Environmental and Health Impacts of Hazardous Wastes

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH IMPACTS OF HAZARDOUS
WASTES
ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH IMPACTS OF HAZARDOUS WASTES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Abstract:
The generation of waste due to human activities is a common phenomenon
and with the growing global population the quantitative rise in the total global
waste has led to serious consequences already. The necessity to manage the wastes
properly to prevent degradation of the ecosystem is not just important but also
inevitable to sustain life on the planet. The wastes that create a potential threat for
the public health and the environment are termed as hazardous wastes. The
hazardous wastes are categorized by their nature to be corrosive, toxic, reactive
and inflammable. The hazardous wastes have the potential to create hazardous
situation in case of improper management or manhandling. The research will look
into the hazardous wastes, the way they are generated, the way they create hazards,
and the necessity to manage them. The main topic will discuss the environmental
and health impacts of hazardous wastes and the way they degrade the environment.
Finally the research will conclude with the suggestion and recommendation that
would help manage the impact from hazardous effects of the wastes. The research
is mostly done on the basis of secondary resources and the issues are identified and
reflected on the basis of the information.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1..............................................................................................................................5
1.1 Introduction:..................................................................................................................5
1.2. The nature of hazardous wastes:...................................................................................5
Chapter 2..............................................................................................................................7
2.1 Hazardous waste and their Impacts on health............................................................7
2. 2 Environmental Impact of Hazardous Waste.............................................................7
Asbestos.......................................................................................................................8
Waste oils.....................................................................................................................9
Alkaline wastes..........................................................................................................10
Lead wastes................................................................................................................11
Clinical wastes...........................................................................................................12
Spent Pot Lining........................................................................................................13
Contaminated Bio-Solids...........................................................................................13
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)........................................................................14
Coal seam gas............................................................................................................15
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................16
References:........................................................................................................................18

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Chapter 1
1.1 Introduction:
With the advent of technological advancements over time, human lives have become
more efficient but at the cost of several environmental and health impacts. The environmental
impacts have not just affected the human health but have degraded the ecology but have done
irreversible impacts leading to far reaching consequences. This journal will look into the
environmental and health impacts of certain wastes that are hazardous in nature and detrimental
effect in human health and to the environment. The hazardous wastes are toxic in nature which
reveals that these wastes have harmful reactions when exposed to the environment and take a
long time to fully disintegrate in the environment. Toxins released by these wastes affect the
biota and ecological habitat in several ways mostly by contamination and degradation of the
environmental quality in its various forms the aquatic, the terrestrial, and the atmospheric. The
sources of these hazardous wastes come from various sources of anthropogenic origin. The
United Nations Environmental Programme estimated that around 400 million tons of Wastes that
are hazardous in nature are being produced every year globally. The research will generally
revolve around the definition of hazardous wastes, and the various impacts that these wastes
have on the environment.
1.2. The nature of hazardous wastes:
The nature of hazardous wastes covers toxic, corrosive, ecotoxic and infectious wastes
and all hazardous categories. The convention regulates and ensures that all parties of the

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convention dispose their wastes in a manner fit for the environment and at the same time mend
ways to reduce the generation of hazardous wastes. The impacts of hazardous wastes have
affected the planet as a whole, but certain sectors and ecological spheres have been impacted to
an alarming extent. The sections will discuss the various impacts of hazardous wastes in the
environment and the way they affect human health. The most affected person include workers
involved in managing hazardous wastes and in industries involved dealing with hazardous
materials and chemicals. The environmental impacts mostly include the degradation of the
atmospheric composition through emission of hazardous substances. Degradation of the aquatic
biota and the marine life due to disposal of hazardous wastes in the marine sources. Degradation
of the terrestrial resources, by contamination of land sites and land resources. This also
contaminates the ground water resources affecting the site of the potable water resources.
Instances of Arsenic contamination and similar effects. Degradation of the ecological habitat as a
whole, creating imbalances in natural biological cycle of the systems. The environmental
degradation mostly involves degradation of the habitats and the ecological balance in the
environment. The major way the hazardous chemicals impact the environment is due to their
prolonged process of bio degradation. The lifespan of these wastes can last up to decades and at
times may also take hundreds of years to completely blend with the environment.
With the increase in global population the increase in the global quantity of wastes has
risen substantially. The increased wastes and their evident impacts are a constant threat to the
environment and to the life systems in the planet.