1. Environmental Regulations: Hazardous Substances and Wastes

2. 18.1 Hazardous and Toxic Materials in Our Environment
Our modern technological society makes use of a large number of substances that are ________ or ______
At sites around the world, accidental or purposeful releases of hazardous and toxic chemicals are contaminating the land, air, and water
Increasingly, governments and international agencies are attempting to _______the growing problem

3. 18.1 Hazardous and Toxic Materials in Our Environment
The life cycle of toxic substances

4. 18.2 Characterizing Hazardous and Toxic Materials
Terms are incorrectly used interchangeably.
__________commonly refers to a narrow group of substances that cause human injury or death
__________is a broader term; it refers to all dangerous materials that create a human health or environmental problem

5. 18.2 Characterizing Hazardous and Toxic Materials
Hazardous ____________ or hazardous ____________ are those that can cause harm to humans or the environment.
The EPA defines hazardous materials as having one or more of the following characteristics:
____________ (Fire hazard)
____________ (Corrodes material)
____________ (Explosiveness)
____________ (May release toxins)
Some hazardous materials, such as gasoline, fall into several categories.

6. 18.2 Characterizing Hazardous and Toxic Materials
Hazardous ________are by-products of industrial, business, or household activities for which there is no immediate use
They must be disposed of in an appropriate manner
There are stringent regulations pertaining to production, storage, and disposal

7. Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
Contains information on:
Potential health effects of exposure and first aid
Environmental impact
Safe working conditions
Appropriate waste disposal

9. 18.3 Controlling Hazardous Materials and Waste
“Command and Control” governmental regulations
Lists of toxic and hazardous substances
EPA and OSHA created in 1970
___________ is the process many states and countries do to itemize and characterize hazardous waste regulations
State regulations can be equal to or more stringent than federal regulations

10. 18.3 Controlling Hazardous Materials and Waste
Most lists of toxic and hazardous substances include only known offenders
Many potentially harmful chemical compounds haven’t been tested
Governments and regulatory agencies must attempt to determine how to fairly enforce measures to successfully control exposures to humans and the environment

11. 18.3 Controlling Hazardous Materials and Waste
____________is the effect of massive doses at once
____________is the effect small doses over time
Chronic toxicity is much harder to detect as effects may not surface for long periods of time
___________ is the potential of relatively harmless individual compounds to become highly toxic and do great damage when combined
Assessing the effects of chemical mixtures is also problematic
Most toxicity studies focus on a single compound

12. 18.3 Controlling Hazardous Materials and Waste
_________pollutants remain in the environment, essentially unchanged, for long periods
Most are human-made
Synthetic chemicals are part of our food, transportation, clothing, building materials, home appliances, medicine, recreational equipment, and many other items
DDT is a persistent pollutant
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are also persistent

13. 18.3 Controlling Hazardous Materials and Waste
____________pollutants do not remain for a long period and are often biodegradable
Many toxic organic materials can be destroyed by decomposer organisms
Organophosphates decompose in several weeks.
They do not accumulate in food chain

14. 18.3 Controlling Hazardous Materials and Waste
Setting Exposure Limits
Nearly all substances are toxic in sufficiently high doses
People can be exposed in three ways:
_________
__________

15. 18.3 Controlling Hazardous Materials and Waste
____________ is the level of exposure at which none of the test animals is affected
Typically determined by the regulatory agency
Agency then sets the exposure level below the threshold level to allow for a safety margin
Even when concentrations are set, they may vary considerably from country to country.
Threshold level

16. 18.7 Hazardous-Waste Management Choices
The EPA promotes a ________________hierarchy (P2)
Pollution prevention

17. 18.7 Hazardous-Waste Management Choices
Pollution prevention (P2) encourages changes that prevent hazardous wastes from being produced
Many of the actions are simple and cost little
U.S. army phasing out lead bullets
Waste minimization involves manufacturing changes that can reduce waste
Replace hazardous solvents

18. 18.7 Hazardous-Waste Management Choices
Recycling wastes involves using wastes for another purpose, thus eliminating them as “waste.”
Burn waste oils and solvents as fuel
Incorporate ash or other solid wastes into concrete or other building materials

19. 18.7 Hazardous-Waste Management Choices
Wastes can be treated in a way that their amount is reduced or their hazardous nature is modified
Neutralization
Biodegradation
Air stripping
Carbon absorption
Precipitation

20. 18.7 Hazardous-Waste Management Choices
Despite recycling and treatment activities, some wastes still need to be disposed
Currently, the two most common methods for disposing of hazardous wastes are
Incineration
Land disposal

21. 18.7 Hazardous-Waste Management Choices
Land disposal is the primary method used when all other options have been exhausted
Deep-well injection
Discharge of treated or untreated liquids into water sources
Placement of liquid wastes into surface holding areas
Storage of solid wastes in hazardous waste landfills

22. 18.7 Hazardous-Waste Management Choices
Immobilizing a waste puts it into a solid form that is easier to handle, and is less likely to enter the surrounding area.
Fixation
Solidification

23. 18.5 Hazardous-Waste Dumps— A Legacy of Abuse
Prior to 1976, hazardous waste was essentially unregulated
Hazardous wastes were simply buried or dumped
Sites were typically located convenient to the industry and were often in environmentally sensitive areas
In North America alone, there are over 25,000 abandoned or uncontrolled sites

24. 18.5 Hazardous-Waste Dumps— A Legacy of Abuse
U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA):
_____________ regulation means that hazardous waste generators must track waste from the moment it enters the site to the eventual treatment or disposal of that material
Substances are considered toxic or hazardous if they:
Cause or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness
Pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, disposed of, or otherwise managed

25. 18.5 Hazardous-Waste Dumps— A Legacy of Abuse
In the U.S., the ________________has become the principal participant in the cleanup of hazardous-waste sites
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) was enacted in 1980
Financing the cleanup of large, uncontrolled hazardous-waste sites and has become known as Superfund

26. 18.5 Hazardous-Waste Dumps— A Legacy of Abuse
CERCLA had several key objectives:
Develop a comprehensive program to set priorities for cleaning up the worst existing sites
Make responsible parties pay for cleanup when possible
Set up a $1.6 billion Hazardous Waste Trust Fund (Superfund) to support the identification and cleanup of abandoned hazardous-waste sites
Advance scientific and technological capabilities in hazardous waste management, treatment, and disposal

27. 18.5 Hazardous-Waste Dumps— A Legacy of Abuse
A National Priorities List was drawn up for Superfund action.
Under CERCLA, over 44,000 sites were evaluated, and about 11,000 were considered serious enough to warrant further investigation.
The number of sites on the National Priorities List fluctuates as new sites are added and old sites are deleted as they are cleaned up.
Currently there are about 1,200 sites on the National Priorities List.

28. 18.5 Hazardous-Waste Dumps— A Legacy of Abuse
About 1100 sites have been cleaned up
Most of the remaining sites are in the process of being cleaned up or are under study about the best way to proceed
$27 billion in total expenditures

29. 18.6 Toxic Chemical Releases
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
Passed in 1986
Any industrial plant that released at least 23,000 kg of toxic pollutants into the environment is required to file a report

30. 18.6 Toxic Chemical Releases
About 1.5 billion kg of toxic chemicals were reported released into the environment by industry in 2009
Primary industries involved are mining, power generation, chemical, and metal manufacturing.

31. 18.6 Toxic Chemical Releases
Sources of toxic releases

32. 18.9 Nuclear Waste Disposal
Radioactive wastes are hazardous and toxic by the definition of the RCRA but are regulated in a different manner than other hazardous materials.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) have responsibility for dealing with nuclear waste.