Pollution Potential of General Dentistry Offices in Terms of Wastewater and Solid Waste: A Case Study in the City of Arak, Iran

Dental wastewater and solid waste are one of the most important sources of environmental pollution. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the quality of wastewater and solid waste produced in the general dentistry offices in the city of Arak, Iran. A total number of 30 samples of wastewater and 30 samples of solid waste were taken from 30 general dentistry offices. The samples of wastewater were analyzed for metals and other parameters such as BOD, COD, and TSS. The samples of solid wastes were manually separated into 66 components and 4 categories and then weighted. The mean concentrations of Zn, Cu, Hg, Fe, B, Ba, Sn, Ag, Pb, Al, Mn, Cr, and Co were 3950.09, 2578.59, 1247.28, 1060.21, 538.36, 493.21, 300.91, 156.56, 108.32, 107.37, 91.11, 66.00, and 6.48µg L-1, respectively. The mean generation of dental solid waste in each general dentistry office was 670.22g day-1. Potential infectious waste, domestic-type waste, chemical & pharmaceutical waste, and toxic waste constituted 51.52%, 35.30%, 11.11% and 2.07%, of the total waste generated, respectively. Due to the high levels of some metals in the samples, the wastewater should be treated before discharging into the public sewer.