Hazardous and Toxic

Materials in Our
Environment
Dr Mamta Awasthi
CEEE NITh

 Toxic and hazardous products and byproducts are becoming a major issue of
our time. modern technological society
makes use of a large number of
substances that are hazardous or toxic
contaminating the land, air, and water.
Health effects: minor, short-term
discomforts, such as headaches and
nausea, to serious health problems,
such as cancers and birth defects to
major accidents that cause immediate
injury or death.

 Dioxins are found in Tittabawassee River floodplain sediments in

Michigan from the historical releases of chemical production
Facilities.
Pesticides thought to degrade in soils are found in rural drinkingwater wells.
There are elevated levels of mercury downwind of coal-fired power
plants.
Chemicals leaching from abandoned waste sites contaminate city
water supplies.
Pesticides spilled into the Rhine River from a warehouse near Basel,
Switzerland, in 1988 destroyed a half million fish, disrupted water
supplies, and caused considerable ecological damage.
The collapse of an oil storage tank in Pennsylvania in 1988 spilled
over 3 million liters (750,000 gallons) of oil into the Monongahela
River and threatened the water supply of millions of residents.
The release of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from electrical parts
manufacturing plants before the 1970s contaminated hundreds of
hectares of marine sediments in New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts,
resulting in marine life being reduced and the area being closed to
fishing.

Electronic Waste: A Growing

Problem
E-waste consists
of toxic and
hazardous waste
such as PVC, lead,
mercury, and
cadmium.
The U.S. produces
almost half of the
world's e-waste
but only recycles
about 10% ofFigure
it. 22-

Hazardous and Toxic Substances

Some Definitions
it is important to clarify various uses of the words hazardous and
toxic, as well as to distinguish between things that are wastes
and those that are not.
Hazardous substances or hazardous materials are those
that can cause harm to humans or the environment.
Different government agencies have slightly different definitions
for what constitutes a hazardous substance. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency defines hazardous substances
as having one or more of the following characteristics:
1. IgnitabilityDescribes materials that pose a fire
hazard during routine management. Fires not only present
immediate dangers of heat and smoke but also can spread
harmful particles over wide areas. Common examples are
gasoline, paint thinner, and alcohol.

 2. CorrosivenessDescribes materials that require

special containers because of their ability to corrode
standard materials or that require segregation from other
materials because of their ability to dissolve toxic
contaminants. Common examples are strong acids and bases.
3. Reactivity (or explosiveness)Describes materials
that, during routine management, tend to react
spontaneously, to react vigorously with air or water, to be
unstable to shock or heat, to generate toxic gases, or to
explode. Common examples are gunpowder, which will burn or
explode; the metal sodium, which reacts violently with water;
and nitroglycerine, which explodes under a variety of
conditions.
4. ToxicityDescribes materials that, when improperly
managed, may release toxicants (poisons) in sufficient
quantities to pose a substantial hazard to human health or the
environment. Almost everything that is hazardous is toxic in
high enough quantities. For example, tiny amounts of carbon
dioxide in the air are not toxic, but high levels are.

 Some hazardous materials fall into several of these

categories.
Gasoline, for example, is ignitable, can explode, and is
toxic. It is even corrosive to certain kinds of materials.
Other hazardous materials meet only one of the criteria.
PCBs are toxic but will not burn, explode, or corrode
other materials. While the terms toxic and hazardous
are often used interchangeably, there is a difference.
Toxic commonly refers to a narrow group of
substances that are poisonous and cause death or
serious injury to humans and other organisms by
interfering with normal body physiology.
Hazardous, the broader term, refers to all
dangerous materials, including toxic ones, that
present an immediate or long-term human health risk or
environmental risk.

 DEFINING HAZARDOUS WASTE

It is important to distinguish between hazardous
substances and hazardous wastes. Although the
health and safety considerations regarding hazardous
substances and hazardous wastes are similar, the
legal and regulatory implications are quite different.
Hazardous substances are materials that are used in
business and industry for the production of goods and
services. Typically, hazardous substances are
consumed or modified in industrial processes.
Hazardous wastes are by-products of industrial,
business, or household activities for which there
is no immediate use. These wastes must be disposed
of in an appropriate manner, and there are stringent
regulations pertaining to their production, storage,
and disposal.

Definition :U.S. Resource Conservation

and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA)
This act created the cradle-to-grave concept of
hazardous waste management by regulating
generators, transporters, and Treatment Storage and
Disposal Facilities (TSDF) as well as underground
storage tanks (USTs) and petroleum products.
RCRA considers wastes toxic and/or hazardous if they:
cause or significantly contribute to an increase in
mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or
incapacitating reversible, illness; or pose a substantial
present or potential hazard to human health or the
environment when improperly treated, stored,
transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed.

Sources of hazardous waste

There are many types of hazardous waste, ranging from
waste contaminated with dioxins and heavy metals (such
as mercury, cadmium, and lead) to organic wastes.
These wastes can also take many forms, such as barrels
of liquid waste or sludge, old computer parts, used
batteries, and incinerator ash.
In industrialized countries, industry and mining are the
main sources of hazardous wastes, though small-scale
industry, hospitals, military establishments,
transport services, and small workshops also
contribute to the generation of significant quantities of
such wastes in both the industrialized and developing
worlds

The handling of hazardous waste requires

special training to prevent worker exposure to the materials

Improper handling and disposal of hazardous wastes can

affect human health and the environment by contaminating
groundwater, soil, waterways, and the atmosphere. The
environmental and health effects can be immediate (acute),
as when exposure to toxins at a particular site causes sudden
illness, or long-term (chronic), as when contaminated waste
leaches into groundwater or soil and then works its way into
the food chain.
Although chronic exposures to low levels of toxic materials
do not cause immediate health effects, they may cause
serious health problems later in life. The damage caused by
the release of hazardous wastes into the environment also
takes an economic toll, since cleaning up contaminated sites
can be costly for local authorities.

What Harmful Chemicals Are in Your Home?

Cleaning
Disinfectants
Drain, toilet, and
window cleaners
Spot removers
Septic tank cleaners
Paint
Latex and oil-based paints
Paint thinners, solvents,
and strippers
Stains, varnishes,
and lacquers
Wood preservatives
Artist paints and inks
General
Dry-cell batteries
(mercury and cadmium)
Glues and cements

Gardening
Pesticides
Weed killers
Ant and rodent
killers
Flea powders

Automotive
Gasoline
Used motor oil
Antifreeze
Battery acid
Solvents
Brake and
transmission fluid
Rust inhibitor and
rust remover

Fig. 22-15, p. 534

Hazardous Waste Regulations

in the United States
Two major federal laws regulate the
management and disposal of hazardous
waste in the U.S.:
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA)
Cradle-to-the-grave system to keep track waste.

Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
Commonly known as Superfund program.

DEALING WITH HAZARDOUS

WASTE

We can produce less hazardous waste

and recycle, reuse, detoxify, burn, and
bury what we continue to produce.
Figure 22-

Produce Less Waste

Manipulate
processes
to eliminate
or reduce
production

Recycle
and
reuse

Convert to Less Hazardous or Nonhazardous Substances

Land
treatment

Incineration

Thermal
treatment

Chemical,
Ocean and
physical, and atmospheric
biological
assimilation
treatment

Put in Perpetual Storage

Landfill

Underground
injection

Waste
piles

Surface
impoundment
s

Arid region
Salt
unsaturated
formations
zone

Fig. 22-16, p. 536

Conversion to Less Hazardous

Substances
Physical Methods: using charcoal or
resins to separate out harmful
chemicals.
Chemical Methods: using chemical
reactions that can convert hazardous
chemicals to less harmful or harmless
chemicals.

Conversion to Less Hazardous

Substances
Biological Methods:
Bioremediation: bacteria or enzymes
help destroy toxic and hazardous waste or
convert them to more benign substances.
Phytoremediation: involves using natural
or genetically engineered plants to absorb,
filter and remove contaminants from
polluted soil and water.

Radioactive
contaminants
Sunflower

Organic
Inorganic
contaminants
metal contaminants
Poplar tree
Brake fern
Willow tree
Indian mustard

Landfill

Polluted
groundwate
r in
Decontaminated
Soil
water out
Groundwater

Polluted
leachate

Oil
spill
Soil
Groundwater

PhytostabilizationPhytodegradation
Rhizofiltration
Phytoextraction
Plants such as
Roots of plants such as
Plants such as poplars Roots of plants such as India
sunflowers with dangling willow trees and can absorb toxic organicmustard and brake ferns can
roots on ponds or in green-poplars can absorb
chemicals and break
absorb toxic metals such as
chemicals
and
keep
houses can absorb
them down into less
lead, arsenic, and others and
them from reaching
pollutants
harmful
compounds
store them in their leaves.
groundwater or
such as radioactive
Plants can then be recycled
nearby surface which they store or
strontium-90 and cesium- water.
release slowly into the air.
or harvested and incinerated

Trade-Offs
Phytoremediation
Advantages
Easy to establish

Inexpensiv
e
Can reduce
material
dumped into
landfills
Produces little
air pollution
compared to
incineration
Low energy use

Disadvantages
Slow (can
take several
growing
seasons)
Effective only
at depth plant
roots can
reach
Some toxic
organic
chemicals
may
evaporate
from plant
Some
leavesplants
can become
toxic to
animals

Fig. 22-18, p. 538

Conversion to Less Hazardous

Substances
Incineration: heating many types of
hazardous waste to high temperatures
up to 2000 C in an incinerator can
break them down and convert them to
less harmful or harmless chemicals.

Conversion to Less Hazardous

Substances
Plasma Torch: passing electrical
current through gas to generate an
electric arc and very high temperatures
can create plasma.
The plasma process can be carried out in a
torch which can decompose liquid or solid
hazardous organic material.

Trade-Offs
Plasma Arc
Advantage
s
Small

Disadvantages
High cost

Produces CO2
and CO
Mobile. Easy to
move to different
sites

Produces no
toxic ash

Can release
particulates and
chlorine gas
Can vaporize and
release toxic
metals and
radioactive
elements

Fig. 22-19, p. 538

Long-Term Storage of
Hazardous Waste
Hazardous waste can be disposed of on
or underneath the earths surface, but
without proper design and care this can
pollute the air and water.
Deep-well disposal: liquid hazardous
wastes are pumped under pressure into dry
porous rock far beneath aquifers.
Surface impoundments: excavated
depressions such as ponds, pits, or lagoons
into which liners are placed and liquid
hazardous wastes are stored.

Trade-Offs
Deep Underground Wells
Advantages

Safe method if
sites are
chosen
carefully
Wastes can be
retrieved if
problems
develop

Disadvantages

Leaks or spills at
surface
Leaks from
corrosion of well
casing

Easy to do

Existing fractures
or earthquakes
can allow wastes
to escape into
groundwater

Low cost

Encourages
waste production

Fig. 22-20, p. 539

Trade-Offs
Surface Impoundments
Advantages
Low
construction
costs
Low
operating
costs
Can be built
quickly
Wastes can be
retrieved if
necessary
Can store wastes
indefinitely with
secure double
liners

Disadvantages
Groundwater
contamination
from leaking liners
(or no lining)
Air pollution from
volatile organic
compounds
Overflow from
flooding
Disruption and
leakage from
earthquakes
Promotes waste
production

Fig. 22-21, p. 539

Long-Term Storage of
Hazardous Waste
Long-Term Retrievable Storage:
Some highly toxic materials cannot be
detoxified or destroyed. Metal drums
are used to stored them in areas that
can be inspected and retrieved.
Secure Landfills: Sometimes
hazardous waste are put into drums
and buried in carefully designed and
monitored sites.

Secure Hazardous Waste

Landfill

In the U.S. there

are only 23
commercial
hazardous waste
landfills.

Figure 22-

Bulk Gas Topsoil

Plastic cover
waste vent
Earth
Impervious
clay

Sand Impervious Clay

clay cap
cap

Water
table
Earth
Groundwater

Leak
detection
system

Double leachate Plastic Reactive Groundwater

collection systemdouble wastes
monitoring
liner in drums well
Fig. 22-22, p. 540

What Can You Do?

Hazardous Waste

Use pesticides in the smallest amount possible.

Use less harmful substances instead of
commercial
chemicals for most household
cleaners. For example use liquid ammonia to
clean appliances and windows; vinegar to polish
metals, clean surfaces, and remove stains and
mildew; baking soda to clean household
utensils, deodorize, and remove stains; borax to
remove stains and mildew.
Do not dispose of pesticides, paints,
solvents, oil, antifreeze, or other products
containing hazardous chemicals by flushing
them down the toilet, pouring them down
the drain, burying them, throwing them
into the garbage, or dumping them down
storm drains.

Fig. 22-23, p. 540