Waste disposal pesticides

The level of natural versus man-made emissions to the environment are of a similar magnitude. SoH erosion is the major contributor of natural emissions with zinc mining, zinc production facHities, iron and steel production, corrosion of galvanized stmctures, coal and fuel combustion, waste disposal and incineration, and the use of zinc fertilizers and pesticides being the principal anthropogenic contributors. 

Baird is the 20-acre site of a former chemical mixing and batching company. Poor waste disposal practices resulted in the contamination of groundwater, soil, the municipal water supply, and a brook adjacent to the site. Over one hundred contaminants, including chlorinated and nonchlorinated volatile organics, heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, and dioxins, had been identified in site soil and groundwater. Remediation activities included soil excavation and incineration, and groundwater treatment (the audit focused on the soil excavation and incineration... 

The most important routes of exposure to endosulfan for the general population are ingestion of food and the use of tobacco products with endosulfan residues remaining after treatment. Farmers, pesticide applicators, and individuals living in the vicinity of hazardous waste disposal sites contaminated with endosulfan may receive additional exposure through dermal contact and inhalation. 

Velsicol Chemical Corporation maintained two injection wells at its plant near Marshall, Illinois, to dispose of caustic wastes from pesticide production as well as contaminated surface runoff. In September 1965, the company began to inject the wastes into Devonian dolomites of the Grand Tower Formation at a depth of about 2600 feet. The wells accepted about 6 million gallons of waste monthly. 

At present most of the pesticide and fertilizer storehouses are in a very bad condition. None of them answer to environmental and sanitary demands. Transportation, usage, distribution and storage of chemicals are not regulated. Hazardous chemicals are in sale everywhere - in the market, on the roads, in the boxes with food products, often without labeling. It is impossible to control chemicals. There is not a special waste disposal. 

As a result of human health concerns, production of mirex ceased in 1976, at which time industrial releases of this chemical to surface waters were also curtailed. However, releases from waste disposal sites continue to add mirex to the environment. Virtually all industrial releases of mirex were to surface waters, principally Lake Ontario via contamination of the Niagara and Oswego Rivers. About 75% of the mirex produced was used as a fire retardant additive, while 25% was used as a pesticide. As a pesticide, mirex was widely dispersed throughout the southern United States where it was used in the fire ant eradication program for over 10 years. 

Mirex has been detected in air, surface water, soil and sediment, aquatic organisms, and foodstuffs. Historically, mirex was released to the environment primarily during its production or formulation for use as a fire retardant and as a pesticide. There are no known natural sources of mirex and production of the compound was terminated in 1976. Currently, hazardous waste disposal sites and contaminated sediment sinks in Lake Ontario are the major sources for mirex releases to the environment (Brower and Ramkrishnadas 1982 Comba et al. 1993). 

Mirex is no longer manufactured, formulated, or used in the United States. Therefore, there is currently no occupational exposure to this chemical associated with its production or application as a pesticide. Current occupational exposure is most likely to occur for workers employed at waste disposal sites or those engaged in remediation activities including removal of soils and sediments contaminated with mirex. There is a slight possibility of exposure for workers involved in dredging activities (e.g., sediment remediation work performed by the Corps of Engineers). 

Regulation increases other costs. Environmental violations arising from waste disposal, asbestos, or other hazards at production facilities have become an increasing fact of life for formulator firms. Scotts Company recently paid fines and cleanup costs for unlicensed waste disposal and asbestos contamination at several sites in the U.K. and Ohio. Federal, state, and local environmental regulators strictly regulate waste disposal from fertilizer- and pesticide-formulating plants. Companies also must be prepared for the potential costs of remediation or liability if any pesticide causes harm. ... 

Attitude of the pesticide Industry, user, and the general public concerning waste disposal ... 

Given the complexity of the problem of selecting a safe, effective waste disposal strategy from the relatively sophisticated array of disposal systems that are available, and given the RCRA farmer s exemption, there needs to be a way of providing disposal Information directly to the pesticide user. One such method would be to put It on the label. 

The University of California field stations have dealt with dilute pesticide waste disposal on an experimental basis by using lined soil evaporation beds. The beds typically are 20 x 40 x 3 ft pits lined with a butyl rubber membrane and back filled with 12 to 18 Inches of sandy loam soli. Figure 1 Is a cross secton of such a bed. Used containers and spray equipment are washed on an adjacent concrete slab the wastewater drains Into a sedimentation box for trapping particulates, followed by a distribution box In the bed. From the distribution box, the dilute pesticide solutions run underneath the soli surface through leach lines made of 4 Inch perforated PVC pipe. The system Is designed so that water moves up through the soli by capillary action and evaporates off the surface. 

Ten University of California field stations located throughout the state (Figure 2) allow for the study of the evaporation beds under several climatic and design variations (Table I). All the evaporation beds were sampled except the one located farthest away, at the Imperial Valley station. The evaporation beds vary In temperature range and annual precipitation, and In such design considerations as size, soil depth, soil pH, the presence or absence of storage tanks, a roof over the bed or slab area, and whether or not the soil Itself has been amended with hydrated lime. The beds also differ In the specific pesticide wastes disposed, and the longevity and Intensity of use. 

Generally the procedure that has been developed Is effective In reducing the volume of waste that must be handled by a pesticide applicator by a factor of 100. Five thousand gallons of wastewater can be reduced to 50 gallons of sludge and spent activated carbon. Under current regulations these materials would most likely have to be disposed of at a hazardous waste disposal site. 

Field Trials on Soil Pesticide Waste Disposal... 

These conclusions have several implications for pesticide waste disposal considerations. For incidental or accidental disposal of pesticides in natural aquatic systems, the results suggest that model calculations using aqueous solution values for abiotic neutral hydrolysis rate constants can be used without regard to sorption to sediments. For alkaline hydrolysis, on the other hand, models must explicitly include sorption phenomena and the correspond ng rate reductions in order to accurately predict hydrolytic degadation. 

Right now there is no easy way to dispose of very small quantities of hazardous household products, such as pesticides, batteries, outdated medicines, paint, paint removals, used motor oil, wool preservatives, acids, caustics, and so on. There are no places that accept such small quantities of wastes as generated by a small industrial/commercial site. For now, the best disposal techniques are listed in Table 1, which is recommended by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, Bureau of Solid Waste Disposal. 

The disposal of pesticides and pesticide wastes is regulated by the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Uiabihty Act (CERCUA). This section deals with the regulations for liquid waste disposal, which is mainly under the CWA. However, when the waste is disposed of as a hazardous waste, it is regulated by the RCRA. 

Oberacker, D.A. Incineration options for disposal of waste pesticides. In Pesticide Waste Disposal Technology Bridges, J.S., Dempsey, C.R., Eds. Noyes Data Corporation Park Ridge, NJ, 1988. Eckenfelder, W.W., Jr. Industrial Water Pollution Control, 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill New York, 1989. McNally, R. Tougher rules challenge future for injection wells. Petrol. Eng. Int. 1987, July, 28-30. Zimpro, Inc. Report on Wet Air Oxidation for Pesticide Chemical Manufacturing Wastes, prepared for G. M. Jett, USEPA Rothchild Wisconsin, 1980. 

Honeycutt, R. Paulson, D. LeBaron, H. Rolofson, G. Chemical treatment options for pesticide wastes disposal. In Pesticide Waste Disposal Technology Bridges, J.S., Dempsey, C.R., Eds. Noyes Data Corporation Park Ridge, NJ, 1988. 

An LTTA system was used to remediate 41,431 tons of pesticide-contaminated soil at the Arlington Blending and Packaging Superfund site in Arlington, Tennessee. The total project cost was 5,586,376. This figure included 4,293,893 for capital 62,351 for operation and maintenance 633,528 for analysis, excavation, and waste disposal and 596,604 other project costs (D212340, p. 5 D21038Y, p. 57). 

ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials). (1988). Standard guide for conducting 10-day static sediment toxicity tests with marine and estuarine amphipods. In Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Pesticides, Resource Recovery, Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Responses, Waste Disposal, Biological Effects, 11.04, ASTM E 1367. Ed. by ASTM, Philadelphia, USA, pp. 732-757. 

Currently, empty pesticide containers should be triple rinsed with water and then transferred to a proper hazardous waste disposal facility. On February 11, 1994, the EPA proposed container design requirements... 

Severe local arsenic pollution can occur adjacent to industrial enterprises producing the various arsenicals used in timber preservation and as agricultural pesticides. Concern expressed by environmental groups has led to a reduction in the use of arsenicals in agriculture over the last decade, and this trend is likely to continue. Waste disposal is the main problem in industrial arsenic production and this problem has been responsible for closing several plants in Western Europe. 

ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY. That aspect of chemistry concerned with air and water pollution, pesticides, and chemical and radioactive waste disposal. A random selection of specific areas of research includes. (l)Lead and other toxic chemicals in the air. 

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