Chapter 19: Hazardous Chemicals: Pollution & Prevention

Sustainability, Stewardship, and Sound Science

Hazardous Materials

Are one or more of the following:

• Toxic

• Reactive

• Ignitable

• Corrosive

Mercury and Lead

• They are heavy metals which can cause

• Mental impairment

Halogenated Hydrocarbons

• Organic compounds with a halogen (bromine, iodine, ect.) replacing a hydrogen

• Used as pesticides

• Used to make plastic

• Resistant to biodegradation

Chlorinated Hydrocarbons

• Chlorinated hydrocarbons

• Are synthetic organic compounds

• Dioxin

• Mainly caused by burning PVC pipe (medical waste)

• Linked to cancer.

• Also an endocrine disruptor.

Recall Alligators …

Love Canal, NY

• Problem first discovered in 1978• The government allowed housing to be build over the

toxic waste dump• First national emergency in the US because of toxic

waste• Led to the superfund legislation.

Superfund sites:• $ comes from taxes on chemical industries• 50% of the $ spent on legal costs

Love Canal, New York

National Priorities list

• Includes sites that are:• The greatest threat to health and the

environment

• Toxic waste generated by households should be handled by toxic waste pick ups and public education.

• Toxicology & Chemical Hazards– Dose– Food Chains

• A History of MISmanagement– Land disposal– Injection– Scope of the Problem

• Cleaning Up the Mess– Water– Superfund (NOT superFUN) Sites

• Broader Issues– Environmental Justice (Grace)– Prevention Sustainability

Toxicology & Chemical Hazards

• Dose Response & Threshold• Threshold Level

• The Nature of Chemical Hazards: HAZMATs

• Sources of Chemical Entering the Environment• Better Living Through ... ?

– Toxics Release Inventory

Toxicology & Chemical Hazards (con’t)

• The Threat from Toxic Chemicals– Heavy Metals– Organic Compounds

• Dirty Dozen• PERC• MTBE

Toxicology & Chemical Hazards (con’t)

• Involvement with Food Chains• Minamata

A History of Mismanagement

• Methods of Land Disposal– Deep-Well Injection– Surface Impoundments– Landfills– Midnight Dumping & Orphan Sites

A History of Mismanagement (con’t)

• Scope of the Mismanagement Problems• Occidental?

Cleaning Up the Mess

• Ensuring Safe Drinking Water

• Groundwater Remediation

Cleaning Up the Mess (con’t)

• Superfund for Toxic Sites– Setting Priorities– Cleanup Technology

• Bioremediation• Plant Food?

Cleaning Up the Mess (con’t)

– Brownfields– Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUST)

• Underground storage tank (UST)

Managing Current Hazardous Wastes

• The Clean Air & Water Acts

• The Resource Conservation Act (RCRA)

Managing Current Hazardous Wastes (con’t)

• Reduction of Accidents & Accidental Exposures– Department of Transportation Regulations– Worker Protection: OSHA Act & the “Workers

Right to Know”– Community Protection & Emergency

Preparedness: SARA, Title III• EPCRA Rules

– The Toxic Substances Control Act• REACH

Broader Issues

• Environmental Justice & Hazardous Wastes

• Federal Response• International EJ

• Pollution Prevention for a Sustainable Society

• Green Chemistry• You, the Consummer

Revisiting the Themes

• Sustainability

• Stewardship

• Science

• Ecosystem Capital

• Policy & Politics

• Globalization

The End