Introduction

to Waste
Management
MODULE 1
 UNIT 3: Environmental Management
Systems
At the end of this module you should be able to:

❖ Identify the fundamental concepts

of industrial waste management
and control
Risk is comprised of two components: the probability
that an adverse event will occur and the magnitude
of the consequences of that adverse event.

Risk is defined as the probability or likelihood that

public health might be unacceptably impacted from
exposure to chemicals contained in waste
management units
2 Major Consequence
Categories
Cancer Risk Category
Noncancer Risk Category
Cancer Risk Category

❖ To determine a cancer risk, one must

calculate the probability of an individual
developing any type of cancer during his
or her lifetime from exposure to
carcinogenic hazards.
Noncancer Risk Category

❖ essentially a catch-all category for the remaining

health effects resulting from chemical exposure.
❖ is generally assessed by comparing the exposure or
average intake of a chemical with a corresponding
reference (a health benchmark), thereby creating a
ratio. The ratio so generated is referred to as the
hazard quotient (HQ)
 Health Benchmark
❖ Types of Exposure: Acute, subchronic
and chronic
❖ Cancer Slope Factor (CSF)
❖ Reference dose (RfD) for oral exposure
and reference concentration (RfC) for
inhalation exposure
 Cancer Slope Factor (CSF)
❖ the upper-bound estimate of the probability of a
response per unit intake of a chemical over a
lifetime and is expressed in units of (mg/kg-d)
❖ used to estimate an upper-bound probability of an
individual developing cancer as a result of a lifetime
of exposure to a particular concentration of a
carcinogen
Reference dose (RfD) for oral exposure and
Reference concentration (RfC) for inhalation
exposure
❖ estimates of daily exposure levels to individuals
(including sensitive populations) that are likely to be
without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects
during a lifetime and are expressed in units of
mg/kg-d (RfD) or mg/m3 (RfC)
Risk Assessment Process
• identifying and characterizing the source of
the environmental pollutant,
• determining the transport of the pollutant
once it is released into the environment,
• determining the pathways of human exposure,
• and identifying the extent of exposure for
individuals or populations at risk.
❖ Hazard Identification
❖ Exposure Assessment
❖ Risk Characterization
Hazard Identification
❖Chemicals can be released from waste management
units by a variety of processes, including
• volatilization
• leaching to ground water
• particulate emission
• runoff and erosion
 Exposure Assessment: Pathways,
Routes and Estimation
Exposure is the bridge between what is
considered a hazard and what actually presents a
risk.
The magnitude, frequency, duration, and route
of exposure to a substance must be considered
when collecting all of the data necessary to
construct a complete exposure assessment.
a. Exposure Pathways/Routes
An exposure pathway is the course the chemical
takes from its source to the individual or
population it reaches.

Types of media: air, soil, ground water, surface

water and biota

Exposure Routes: Ingestion, inhalation and

dermal absorption
b. Exposure Quantification/Estimation
The exposure quantification process involves
gathering information in two main areas:
the activity patterns and the biological
characteristics of receptors
❖ The output of the exposure assessment is a
numerical estimate of exposure and intake of a
chemical by an individual. The intake information is
then used with chemical specific health
benchmarks to quantify risks to human health.
❖ Exposure estimates are expressed in terms of the
mass of a substance in contact with the body per
unit body weight per unit time (e.g., milligrams of a
chemical per kilogram body weight per day).
 Risk Characterization
Because of all the assumptions inherent in
calculating a risk, a risk characterization cannot be
considered complete unless the numerical
expressions of risk are accompanied by explanatory
text interpreting and qualifying the results.

To assess the overall potential for noncarcinogenic

effects posed by more than one chemical, EPA
developed a hazard index (HI) approach.
Tiers for Assessing Risk
❖ Tier 1 Evaluation
- Allows for a rapid but conservative assessment
- Lower cost
- Requires minimal site data
❖ Tier 2 Evaluation
- Represents a higher level of complexity
- Moderate cost
❖ Tier 3 Evaluation
- Provides a sophisticated risk assessment
- Higher Cost
 Pollution Prevention

❖ Primary Objective: Source

Reduction
❖ Secondary Objective:
Recycling, Treatment, Secure
Disposal
 Thanks!
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