Extremely hazardous waste

CA 20 wt wt in mg/kg (total threshold limit cone, in extremely hazardous wastes) ... 

Some hazardous wastes, or mixture of hazardous wastes (such as cyanides, hydrogen sulfide, and parathion) are extremely or acutely hazardous because of their high acute toxicity. These extremely hazardous wastes, if human exposure should occur, may result in disabling personal injury, illness, or even death. 

The hazardous waste identification regulations that define the characteristics of toxicity, ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and the tests for these characteristics, differ from state to state. In addition, concentration limits may be set out by a state for selected persistent and bioaccumulative toxic substances that commonly occur in hazardous substances. For example, the California Hazardous Waste Control Act requires the California State Department of Health Services (CDHS) to develop and adopt by regulation criteria and guidelines for the identification of hazardous wastes and extremely hazardous wastes. 

The generator of a waste must determine if the waste is hazardous. To do this, the generator must determine if the waste is specifically listed as a hazardous waste (Article 9, CCR), and/or if it is a characteristic hazardous waste (ignitable, corrosive, toxic, reactive) (Article 11, CCR). Certain wastes are also classified as "extremely hazardous wastes." These are listed in Article 9, CCR and their characteristics are identified in Article 11, CCR. 

Some states (e.g., California, Washington) have defined a category of extremely hazardous waste, and extremely hazardous substances are specified by EPA under the Emergency Response and Community Right-to-Know Act. Under RCRA and state regulations, however, requirements on waste treatment and disposal generally do not distinguish between extremely hazardous waste and any other hazardous chemical waste. 

The states of Washington and California have considered a classification of hazardous chemical waste based on risk and have developed a category of extremely hazardous waste (California, 1999 Mehlhaff et al., 1979 NAS/NRC, 1999b). However, the requirements for treatment and disposal of extremely hazardous waste differ little from those applied to other hazardous waste. Thus, the designation of a class of extremely hazardous waste based on relative hazard has had little effect on waste management and disposal. 

Under current EPA regulations, a chemical waste is either hazardous or it is not, and there is no further classification of hazardous chemical waste with respect to the degree of hazard. Some states have defined classes of hazardous chemical waste (e.g., extremely hazardous waste) but, in practice, the requirements on management and disposal of all hazardous wastes have resulted in essentially the same approaches being used regardless of hazard. When a hazardous chemical waste is mixed with a nonhazardous solid waste, the entire waste is classified as hazardous unless the former is a characteristically hazardous waste that does not contain any listed waste and mixing with the nonhazardous waste removes the hazardous characteristic. 

Vitrification is a high temperature process of immobilizing, and chemically incorporating, radioactive and other hazardous wastes. The procedure uses high temperatures (typically between 1100 and 1600 °C). At these temperatures, waste material is transformed into an amorphous liquid. On cooling, the vitrification produces an amorphous, glass-like solid that permanently captures the waste. Extremely hazardous wastes and radioactive wastes can be immobilized by this method. 

CA Hazardous Substance Subject to Minimum Standard of Management of Hazardous and Extremely Hazardous Wastes Yes 66260.24 CA 1993a... 

Enzymes for Extreme Conditions. The possibihty of using enzymes from extremophiles, which thrive in oil wells, hot temperatures, freezing conditions, etc, is being explored for the removal of environmental contaminants and survival at extreme temperatures (see Wastes, HAZARDOUS WASTE TREATlffiNT BlORETffiDIATION (SuPPLET NT)). 

Liquid Injection. Liquid injection units are the most common type of incinerator today for the destmction of Hquid hazardous wastes such as solvents. Atomizers break the Hquid into fine droplets (100—150 microns) which allows the residence time to be extremely short (0.5—2.5 s). The viscosity of the waste is very important the waste must be both pumpable and capable of being atomized into fine droplets. Both gases and Hquids can be incinerated in Hquid injection units. Gases include organic streams from process vents and those from other thermal processes in the latter case, the Hquid injection incinerator operates as an afterburner. Aqueous wastes containing less than 75% water can be incinerated in Hquid injection units. 

An extremely difficult task is the estimation of emissions from hazardous waste sites. Frequently, both the amounts of materials existing vithin the site and the compounds and mixtures that are represented are not known. Even if both of these pieces of information are reasonably well known, the conditions of the containers holding these chemicals are not initially known. 

The use of proper PPE is an integral part of many jobs when dealing with hazardous waste. OSHA standard 1910.132 of 1998 requires an assessment be eondueted to determine the appropriate PPE for eyes, faee, head, and extremities whenever hazards eneountered are eapable of eausing injury or impairment in the funetion of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation, or physieal eontaet. Aeeording to the PPE standard, it is the employer s responsibility to determine if hazards are present (or likely to be present). If the employer determines that hazards are present, the employer should ehoose the types of PPE that will proteet affeeted employees from the hazards identified in the hazard assessment [1]. 

The public was outraged. It did not matter whether the pollution came from a chemical factory, power utilities, mines, petroleum, automobiles, or semiconductors the chemical industry s reputation was in free-fall. In 1990, the U.S. Congress established the Super Fund, requiring industry to pay for cleaning up hazardous waste. Major chemical manufacturers banded together in a voluntary effort to reduce factory emissions to almost zero and to police themselves. At the opposite extreme, some environmentalists called for the elimination of all toxic substances. 

Acutely hazardous wastes are the second most common type of listed waste. U. S. EPA designates a waste as acutely hazardous if it contains the appendix constituents that scientific studies have shown to be fatal to humans or animals in low doses. In a few cases, acutely hazardous wastes contain no appendix constituents, but are extremely dangerous for another reason. An example is a listed waste that designates unused discarded formulations of nitroglycerine as acutely hazardous. Although nitroglycerine is not an appendix hazardous constituent, wastes containing unused... 

Unless you live near a factory where acrylonitrile is made or near a hazardous waste site that contains acrylonitrile, you are unlikely to be exposed to acrylonitrile in the air you breathe or the water you drink. Concentrations of acrylonitrile in average air samples are too low to be measured, and most water samples also have no measurable acrylonitrile. Measurable amounts of acrylonitrile are found primarily near factories and hazardous waste sites. Concentrations in the air near a factory producing or using acrylonitrile average less than 1 part per billion (ppb). Extremely small amounts... 

Extremely hazardous substance list threshold planning quantity Restricted use pesticide Hazardous waste constituent... 

At many waste sites, -hexane has been detected in the landfill gases vented from the soils at the disposal sites (Brosseau and Heitz 1994 O Leary and Walsh 1995). While information in the literature is extremely limited, trace levels of -hexane are probably found in the soils or the soil gases at many waste disposal sites. u-Hexane has been identified in the soil at 14 sites and in sediments at two sites among the 60 NPL hazardous waste sites where it was detected in some environmental medium (HazDat 1998). 

Extremely Hazardous Substance Threshold Planning Quantity Restricted use pesticide Hazardous Waste Constituent (Appendix VIII)... 

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) addresses closed hazardous waste disposal sites that may release hazardous substances into any environmental medium. Title 111 of SARA also requires regular review of emergency systems for monitoring, detecting, and preventing releases of extremely hazardous substances at facilities that produce, use, or store such substances. 

Exposure Levels in Humans. No information has been located on exposure levels of humans to 2-hexanone in the workplace or in the vicinity of hazardous waste sites. It would be useful to collect information on levels of exposure to 2-hexanone in the environment and associated blood, urine or tissue levels of 2-hexanone and/or its metabolites in the exposed populations. Additional information relating those levels to the subsequent development of health effects would also be extremely useful. 

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