Thousands of boxes of functional foods thrown away like trash, female cleaner confused, not knowing whose they are

Functional foods dumped on the sidewalk of Nguyen Lan Street (Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi ). Photo: Lao Dong Newspaper.

Before a series of information about fake milk, fake medicine, the phenomenon of thousands of boxes of functional foods and medical products such as Covid-19 test kits being thrown away and piled up on the sidewalk of Nguyen Lan Street (Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi) has made many people concerned.

Female environmental workers in the above area said that the incident was discovered on the morning of April 21, on the sidewalk of Nguyen Lan Street (Thanh Xuan District).

At the scene, a large number of functional food boxes, Covid-19 test kits, and masks were dumped like trash by someone, piled up on the sidewalk. Some people in the neighboring area believe that these functional foods may not be consumed, or are of poor quality, and were dumped to "dispose of".

Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, an environmental worker here, said that when she saw the above phenomenon, she did not know who these "medicines" belonged to or why they were dumped here. Therefore, she reported it to the team leader. Preliminary observations showed that there were quite a few functional foods of the same type, including expired ones. As for the medical masks, someone saw them discarded so they took them home.

Ms. Loan said that all of the above products have been reported to the authorities for handling.

According to Master Phan Thi Ly, Head of the School Health and Medical Environment Department, Department of Disease Prevention ( Ministry of Health ), the products discharged into the environment in this area are likely from a nearby company warehouse, not from a medical facility.

Regulations on medical waste disposal with expired products are very strict, handle according to regulations for normal waste in medical facilities, do not discharge into the environment.

“Products such as functional foods, medical masks, and expired Covid-19 test kits do not contain pathogens, dangerous chemicals, or blood, so they will be treated as regular waste, not medical waste,” said Ms. Ly.

Test kits containing blood, virus pathogens, and masks in areas with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and respiratory diseases are identified as hazardous waste to the environment.

Therefore, the above behavior is determined to be a violation of throwing, dumping, and disposing of garbage and wastewater in the wrong place.

Medical waste can cause many negative health impacts such as blood-borne diseases for medical staff, especially injuries caused by sharp waste, waste containing many microorganisms that cause infectious diseases through normal contact, the effects of toxic chemicals, radioactive substances, etc.

Not only that, medical waste also directly affects the environment, polluting the soil, water, and air, thereby indirectly harming human health. Therefore, the management of hospital medical waste is always closely monitored by the Department of Disease Prevention, closely working with medical facilities.

VN (according to Vietnamnet)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/nghin-hop-thuc-pham-chuc-nang-vut-bo-nhu-rac-nu-lao-cong-ngo-ngac-khong-ro-cua-ai-409939.html