Solid waste potential hazards

Of the various ways of designating a solid waste as hazardous described above, only the toxicity characteristic is based on a quantitative assessment of potential risks resulting from waste disposal. The specifications of ignitable, corrosive, and reactive waste are based on qualitative considerations of risk, in that the presence of materials with these characteristics in a disposal facility clearly constitutes a hazard that could compromise the ability of the facility to protect public health. The specifications of listed hazardous wastes are based on risk in the sense that the listed substances have been identified as potentially hazardous to human health. However, requirements for treatment and disposal of listed waste discussed in Section 4.2.2 do not distinguish between different wastes based on considerations of risk from disposal. 

Your first step as a waste generator is to identify yom waste for each and every waste stream on your site. EPA s regulations establish two ways of identifying solid wastes as hazardous vmder RCRA. A waste may be considered hazardous if it exhibits certain hazardous properties (characteristics), or if it is included on a specific list of wastes EPA has determined are hazardous because the agency fomid them to pose substantial present or potential hazards to human health or the environment. 

The hazardous waste identification process (as discussed in Chapter 1) describes how to determine whether a material is a solid and hazardous waste. How a material is regulated under RCRA (i.e., whether or not it is a solid and potentially a hazardous waste) when it is recycled depends on what type of material it is and what type of recycling is occurring. If the recycled material is not a solid waste, then it is not a hazardous waste and is not subject to RCRA Subtitle C requirements. However, if the material qualifies as a solid and hazardous waste, it is subject to RCRA Subtitle C jurisdiction. 

Irrigation return flows. When farmers irrigate agricultural land, water not absorbed into the ground can flow into reservoirs for reuse. This return flow often picks up pesticide or fertilizer constituents, potentially rendering it hazardous. Because this water may be reused on the fields, it is excluded from the definition of solid waste. 

Shredded circuit boards. Circuit boards are metal boards that hold computer chips, thermostats, batteries, and other electronic components. Circuit boards can be found in computers, televisions, radios, and other electronic equipment. When this equipment is thrown away, these boards can be removed and recycled. Whole circuit boards meet the definition of scrap metal, and are therefore exempt from hazardous waste regulation when recycled. On the other hand, some recycling processes involve shredding the board. Such shredded boards do not meet the exclusion for recycled scrap metal. In order to facilitate the recycling of such materials, U.S. EPA excluded recycled shredded circuit boards from the definition of solid waste, provided that they are stored in containers sufficient to prevent release to the environment, and are free of potentially dangerous components, such as mercury switches, mercury relays, nickel-cadmium batteries, and lithium batteries. 

A solid waste, or combination of solid waste, which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics may (a) cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness or (b) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed. 

The RCRA controls the disposal of solid waste and requires that all wastes destined for land disposal be evaluated for their potential hazard to the environment. Solid waste includes liquids, solids, and containerized gases and is divided into nonhazardous waste and hazardous waste. The various amendments are aimed at preventing the disposal problems that lead to a need for the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund, as it is known. 

Manufacturing of the products from the raw materials and intermediates is done in industrial plants, where flammability, explosion, and toxic hazards exist for the workers and their neighbors. Plant discharges into the air and of liquid and solid wastes on to the land and into the water pose another set of potential hazards. 

WASTOXHAS is the acronym for WASte ecoTOXic Hazard Assessment Scheme. This method was developed to ensure that unacceptable adverse effects would not arise from landfilled or re-used waste disposal. It is dedicated to assess the long-term leaching hazardous impact of any solid waste containing potentially hazardous substances (e.g., bulk, stabilized, solidified, or vitrified wastes as well as contaminated soils or sediments intended for soil disposal). 

Nowadays the nature of solid waste has evolved. Every home contains hazardous products, or products that can harm human health or the environment if improperly handled. They are potential sources of hazardous contaminants in municipal solid waste (MSW). As an example, Americans generate 1.6 million tons of household hazardous waste (HHW) per year (http //www.epa. gov/enaoswer/non-... 

Preliminary assessment of the potential hazard of solid waste (intrinsic chemical and toxicological properties)... 

WASTOXHAS is designed to assess all solid wastes likely to contain potentially hazardous contaminants, such as landfilled, re-used and solidified/stabilized wastes. Besides solid wastes per se, this approach can also be applied to a wide range of other solid media including ... 

Although the details are beyond the scope of this book, health problems can be caused by solids and liquids suspended in water (for example, in waste-tailings streams) or in air (for example, in stack-emission plumes). Specific potential hazards have been associated with a diverse spectrum of colloidal materials, including synthetic chemicals, coals, minerals, metals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and wood pulp. Limits for human exposure for many particulate, hazardous materials are published [504,505],... 

It is noteworthy that this process does not create any additional solid waste, as all constituents of the waste solution can either be recovered by destination, or chemically decomposed at relatively moderate temperatures. Corrosion attack is small because no halogen compounds are involved, and the only potentially hazardous material is the ion exchange resin. When operated at room temperature, there are no detectable signs of decomposition within one to two month s residence time. The spent resin can be stored safely in alkaline media before incorporation into concrete. 

Are waste products produced by the process In what quantities Are they potentially harmful if released untreated into the environment If so, in what way What should be done to reduce pollution hazards Chemically treat the wastes Dump liquid and solid wastes into containers, seal and cart them out to sea Disperse gases in the atmosphere with a high stack Precipitate solids electrostatically from gas exhausts ... 

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