What Makes Things Hazardous?
by Jourdan Rassás
Published on July 23rd, 2007
7 Comments
The following article is the first part in an Earth 911 week-long series on household hazardous waste (HHW).
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
Picture this: You bought a beautiful mahogany armoire and wanted to make sure it always shone just as brightly as when you first fell in love with it at the furniture store. So, you go out and buy some wood polisher. Well, 10 years down the road, you move and your precious armoire has to stay behind. That wood polish is only half gone, but you have no more use for it – the polish is now household hazardous waste. And that old cell phone battery leftover from before you upgraded to a Blackberry? Yep, that’s HHW, as well.
What Makes Things Hazardous?
Household Hazardous Waste is any product that is discarded from a home or a similar source that contains volatile chemicals that are:
- Ignitable: capable of burning or causing a fire
- Corrosive: capable of eating away materials and destroying living tissue when contact occurs
- Explosive and/or Reactive: capable of causing an explosion or releasing poisonous fumes when exposed to air, water or other chemicals
- Toxic: poisonous, either immediately or over a long period of time
- Radioactive: capable of damaging and destroying cells and chromosomal material
Some examples of HHW are used motor oil, oil-based paint, auto batteries, gasoline and pesticides. The term HHW refers specifically to those products used in and around the common household, not used for any industrial purpose. These products can be harmful to the environment if they are not disposed of properly, which means they should not be dumped down the drain, and empty or partially empty hazardous waste containers should not be thrown in the garbage. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generate 1.6 million tons of HHW per year. The average home alone can accumulate as much as 100 pounds of HHW in basements, garages and storage closets.
- http://www.epa.gov/msw/hhw-list.htm.
- http://extension.missouri.edu/owm/hhw.htm.
- http://www.govlink.org/hazwaste/house/products/.
- http://www.healthgoods.com/Education/Healthy_Home_Information/Home_Health_Hazards/household_hazardous_products.htm.
- http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/househld/hhw/Intro.pdf.
- http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/househld/hhw.htm.
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posted on October 23rd, 2007 at 1:42 am
[...] – How to Store Hazardous Products Part 4 – How to Properly Dispose of HHW Picture this: source: What Makes Things Hazardous?, Earth 911
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posted on January 23rd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
It is amazing how often people get this wrong. The best thing you can do is check with your county to find out specific rules and regs. It varies quite a bit but they will get you to the right place where you can drop things off for disposal.
Susan Stanford
posted on March 6th, 2009 at 6:40 am
I take a lot of medication for a lot of illnesses. Frequently I come across things I’m allergic to, or they just change my meds to something else more effective. What do I do with the old or leftover drugs, creams, and inhalers?? The pharmacy won’t take them back. I know, from reading that report about drug levels in our drinking water, not to flush them or send them to the landfill. So what am I supposed to do with them? I’m really building up quite a “stash” and I want them GONE safely!!
Karla Kasdan
posted on March 6th, 2009 at 7:32 am
Companies like Best Buy have recycling programs for old computers, cell phones, printers, and other “techno-waste”.
Tope
posted on April 30th, 2009 at 1:20 am
The waste that is not either disposed or recycled can be harzadous. For example, a waste material that is left flying open in the streets.