Hazardous Waste

1
Hazardous Waste

• Local Production
• Site Contamination Love Canal
• Legislative Efforts
• RCRA
• CERCLA
• Superfund Sites
• Hazard Transport
• Long-Term Hazards
• Environmental and Health Effects

Modern industry produces many products that
contain hazardous wastes Many industrial
processes use hazardous materials and produce
hazardous waste
2
Love Canal
3
History of the Love Canal 1892 1978

• The Love Canal, a neighborhood in the southeast
  LaSalle district of the City of Niagara Falls,
  New York, takes its name from the failed plan of
  nineteenth century entrepreneur, William T. Love.
  Approximately four miles upstream of Niagara
  Falls, Love saw an ideal location to harness
  water to generate power to the burgeoning
  industries developing along the seven mile
  stretch of the River to the mouth of Lake
  Ontario. In 1892,the canal was his solution to
  provide ships a route to bypass the Falls.
• A few years later Love's dream of the navigable
  waterway evaporated. A nationwide economic
  depression, loss of financial backing, and the
  invention of alternating electrical current
  forced Love to abandoned his project. Only one
  mile of the canal had been dug.
• U.S. Geological Aerial Photographs taken in 1927
  clearly show an open body of water sixty feet
  wide and three thousand feet long at the
  otherwise undeveloped edge of the City. The Love
  Canal remained as a recreational area for
  swimming and boating well into the early 20th
  century.
• By 1920, Love's land was sold at public auction
  and quickly became a municipal and chemical
  disposal site. From 1942 through 1953, the Love
  Canal Landfill was used principally by Hooker
  Chemical, one of the many chemical plants located
  along the Niagara River. Nearly 21,000 tons (42
  million pounds) of what would later be identified
  by independent scientists as "toxic chemicals"
  were dumped at the site.
• In 1953, with the landfill at maximum capacity,
  Hooker filled the site with layers of dirt. As
  the post-war housing and baby boom spread to the
  southeast section of the City the Niagara Falls
  Board of Education purchased the Love Canal land
  from Hooker Chemical for one dollar. Included in
  the deed transfer was a "warning" of the chemical
  wastes buried on the property and a disclaimer
  absolving Hooker of any further liability.
• Single-family housing surrounded the Love Canal
  site. As the population grew, the 99th Street
  School was built directly on the former landfill.
  At the time, homeowners were not warned or
  provided information of potential hazards
  associated with locating close to the former
  landfill site.
• According to residents who lived in the area,
  from the late 1950s through the early 1970s
  repeated complaints of odors and "substances"
  surfacing in their yards brought City officials
  to visit the neighborhood. The City assisted by
  covering the "substances" with dirt or clay,
  including those found on the playground at the
  99th Street School. Faced with continuing
  complaints, the City, along with Niagara County
  hired Calspan Corporation as a consultant to
  investigate. A report was filed indicating
  presence of toxic chemical residue in the air and
  in the sump pumps of residents in living at the
  southern end of the canal. Also discovered were
  50 gallons drums just below the surface of the
  canal cap and high levels of PCB's
  (polycholorinated biphenyls) in the storm sewer
  system. Remedial recommendations included
  covering the canal with a clay cap, sealing home
  sump pumps and a tile drainage system to control
  migration of wastes. No action was taken.
• By 1978, the Love Canal neighborhood included
  approximately 800 private, single-family homes,
  240 low-income apartments, and the 99th Street
  Elementary School - located near the center of
  the landfill. Two other schools, 93rd Street
  School and 95th Street School - were also
  considered to be part of this neighborhood
  comprised of working class families.
• In April 1978, Michael Brown, a reporter for the
  Niagara Gazette newspaper, wrote a series of
  articles on hazardous waste problems in the
  Niagara Falls area, including the Love Canal
  dumpsite. In response to the articles, Love Canal
  residents once more began calling on City and
  County officials to investigate their complaints.
  By this time, many residents were beginning to
  question health risks and noting already existing
  inexplicable health problems.
• At the same time, the New York State Department
  of Health (NYSDOH) began collecting air and soil
  tests in basements and conducting health studies
  of the 239 families immediately surrounding the
  canal. On April 25, 1978, the New York State
  Commissioner of Health, Dr. Robert Whalen issued
  a determination of public health hazard existing
  in the Love Canal Community. He ordered the
  Niagara County Health Department to remove
  exposed chemicals from the site and install a
  protective fence around the area.
• Once the report was public, Lois M. Gibbs, a
  resident and mother of two small children,
  canvassed the neighborhood to petition the
  closure of the 99th Street School where her son
  attended kindergarten.
• Throughout the spring and summer of 1978, New
  York State Health Department, City of Niagara
  Falls and County of Niagara Falls officials, and
  Love Canal residents met to discuss the growing
  health hazard.
• On August 2, 1978, the New York State
  Commissioner of Health, Robert M. Whalen, M.D.
  declared a medical State of Emergency at Love
  Canal and ordered the immediate closure of the
  99th Street School. Immediate cleanup plans were
  initiated and recommendations to move were made
  for pregnant women and children under two who
  lived in the immediate surrounding area of the
  Love Canal.
• The President of the United States Jimmy Carter
  declared the Love Canal area a federal emergency
  on August 7, 1978. This declaration would provide
  funds to permanently relocate the 239 families
  living in the first two rows of homes encircling
  the landfill. The remaining 10 block area of the
  Love Canal, including the home of Lois Gibbs,
  were not included in the declaration.

4
Love Canal Who is at fault
Hooker Chemical? City of Niagara Falls? US
Army? Consumers?
5
RCRA, CERCLA

• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
  (1976)
• Gave EPA the authority to control hazardous
  waste from the "cradle-to-grave."
• Includes the generation, transportation,
  treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous
  waste.
• Comprehensive Environmental Response,
  Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (1980)
• Commonly known as Superfund Enacted by
  Congress on December 11, 1980.
• Created tax on the chemical and petroleum
  industries
• Provided broad Federal authority to respond
  directly to releases or threatened releases of
  hazardous substances that may endanger public
  health or the environment

6
Superfund Sites where are they?

• Industrial regions, and
• Rural regions

7
Avtex PA Superfund Site
Established in 1929 as the American Viscose
Corporation, the current Crawford County
Industrial Park has gone through many changes
over the years. Initially a textile plant
producing acetate yarn, the plant was purchased
by Avtex Synthetic Fibers Inc. in 1972, but shut
down in 1985 due to the lagging textile industry.

• Powerplant
• Water treatment Plant

• In 1990, the former Avtex site was declared a
  state Superfund Site, and the Pennsylvania
  Department of Environmental Protection, in
  partnership with the Meadville Redevelopment
  Authority, began site reclamation
• Fly ash waste along French Creek - Stabilized
• PCB leakage monitored

8
Avtex Cleanup Brownfield Redevelopment
Benefit Reuse old uindustrial sites rather
than pollute new areas Problems Future
liability
9
Travel of Synthetic Chemicals through the
Environment
Many pathways
10
Lead in the Environment Production and
Transport Example
11
Recall E-Waste

• We are an electronic society
• How is power stored?
• What is needed?

12
Pb in Arctic Sediments
http//www.emannorth.ca/ic/ds028/cadmium.cfm
13
PCBs in Great Lakes Regional Transport
http//wi.water.usgs.gov/pubs/FS-116-96/pcbfig1b.G
IF
14
PCBs Global/International Transport
http//carto.eu.org/article2426.html
15
PCB Specific Effects Why be concerned?

• Immune EffectsDecreases in thymus gland size
  Decreased immune system response after immune
  challengeDecreased resistance to
  infectionsReproductive EffectsDecreases in
  birth weightDecreases in conception
  ratesDecreases in the number of live
  birthsDecreases in sperm countNeurological
  EffectsDecreases in visual recognitionDecreases
  in short term memory abilitiesDecreases in
  learning abilitiesEndocrine EffectsDecreased
  thyroid hormone levelsHearing deficitsOther
  developmental deficitsOther EffectsDermal and
  ocular deficitsLiver toxicity

16
Bioaccumulation

• Some toxicants resist decay and persist in the
  environment
• Pass through an animals digestive tract in its
  original form.
• Substances accumulate/magnify every step up the
  food chain.
• Animals at the top of the food chain are at
  greatest risk for negative effects.
• Example PCB level in a gull can be 100 million
  times higher than in the water it feeds at.

17
Hormone Mimicry

• Endocrine-disrupting substances mimic the
  structure of hormone molecules
• Bind to cellular receptor for the hormone
• Cause cell to react as if it had encountered
  the hormone

VIDEO http//www.greenfacts.org/endocrine-disrupto
rs/endocrine-disrupters.htm
18
Bis-Phenol A Plastic Bottles

• Very recently, scientists discovered that the
  accidental exposure of lab mice to low levels of
  Bis-Phenol A (due to the disintegration of
  plastic lab cages when the wrong cleaning
  chemical was used) causes severe meiotic
  disturbances in the developing eggs of the female
  mice
• Result replicated by feeding female mice very low
  ( and environmentally relevant) doses of BPA in
  drinking water.
• Hunt PA, Koehler KE, Susiarjo M, Hodges CA,
  Ilagan A, Voigt RC, Thomas S, Thomas BF, Hassold
  TJ. Bisphenol a exposure causes meiotic
  aneuploidy in the female mouse

19
Endocrine Activity in Sewage
20
Effect of Environmental Estrogens on Mens Health

• Some of the first adverse human health effects
  postulated to be connected to environmental
  estrogen exposure were disorders of the male
  reproductive tract.
• Reports of falling sperm counts, increased
  testicular cancers, and increased birth defects
  of the male genitalia suggested to scientists
  that all three conditions were caused by
  exposure to excess estrogen.
• A likely source of these exposures was
  environmental estrogen. Unfortunately, it has
  proven difficult definitively prove this
  hypothesis, as dangerous estrogen exposures can
  be very small (and thus hard to detect) and
  effects of exposure are not manifest for years
  (or sometimes decades) after exposure.

http//enhs.umn.edu/5200/estrogen/mn.html
21
Environmental Estrogens and Male Fertility

• Research group reported in 2002 that PCBs found
  in the semen of infertile men, but not in the
  semen of fertile men.
• The authors hypothesized that PCB exposure may
  have come, from some extent, to fish consumption.
  
• This report suggests that some male infertility
  is due to exposure to environmental estrogens
  after birth.

22
Environmental Estrogens and Prostate Cancer

• Research group found in 2003 that men with
  prostate cancer had increased levels of PCB in
  their blood, compared to men without prostate
  cancer.
• This result suggests that environmental estrogen
  exposure after birth can lead to prostate cancer.

23
Human Neurological Effects
Area of No Pesticide Use
Area of Pesticide Use
24
Effects of Environmental Endocrine Disruptors on
Wildlife

• Endocrine disruptors enter aquatic ecosystems
  through
• Rain water
• Well water
• Lakes
• Oceans

25
Some things to remember about ED effects on
wildlife

• Effects most likely to occur in the offspring,
  not parent
• Effects determined by the timing of exposure (the
  stage of development the individual was exposed)
• Effects different along lifespan of the animal
  (embryo and fetus vs. newborn vs. adult)
• Effects often delayed
• full expression may not occur until adulthood

26
What animal effects have EDs been linked to?

• Abnormal thyroid function and appearance
• Decreased fertility
• Decreased hatching success
• Demasculinization and feminization in males
• Defeminization and masculinization in females
• Decreased offspring survival
• Altered immune system function
• Altered behavior

27
Wildlife Impacts

• Invertebrates
• Female marine snails in the NE Pacific have male
  genitals.
• Fish
• White suckers in Lake Superior have decreased
  hormone levels, smaller gonads, less eggs at
  maturity, and take longer to mature
• Great Lakes salmon now have abnormal thyroids. At
  one point in investigation, 100 of the 2-4 year
  old salmon had enlarged thyroids
• For study, researchers released BPAs (from
  plastics) into a lake in Ontario, Canada for
  three years. Found that all of the male pearl
  dace minnows were feminized (producing female egg
  proteins) and one-third of actually grew eggs in
  their testes

28
Wildlife Impacts

• Reptiles
• Male alligators in Lake Apopka (FL) were
  demasculinized
• Their phalluses were smaller(1/3 to1/2) than
  normal
• abnormal seminiferous tubules
• low levels testosterone and estrogen, but there
  was more estrogen than testosterone
• The hatchlings were either females with normal
  ovaries or intersexed (there were no normal
  males) and they had an increased risk of
  mortality
• The population experienced a reduced hatching
  rate.

29
Mammals

• Female hamsters exposed to Kepone show
  masculinization and no feminization and they try
  to mate with other females.
• American mink have undergone reproductive
  failures. Beluga whales in Quebec have abnormal
  reproductive rates, an increased number of
  hermaphrodites, an increased frequency of thyroid
  lesions, and an increased frequency of adrenal
  cortex lesions.
• Dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean
  have suppressed immune systems.
• Floridian panthers have experience an increase in
  testes retention (90), sterility, and sperm
  abnormalities and show altered estradiol/testoster
  one ratios for both females and males.
• Canadian female bears have male-appearing
  genitalia, BUT have female internal reproductive
  tracts

30
Paper or Plastic???
31
Recall Testing and Toxicology How safe are these
chemicals?

• (http//sciwebserver.science.mcmaster.ca/biology/
  2001-2002/3U03-4S03/ECOSYSTEM.HTM5)
• LD50 (lethal dose, 50 mortality)
• What is used?
• Fathead minnows
• Mice
• Lemna
• Some aquatic invertebrates (e.g. gammarus)
• What if you are not a fish, mouse, plant or
  aquatic organism??

32
Waste Reduction Examples
33
Recall Precautionary Principle

• Some are now arguing that because
• there is tremendous uncertainty surrounding much
  of the science of environmental problems, and
• the stakes are so high ----
• THEREFORE we should be adopting a different
  approach to science, termed "post-normal"
  science.
• Take Precautions if risks and uncertainty are
  high
• Argument for guilty until proven innocent!!!

34
Recall Environmental Risk Matrix