Application of microwave units for disinfecting medical waste contaminated with pathogenic biological agents

The article considers the technology of medical waste microwave disinfection and models of domestic and foreign installations. Medical waste is a heterogeneous mixture of objects. There are objects that do not absorb microwave energy and therefore are not capable of heating. Metal objects are heated due to conduction currents. To average the effect of temperature on the entire mass of waste and to increase the efficiency of disinfection, water or a water-containing liquid is poured into a sealed container with waste. The design of some installations uses devices to improve the uniformity of heating. The installations operate on the principle of volumetric heating at a frequency of 2450 MHz. Thermal effects have a bactericidal impact, thus microwave radiation is included in SanPiN 3.3686-21 in the list of permitted physical methods of disinfection. Non-thermal effects of microwave exposure have not yet found practical application for the purposes of disinfecting medical waste. When operating microwave installations, it is necessary to comply with biological safety requirements and standards for working with sources of electromagnetic fields, regulating the maximum permissible values of energy flux density in workplaces and the timing of monitoring. Keywords: microwave disinfection units, microwave disinfection, medical waste, microwave heating, bactericidal action of microwave heating, microwave control in the workplace.