KKA 4106 Toxic and Hazardous Waste Engineering Lecture 1

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KKA 4106 Toxic and Hazardous Waste
EngineeringLecture 1

• Dr Robiah Yunus
• Dept. of Chemical and Environmental Eng.
• Universiti Putra Malaysia

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KEY QUESTIONS

• What are those things in the wastes that are
  hazardous?
• Why are they hazardous?
• In what quantities or concentrations are they
  hazardous?
• Where do they come from?
• Where do they go?
• How can they properly be treated?
• Can they be disposed of?

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Stop illegal Dumping of Hazardous Wastes
Be suspicious of any dumping of drums,
HDPE/plastic containers or sacks containing
foul-adored, colored or reactive liquid or
sludge.
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Stop illegal Dumping of Hazardous Wastes
Ensure that your neighborhood or surrounding is
not a dumping ground for hazardous waste.
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What Should You Do?

• Note down the vehicle registration number
• Snap a photo of the incident
• Contact the Department of Environment (Tel
  03-8889 1972 / 03-8885 8265)

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DEFINITION

• Waste
• unwanted material will be discarded permanently
• Toxic Waste
• Waste material, often in chemical form, that can
  cause death or injury to living creatures when
  improperly managed
• Produced during industrial, chemical and
  biological processes
• Household, office and commercial wastes also
  contain small quantities of toxic wastes (e.g.
  batteries, old pesticides containers)
• Comes in a variety of forms, thus require
  specific treatment
• Often used interchangeably with hazardous waste

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DEFINITION

• Hazardous Waste
• Wastes include solids, sludge, liquids, and
  containerized gases, except radioactive and
  infectious wastes, due to their chemical activity
  (reactivity) or toxicity, explosive, corrosive,
  or other characteristics, cause danger to health
  or environment, whether stand alone or in contact
  with other wastes
• U.S. environmental protection agency (EPA)
  regulates hazardous waste as a subset of solid
  waste.

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HAZARDOUS WASTE

• Two different groups
• Hazardous substance has some commercial value
  because usable
• Hazardous wastes has been used, spilled or is
  no longer needed.
• EPA under Subtitle C declared that waste consider
  hazardous if
• Waste is declared hazardous by generators
• Material exhibit characteristics ignitable,
  corrosive, reactive, or toxic
• Specially listed by EPA

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HISTORY

• Term hazardous waste was accepted since 1970s.
• In 1976, US initiated legislation to regulate
  hazardous waste.
• Long before, term hazardous waste was not
  existed. Referred as special industrial waste
  or chemical waste.
• US EPA took ? 4 yrs from the 1st nations
  hazardous waste law before announcing regulations
  to public.
• Define waste (prepared by a joint international
  study) as a moveable object which has no direct
  use, unwanted material and is discarded
  permanently. Also implies to solid waste.

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HISTORY

• Early 1980s, hazardous waste became leading
  environmental issue to the society.
• 21st Century, many scientific information on
  problems with global ecosystem, also high amount
  of federal money spent for environmental program.
• Hazardous waste dominates environmental issues
  public concern on toxic reaction.
• Problem started long before. Many wealthy Romans
  suffered from lead poisoning (2 millennia ago).

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HISTORY

• Advances on medical sciences and public health
  reduced death rate, thus human population
  increase.
• Personal consumption grew rapidly as expanding
  industrial production then hazardous waste
  problem grew in tandem.
• Earlier, no government policies that require
  appropriate precautions on handling wastes.
  Typical rule, simply disposing to environment.
• Nature of toxic hazardous substances show long
  term effect after exposure.
• When cases exist, government initiates policies
  on handling the wastes.

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LANDMARK EPISODS

• MERCURY (1960s)
• Different toxicological properties depending on
  its chemical state.
• Liquid-metal form once used to cure
  constipation with few adverse side effects.
• Mercury-salts used to form felt (Dutch-hat
  industry) led to neurological disorder workers
  termed as mad as hatter.
• Organic form not easily noticeable but cause
  paralysis and sensory loss. e.g. discharged from
  chemical plant to Minamata Bay, Japan (1960s),
  bioaccumulated in shellfish.
• Global awareness on industrial pollution exists
  when many cases appear with similar symptom at a
  very short period of time.

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LANDMARK EPISODS

• DDT (1962)
• DDT residues in deep-sea squid, Antarctic
  penguins and fatty tissue of Homo sapiens.
• Penguins lack of fertility due to thinning egg
  shells
• Homo sapiens insidious disease cause serious
  harm and associated with increased frequency of
  cancer.
• PCB PBB (1960s 1970s)
• 100 million pounds pf PCBs was produced annually.
  2 accidental contamination cases of rice cooking
  oil in Japan Taiwan led to miscarriages and
  birth defects.
• Same time in Michigan, USA, contamination
  occurred on cows that was fed by PBBs. Widespread
  human exposure.

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LOVE CANAL

• Symbol of environmental contamination by
  hazardous waste. A passage Superfund Act
  (Comprehensive Environmental Response,
  Compensation Liability Act, CERCLA) in 1980 was
  created by US Congress.
• Used as hazardous waste disposal site in 1940s
  50s, then, filled and covered, and sold to
  Niagara Falls, New York School District for
  1.00. Built elementary school led to hundreds of
  homes built around that area. Late 1970s, smelly
  chemical odor especially at basement.
• Chemical analysis found out that many chemical
  substances existed at disposal sites including
  dioxin.
• A local reporter (Micheal Brown Niagara Gazette)
  experienced the smell and chemical fumes which
  led to nausea and teary eyes around basement and
  reported, then, EPA took action. His report won
  Pulitzer Prize.

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WOBURN

• Municipal wells G H were installed in 1964
  1967, operated by city of Woburn, Massachusetts.
• 1979, the wells were shut down. Soon after,
  residents complained on foul water, however, no
  feedback from the state.
• More than 10 yrs using wells , the state
  confirmed the wells were contaminated by organic
  solvents. At this area, health problems inc.
  leukemia and cardiac arrhythmia were high.
• In 1982, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of 6
  families against 2 companies, low settlement.
• EPA conducted its own studies, and in 1990,
  settlement 69.45 million was negotiated with
  many more companies involved.

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LANDMARK EPISODS

• TIMES BEACH
• late 1960s and early 1970s, wastes from chemical
  plant (St. Louis, Missouri) were taken and
  diluted with used crankcase oil, sprayed on dirt
  road and horse farm to control dust.
• In May 1971, many animals died, even after 6 in.
  of topsoil was removed, still many died. Chemical
  analysis - found out dioxin contamination ? 100
  ppm.
• PHENOL LEAKAGE
• In June 2001, an Indonesian-registered Endah
  Lestari was capsized, 2 km off Johor Coast,
  carried gt 600 tonnes of liquid chemical phenol,
  contaminate large area.
• Immediate after the incident, hundreds of fish
  died. 2 km radius was banned from fishing and
  swimming.

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BHOPAL TRAGEDY

• Union Carbide started as a carbon company in 1886
  and then diversified to gases and chemical during
  WWI.
• Since WWII, Manhattan Project was a contractor to
  US Federal Government until the contract was
  terminated in 1984.
• May 1982, Safety Audit reported 61 hazards cases,
  50 major and 11 occurred at methyl isocyanides
  unit (MIC).
• Immediate after MIC leakage, 8000 people died.
  After 14 yrs, death toll rose to gt 16,000. Now, gt
  10 people are dying every month from exposure
  related diseases.

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GENERATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTES

• Originate from a range of industrial, commercial,
  households, agricultural and institutional
  activities and from both manufacturing and
  non-manufacturing facilities and processes.
• After generated, generator can manage the waste
  on-site or off-site for treatment, disposal
  or recycling.
• On-Site waste is managed at a site where it
  is generated
• Off-Site waste is managed at different site
• US place responsibility for proper disposal to
  the waste generator Generator Standard
  regulation at 40 CFR 262, and EPA monitors
  generator activities by assigning an EPA
  identification number to each generator, each
  hauler and each treatment, storage and disposal
  facility.

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GENERATOR RESPONSIBILITY

• Indicate whether their waste generated are
  hazardous or not and manage them, listed at 40
  CFR 261.20 261.24
• EPA defines generators as follows
• Large-quantity generators facilities producing
  gt 1000 kg of hazardous waste/month or gt 1 kg of
  acute hazardous waste/month.
• Small-quantity generators facilities producing
  between 100 kg lt hazardous waste lt 1000 kg
  monthly, and accumulating lt 6000 kg at any time.
• Conditionally exempt small-quantity generators
  facilities producing lt 100 kg of hazardous
  waste/month or lt 1kg of acute hazardous
  waste/month.
• This requirement limit to facilitys waste
  accumulation to lt 1000 kg of hazardous waste, 1kg
  of acute hazardous waste, or 100 kg of any
  residue from the clean-up of a spill of acutely
  hazardous waste at any time.

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TOXIC WASTE

• The characteristics of toxic waste
• Poisonous
• Radioactive
• Flammable
• Explosive
• Corrosive
• Carcinogenic
• Mutagenic
• Teratogenic
• Bioaccumulative
• Toxic waste includes substances that harmful to
  life and environment.

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TOXIC WASTE

• Toxic or poisonous wastes produced during
  industrial, chemical or biological processes.
• Examples of toxic wastes
• PCB polychlorinated biphenyls nonflammable
  insulating material used by big electrical
  networks such as Eskom.
• Dioxins produced by burning chlorine-containing
  substances.
• Heavy metals wide used in cadmium and nickel
  plating industries. Also found in batteries and
  leaded gasoline.
• Radioactive waste by product from nuclear power
  generation. Also found in medicine such as in
  cancer therapy.

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IDENTIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

• To class any material as hazardous waste, the
  material itself must be considered as waste and
  meet one of the following criteria
• Show any characteristics of hazardous waste
• Named and listed as hazardous waste by EPA
• A mixture containing a listed hazardous waste and
  a
• nonhazardous solid waste
• A mixture containing a listed or characteristics
  hazardous
• waste and special nuclear material,
• A waste residue generated from treatment, storage
  or disposal of a listed hazardous waste called
  derived-from waste.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

• The characteristics of wastes when exhibit
  measurable properties and pose enough threat to
  deserve regulation as hazardous waste.
• US EPA decided that to show they are hazardous,
  use standardized test method or the properties of
  waste meet the standard requirement.
• By these, EPA already set 4 characteristics of
  hazardous waste.
• Ignitability Reactivity
• Corrosibility Toxicity

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IGNITABILITY

• Easily combustible or flammable and may cause
  fires during transport, storage or disposal.
  Examples include solvents, paint wastes and
  gasoline. EPA classified this type at 40 CFR
  261.21. Any waste as follows are coded D001
• A liquid, except aqueous solution, containing lt
  24 alcohol and flash point lt 60oC
• Non liquid that capable of having spontaneous
  combustion at normal condition
• An ignitable compressed gas, defined by US DOT.
• An oxidizer, defined by US DOT.

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CORROSIVITY

• React dangerously with other waste, dissolve or
  corrodes metal or other material or has a high or
  low pH.
• Listed at 40 CFR 261.22, and any wastes as
  follows are coded D002
• An aqueous material with pH ?2 or 12.5
• Liquid that corrodes steel with fast rate, gt 0.25
  in./yr at 55oC

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REACTIVITY

• Unstable and have a rapid chemical reaction with
  water or other material, e.g. cyanide plating
  wastes.
• Listed at 40 CFR 261.23. Waste is unstable and
  reacts violently without detonating, reacts
  violently with water that cause fire splash, form
  explosive mixture with water, generate toxic
  gases when mix with water, contain cyanide or
  sulfide, and
• pH ?2 or 12.5, are coded as D003.

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TOXICITY

• Harmful or fatal when ingested or absorbed or
  leached toxic chemical into soil or groundwater
  when disposed of.
• Listed at 40 CFR 261.24. To know the wastes are
  listed under toxicity characteristics, EPA
  regulated a standard method called Toxicity
  Characteristics Leaching Procedure.
• Any materials contain greater than regulatory
  levels, are coded as listed wastes.

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OTHER CHARACTERISTICS

• For example medical waste which may be
  infectious, used bandages, hypodermic needles,
  human tissue or blood, must be handled and
  disposed of according to specific EPA guidelines.

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LISTED WASTE

• Special waste that come from generic industrial
  processes, from certain sectors of industry, and
  unused pure chemical product and formulation.
• US EPA classified 4 different criteria to listed
  waste.
• Non specific source waste produced by
  industrial processes. Grouped as F waste and
  listed at 40 CFR 261.31.
• Specific source waste generated from
  specifically identified industries, such as
  petroleum refining, wood preserving. Known as K
  waste and listed at 40 CFR 261.32.
• Commercial chemical products consist of
  specific commercial chemical products or
  manufacturing chemical intermediates. Known as
  P waste and U waste and listed at 40 CFR
  261.33. These wastes are regulated as hazardous
  waste when discarded in pure form, includes
  off-spec species, spill residues. If blended,
  evaluate under different group

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WASTE MIXTURE

• Any waste mixture that contains a listed
  hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste is
  considered hazardous wastes.
• EPA set a Mixture Rule.