Hazardous Waste

Management:
→Risk
→Definition &
Classifications
Objectives:
• Define risk and hazard.
• Define hazardous waste and identify the risks it
poses.
• Discuss the classifications of hazardous wastes
and cite some examples.
• Briefly discuss the mixture and derived-from
rules.
× The control and management
of hazardous wastes are truly
among the most important
challenges of our times.
Environmental engineers play
crucial roles in reducing the
amount of hazardous wastes
to reduce their toxicity, and
applying sound engineering
controls to reduce or eliminate
exposures to these wastes.
Risk and Hazard
Hazard VS Risk
× “a potentially × sometimes taken as
damaging physical synonymous with
event, phenomenon hazard, but risk has
or human activity the additional
that may cause the implication of the
loss of life or injury, chance of a
property damage, particular hazard
social and economic actually occurring
disruption or
environmental
degradation”
Hazard VS Risk
× “a potentially × Thus, risk is the actual
damaging physical exposure of
event, phenomenon or something of human
human activity that value to a hazard and
may cause the loss of is often regarded as
life or injury, property the product of
damage, social and probability and loss
economic disruption or
environmental
degradation”
Hazard VS Risk
× Hazard (or cause) may × Risk (or consequence)
be defined as “a may be defined as “the
potential threat to probability of a hazard
humans and their occurring and creating
welfare” loss”
In Environmental
Engineering…
× Environmental hazards are defined as “extreme
geophysical events, biological processes and major
technological (man-made) accidents, characterized by
concentrated releases of energy or materials which
pose a large unexpected threat to human life and can
cause significant damage to goods and environment”

× Environmental risks can be defined as the “actual or

potential threat of adverse effects on living organisms
and the environment by effluents, emissions, wastes,
resource depletion, etc., arising out of an
organization’s activities”
HAZARDOUS WASTE
AND THE RISKS IT
POSES
Hazardous Wastes
× mean wastes (solids, sludge, liquids, and
containerized gases) other than radioactive and
infectious wastes which, by reason of their
chemical activity or toxic, explosive, corrosive,
or other characteristics, cause danger or likely
will cause danger to health or the
environment, whether alone or when coming
into contact with other wastes
Hazardous Wastes
× They may cause, or significantly contribute to,
an increase in mortality or an increase in
serious, irreversible, or incapacitating reversible,
illness. They also pose a substantial present or
potential hazard to human health or the
environment when improperly treated, stored,
transported, or disposed of, or otherwise
managed.
_
LO__
V_E _
C_A_
N_A_
L
× This is situated in the city of Niagara Falls in New York
State, was originally built as a shipping lane in the 1890s,
but the plan was abandoned soon. This then became a
hazardous waste disposal site, but was sold to the Niagara
School District in 1952. An elementary school built on this
site was soon surrounded by many homes. In the 1970s,
homeowners complained of a strong odor and puddles of
oil or colored liquid in yards and basements. Investigations
revealed the presence of numerous toxic contaminants in
the air, groundwater, and soil.
CLASSIFICATIONS
OF HAZARDOUS
WASTES
Hazardous wastes are divided into two general
categories: wastes that are hazardous because of
their characteristics and wastes that are hazardous
because they are specifically listed in the US
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)
regulations.
× Characteristic × Listed Hazardous
Hazardous Wastes Wastes
 Ignitable  F-list
 Corrosive  K-list
 Reactive  P-list
 Toxic  U-list
 M-list
Characteristic Hazardous Wastes
Wastes may be listed as hazardous wastes if they exhibit one
or more of these four characteristics: ignitability, reactivity,
corrosivity, and toxicity.
Ignitability
× Ignitable wastes are:
 liquids having a flash point less than 60 ºC
(140 ºF)
 solids that combust spontaneously
 compressed gases with a pressure over 1
atmosphere that are flammable
 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
COMBUSTIBLE AND FLAMMABLE MATERIALS?
 Flammable liquids are more dangerous.
These are liquids that have flash points
below 100°F (37.8°C). Combustible liquids
have flash points between 100°F and
200°F (93°C).
The flash point of a material is the
lowest temperature at which
vapors of it will ignite, provided that
there is an ignition source.
 It’s typically used to distinguish flammable
liquids from combustible liquids.
 Measuring a material’s flash point can be done
using two different methods: open cup and
closed cup.
Open cup testing involves using a
container which is exposed to outside
air. The temperature of the substance
is increased gradually and then a
source of ignition is moved over the top
of it until it reaches a point where it
flashes and ultimately, ignites.
Closed cup testing in a container that
is closed off to outside elements. The
lid of the container is sealed and an
ignition source is then introduced inside
the container itself. Closed cup
methods are often better at simulating
real-life conditions, such as those that
may occur inside of a fuel tank.
Ignitability
× They can create fires under certain conditions or
can spontaneously combust during transport,
storage, or disposal.
× Examples of ignitable wastes are: acetone,
benzene, waste gasoline, alcohols, naphtha,
petroleum distillates, and other used solvents
such as xylene.
Corrosivity
× Corrosive wastes are:
 concentrated acids or bases (pH ≤ 2, or ≥ 12.5)
 liquids that are capable of corroding metal
containers such as storage tanks, drums, and
barrels
 if it is a liquid and dissolves steel at the rate of
0.25”/year
1
 solids that can corrode steel at ≥ 1 inches per year
8
Corrosivity
× Examples of corrosive wastes are: acid from
lead/acid batteries, etching solutions from
printing/photography, ammonium solutions,
hydroxide solutions, acid or alkaline cleaning
solutions, rust removers, battery acid, and
caustic hot tanks waste.
Reactivity
× Reactive wastes:
 are unstable
 can cause explosions, toxic fumes, gases, or vapors
when exposed to water, heat, or increased pressure
 react violently with water
 form potentially explosive mixtures with water
 generate toxic gases when mixed with water
 contain cyanides and sulfides that are released
when exposed to acid or alkaline materials
 are explosive
Reactivity
× Examples of reactive wastes are: cyanide
plating wastes, waste concentrated bleaches,
pressurized aerosol cans, and metallic sodium
and potassium.
Toxicity
× Toxic wastes are harmful or fatal when ingested
or absorbed through the skin.
× Toxicity is defined through a laboratory
procedure called the Toxicity Characteristic
Leaching Procedure (TCLP).
The TCLP helps identify wastes likely
to leach concentrations of contaminants
that might be harmful to human health
or the environment.
Toxicity
× Examples of toxic wastes are: painting wastes
that contain toxic metal-based pigments and/or
certain solvents, such as Methyl Ethyl Ketone
(MEK); treated wood waste where the treatment
was done with “penta,” pentachlorophenol; and
oil wastes, such as used oil filters that exceed
the levels for benzene and/or lead.
Listed Hazardous Wastes
Listed hazardous wastes are generated by specific industries
and processes, and are automatically considered hazardous,
based solely on the process that generates them and
irrespective of whether a test of the waste shows any of the
“characteristics” of hazardous wastes.
F – List (Non-Specific
Source Wastes)
× The F-list identifies wastes from industrial and
manufacturing processes, such as solvents that
have been used in cleaning or degreasing
operations. F-list wastes are called nonspecific
because they occur in different industry
sectors. The F-listed wastes are known as
wastes from nonspecific sources.
K – List (Source-
Specific Wastes)
× The K-list identifies hazardous wastes from
specific sectors of industry and manufacturing
and are considered source-specific wastes.
× To qualify as a K-listed hazardous waste, a
waste must fit into one of the 13 categories on
the list.
The 13 industries that generate K-
list wastes are:

 wood preservation  explosives manufacturing

 organic chemicals  iron and steel production
manufacturing  primary aluminum
 pesticides manufacturing production
 petroleum manufacturing  secondary lead processing
 petroleum refining  ink formulation
 veterinary pharmaceuticals  coking (processing of coal
manufacturing to produce coke)
 inorganic pigment
manufacturing

However, not all wastes from these industries fall in the K-list. Treatment and production
process wastes such as wastewaters and sludge from these industries is mostly what
forms the K-list
P – List and U – List
(Discarded Commercial
Chemical Products)
× The P- and U-lists are unused commercial
products, such as pesticides and
pharmaceuticals that cannot be used or sold.
× These wastes can also be discarded
commercial chemical products, off-specification
species, container residues, and spill residues.
P – List and U – List
(Discarded Commercial
Chemical Products)

× The P-list items are “acutely hazardous” wastes,

meaning they are more toxic than the others.
M – List (Discarded
Mercury-Containing
Products)
× The M-list includes discarded products or
wastes containing mercury
× Some of the examples of wastes listed on the
M-list are mercury switches, fluorescent lamps,
and mercury-containing novelties.
_ _I N_ A_ M
M __A_
TA_ B
_A_Y
_
× In the mid-1950s, doctors in the this area of Japan started
seeing many patients with symptoms of a disease of the central
nervous system. Detailed investigations revealed that a common
feature of all the victims was that they resided in fishing hamlets
along its shore. The primary suspect then was consumption of
fish and shellfish from the bay. Further investigations showed
that extremely high levels of mercury discharged from a local
chemical factory had contaminated the bay and its
bioaccumulation by fish and shellfish had resulted in massive
amounts of mercury ingestion by the local population. This
epidemic served as another warning to the global population that
aggressive measures were needed to deal with the discharge of
toxic industrial wastes.
 MIXTURE &
DERIVED-FROM
RULES
The Mixture Rule
 Any mixture of hazardous waste and a nonhazardous
waste is considered as a hazardous waste unless:
 The mixture does not have hazardous characteristic,
i.e., ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity.
 Mixture is wastewater + dilute hazardous waste subject
to regulations under the Clean Water Act.
 Mixture is de minimis.

 It is noted that the mixtures above are exempt only if

mixture occurs during normal production or waste
management. The mixture cannot be intentional dilution.
Derived Waste
Any waste that is derived from the treatment, storage, and
disposal (TSD) of a hazardous waste is considered as a
hazardous waste. Exceptions include the following:

The waste can be delisted,

 if derived from TSD of listed waste,
 if the derived waste does not exhibit any ”characteristic”
property, and
 if the derived waste is reclaimed from solid waste for
beneficial use, except as fuel or in a manner constituting
disposal.
B_ H_ O
_ _P _A _L DISASTER
× The _____ disaster, also referred to as the _____ gas
tragedy, was a gas leak incident on the night of 2–3
December 1984 at the UCIL pesticide plant. It is
considered to be the world’s worst industrial disaster. Over
500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate
(MIC) gas. The highly toxic substance made its way into
and around the small towns located near the plant.
THANK Y U