Environmental impacts of various disinfection procedures during laundering

Od postopkov nege tekstilij za zdravstvene ustanove in živilsko industrijo se zahteva razen odstranjevanja nečistoč tudi zagotavljanje ustrezne stopnje higiene. Ob klasičnem kombiniranem kemijsko-termičnem postopku razkuževanja se čedalje bolj uveljavlja tudi postopek nege tekstilij, ki ima osnovo v tehnologiji tekočega $CO_2$ ($LCO_2$). V dosedanjih raziskavah postopkov nege je bilo v središču zanimanja predvsem vrednotenje razkuževalnih učinkov, medtem ko so bili vplivi na okolje nekoliko potisnjeni v ozadje. Raziskava je bila osredotočena na primerjavo okoljskih vplivov, ki jih povzročata kemijsko-termičen in $CO_2$ postopek nege medicinskih tekstilij. Za vrednotenje razkuževalnega učinka so bili uporabljeni bioindikatorji, klasična in prototipna $LCO_2$ oprema za nego tekstilij, pralna, razkuževalna in pomožna sredstva ter oprema in metode za preskušanje. Opravljene so bile ekološke analize odpadnih pralnih vod kemijsko-termičnega razkuževalnega procesa v skladu z Uredbo o emisiji snovi pri odvajanju odpadne vode iz naprav za pranje in kemično čiščenje tekstilij (UL RS 41/2007). Izdelane so bile energetske in okoljske bilance za oba negovalna postopka, pri čemer je bila upoštevana metodologija ocene življenjskega cikla izdelka/storitve LCA, popisa stanja LCI ter ocena vplivov na okolje v času življenjskega cikla LCIA. Rezultati raziskave kažejo, da je porabljena energija za 1 kg opranih tekstilij pri enokopelnem postopku $LCO_2$ za 2800 kJ manjša kot pri kemijsko-termičnem. Ugotovljeno je bilo tudi, da klasičen kemijsko-termični postopek daje štirikrat višji indeks globalnega segrevanja (GWP$_{100}$) in indeks zakisljevanja (AP), torej sprošča tudi štirikrat več emisij toplogrednih plinov in plinov zakisljevanja kot enokopelni $LCO_2$ razkuževalni postopek nege tekstilij.The laundering procedures for health institutions and the food-processing industry must ensure the elimination of impurities and appropriate levels of hygiene. In addition to the classical combination of chemo-thermal disinfection procedures, the laundering procedure based on the liquid carbon dioxide ($LCO_2$) technology is becoming more and more assertive. In the previous studies on laundry care processes, the evaluations of disinfection effects have become prominent, while sadly the environmental impacts have remained in the background. The research focused on comparing the environment impacts caused by chemical-thermal and $CO_2$ laundering procedures regarding medical textiles. Bioindicators, classical and prototype $LCO_2$ equipment for the textile laundry, detergents, disinfectants and auxiliary agents, as well as the sampling equipment and sampling methods were used for the evaluation of disinfection effects. This paper introduces performed wastewater ecological analyses using a chemo-thermal procedure in accordance with the Slovenian regulation on the substance emission during the removal of wastewater from laundries and drycleaner\u27s (Slovenian Official Gazette 41/2007). Energy and environmental balances for both laundering procedures were prepared. Life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle inventories (LCI) and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methodologies were taken into account. The results of our investigation point to the fact that the energy used for 1 kg of textiles during one-bath $LCO_2$ procedure is in comparison with the chemo-thermal procedure lower by 2,800 kJ. It was also discovered that a classical chemo-thermal procedure has four times higher global warming potential (GWP$_{TGP}$) and acidification potential (AP) than the one-bath $LCO_2$ laundering procedure, regarding disinfection