FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, OWERRI

P.M.B 1526, OWERRI, IMO STATE

A TERM PAPER ON “HAZARDOUS WASTE”

BY:
NWACHUKWU CYNTHIA CHINAZOR
20161944267

SUBMITTED TO:
PROF. A.N. AMADI
 HAZARDOUS WASTE
Meaning of Hazardous Waste:
According to USEPA, hazardous waste is defined as any solid, liquid or
gaseous substance which, by reasons of any physical, chemical, reactive,
toxic or infectious characteristics, causes danger to health or environment
when improperly treated, stored, transported or disposed of.

Sources of Hazardous Waste:

Sources of hazardous wastes include industries, petroleum refineries,
transportation, coke-ovens, blast furnace sludges, scrubbing sludges and
biological waste generating laboratories, thermal and nuclear power plants
and nuclear reactors etc.

Classification of Hazardous Wastes:

1. A simple approach to classify hazardous wastes is to consider these
wastes into general categories such as toxic, inflammable and radioactive
etc. Such a classification system helps the fire service to properly deal with
the hazardous wastes under emergencies.

2. Many countries (e.g., UK, France, Germany and Netherlands) follow a

Supplementary classification system for hazardous substances along with
the general classification system. However, in Japan, the four types of
wastes viz. sludges, slags, acidic waste and alkaline wastes, which contain
any of the 9 materials (e.g., Cd, As, Hg, Pb, Cr (VI), CN, Se, PCBs and
organic phosphates) beyond permissible limits, are considered to be
hazardous.

3. The best way to classify the hazardous wastes is on the basis of

algorithms that consider toxicity corrosively, persistence, inflammability,
quantity of waste involved, the extent of hazard to the environment and
ultimate effects on living organisms.

4. In the US, the hazardous wastes are classified as per the Federal Register
of May 19, 1980. The USEPA considers the following five basic criteria for
classifying hazardous wastes:
(i) Whether the material falls under the category of solid wastes as defined
by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976? The term solid
waste includes semi-liquids, liquids and contained gaseous materials as
well.

(ii) Whether the waste has been legally discarded? This stipulation is
applicable to the wastes that are stored or treated prior to disposal but not
to those to be recycled.

(iii) Whether the waste is specifically excluded by the regulations? For

instance, municipal solid wastes, agricultural wastes and animal manures
are excluded.

(iv) Whether the waste has toxic or hazardous characteristics. That is,
whether it has the potential to increase the mortality or illness or whether it
poses a substantial threat to human health or environment on the basis of
hazardous characteristics such as corrosivity, inflammability, toxicity or
explosiveness.

As regards human toxicity, a waste is considered to be hazardous

if:
(a) It has an oral LD 50 toxicity equal to or greater than 50 mg/kg (i.e., LD
50 is the lethal dose of the toxic waste at which 50% of the experimental
animals die as a result of oral ingestion).

(b) It has an inhalation LC 50 toxicity of 2 mg/kg (LC 50 is the lethal

ambient concentration of the toxic material in mg/L of air causing 50%
mortality to test rats during 4-hour inhalation).

As regards the hazard to health or the environment, the

following standard tests quantified by EPA are considered:
i. Ignitability that is, whether the waste causes or enhances fire.

ii. Corrosivity that is, whether the waste destroys the tissues or metal.

iii. Toxicity that is, whether the substance pollutes water supplies and
threatens the health.
iv. Reactivity that is, whether the substance reacts violently or causes
explosion.

As far as toxicity to the ground water is concerned, the 14 contaminants

viz., 8 metals (Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Ba, Se, Ag), 4 pesticides (Lindane, endrin,
toxaphene, methoxychlor) and 2 herbicides (2, 4-D and 2, 4, 5-T) are
considered to be hazardous.

(v) Whether the waste is listed as hazardous?

Wastes which are known to be hazardous (carcinogenic and mutagenic etc.)

but not amenable to Extraction Procedure Toxicity Test are listed in three
categories.

(i) Spent solvents used for degreasing.

(ii) Process wastes from wood preservation or manufacture of halogenated

hydrocarbons.

(iii) Discarded products like mercury compounds, toluene, xylene etc. and
their containers.

Management of Hazardous Wastes:

The main objective of hazardous waste management plan is to eliminate or
reduce the hazardous waste through process changes or resource recovery.
The waste must be accounted for from its origin to ultimate disposal. This
cradle to grave concept is followed by USA and Canada.

The major components of a hazardous waste management plan

are as follows:

1. Inventory:
All the industries producing more than 100 kg of hazardous wastes per
month should be registered. An inventory of such waste generating
agencies and the quantity of waste produced per month should be
prepared.
2. Storage:
The hazardous waste generating plants should equip themselves with
special on-site tanks, chemically resistant containers or basins for storage
of waste.

3. Transport:
The wastes must be transported by suitable tanker trucks, flat-bed trucks or
rail cars of the approved disposal sites.

4. Spillage:
A well publicized emergency plan should be prepared to deal with
unexpected spillage or accidental release of contaminants during transport
to prevent environmental damage and public health hazard.

5. Disposal:
The wastes should be transported to a physical and chemical treatment
plants for processing or concentration or hauled directly to an approved
hazardous waste treatment facility for final disposal.

6. Waste Exchange:
When on-site recycling or recovery of waste is not feasible, the possibility of
waste exchange should be explored. Transferring wastes from large
industries to smaller ones which are able to reuse low purity oils, acids,
alkalies, solvents or recover valuable metals and other materials from
concentrated wastes, can also be considered.

REFRENCES:
Hazardous Waste: Meaning, Sources and Management. Retrieved from
(https://www.biologydiscussion.com/waste-management/hazardous-
waste/hazardous-waste-meaning-sources-and-management/16753)