Ecology, Ecosystems and Coastal Management

Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste is waste that has substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. Hazardous wastes may be found in different physical states such as gaseous, liquids, or solids. A hazardous waste is a special type of waste because it cannot be disposed of by common means like other by-products of our everyday lives. Depending on the physical state of the waste, treatment and solidification processes might be required. Hazardous-waste management, the collection, treatment, and disposal of waste material that, when improperly handled, can cause substantial harm to human health and safety or to the environment. Hazardous wastes can take the form of solids, liquids, sludge, or contained gases, and they are generated primarily by chemical production, manufacturing, and other industrial activities. They may cause damage during inadequate storage, transportation, treatment, or disposal operations. Improper hazardous-waste storage or disposal frequently contaminates surface and groundwater supplies. People living in homes built near old and abandoned waste disposal sites may be in a particularly vulnerable position. In an effort to remedy existing problems and to prevent future harm from hazardous wastes, governments closely regulate the practice of hazardous-waste management. Toxic wastes are poisons, even in very small or trace amounts. They may have acute effects, causing death or violent illness, or they may have chronic effects, slowly causing irreparable harm. Some are carcinogenic, causing cancer after many years of exposure. Others are mutagenic, causing major biological changes in the offspring of exposed humans and wildlife.