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Occupational Safety and Health Administration– The toxicity of a substance is its ability to cause
harmful effects. – All chemicals can cause harm. – When only a very large amount of the chemical can
cause damage, the chemical is considered to be relatively non-toxic. When a small amount can be harmful, the chemical is considered toxic.
Physical Physical v. v.
Chemical HazardChemical HazardPhysical is a danger of fire, explosion, etc.
that a material can cause. This is much easier to control and measure.
Chemical Hazard is the danger the material itself poses to humans/environment due to its existence.
Toxic v. HazardousToxic v. Hazardous The toxicity of a substance is the potential of that
substance to cause harm, and is only one factor in determining whether a hazard exists. The hazard of a chemical is the practical likelihood that the chemical will cause harm. A chemical is determined to be a hazard depending on the following factors: – toxicity: how much of the substance is required to
cause harm, – route of exposure: how the substance enters your body– dose : how much enters your body
Toxic v. HazardousToxic v. Hazardous
– duration: the length of time you are exposed, – reaction and interaction: other substances you
are exposed to, and – sensitivity: how your body reacts to the
substance compared to others
Health AffectsHealth AffectsAcute – Meaning they act immediately like
producing a cough, watery eyes, nausea, etc.
Chronic Affects – Meaning the effect they have is long term and sometimes cumulative. X-ray exposure, noxious cleaning chemicals, etc.
What form do hazardous What form do hazardous materials take?materials take?
SolidLiquidGasVaporDustFumeFiberMist
How are we protectedHow are we protected
Workers must have access to MSDS sheets of materials they work with
Trucks are placardedWarning Labels on ContainersRivalry between EPA and OSHA keeps
everyone on their toes
How does using HM impact How does using HM impact everyone?everyone?
Insurance ratesInjuries/DeathCleanupEnvironmental DamageEvacuationProduct LossTraffic Delays
Costs on Highways OnlyCosts on Highways Only
2,484 Accidents/yr Accidents = $1.2 B/yr
– Includes: losses of product emergency vehicles Insurance Deaths and cleanup
What to do with HMWWhat to do with HMW
IncinerateLandfillChemically TreatResource RecoveryDeep Injection WellsExport
Problems with disposalProblems with disposal
Costly, in most cases the cost of fines for release are much less expensive than cost of proper disposal
Lack of SpaceEnvironmental Racism
What is the US doing?What is the US doing? Cercla – Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation And Liability Act of 1980
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Superfund Program taxes oil refineries and
hazardous materials producers and uses these to finance cleanup of these sites once they are unusable.
National Priorities List rates these. Not surprisingly this is not enough to pay for
pollution/cleanup
What is the US doing?What is the US doing?
Transporters of waste and materials are charged a fee
– This money is used to fund grants for states to train Hazardous Emergency Response Teams and develop planning for such emergencies
Countries that address HM Countries that address HM and Wasteand Waste
These are mostly taxes/fees for dumping hazardous wastes
FranceSpainBelgium among others
What is the world community What is the world community doing?doing?
Basel Convention (ESM - environmentally sound management)
– US has not ratified
HMWHMW
Hazardous waste taxes are a statistically and economically significant deterrent to interstate waste transport, that taxes are being imposed by large-capacity and large-import states, and that therefore these taxes have had a decentralizing effect on the" national pattern of hazardous waste transport and disposal.
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