Carcinogenic wastes, disposal

Factors which may affect the cost of coal upgrading are environmental considerations such as toxicity, hazardous waste disposal, and carcinogenic properties (131). These and other environmental problems from process streams, untreated wastewaters, and raw products would figure significantly into the cost of commercialization. 

The risk index for any hazardous substance in Equation 1.1 or 1.2 (see Section 1.5.1) is calculated based on assumed exposure scenarios for hypothetical inadvertent intruders at near-surface waste disposal sites and a specified negligible risk or dose in the case of exempt waste or acceptable (barely tolerable) risk or dose in the case of low-hazard waste. Calculation of the risk index also requires consideration of the appropriate measure of risk (health-effect endpoint), especially for carcinogens, and the appropriate approaches to estimating the probability of a stochastic response per unit dose for carcinogens and the thresholds for deterministic responses for noncarcinogens. Given a calculated risk index for each hazardous substance in a particular waste, the waste then would be classified using Equation 1.3. 

The first three editions of this book were printed at the University of Alberta. In 1990, the book was published by Lewis Publishers/CRC Press. This is the third edition from the current publisher. The information contained in the first University of Alberta edition was compiled from published material. The second and third University of Alberta editions incorporated new or modified methods for spillage and waste disposal developed in my laboratory. The development and testing of procedures for disposal of small waste or surplus quantities of hazardous chemicals in my laboratory is ongoing. Thus, the previous CRC Press edition included 50 additional entries of chemicals that are animal carcinogens. This edition incorporates 15 chemicals used as pesticides. 

Hexavalent chromium (6 ") is a recognized carcinogen, and industrial exposure to fiimes and dusts containing this metal is associated with increased incidence of lung cancer, dermatitis, and skin ulcers. Environmental health risks arise from soil contamination by Cr " waste disposal sites left by the leather tanning and dyestuff industries. Cr is more efficiently absorbed than Cr " and its toxicity and carcinogenic effects involve reduction to Cr and Cr " by cysteine, with the formation of intracellular DNA adducts. Cr species are relatively nontoxic partly because of their poor intestinal absorption and rapid excretion in urine. 

New information on the effects of chemicals has received widespread media attention. Bioconcentration of chemicals such as PCB and DDP in fish, new findings of carcinogenicity, and the occurrence of reproductive health effects, to name only a few, are topics which have been publicized in media of every type. Incidents ranging from transportation spills to the leaching of chemicals into ground water from waste disposal sites have... 

Pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC) contains Ci + which is considered a potential carcinogen. It is essential that this material be handled with care to avoid breathing the material. The finely ground silica gel is also a health risk and breathing the fine powder should be avoided. Wear safety goggles and gloves. Proper disposal of these materials is essential (see the section on Waste Disposal). 

Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste. In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste. Disposable diapers generate 60 times more solid waste and use 20 times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp. The manufacture and use of disposable diapers amount to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth. Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks, and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby each year. Disposable diapers contain traces of dioxin, an extremely toxic by-product of the paper-bleaching process. It is carcinogenic chemical, the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. (Realdiapers.org/diaper-facts, 2015 Shin Abu, 2007). 

Chemical Toxicity. In chemistry courses students learn a lot about what a chemical can do for them, but they know woefully little about what a chemical can do to them This deficiency in their chemical education is a result of standard and currently recommended academic practices. (For example, almost all new laboratory manuals in general and organic chemistry have eliminated the use of benzene and dichromate because of their carcinogenic status.) For reasons of safety and economy teaching laboratories tend to make use of small amounts of reagents with minimum toxicity, and use low-risk procedures, such as microscale. Students have only a single or at most a few exposures to any one chemical, and learning about a chemical s toxicity is minimal. These procedures often continue into advanced courses, and even research projects. Spills and waste disposal are handled by the instructors. 

The Hudson River is not only famous for being the site of the successful ditch of the U.S. Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009 by Captain Chesley Sully Sullenberger, it was also the waste disposal site of approximately 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by General Electric (GE) Corporation between 1947 and 1977. Polychlorinated biphenyls are long lived and semivolatile and do not dissolve in water therefore they can travel a long distance. They are also fat soluble and concentrate very rapidly in animal tissues and go up in the food chain. Experts have reported that PCBs are proved to cause cancer in animals and are probable human carcinogens. 

According to a strict reading of the characteristics established by the U.S. EPA and the State environmental agencies, all of these items are hazardous wastes when disposed of, and should therefore be subject to the whole onerous spectrum of handling, transportation, and disposal requirements that have been established for toxins, carcinogens, mutagens, explosives, and other wastes that are threatening to health and the environment. 

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