How To Monitor Hazardous Products

The following is the second part in an Earth 911 week-long series on household hazardous waste.

Part 1 – What Makes Things Hazardous?
Part 2 – How to Monitor Hazardous Products
Part 3 – How to Store Hazardous Products
Part 4 – How to Properly Dispose of HHW

How you can tell if household products are hazardous?

Determining which products in your house are hazardous is easy – just read the label! Because of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act of 1960, any consumer product that is considered hazardous must be labeled. The Act requires that these labels include a description of the hazard, first aid instructions, and directions on how to properly store and handle the product. Every hazardous product will be labeled with one of the following terms; the term will depend on the level of the product’s hazard:

POISON and DANGER:These labels are on products with the highest level of toxicity. The POISON label means that if this product is consumed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin, it can cause injury or death.

DANGER: This label indicates that the product is highly toxic, flammable or corrosive, meaning it can poison you, cause a fire, or eat away at your skin or eyes.

WARNING and CAUTION: These labels indicate the lowest level of hazard, but if you see these warnings on a household product, the product is still toxic or poisonous, flammable or ignitable, corrosive or reactive.

If you do not see any of these labels on a product, it means the product is not hazardous. Pesticides are excluded because they do not fall under the Hazardous Substances Act. Pesticides have been regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency since 1972, however, and require labels to warn consumers of their toxicity, as well. The labels for pesticides are similar to the ones above, except for that WARNING means the pesticide is moderately toxic, and there are two different levels for the CAUTION label: slightly toxic and not toxic.

According to a University of Missouri report by Marie Steinwachs of the Office of Waste Management, “A household hazardous product is one whose use or disposal poses a threat to human health or the environment.” Most household hazardous products can fit into four categories, however, which makes hazardous product identification a little bit easier. The categories are as follows:

Automotive Products: motor oil, brake and transmission fluid, antifreeze and car batteries, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, car wax with solvent, and windshield wiper fluid.

Home Improvement Products: paint, varnish, stain, paint thinner, paint stripper, caulk, adhesives, primer, rust remover, turpentine, mineral spirits and glues.

Household Cleaners: drain cleaners, oven cleaners, toilet cleaners, spot removers, silver polishes, furniture polishes, window cleaners, bleach, dyes, tub and tile cleaner, and ammonia.

Pesticides: insecticide and insect repellant, weed killer, rat and mouse poison, pet spray and dip, flea collars, mothballs, ant/roach killer, garden fungicides, slug poison, wood preservative, and banned pesticides.

Other household hazardous products that don’t fit into these categories include certain electronics, batteries, aerosol products, air fresheners, smoke detectors, shoe polish, cosmetics, pool chemicals, lighter fluid, prescription medicines, and arts and craft materials.

The U.S. EPA has several more common household hazardous waste products listed on its Web site.