E-waste management practices of the information and communication technology (ICT) equipment suppliers of the Philippine Children&#039;s Medical Center (PCMCQC)

Jara Corazon  Ehera,

E-waste management practices of the information and communication technology (ICT) equipment suppliers of the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMCQC)

Abstract:

Electronic device purchases in the Philippines are rapidly increasing in volume due to the thriving economic situation in the country. This leads to the increasing number of ewastes which contain hazardous materials that may occupy huge space in the landfills. This study was conducted at the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) which is heavily infused with ICT devices that make patient care more efficient and reliable. The objective of this paper was to determine the practices of ICT suppliers in the management of their waste products which they sold to consumers like PCMC. This paper also sought to determine the volume of e-waste at PCMC, and the path of these e-wastes after collection from PCMC. There were 19 ICT suppliers interviewed using a survey questionnaire, 9 PCMC staff as institutional consumers, 1 formal waste collector, and 2 informal scrap collectors/recyclers. The information on knowledge level, attitude, practice on use, EEE disposal and the quantity of e-waste generated was collected. The volume of e-waste was culled from the PCMC inventory and disposal database. About P 4million worth of ICT wastes were for disposal at PCMC annually. Wastes management practices of ICT suppliers were non-existent despite their cognitive awareness of the hazard of these wastes to human health and the environment. As there were no specific regulations on e-wastes, most of the practices were done by the informal sectors who earned their livelihood out of the recycled wastes. Their practices were crude and unsafe. This study recommends a system of empowering ICT consumers to purchase green products under the government Green Procurement Program and a mandatory regulation for the suppliers, through Extended Producer/Supplier Responsibility (EPR), to manage their waste products under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

References:

Asher MI, Montefort S, Björkstén B, Lai CKW, Strachan DP, Weiland SK, Williams H. Worldwide time trends in the prevalence of symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, and eczema in childhood: ISAAC Phases One and Three repeat multicountry cross-sectional surveys. Thorax. 2006;61(9):758–766.
Gustafson PM, Watson L, Davis KJ, Rabe KF. Poor asthma control in children: evidence from epidemiological surveys and implications for clinical practice. J Clin Pract. 2006;60:331–334.
Veronez A, Petrov E, Cserhati J, Hofman N, Geppe J, Medley S, Hughes. Fluticasone propionate in asthma: a long-term dose comparison study. Arch Dis Child. 2003;88:503–509.
Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention. Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines. 2008:2–8.
Chernick V, Boat T. Disorders of the respiratory tract in children. 7^th ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders; p. 808–810.
Neffen H, et al. Pan American J Public Health. 2005;17:191–197.
Braan SS. Chest. 2006;130:4S–12S.
Canadian Pediatric Asthma Consensus Guidelines 2004. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2005;173.
Dawood OT, Ibrahim MIM, Palaiian S. Medication compliance among children. World J Pediatr. 2010;6(3):15–.
Mash BRI, Bheekie A, Jones P. Inhaled versus oral steroids for adults with chronic asthma. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001;1:CD002160. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD002160.
De Benedictis FM, Bush A. Corticosteroids in respiratory diseases in children. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012;185:12–23.
National Institutes of Health, National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Expert Panel Report 2: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma. Bethesda (MD): NIH; 1997. Publication No. 97-4051.
Gharaiboulou M, Kompani F, Morahedi M. Comparison between PEFR and FEV1 in the evaluation of children suspected to have asthma. Iranian Journal of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. 2004;3:21–24.
Meltzer A, Smolensky MH, Alonzo GE, Harrist RB, Scott PH. An assessment of peak expiratory flow as a surrogate measurement of FEV1 in stable asthmatic children. Chest. 1989;96:329–333.
British guidelines on asthma management. Thorax. 1997;52(Suppl 1):S1–S21.
Lipworth BJ. Systemic adverse effects of inhaled corticosteroid therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:941–955.
Simmons LK, Molyneaux L, Yue DK, Chua EL. Steroid-induced diabetes: Is it just unmasking of type 2 diabetes? ISRN Endocrinol. 2012;Article ID 910765.
Trence DL. Management of patients on chronic glucocorticoid therapy: an endocrine perspective. Prim Care Clin Office Pract. 2003;30:593–605.
Santiago AH, Ratzan S. Acute adrenal crisis in an asthmatic child treated with inhaled fluticasone propionate. International Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology. 2010;2010.
Zollner EW. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression in asthmatic children on inhaled corticosteroids (Part 2): the risk as determined by gold standard adrenal function tests: a systematic review. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2007;18:469–474.
Ursulla C, Maccartner D, Pollart S. American Family Physician. 2005;71(10).