Medical wastes offer a potential risk to public health and the environment before an inadequate management. This study aims to verify aspects of internal handling of medical wastes in the city of Marituba, Pará State. By means of questionnaires and field visits, a descriptive and observational study was performed in 13 health establishments in the city. The total volume of generated medical wastes was about 13,000kg/week. There were deficiencies in many stages of the internal handling, for example the internal treatment that was performed in only one of the establishments, external storage made in 4 establishments and in precarious ways, among many others. Also, there were conformities as packing in adequate bags and containers as well as common waste separation. In general way, the federal norms were not accomplished and management of medical wastes in health establishments needs adequacy in every stage of the handling in order to control and reduce risks, decreasing the quantity of residues.
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