Solid waste toxic materials

The atmospheric movement of pollutants from sources to receptors is only one form of translocation. A second one involves our attempt to control air pollutants at the source. The control of parhculate matter by wet or dry scrubbing techniques 3delds large quantities of waste materials—often toxic—which are subsequently taken to landfills. If these wastes are not properly stored, they can be released to soil or water systems. The prime examples involve the disposal of toxic materials in dump sites or landfills. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 and subsequent revisions are examples of legislation to ensure proper management of solid waste disposal and to minimize damage to areas near landfills (4). 

Raw material input to petroleum refineries is primarily crude oil however, petroleum refineries use and generate an enormous number of chemicals, many of which leave the facilities as discharges of air emissions, wastewater, or solid waste. Pollutants generated typically include VOCs, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur oxides (SOJ, nitrogen oxides (NOJ, particulates, ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (HjS) metals, spent acids, and numerous toxic organic compounds. 

Applicabdity Limitations Photolysis is appropriate for difficult-to-treat chemicals (e.g., pesticides, dioxins, chlorinated organics), nitrated wastes, and those chemicals in media which permits photolyzing the waste. The waste matrix can often shield chemicals from the light (e.g., ultraviolet light absorbers, suspended solids, solid wastes). The photolysis process typically requires pretreatment to remove suspended materials, and the by-products formed may be more toxic than the parent molecules. 

Use of some biomass feedstocks can increase potential environmental risks. Municipal solid waste can contain toxic materials that can produce dioxins and other poisons in the flue gas, and these should not be burned without special emission controls. Demolition wood can contain lead from paint, other heavy metals, creosote, and halides used in presen a-tive treatments. Sewage sludge has a high amount of sulfur, and sulfur dioxide emission can increase if sewage sludge is used as a feedstock. 

The submitters recommend collection of solid wastes in an appropriate solid waste container, and liquid wastes (filtrates containing thallium residues, etc.) in suitably labeled bottles or cans. For the disposal of thallium wastes, a commercial organization specializing in the disposal of toxic materials was employed. The submitters understand that the disposal procedure consists of burying thallium wastes in deep pits after covering with sand. 

Comparable fuels. In order to promote the recycling of materials with high fuel values, certain materials that are burned as fuels are excluded from the definition of solid waste, provided that they meet certain specifications (i.e., are of a certain degree of purity). This is to ensure that the material does not exceed certain levels of toxic constituents and physical properties that might impede burning. Materials that meet this specification are considered comparable to pure or virgin fuels. 

Petrochemical recovered oil. Organic chemical manufacturing facilities sometimes recover oil from their organic chemical industry operations. U.S. EPA excluded petrochemical recovered oil from the definition of solid waste when the facility inserts the material into the petroleum-refining process of an associated or adjacent petroleum refinery. Only petrochemical recovered oil that is hazardous because it exhibits the characteristic of ignitability or exhibits the toxicity characteristic for benzene (or both) is eligible for the exclusion. 

Inorganic solid wastes, particularly those containing toxic metals and toxic metal compounds, used Raney nickel, manganese dioxide, etc. should be placed in glass bottles or lined fiber drums, sealed, properly labeled, and arrangements made for disposal in a secure landfill. Used mercury is particularly pernicious and small amounts should first be amalgamated with zinc or combined with excess sulfur to solidify the material. 

This area of recombinant DNA technology also has application in the degradation of solid waste materials In waste water recovery, in leaching minerals from ore-containing rock, in improved oil recovery, and in the decontamination of chemical waste dumps through the engineering of microorganisms that can destroy specific toxic contaminants. 

DPE suits, and butyl rubber (NRC, 2001b). The levels were 0.0002 to 0.0008 ng/m3, three orders of magnitude below the EPA criterion of 0.2 ng/m3 for dioxin emissions from incinerators. In the test with neat GB, the product gas contained 0.01 to 0.06 percent phosphine. As noted previously in the section on methods development testing, phosphine can interfere with the measurement of GB. Based on results from the EPA s toxicity characteristic leachate procedure, stabilization would be necessary only for solid wastes derived from DPE suit material, because the cadmium and lead criteria were not met by the treated dunnage in some tests (NRC, 2001b). 

The main objectives of this chapter are (1) to review the different toxic organic pollutants present in both liquid and solid (i.e., sediment, soil, suspended matter and biosolids as bacteria, plankton, etc.) phase environments as well as complex organic mixture (COM) leachates from solid waste materials of landfills and disposal sites (2) to summarize the most recent analyses of these MM pollutants and (3) to discuss the optimum instrumental analytical methods for organic pollutant characterization. 

In 1980, 2.8 million tons of municipal solid waste was burned in the USA, yielding approximately 33% municipal waste combustion (MWC) ash. By 1990, the amount burned had increased to 32 million tons, creating approximately 25% of MWC ash or residue [265-267]. Controlled combustion of municipal solid waste produces two types of ash fly and bottom ash. Most MWC ash (80-99%) is bottom ash however, it usually contains a high percentage of toxic materials, and the leachates may not meet environmental standards. 

Whether a toxic pollutant in a COM or a solid waste material (SWM) leachate carries a charge or exists as a neutral species will have a dramatic effect on its environmental chemodynamics. This is a possibility with weak organic acids and bases, and is a function of the pK of the particular organic compound and pH of the surrounding environment. For instance, the dissociation of any weak organic acid (proton donor) may be represented as... 

There are four lists of hazardous wastes in the regulations wastes from nonspecific sources (F list), wastes from specific sources (K list), acutely toxic wastes (P list), and toxic wastes (U list) there are also the four characteristics mentioned before ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and extraction procedure toxicity. Certain waste materials are excluded from regulation under the RCRA. The various definitions and situations that allow waste to be exempted can be confusing and difficult to interpret. One such case is the interpretation of the mixture and derived-from rules. According to the mixture rule, mixtures of solid waste and listed hazardous wastes are, by definition, considered hazardous. Similarly, the derived-from rule defines solid waste resulting from the management of hazardous waste to be hazardous (40 CFR 261.3a and 40 CFR 261.1c). 

Composts can be made from most biodegradable materials, and could derive from many unusual sources. If it originates from municipal solid waste, however, care should be taken that no toxic and non-degradable materials remain after the supplier s separation processes. Small pieces of brick and concrete, glass and plastic (inerts), lead residues from old car batteries and cadmium from electroplated items are possible. A useful work on specifications and recommended chemical analyses of composts is the book by Bertoldi et al., 1987. 

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. 

Ioannidis, T. A. Zouboulis, A. I. 2003. Detoxification of a highly toxic lead-loaded industrial solid waste by stabilization using apatites. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 97, 173-191. 

All toxic materials were disposed of in accordance with "Prudent Practices in the Laboratory" National Academy Press Washington, DC, 1995. Wastes containing chromium, aqueous solutions as well as solids, were collected and disposed of separately. Prior to washing, all glassware laden with chromium by-products, were soaked overnight in a solution composed of 15-20 g of copper beads dissolved in -2 L of 50% aqueous nitric acid. This solution may be kept loosely capped in a fume hood and reused several times prior to disposal. 

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