Paul E. Rosenfeld

The Paper and Pulp Industry

The paper and pulp industry manufactures pulp and paper from wood or recycled fiber. This chapter identifies the chemicals involved in the process of production and provides general guidance on hazardous waste mitigation. This industry is the largest industrial process water user in the United States. Its manufacturing activities result in the release of many toxic substances into the surrounding communities that pollute air, water, and land, mainly in the pulping and bleaching stages. The process of pulping consists of initial processing, washing, and bleaching. Pulping is classified as chemical, mechanical, or semi-chemical, and of the chemical pulping methods, the kraft and sulfite processes are the most widely used. Bleaching is accomplished through elemental chlorine, elemental chlorine free, or totally chlorine free bleaching. The waste stream from bleaching contains chlorine compounds and organics that result in the formation of dioxins, furans, and chlorinated organics. This waste stream of toxic air and water pollutants does not get treated at water treatment plants, accumulating in the discharge body of water. The paper and pulp sector is subject to the same environmental regulations as other industry sectors, but the most significant recent rule-making activities affecting the pulp and paper sector are referred to collectively as the Cluster Rules, a set of air and water rules that were issued simultaneously.

The United States Military

This chapter discusses the range and scope of military hazardous waste in the United States. The Defense Department is the nations biggest polluter, releasing both hazardous wastes typical to industry as well as those unique to the military. The military generates as much if not more hazardous waste than some of the largest industries in the country, yet has historically received immunity from hazardous waste regulation and accounting. Sites of military bases, battlefields, and coastal waters at both foreign and domestic settings have been severely contaminated due to the Department of Defense. The army practices inappropriate disposal techniques for hazardous wastes, which include: discharge on the ground into unlined pits or local creeks, pouring and spraying on the ground, drainage into industrial sewers, burning during fire protection training, and storage in leaking underground tanks. The history and scope of marine munitions disposal by the military are discussed. From the chemical warfare agents produced in World War I, and unused but produced agents in World War II, to the Vietnam-era Agent Orange and radioactive waste, the military has dumped its surplus explosives, chemical warfare agents, and even radioactive wastes into the worlds oceans.

The Export of Hazardous Waste

With increasing amounts and toxicity of waste, predominantly produced by industrialized nations, it has become common to remove or export a societys toxic by-products to keep it out of sight and mind. Globalization is responsible for the context where toxic waste is transferred despite regulations, using economic disparity to its advantage. This chapter gives an overview of the history of toxic trade, the main types of exported hazards, the pertinent international agreements attempting to provide regulation, the challenge of electronic recycling and risks for recipient communities, and recommendations for the future of this industry. The elements to address e-waste recycling and the export of hazardous waste include adequate technology, increased transparency and responsibility on behalf of the industry, remediation of known contamination, enforceable international policy, and sustainable development. There is much work to be done in order to safely and effectively manage the global load of hazardous waste that exists in developing countries. This approach for modern hazardous waste management should be multisectoral, involving international non-governmental groups and health professionals as well as the government and private sectors.

Iron, Steel, and Coke

This chapter provides insight on the steel industry, such as processes involved, pollution regulations, environmental impacts from emissions and wastes, health risks, and environmental case studies. Steel is an alloy of iron that is utilized for a wide range of daily applications. The iron and steel industry has generated significant amounts of hazardous waste and has emitted vast quantities of toxic pollutants into the atmosphere, posing severe health risks to both workers and surrounding communities. Metal dusts, slag, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and ozone are examples of substances generated during the steelmaking process. Additionally, coke oven emissions contain harmful substances like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), benzene, particulate matter, and dioxins—some of which are known human carcinogens. Residents who experience long periods of exposure to these industrial emissions are at higher risk for breast and prostate cancers and various respiratory illnesses. In response, environmental legislation has been passed to force the industry to develop cleaner and more efficient steelmaking technologies and processes. Proper control technologies for emissions can effectively reduce the amount of pollution released from the coke, iron, and steel industries.

5 – The Petroleum Industry

Publisher Summary Many environmental factors depend largely on the conditions and operations of the facilities themselves. The petroleum industry refines crude petroleum and processes natural gas into a multitude of products. Processes include: oil- and gas-field operations, gas plant processing operations, refining and refinery operations, and refining technologies. Due to these activities, pollutants are produced in the form of toxic emissions and hazardous waste that are released into the environment. Pollution caused by this industry relies on design and operating practices; frequency of maintenance and inspection; type, age, and quality of equipment; operating conditions; treatment and processing equipment; and applicable environmental and conservation regulations. Poor practices stemming from both unintentional and intentional actions are documented. Such actions have placed the public at risk from both chronic and acute exposures to various toxic chemicals, including significant amounts of carcinogens like benzene. Oil fields across America are identified and the damage done is analyzed. The Santa Maria oil sumps, Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969, and Exxon Valdez oil spill are the prominent cases. The BP oil spill of 2010 introduced vast quantities of oil and methane gas into the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It spurred major environmental controversy and raised serious concerns for oceanic health. As seen in other oil spill cases, the aftermath of this incident exhibited negative effects in marine organisms, wildlife, and surrounding communities that may persist for decades.

Bioaccumulation of Dioxins, PCBs, and PAHs

Persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals are by-products of incineration, combustion, and industrial processes or are sometimes intentionally produced for commercial use. This class of substances includes dioxins and dioxin-like compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chemicals which have been linked to various types of cancers, respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, and reproductive disorders. They have garnered attention not only due to their toxic properties but also because of their tendency to remain in the environment for long periods of time and accumulate in the bodies of animals and humans. Their ability to bioaccumulate and to biomagnify in organisms upward through the food chain means that organisms located at the top of the food chain, such as humans, develop the highest concentrations of these chemicals within their bodies. Case studies dealing with bioaccumulation of PCBs and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are discussed.

The Biggest Generators of Hazardous Waste in the US

Chemical manufacturing and petroleum/coal products manufacturing together are responsible for 84% of the hazardous waste generated in the United States. Federal facilities including the military, Department of Energy, and Department of the Interior generate millions of tons of hazardous waste annually. A small but considerable amount of unregulated household hazardous waste is dumped annually into landfills, sinks, and street gutters. This unregulated and largely unmonitored waste stream presents cause for concern. The creation and storage of this waste at such quantities inevitably results in environmental contamination, causing harm to humans and other organisms. To facilitate federal management, hazardous waste emitters are sorted into categories in accordance with the monthly amount of hazardous waste produced. To be designated as a large-quantity generator (LQG), facilities must produce greater than 1,000 kg of hazardous waste per month, or greater than or equal to 1 kg of acutely hazardous waste. Examples of LQGs include Dow Chemical and Monsanto. Case studies of the top three hazardous waste generators and the communities that house them are presented. The largest hazardous waste producer is a facility owned and operated by the Dow Chemical Company. Solutia Inc.s and Occidental Chemicals facilities in Texas and Louisiana are the second and third generators of hazardous waste, respectively.

Introduction to Human Exposure, Toxicology, and Risk Assessment

This chapter introduces the basic concepts of toxicology, human exposure, and risk assessment, finishing with a discussion of the limitations of these efforts. The consequences of human exposure to the myriad of chemicals released into the environment is impossible to predict, due to the sheer number of chemicals that humans may be exposed to, the many pathways by which they can be exposed, the relative lack of toxicity information available, and the complex interactions between chemicals in the environment and in the human body. Humans can be exposed to chemicals and physical agents through various exposure pathways. An exposure pathway describes the course that a substance takes from the source of the chemical to the exposed individual. Moreover, wide variations in the human population present additional difficulties in predicting potential dangers. Nevertheless, exposure and risk assessment have been developed to attempt to characterize the human health risks associated with exposure to chemicals. In order to determine the risks posed to exposed individuals from chemicals or physical agents, it is necessary to understand the potential for the chemicals or physical agents to cause adverse effects, a process known as a toxicity assessment. Toxicity assessment consists of hazard identification and a dose-response evaluation. Once the exposure to a chemical or agent is characterized and toxicological information about the chemical is gathered, the risk of adverse effects occurring from the exposure is estimated by integrating the exposure information with the toxicological information.

Current Practices in Hazardous Waste Treatment and Disposal

The final stages of the hazardous waste management sequence include the treatment and disposal steps, which are complex and technologically demanding. The purpose of hazardous waste treatment and disposal is to mitigate the characteristics that make this waste hazardous and to permanently contain the wastes. This chapter discusses the newer and cleaner technologies being practiced in hazardous waste treatment and disposal that have replaced the outdated strategies in place. Deepwell or underground injection, aqueous organic treatment, incineration, and landfill and surface impoundments are the common hazardous waste management techniques being used. In a deepwell injection system, hazardous wastes in liquid form are injected several thousand feet below the surface through a reinforced well shaft into porous injection zones that are confined by impermeable rock layers. Aqueous organic treatment refers to treatments done to liquid hazardous wastes to reduce their toxicity, ignitability, corrosivity, or reactivity. Incineration is used for hazardous wastes that cannot be reused or recycled and cannot be disposed of safely in a landfill because of excessive toxicity or risk of infectious transmission. Human health effects of land disposal are discussed, which include birth weight effects, congenital defects, respiratory diseases, and social inequity.

The Failures of Regulatory Agencies and Their Inefficiency in Introducing New Chemicals into Regulation

The Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) was created to “develop consensus opinions within the agency about the health effects of chronic exposure to chemicals.” The database provides four evaluations for each chemical listed: hazard identification—an exposure can cause an “increased incidence of an adverse health effect” and the “nature and strength of the evidence of causation”; quantitative dose-response assessments; exposure assessment—“intensity, frequency, and duration of actual or hypothetical exposure of humans to hazard”; and risk characterization—finalizes 1–3 into a comprehensive utilitarian recommendation. The final risk assessment is then used to develop policy. Government Accountability Office reports elucidate two major faults within the IRIS assessment process. First, the EPA is required to submit drafts of IRIS assessments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for reviews, which all too often end in rejection. Second, due to the structure of the IRIS assessment process delays can work synergistically to create a domino effect, stalling the process entirely. These two problems make the EPAs ability to process and finalize new IRIS assessments impotent.