Human Health and the Environment

The two main federal agencies involved in the protection of human health and the environment are the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). EPA s principal concern is the protection of the environment, in most cases, the area outside of an industrial faciUty. There are 10 regional offices that carry out the regulatory functions of the agency (Table 1). Primary laws covered by EPA are the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and LiabiUty Act (CERCLA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and Eederal Insecticide, Eungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). 

The main objectives of RCRA ate to protect pubHc health and the environment and to conserve natural resources. The act requires EPA to develop and adininistet the following programs soHd waste disposal practices providing acceptable protection levels for pubHc health and the environment transportation, storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous wastes practices that eliminate or minimize hazards to human health and the environment the use of resource conservation and recovery whenever technically and economically feasible and federal, state, and local programs to achieve these objectives. 

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was enacted in 1976 to identify and control toxic chemical ha2ards to human health and the environment. One of the main provisions of TSCA was to estabUsh and maintain an inventory of all chemicals in commerce in the United States for the purpose of regulating any of the chemicals that might pose an unreasonable risk to human health or the environment. An initial inventory of chemicals was estabhshed by requiring companies to report to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) all substances that were imported, manufactured, processed, distributed, or disposed of in the United States. Over 50,000 chemical substances were reported. PoUowing this initial inventory, introduction of all new chemical substances requires a Premanufacturing Notification (PMN) process. To be included in the PMN are the identity of the new chemical, the estimated first year and maximum production volume, manufacture and process information, a description of proposed use, potential release to the environment, possible human exposure to the new substance, and any health or environmental test data available at the time of submission. In the 10 years that TSCA has been in effect, the USEPA has received over 10,000 PMNs and up to 10% of the submissions each year are for dyes (382)... 

Promote the protection of human health and the environment from potential adverse effects of improper solid and hazardous waste management... 

The degree of risk to human health and the environment posed by such constituents. 

The reasons for such strict regulation of air pollution are obvious protecting human health and the environment. Potential air pollutants are not only toxic in many cases, but they can travel over great distances, thereby impacting areas remote from the sources of emissions. There are two environments that are of concern, once chemicals are emitted to the surroundings ... 

Where there is an imminent threat to human health and the environment, as well as in some nonemergency situations, the regulatory agency may ascertain that a response is appropriate prior to the completion of the RCRA Facility Investigation or the Corrective Measures Study. Hence, the decision for interim measures can be made based on the immediacy as well as the magnitude of the potential threat to human health or the environment the nature of appropriate Corrective Action the implications of deferring Corrective Action until the RCRA Facility Investigation and Corrective Measure Study is complete and other factors. 

Early in the Corrective Action process, a decision may be made concerning whether or not containment is necessary to protect human health and the environment (HHE). If the release or threatened release presents danger to HHE, immediate action must be taken to halt migration. Under these circumstances, actions termed "Interim Measures" may be required, and excavation or containment measures may be directed by the regulatory agency. However, the Owner/Operator will be responsible for their implementation. In the event that containment is not required as an interim measure, containment may still be needed as part of the overall Corrective Action to halt the pollution migration if wastes or contaminants are to be left on-site. 

After each issue outlined in the evaluation criteria has been developed for each corrective measure, the selection of the most appropriate alternative can be made. Trade-offs among health risks, environmental effects and other pertinent technical, environmental and human health factors enter into this decisionmaking process. In the RCRA context, cost is not a factor in the selection process except when two or more corrective measure alternatives are determined by EPA to provide similarly adequate levels of protection of human health and the environment. 

Risks to human health and the environment will vary considerably depending upon the type and extent of exposure. Responsible authorities are strongly encouraged to characterize risk on the basis of locally measured or predicted exposure scenarios. To assist the reader, examples of exposure estimation and risk characterization are provided in CICADs, whenever possible. These examples cannot be considered as representing all... 

Environmental catalysis has its potential in improving innovations in the field of catalysis and highlighting the new directions for research driven by market, social, and environmental needs. Therefore, it can be concluded that environmental catalysis plays a key role in demonstrating the role of catalysis as a driver of sustainability by improving the quality of life and protecting human health and the environment... 

The ECO method was developed to aid environmental impact and cost optimisation of chemical synthesis pathways or processes suitable for the research and development (R D) stage. In order to represent terms of ecological as well as economic sustainability, three objective functions which incorporate (i) energy demand (EF), (ii) risks concerning human health and the environment (EHF) and (iii) costs (CE), were defined. Their calculation follows the life cycle approach and is based on the data available already in R D. Because the application of a comprehensive LCA is both, too complex and based on data which are partially not available at the R D stage, the determination of the three objective functions is based on the SLCA approach extended by economic issues. The key objectives are introduced below. 

Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has recently estabhshed preferred chemical principles for the chemical products they sell. In addition, they have established a Chemical Intensive Products (CIP) Network whose stated mission is to provide to our customers affordable and effective products where aU chemical ingredients are preferred for Mother, Child and the Environment delivered in the most efficient and effective way . In practice, this means that when an ingredient in a product or the product itself is considered to be capable of causing harm to human health and the environment, Wal-Mart will act to find better alternatives. 

PRIO is a web-based tool intended to be used to preventively reduce risks to human health and the environment from chemicals. The aim of PRIO is to facilitate in the assessment of health and environmental risks of chemicals so that people who work as environmental managers, purchasers and product developers can identify the need for risk reduction. To achieve this PRIO provides a guide for decision-making that can be used in setting risk reduction priorities. 

Ultimately, all food and environmental analyses are conducted to safeguard human health and the environment. Methods are selected and applied based upon specific needs within this broader framework, including adherence to regulations, tolerances, threshold levels, etc. ... 

One statute in particular, the CERCLA, or Superfund, is closely tied to RCRA both are designed to protect human health and the environment from the dangers of hazardous waste. While these programs are similar, they do have different regulatory focuses RCRA regulates how wastes should be managed to avoid potential threats to human health and the environment CERCLA focuses on actual releases, or substantial threats of a release in the environment of a... 

U.S. EPA has tried, to the extent possible, to develop regulations for hazardous waste management that foster environmentally sound recycling and conservation of resources, but at the same time provide adequate protection of human health and the environment. This chapter outlines the regulations governing recycling of hazardous wastes, and describes special management standards for two commonly recycled wastestreams used oil and universal wastes. 

Because used oil mixed with hazardous wastes increases risks to human health and the environment, all handlers are encouraged to keep used oil from becoming contaminated with hazardous... 

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