs.v21i1.56
Subject(s) - medicine , environmental health , mercury (programming language) , hygiene , nonprobability sampling , public health , developing country , legislation , cross sectional study , family medicine , nursing , population , pathology , computer science , political science , law , economics , programming language , economic growth
Background Indiscriminate disposal of hospital wastes including mercury/amalgam wastes pose a serious threat to life and environment. There is a growing concern about biomedical waste (BMW) management among health care workers, however there are limited reports on BMW management by dental personnel in developing countries. Objectives This study investigated the level of knowledge of BMW, observance of proper mercury hygiene and BMW management practice among public dental personnel in Lagos State, Nigeria. Methods A cross-sectional study regarding BMW management across public hospitals in Lagos State, Nigeria was conducted following institutional ethics committee approval. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to obtain data from different facilities selected by purposive and simple random sampling techniques as applicable. The questionnaires were distributed among 437 respondents by convenience sampling. The resulting data were statistically tested using Chi-square and G-test with p-value < 0.05 indicating significant level. Results Amongst 437 respondents, majority were females (62.5%) and the highest proportion fell within the age range of 25–34 years (44.4%). Only 17.2% of the respondents had good knowledge of BMW management/legislation and 4.1% had good BMW practice. Less than half (49.4%) of respondents disposed mercury-contaminated materials inside the trash and majority (92.2%) did not observe proper mercury hygiene. Significantly better mercury hygiene practices were observed in secondary facilities (p=0.040). Conclusion A minor proportion of public dental personnel had good knowledge and practice of proper mercury hygiene and BMW management. This shows there is an urgent need for training of health personnel on proper BMW handling and disposal in developing countries like Nigeria.