Use Of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus Ostreatus) To Degrade Used Diapers And Sanitary Pads In Selected Esatates In Thika, Kiambu County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Sanitary materials (pads and diapers) are mainly made of cellulose and non-degradable synthetic elements including superabsorbent gel which collects fluids. These materials are disposed of in the open together with other domestic waste in the low-income urban settlements in Kenya. The waste remains uncollected for long, thus posing health risk to street children and the neighborhood especially when scattered by stray dogs, cats and chicken. The scattered sanitary materials are a nuisance to the public who consider it a taboo to view. Therefore, a study was designed to evaluate the use of disposable baby diapers and sanitary pads as a substrate for cultivation of oyster mushroom instead of wheat straw (positive control) and therefore recommend the use of oyster mushroom for clearing the environment. It will also facilitate the unlocking of structural carbon locked up in the sanitary materials, which is a contributory element to global warming when incinerated. This will also provide a solution to blockage of sewage and drainage in urban centers and clear covered sites for cultivation, grazing and recreation. Five samples per site from 4 sites from each of the 5 phases totaling to a 100 samples per sanitary material. The materials were washed in running tap water, autoclaved and cooled overnight, then hygienically cut into 4 cm pieces and soaked overnight. Wheat straw was similarly treated. Then 230 g of each of the 3 substrate were weighed (while wet). Thereafter wheat bran and lime powder were added to each substrate and thoroughly mixed, hand compressed in a polypropylene bag, pasteurized, then inoculated with grain spawns (2 % w.w) of Pleurotus ostreatus. Each of the inoculated substrates was replicated 12 times and inoculated bags incubated in a room maintained at 20-25oC and 85-90 % relative humidity. Growth parameters: weights, cap diameter, the height and the base stipe circumference measurements were taken on days: twenty, forty and sixty. The residual weight of the substrates and the percentage of carbon were concurrently determined. The results were analyzed using Anova followed by Tukey’s test. The mushroom weight in pads and diapers did not differ significantly (p