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Risk, human health and hazardous waste

Risk, human health and hazardous waste. Jonathan Jaime G. Guerrero Department of Biology College of Science Bicol University Legazpi City. Hazards: types and effects. Risk – the possibility of suffering harm from a hazard

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Risk, human health and hazardous waste

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  1. Risk, human health and hazardous waste Jonathan Jaime G. Guerrero Department of Biology College of Science Bicol University Legazpi City

  2. Hazards: types and effects • Risk – the possibility of suffering harm from a hazard • Hazard – substance or an action that can cause injury, disease, economic loss, or environmental damage • Common hazards • Physical hazards (fires, floods, drought, tornadoes, etc) • Chemical hazards (harmful chemicals in the air, water, and food) • Biological hazards (disease-causing bacteria and viruses, parasites) • Cultural hazards (working and living conditions, diet, drugs, crime) • Chemical hazards • Toxic substances – chemicals that are fatal to humans in low doses or fatal to over 50% of test animals at stated concentrations

  3. Hazards: types and effects • Hazardous substances – chemicals that can cause harm because they are flammable or explosive, irritate the skin and/or lungs • Carcinogens – chemicals, radiation and viruses that cause or promote the growth of cancer • Mutagens – chemicals, radiation and heat that causes mutations • Teratogens – chemicals, radiation, and viruses that causes birth defects • Determining lethal dose • Lethal dose – the amount of material per body weight of the test animals that kills all of the population in a certain time

  4. Biological hazards: diseases • Transmissible disease – caused by a living organisms, such as bacteria, viruses and parasitic worms and can be spread from one person to another by air, water, food, body fluids and in some cases, insects and non-human transmitters (vectors) • Examples: malaria, measles, etc • Nontransmissible disease – not caused by living organisms and does not spread from one person to another • Examples: cardiovascular disorders, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, malnutrition

  5. How is hazardous waste controlled and managed? • Five basic options for hazardous wastes (Miller 1992) • Hide them by putting them into a deep well, pond, pit, or landfill , or by dumping them in the ocean • Burn them in an incinerator or a cement kiln on land or on an incinerator ship at sea • Detoxify them • Recycle or reuse them • Don’t make them in the first place

  6. How should hazardous waste be controlled and managed • Three basic ways of dealing with hazardous waste, as outlined by the National Academy of Sciences • Waste prevention by reduction, recycling, and reuse • Conversion into less hazardous or nonhazardous material • Perpetual storage

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