Hazardous Wastes. Part 1. The Poisoning of our Planet

Readers of Current Content@ (CP ) have often heard me praise Philadelphla’s cultural and scientific achievements. While I take great pride in these and other local accomplishments, Philadelphia, like most other cities, does have its share of problems such as waste disposal. But if we are slow to act in the face of this public health issue, overcoming our complacency toward wastes that are invisible, as are most chemical and radioactive materials, is even more difficult. These wastes are all the more insidious since they usually cannot be tasted in contaminated food and water or smelled in the air. Hazardous wastes have developed into one of the largest problems facing modem society. According to Samuel S. Epstein, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Illinois Medical Center, Chicago; Lester O. Brown, House Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Investigations; and Carl Pope, science writer, Sierra Club, approximately 80 billion pounds of hazardous wastes are produced in the US each year.1 (p. 7) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, DC, estimates that only 10 percent of these wastes are disposed of safely. 1 (p. 9) The extent of the hazardous-waste problem and our inadequate disposal techniques are constant reminders of our preoccupation with abundance and our subsequent failure to take responsibility for its consequences. These consequences pche questions for environmental and health researchers as well as for political and economic analysts. Surprisingly, the life-threatening and broad-ranging significance of this research topic is reflected in a relatively small number of scholarly publications. A check of the lSF online database SCISEARCl+P shows that only about 625 papers on hazardous wastes have been published between 1974 and 1986. Almost half of these papers have appeared in the last two years. While this might indicate that we are paying more attention to the problem, in reality we have only begun to scratch the surface of this vast topic. Although now there is a relative scarcity of hazardous-waste research literature, I am optimistic that this field will begin to build momentum. I believe that advances in knowledge and its dissemination can help to provide solutions. In Part 1 of this two-part essay, we will discuss the types of hazardous waste and how they affect the ecosystem. In addition, we review current US federal regulations concerning wastes. In Part 2 we will briefly describe various waste-disposal technologies, as well as how other countries cope with waste disposal. We will conclude by identifying the core literature and research fronts related to hazardous wastes. Definition of Hazardous Wastes Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, waste has been an inevitable