Hazardous Waste Essay

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WASTE Any unwanted item or substance resulting from a human activity or process is called waste. Types of Waste We have four type of waste first is Municipal solid waste, second is industrial solid waste, third is Hazardous waste and lastly the Wastewater. Municipal solid wastes are the one coming from homes, institutions, and small businesses. Industrial solid wastes are those from production of consumer goods, mining, petroleum extraction, and agriculture. Hazardous waste (which is our main focus) are basically those toxic, chemically reactive, flammable, or corrosive. And lastly, the waste water are the water used in homes, businesses, etc., and drained or flushed, plus runoff from streets. It is important for us to manage these waste for…show more content…
And it is a fact that heavy metals and organic compounds are two of the worst types of hazardous waste. Heavy metals includes mercury, lead, chromium, arsenic, cadmium, tin, and copper. While organic compounds pertains to those synthetic pesticides, petroleum products, rubber, solvents, preservatives, etc.. Criteria of Hazardous Waste We say that a specific waste is hazardous if it satisfies the four criteria’s of a hazardous waste. The four criteria’s are: Corrosivity, Ignitability, Reactivity and Toxicity. A corrosive material can destroy a substance an example for this are most of the acids that can burn skin on contact, and those materials that gives off vapors that burn the eyes. On the other hand ignitable materials are materials that can burst into flames easily, or simply it poses a fire hazard; an example for this are paint, furniture polish, and gasoline. While reactive materials are those materials that can create poisonous gas when combined with other chemicals; chlorine bleach and ammonia are example they create poisonous gas when they come in contact with each other. Lastly toxic materials are substances that can poison people and other life, this can cause illness and even death if swallowed or absorbed through the skin. Pesticides, and household cleaners are samples for

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