American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 4 (4): 484-488, 2008ISSN 1818-6769 IDOSI Publications, 2008Corresponding Author: F.O. Ekhaise, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Benin,P.M.B. 1154, Benin City, Nigeria484Influence of Hospital Wastewater Discharged from University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City on its Receiving EnvironmentF.O. Ekhaise and B.P. OmavwoyaDepartment of Microbiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Benin, P.M.B. 1154, Benin City, NigeriaAbstract:Thebacteriologicalandphysiochemicalqualitiesofhospitalwastewaterdischargedintotheenvironment from University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City was investigated to assess theinfluence of the hospital wastewater in the receiving environment. The bacteriological parameters were carriedoutusingthestandardmicrobiologicaltechniques.Thebacteriologicalparametersexaminedweretotalheterotrophic bacterial counts, which had values ranging from 1.9x10to 8.3x10cfu/ml. The total coliform712counts ranged from 1.2x10to 1.6x10 MPN/100ml. The isolated and characterized isolates included eight (8)33bacterial genera. The bacterial isolates were Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Escherichia, Serratia, Staphylococcus,Streptococcus,ProteusandBacillus.Thebacterialgenera,Klebsiella,PseudomonasandSerratiawerethemostfrequentlydistributedisolatesinthehospitalwastewater.Physiochemicalparametersstudiedrevealedthat the hospital wastewaters though show some parameters whose values are higher than the WHO to percentlevels.OtherfallswithintheWHOacceptablelimits.Thereistherefore,contaminationofthereceivingenvironment (water, soil and air) due to the discharged hospital wastewater, which could probably be hazardousto human health.Key Words: Hospital waste %Bacterial isolates %UBTH %Benin CityINTRODUCTION persons(knife,needle,brokenglasses,scalps),Wastewaterisreferredtoanywater,whosequality products(drugsandchemicals)thathavebeenreturnedhasbeenadverselybeingabusedbyanthropogenic from wards, contaminated or expired products, chemicalinfluence.Thisincludesliquidwastedischargedfrom wastewhichcomprisesofdiscardedsolidorliquidanddomestichome,industries,agriculturalandcommercial gaseouschemicalandradioactivewaste,whichincludesectors[1].Healthcarewasteconsistsofboth solid,liquidandgaseouswastecontaminatedwithorganicandinorganicsubstanceincludingpathogenic radionuclidegeneratedfrominvitroanalysisofbodymicroorganisms.Hospitalwastepossessserious tissuesandfluid.WHO[4]reportedthat,about85%ofhealthhazardtothehealthworkers,publicandair hospitalwasteisnon-hazardous,10%infectiveand5%flora on the area.notinfectivebuthazardousintheUnitedStatesofThe hospital waste is classified into seven (7), which America, while about 15% of hospital waste is regardedcomprises of both the liquid and the dissolved substance infective.InIndia,itwasreportedthatthevaluecouldgeneratedwithinthehospitalenvironment[2,3]main increase from 15% to 35% depending on the total amountgroups namely, general waste which composed largely of of hospital waste generated, while in Pakistan about 20%non-hazardous particles such as kitchen waste, paper and ofhospital waste could be found potentially infective orplastics,partsofhuman,foetus,bloodandbodyfluid, hazardous [5].whicharehazardous,infectiouswastes,thisinclude Sourcesofpharmaceuticalproductsinthecultureandstockofinfectiveagentsfromlaboratory environmentaremorethanjustconsumersexpellingwaste,wastefromsurgery,etc,shapewaste,waste unabsorbedmedicationsthroughexcretionintosepticmaterialthatcouldcausedamagestothehandling systemsandwastewatertreatmentplants.Sewageandpharmaceuticalwastes,thisincludespharmaceuticalAm-Euras. J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 4 (4): 484-488, 2008485wastewaterfromhospitalsandanyclinicsarehuge Benin City. The five samplings points were designated 1contributorstothisproblem[6].Other sources include to5,samplingpoint1isthepointatwhichthewashesanimalfarms,cropproductionandfishfarms,where from the generator set enters the drainage, sampling pointpharmaceutical products are used as growth promoters or 2 is the point at which the washings from the laundry andas preventive maintenance. cateringentersthedrainage,samplingpoint3,thepointHazardousmedicalwasteconsistsprimarilyof atwhichthewashingsfromthedietarybuildingenterschemicals and discarded cytotoxic drugs, which find their thedrainage,samplingpoint4isthepointatwhichthewaysintotheenvironmentduetoimproperusageand washingsfromthemechanicworkshopenterstheindiscriminate disposal. Their presence in the environment drainage while sampling point 5 is the point at which thepossessesseriousenvironmentalhealthriskduetotheir wastewater is emptied into the soil.carcinogenic natural [7,8].Connectionofhospitalwastetothemunicipal SampleCollection:Sampleforbacteriologicalandsewagenetworkmaycreateproblemssuchaspublic physiochemical analysis were collected in a clean sterilehealth risks and imbalance of the microbial community in containers.Samplesfordissolvedoxygen(DO)andthesewagesystems,whichinturnaffectthebiological biochemicaloxygendemand(BOD)werecollectedintreatmentprocess[9].Itisverynecessarytounderstand 250mlbottleswithstoppers,onemillimetereachofthesourcesofwastethatcontributepollutanttothe WinklerssolutionsAandBwereaddedtosamplesonindividual wastestreams and the shortcomings that will be sitetofixtheoxygen [11]. The samples were collectedencountered in an attempt to treat the waste. at7.00amand9.00amandweretransportedtotheThemajorhealthriskspossessbymedicalwaste laboratorywhereanalysiswasinitiatedwithin2hoftotheinhabitantsoftheterrestrialandaquatic sample collection.ecosystemasauditedbytheWHOreportof1999[4] Thebacteriologicalparametersmonitoredincludeincludesthefollowing;contaminationofdirtywater totalviableaerobiccountstoisolateheterotrophicpossibly the leachate entering the aquifers, surface water, bacterialandfungal,totalcoliformcounts,Escherichiaaccumulationoftoxicnonbiodegradablehospitalwaste coli,faecalstreptococcicountsandClostriduimproducts, which could lead to the blockage of the sewage perfringenscountsaccordingtothemethodsofsystem,releaseoftoxicsubstanceintotheairdueto Gerhardtetal.,[12].Theisolationandidentificationofburning,accumulationofheavymetalsandunprotected bacterial isolates were carried out according to Bergeyslandfill as well as inefficient sorting of waste materials.ManualofDeterminativeBacteriology[12,13].TheWastewatergeneratedinthecompanies,industries physiochemicalparameterswerestudiedusingtheand principally from healthcare institutions may represent standard methods of APHA [11].a serious health hazard and little or none is known aboutthehealthhazardofhospitalwastesinBeninCity RESULTSmetropolis.Children,adultsandanimalsallhavethepotentialtocomeintocontactwiththesewastes,which ResultsinTable1showsthetotalheterotrophicmayposeseverehealthriskstothem[10].The bacterialpopulationrangingfrom1.9x10 cfu/mltochemicalsusedforthestainingandpreservationof 8.3x10 cfu/ml.Thehighesttotalheterotrophicbacterialslides and for the sterilization and cleaning of equipment populationof8.3x10 cfu/mlwasrecordedinsamplingand surroundings are potentially harmful to the laboratory point2andthelowestcountof1.9x10 cfu/mlwastechnicians and the environment. recorded with sampling 5. The total coliform counts wereThisstudywasaimedatinvestigatingtheinfluence observedtofluctuateamongthesamplingpoints.Theof hospital and pharmaceutical waste in the environment resultshowedthat,thetotalcoliformcountwaslowestaswellastoisolateandcharacterizedthemicrobial (1.2x10MPN/1000 mlG) in station 5 and highest (1.6x105isolates associated with the wastes. MPN/100mlG)wasrecordedinstation2.TherewasaMATERIALS AND METHODS species,assomespeciesofbacterialisolateswereSourceofSample:Thewastewatersampleswere and1thansamplingpoint5.Klebsiellapneumonia,collected from five wastewater outlets from different units PseudomonasaeruginosaandStaphylococcusaureusoftheUniversityofBeninTeachingHospital(UBTH), werefoundto be more predominant among thebacterial712127511variationinbacterialpopulation,whichrangesfromfound to be more predominant in sampling points 2, 4, 3Am-Euras. J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 4 (4): 484-488, 2008486Table 1: Result of Microbiological analysis of UBTH, Benin City Hospital WastewaterParametersSample Point 1 Sample Point 2 Sample Point 3 Sample Point 4 Sample Point 5Total heterotrophic bacterial count cfu/ml 6.7x10 8.3x10 2.6x10 8.8x10 1.9x107 12 11 8 7Total coliform count MPN/100ml 3.3x10 1.6x10 1.7x10 1.8x10 1.2x103 3 3 3 3Table 2: Frequency of distribution of bacterial isolates in the sampling pointsBacterial isolate Sample Point 1 Sample Point 2 Sample Point 3 Sample Point 4 Sample Point 5Klebsiella pneumonia + + + + +Pseudomonas aeruginosa + + + - +Escherichia coli + + + + -Serratia marcesens + + + + -Staphylococcus aureus - + - + -Streptococcus faecalis - + - + -Proteus vulgaris - + - - -Bacillus spp - - + + -Table 3: Results of physiochemical analysis of UBTH, Benin City Hospital WastewaterParameters Sample Point 1 Sample Point 2 Sample Point 3 Sample Point 4 Sample Point 5pH 6.68 6.47 6.39 6.13 6.78Salinity (mg/l) 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.00 0.10Total dissolved solid (mg/l) 147.00 139.00 53.00 36.00 61.00Dissolved oxygen (mg/ml) 2.40 2.40 4.60 2.50 5.40BOD 51.27 9.50 42.12 41.68 38.50COD 658.74 68.00 856.29 797.22 717.22Sulphate (g/l) 22.76 19.15 6.30 3.69 0.24Nitrate (g/l) 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00Potassium (g/l) 9.45 2.94 3.50 4.90 6.47Cadmium (g/l)