Environmental Science Assignment Help For Help Contact Information: Harinath Reddy Phone: +91-9502542081(IND) (Whats App, Viber) phone: +1-2089086040 (US) Email: harinath.infotech@gmail.com

1. For Help Contact Information:
Harinath Reddy
Phone: +91-9502542081(IND) (Whats App, Viber)
phone: +1-2089086040 (US)
Email: harinath.infotech@gmail.com
Impact of Hazardous waste on Environmental

2. Abstract
Environmental safety has a become a major concern in the recent past. The kind of damage
which is happening to the global environmental conditions is reaching the alarming conditions
and in many cases the this environmental pollution is impacted by many factors like industrial
pollution, vehicle pollution, global warming issues, the improper waste management, more
emission of carbon dioxide, and the reduction in the greenery around the surroundings, is
creating significant impact on how the global warming conditions are prevailing.
Keeping in view the impacts and the growing concern on the hazardous waste management, this
research has been carried out to understand the implications of hazardous waste, how it is
impacting the environment and also the health of the public. Majorly, the review of previous
studies has been taken up to analyze the impacts, and the scope for mitigation of such impacts
due the hazardous waste. The review and the excerpts of the previous studies has been briefed in
this report and also few recommendations which are of non-technical solutions has been briefed
which could help us in mitigating the impact of hazardous waste and its impact on the
environment and health.

3. Table of Contents
Abstract.............................................................................................................................................2
Table of Contents ...............................................................................................................................3
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................4
Over view of Hazardous waste.........................................................................................................4
2.0 Literature Review....................................................................................................................7
2.1 Impacts of Hazardous waste on the environment ....................................................................7
2.2 Challenges of Hazardous Waste Management........................................................................8
2.3 Classification of Hazardous waste management .....................................................................9
2.4 Solutions adapted for hazardous waste management.............................................................10
2.5 National Policies on Waste Management.............................................................................11
3.0 Conclusion............................................................................................................................12
4.0 Recommendation..................................................................................................................13
5.0 References............................................................................................................................13

4. Introduction
Environmental safety has a become a major concern in the recent past. The kind of damage
which is happening to the global environmental conditions is reaching the alarming conditions
and in many cases the this environmental pollution is impacted by many factors like industrial
pollution, vehicle pollution, global warming issues, the improper waste management, more
emission of carbon dioxide, and the reduction in the greenery around the surroundings, is
creating significant impact on how the global warming conditions are prevailing.
One of the significant pollutant factors which is causing significant impact on the environment
and the health of the individuals is the hazardous waste. Despite the fact that there were
numerous reports which emphasized the fact that due to the hazardous waste the impact on
health and the environment, there are many countries where the system of hazardous waste
management is not regulated and this could lead to much more complications in the world.
(EPA, 2011)
There are numerous factors that could implicate the system of hazardous waste management and
ensure that there is some kind of protection for environment and also safety for the health of
individuals.
Over view of Hazardous waste
Hazardous waste is dangerous and harmful to our health and environment if managed
improperly. Hazardous waste can be liquid, solid, sludge, or containerized gas waste substance
that due to its quantity, concentration, or chemical properties. Industry, research, medical,
household, chemical producers, agriculture and mining are the sources of hazardous waste. In
United States the storage and disposal of hazardous waste is regulated under The Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), enacted in 1976. (Rushton, 2003)
Hazardous wastes are divided into two major categories:

5. 1. Characteristic waste – the materials which are flammable, reactive, corrosive and toxic.
2. Listed waste – materials from non-specific sources, specific sources, or discarded
chemical products which are listed by regulatory authorities.
Industrial hazardous waste:
90% hazardous waste comes from industrial sources. These can be classified into four types:
chemical manufacturing, primary metal production, metal fabrication, and petroleum processing.
Halogenated solvents from non-specific sources involved in industrial process, untreated
wastewater from the production of the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid from specific
industrial source are the type of chemical hazardous waste. Commercial and chemical products
manufacturing such as drugs, detergents, lubricants, dyes and pesticides discard benzene and
wastes that are classified as toxic such as vinyl chloride. Methylene chloride a carcinogen which
cause cancer, is a solvent commonly used in paint removers. In United States a solvent named
Trichloroethylene is found in ground water which is monitored and regulated in drinking water.
Drinking or breathing high levels of trichloroethylene can lead to damage of the liver, lung, and
nervous system.
The most hazardous wastes are generated from the sludge of waste water used in industrial
process. Sludge is a semi solid material or settled suspension obtained from conventional
drinking water treatment and numerous other industrial processes. Sludge mostly contains the
heavy metals such as cadmium, copper, lead and nickel. The components of sludge have
pollutant limits defined by the EPA. On the basis of information available to EPA the
components of sludge and waste water may cause disease, cancer, behavioral abnormalities and
genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions and physical deformations in either organisms or
offspring of the organisms. Cadmium accumulates in humans and animals and can lead to kidney
dysfunction. (Rushton, 2003)
Household hazardous waste:
HHW can be generated from consumer products such as home care, personal care, automatic
care, pest control and other purposes. The hazardous wastes generated from these products are

6. toxic, corrosive and dangerous. Dry cleaners, oil paints, batteries, fluorescent lights, fuel,
poisons, smoke detectors, chemical waste and consumer electronics are the examples of HHW.
HHW is not regulated by EPA but should be disposed of separately from municipal garbage
following label instructions. (EPA, 2011)
Waste minimization:
Waste minimization reduces the volume of waste generated and reduces the amount of toxicity
from chemical wastes. There are three general methods of waste minimization:
1. Source Reduction – It is the activity that eliminates the generation of chemical hazardous
waste at the source. This can be accomplished by good materials management, substitution of
less hazardous materials and good laboratory procedures. For example biodegradable, nontoxic
lactate esters are solvents manufactured from renewable carbohydrate sources that can be
substituted for toxic halogenated solvents. (EPA, 2011)
2. Recycling - It means that less hazardous waste requires disposal. In other words when a
waste material is used for another purpose, treated and reused in the same process, or
reclaimed for another process is called recycling. The recycling of waste through waste
exchanges is one aspect of industrial ecology. Waste exchange also promotes the use of one
company's waste as another company's raw material. For example using non-hazardous
solvents or cleaning solutions in industrial parts washers.
3. Treatment – This is the least preferable technique of waste minimization and the most
common method used is elementary neutralization.
Audits, better inventory management, production process or equipment modifications, and
operational or maintenance procedures are the common techniques of waste minimization.
The EPA's Industrial Toxics Project is a non-regulatory program initiated in 1990 to achieve
overall reductions for seventeen toxic chemicals reported in the government's Toxics Release

7. Inventory (TRI) including cadmium, lead, mercury, trichloroethylene, and toluene. The
National Waste Minimization program supports efforts that reduces the amount of waste
generated and lowers the toxicity and persistence of wastes that are generated. (Kang &
Mengjun Chen, 2013)
The above factors represent the kind of impact the hazardous waste has on the environment and
the impact on the life in the earth. If the environment we live has everything polluted like air,
water, food and the surroundings then it is evidential that soon there shall be numerous health
problems and ailments which could be a serious threat to the living conditions. (Rushton, 2003)
The following literature review has been studied keeping in purview the need for effective
management and control of hazardous waste management. There were numerous studies that
were carried out in the segment of hazardous waste management and the analysis of hazardous
waste on the environment and the health of the public.
In this report, the focus is more on reviewing such studies and gaining insights in to the factors
that could lead to potential hazardous waste management trends and systems that could help us
lead a better environment.
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Impacts of Hazardous waste on the environment
Industrial pollution is one of the major levels of the pollution that is impacting the environmental
conditions. All across the world there are many countries where the manufacturing is the major
contributor for GDP and in such conditions, where the industries have certain process of
manufacturing, the industrial pollute which is emitted from the industries are an issue and cause
of concern. (Kang & Mengjun Chen, 2013)
As per the reports and the information provided by Environmental Protection Agency of United
States, globally, the chemicals and the chemical treatment are the major industrial pollute that it
is impacting the environment and it needs effective industrial environmental policies that are
industrial regulations for the scenario. (EPA, 2011)

8. 2.2 Challenges of Hazardous Waste Management
According to wagner in his research studies he reflects the fact that “The evolution of
hazardous waste into a national environmental problem is a puzzling phenomenon. The public
and media perceive hazardous waste to be a major environmental and public health risk. Yet,
although the problem of hazardous waste and its resultant contamination has long been known,
no one took it seriously until about 1978. An interesting question is, Why did the public and
media ignore hazardous waste for so long, particularly during a period of unprecedented public
and media interest in the environment, especially pollution, in the late 1960s and throughout the
1970s?”
Also wagner briefs in his report that “Before 1970, waste disposal received little national media
and public attention. This would change temporarily with the U.S. Army's program to dispose of
outdated nerve gas weapons in the Atlantic Ocean, which was an event too dramatic and
sensational for the media and public to ignore. The nerve gas controversy demonstrated that the
nation was ill prepared to manage these wastes safely and that the government knew too little
about their potential ecological and public health effects. This limited state of knowledge,
coupled with the lack of national laws, exacerbated public concern—especially in light of the
fact that the nerve gas in question represented only one percent of the Army's total stockpile, all
of which would require disposal”. (Wagner, 2004)
Given the national media focus, widespread public concern over the environment, and the
propensity for Congress to act on environmental problems during this period of heightened
environmental awareness, the conditions appeared ripe for establishing hazardous waste as a
national problem warranting significant federal action. However, even with this heightened
awareness, media attention and subsequent public concern regarding nerve gas and hazardous
waste quickly faded. Although there was federal interest in hazardous waste, it would take
multiple attempts and six years before a law was enacted and an additional four years before a
regulatory program was in place. (Wagner, 2004)
Public perception of risk is a major driver in environmental policy. As noted by J. Clarence
Davies III in Politics of Pollution (1970), "The attitudes held by the general public form the
ultimate parameters of government action." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studies in
1987 and 1990 confirmed that public risk perception was shaping national environmental
management priorities rather than being shaped by the perceptions of environmental experts.
The public's perception of risk is heavily influenced by mass media through identification,
framing, visualization, and dramatization of environmental problems. Whether the media
becomes and remains interested in a problem also depends on the construct of the problem and
the conditions under which an environmental problem is discovered. Collectively, public risk
perception, media attention, problem construct, and discovery conditions not only determine
whether a problem is ripe for a policy response, but they also strongly influence its design, which
can have serious implications for future policymaking. (Wagner, 2004)

9. 2.3 Classification of Hazardous waste management
In his research paper Rushton depicts that “There is no doubt that, given the diversity of
material coming under the heading of waste, there is considerable potential for hazardous
exposure to occur through waste management. High levels of contamination of air, soil and
water in a few well publicized situations have led to widespread unease about the potential
health effects of waste management processes, particularly within communities living in the
proximity to relevant sites. Overall, however, the vast body of literature does not generally
support these concerns, particularly for the two most common methods, incineration and landfill
disposal. There is also a lack of evidence as to the precise substance(s) implicated. Any
emissions from waste management processes are likely to be a mixture of many substances for
which a toxicological profile is unknown”. (Rushton, 2003)
He also states that “Many of the studies are hampered by a lack of good exposure information
and use surrogate indirect measures perhaps leading to exposure misclassification. The levels of
most of the potential substances would also be expected to be extremely low, even if all sources
of exposure were taken into account. Lack of specificity can also occur in defining health
outcomes, particularly if these are self-reported. Many outcomes, such as cancers, would not be
expected to occur until several years after exposure, requiring analysis for latency which is
lacking in many studies. Migration into and out of relevant areas is also often ignored”.
(Rushton, 2003)
The greatest challenge, however, is to eliminate the effects of factors which might relate to both
health outcome and environmental exposure, such as age, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic or
deprivation status, smoking, access to health care and occupational history. Lack of complete
adjustment for such confounders probably exists in many of the studies relating to waste
management particularly those using geographical designs. Studies have shown that socio-
economically disadvantaged populations and minority groups may be disproportionately located
in areas around waste disposal sites.
Although the possible physical health effects arising from waste management processes have
been addressed, there has been little research into socio-economic impacts of waste-
management options. Public perceptions of the relative health risks reflect not only differences in
understanding but underlying social values. The development of effective participatory
programmes is essential to ensure the public right and responsibility to be involved in the
assessment and management of hazards in their communities is addressed, leading hopefully to
improved assessments and management strategies. (Rushton, 2003)

10. 2.4 Solutions adapted for hazardous waste management
The ideal disposal method is the destruction and conversion of hazardous waste to a non-
hazardous form. The most common methods of hazardous waste disposal are:
Incineration – the hazardous waste may be destroyed by incinerating at high temperature.
Incineration may be an effective way to convert hazardous waste into a nonhazardous form
while greatly decreasing its volume. Today incineration treatments not only reduce the
amount of hazardous waste, but also they also generate energy throughout the gases released
in the process. Various incineration technologies exist for a variety of types of wastes. The
EPA estimates that five million tons of hazardous wastes are burned each year in US. For
example, volatile chemicals like paint thinners, oils, and solvents are destroyed by
combustion at cement plants called kilns. Some wastes should not be burned such as those
that contain heavy metals.
Injection wells – Industries in United States dispose their hazardous waste using a land
disposal method called deep injection wells. Liquid wastes are injected into wells that keep
the waste isolated from ground water and surface water. Groundwater is a major source of
drinking water worldwide and once it is contaminated, pollutants are extremely difficult and
costly to remove. In some instances, it is impossible to remove groundwater contamination.
Injected wastes offer migrates into groundwater reservoirs called aquifers. Other
underground burial locations for hazardous wastes include deep mines, natural caverns and
man-made deep pits. (Kang & Mengjun Chen, 2013)
Land filling – It is the primary land disposal method for hazardous waste disposal in United
States. It is considered as permanent disposal facility. Hazardous waste landfills are highly
regulated and are required to include clay liners, monitoring wells, and groundwater barriers.
These are similar to regular solid waste landfills but they must meet much higher standards
for safety and environmental protection. The EPA requires that most hazardous wastes be

11. treated before being discarded in properly designed approved landfills and burial sites.
(Agarwal & Gupta, 2011)
Conversion to environmentally safe substances can be very expensive for some types of
hazardous wastes and technically impossible for others, creating the need for alternative
disposal methods. Biodegradation requires very long treatment times and it may be difficult
to control or enhance natural degradation processes. When hazardous waste is to be
transported off-site for disposal, the waste generator prepares a shipping document called a
manifest. (Porta, Simona Milani, Antonio I Lazzarino, & Carlo A Perucci, 2009)
2.5 National Policies on Waste Management
Hazardous waste production in United States and other countries:
Facilities that produce hazardous waste, usually as a result of an industrial process, are
considered large-quantity generators (LQG) or small-quantity generators (SQG) depending
on the quantities produced. Hazardous waste may be transported to alternate locations to be
treated, stored, or disposed of, or may be managed at the place of generation.
In 1995, 20,873 LQGs produced 214 million tons of hazardous waste regulated by RCRA. There
were 3,489 fewer LQGs and a reduction of 44 million tons of waste by 1995 compared to 1993.
The five states generating the largest amount of hazardous waste were Texas (69 million tons),
Tennessee (39 million tons), Louisiana (17 million tons), Michigan (13 million tons), and Illinois
(13 million tons), accounting for 70 percent of the national totals.
The EPA estimates total hazardous waste production in the United States at hundreds of millions
of metric tons per year. This rapidly growing volume of waste and the lack of adequate disposal
methods and sites not only escalate disposal costs, but pose an increasing threat to public health
and safety and to the environment.

12. Even in the other Asian countries like Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, China and India, there are
many industrial regulations, policies and principles that has been engaged which is in accordance
to the standards of the global safety conditions for environment and based on those regulations
there is check on the hazardous waste that is being disposed by the industries, however more
than the regulations, it should be on personal ethical basis that we should realize the importance
of having a proper hazardous waste management system.
3.0 Conclusion
In an environmental scenario it is very essential that the hazardous waste management is taken as
a very serious job and the organizations perform their roles and responsibilities of disposing the
hazardous waste after duly following the procedures of converting it in to non-hazardous form. It
is very certain and evident that not in many cases the kind of converting to non- hazardous form
is possible, but however the organizations and the government has to ensure that there is
adequate protection which is taken toward managing the potential waste. Eventually if this kind
of waste is ignored, it could only to lead to more complicated scenarios and soon the
environments around us might be seen with highly polluted scenario which could impact the
survival of the life. (Vrijheid, 2000)
In many developed countries, there are policies and procedures which are put in place to avoid
the kind of hazardous waste, but it is essential that the organizations ensure to practice the laid
down policies and regulation and keep the emissions in control. In many of the emerging
economy countries like India, china and also in few of the African countries, the impact of the
hazardous waste is envisaged to be very high and the organizations should realize the
significance of it and handle the scenario effectively.
There are numerous studies and researches that are carried out regularly to understand the impact
of hazardous waste and how to handle such impacts. Despite the fact that there are so many
solutions that have been identified in the scenario and effectively it could use by the
organizations and the public while dispersing the hazardous waste. The review of research
reports and the information from the official sources only reflect and emphasize on one factor
that the management of hazardous waste is not an issue provided if there is high level of
commitment and dedication from the public and the organizations towards ensuring a safer
environment and safe disposal of hazardous environment.

13. 4.0 Recommendation
The following recommendations are made based on the inputs collected from the environmental
study and hazardous wastes, and the scope for management of hazardous wastes. Despite the fact
that there are some kind of solutions and the possibilities to avoid the hazardous waste, still there
is significant quantum of waste that is prevailing in the system.
The following are the recommendations which could help us in better hazardous waste
management
1) Development of quarantine area in every regional location to ensure that the hazardous waste
is only dispersed in that location and the government agencies should adapt stringent policies and
regulations to ensure that hazardous waste in only dispersed in such locations.
2) Avoiding of hazardous waste kind of materials to the maximum extent possible. In the
growing economic conditions and the technological advancements, there could be numerous
research and development activities that could be conducted to identify alternate solutions for
hazardous waste materials
3) Develop a kind of eco management system in the industrial policies, where there is some kind
of tax relaxations or the subsidies that could encourage the companies towards better
environmental standards for hazardous waste management.
4) Imposing server penalties could be other source of controlling industries from disposing the
hazardous waste in the public that is impacting the environmental conditions and the health of
the public.
5.0 References
Agarwal,D.,& Gupta, A. K.(2011). HazardousWaste Management:Analysisof IndianScenarioand
PerspectiveGovernance. VSRDTechnical& Non-TechnicalJournal,484-495.
EPA.(2011). HazardousSubstancesand HazardousWaste. USEPA.

14. Kang,D. H., & MengjunChen.(2013). Potential EnvironmentalandHumanHealthImpactsof
Rechargeable LithiumBatteriesinElectronicWaste. Environ.Sci.Technol.,,5495-5503.
Porta,D., SimonaMilani,AntonioILazzarino,& Carlo A Perucci.(2009). Systematicreview of
epidemiological studiesonhealtheffectsassociatedwithmanagementof solidwaste.
EnvironmentalHealth,8-60.
Rushton,L. (2003). Healthhazards andwaste management. Oxford Journal,183-197.
Vrijheid,M.(2000). HealthEffectsof ResidenceNearHazardousWaste. EnvironmentalHealth
Perspectives.
Wagner,T. (2004). HazardousWaste: Evolutionof aNational Environmental Problem. Journalof Policy
History.
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