Bacterial Treatment and Metal Characterization of Biomedical Waste Ash

Biomedical waste ash generated due to the incineration of biomedical waste contains large amounts of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which is disposed of in regular landfills, and results in unfavorable amounts of hazardous materials seeping into the ground and may pollute surface water and groundwater. Therefore, it is essential to remove the toxicity of ash before disposal into landfills or reutilization. Environmental characteristic analysis of BMW ash showed increased hardness (1320？mg/L) and chloride (8500？mg/L) content in leachate compared to World Health Organization (WHO) and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for drinking water (hardness, 300？mg/L; chloride, 250？mg/L). The alkalinity and pH of the ash leachate were 400？mg/L and 8.35, respectively. In this paper, study was carried out to investigate the metal tolerance level of bacterial isolates isolated from soil. The isolate Bacillus sp. KGMDI can tolerate up to 75？mg/L of metal concentration (Mn, Mo, Cr, Fe, Cu, and Zn) in enriched growth medium. This shows that the isolated culture is capable of growing in presence of high concentration of heavy metals and acts as potential biological tool to reduce the negative impact of BMW ash on the environment during landfilling. 1. Introduction Medical care is necessary for our life, health, and well-being, but the waste generated from medical activities can be hazardous, toxic, and even lethal because of its high potential for diseases transmission. The hazardous and toxic parts of waste from health care and research establishments are generated during diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of humans and animals or from research activities, comprising infectious, biomedical, and radioactive material. This constitutes a grave risk, if not properly treated/disposed of or allowed to get mixed with other municipal waste, and represents a real problem of living nature and human world. According to Mastorakis et al. [1], “Biomedical waste means any solid and/or liquid waste including its container and any intermediate product, which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or in research pertaining thereto or in the production or testing thereof.” India generates a huge quantity of biomedical waste (BMW) every year. According to Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India, 4,05,702？kg/day of BMW is generated of which only 2,91,983？kg/day is disposed. It means that almost 28% of the waste is left untreated and finds its way in dumps or water bodies and