CNC Machine Shops and their Impact on the Environment By Zachary Chapins

#1: Soil Pollution When CNC Machine shops do not dispose of their waste oils properly, they end up in places where they can cause harm to the environment.

What Actually Happens to Waste oil After it is Dumped When waste oil is not disposed of properly it seeps deep into the ground Depending on its molecular composition it will take thousands of years to biodegrade. Some complex structures may never biodegrade.

The Consequences of Waste oil in the Ground First, when waste oil sits in the ground it will make the soil so infertile to the point where this soil cannot be used for crops. All the yield cannot be used because it will be contaminated and will cause health issues if consumed. Second, the waste oil can also seep into irrigation systems and when the crops are watered they will be watered with contaminated water. Finally, if waste oil is being disposed of on a hillside it will kill a lot of the foliage. When this happens, it will make the amount of erosion on this hill increase which may result in a landslide if the amount of erosion is too high.

#2: Air Pollution In a CNC machine shop, when operating certain machines they release a lot of particles into the air. If these particles are not contained and the operator breathes these particles in it will cause major lung damage.

What Happens when Safety Precautions are not followed When a safety mask is not worn during an operation where an excess amount of small metal particles are released into the air, it will cause lung damage. Once these small particles settle in the air sacs and lung tissue they start to cut therein. Over many years of breathing in these small metal particles the operator will develop permanent lung damage.

#3: Water Pollution Water pollution is one of the most common ways that CNC machine shops can pollute the environment. When waste oil seeps or gets disposed into a water source it will totally pollute the water source.

What Happens when a Water Source is Polluted When waste oil is dumped into a water source this can cause this water source to become contaminated. Once a water source is contaminated with waste oil it takes a lot of resources to clean up this water source or thousands of years.

The Consequences of a Polluted Water Source Once a water source is polluted weather this water is being used for irrigation or for drinking water it cannot be used anymore. When this water is used for irrigation it contaminates the crops and they are unhealthy to consume. When this water is directly consumed in regular amounts it can cause a heavily sickness.

Conclusion When CNC machine shops do not dispose of their waste correctly it can impact the environment and people. When these machine shops are not regulated by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) they can get away with a lot more illegal dumping. But OSHA could never be able to look over ever machine shop and prevent illegal dumping. What needs to be done is machine shops need to know and be taught how much dumping their waste oil is very bad for the environment and how much small metal particles in their shop can affect their workers and themselves.