Written by Abdus Sami
Edited by Emil Koch & Othaila Abuzaid
Toxic waste is chemical waste material capable of causing death or injury to life. Waste is considered toxic if it has characteristics like being poisonous, radioactive, explosive, and capable of causing cancer or damage to our chromosomes - waste containing hazardous pathogens, like used syringes, is occasionally categorized as toxic waste.
This harmful waste results from various industrial, chemical, and biological processes. Toxins permeate various types of waste, including household, office, and commercial waste. Everyday items like electronic device batteries, pesticides, cell phones, and computers consistently contribute to the toxic waste streams of industrialized nations.
Toxic waste is generally divided into three general categories:
a) Chemical waste
b) Radioactive wastes
c) Medical wastes
Hazardous chemical wastes encompass those classified as corrosive, flammable, reactive, acutely poisonous, carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic. Radioactive waste comprises elements and compounds that produce or absorb ionizing radiation, along with any material interacting with these elements and compounds. Medical waste is a broad category, spanning the range from tissues to fluids capable of harboring infectious disease-causing organisms to the materials and containers that hold and transfer them.
In ecosystems, toxic wastes have caused substantial damage to animal and plant populations. Such wastes overwhelm natural restorative processes, destroy habitat, and reduce populations of sensitive species outright or inhibit their reproductive success. The decline of the bald eagle population by the 1960s and the double-crested cormorant population by the early 1970s as a result of DDT use are vivid examples. Similarly, PCBs and other toxins are blamed for many whale deaths, bird deformities, and endocrine, reproductive, neurological, and immune system disruption in humans and wildlife.
More than 200 million people around the world are at risk of exposure to toxic waste, a report has concluded from BBC. The authors say the large number of people at risk places toxic waste in a similar league to public health threats such as malaria and tuberculosis.
The study from the Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross calls for greater efforts to be made to control the problem. This study was carried out in more than 3,000 sites in over 49 countries.
“It’s a serious public health issue that hasn’t really been quantified, “Dr Jack Caravanos, director of research at the Blacksmith Institue and professor of public health at the City University of New York, told the BBC’s Tamil service.
The 2013 study by the Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross reveals that tens of thousands of women and children are at risk due to toxic dumping and environmental pollution. This aligns with the World Health Organization and World Bank's estimation that 23% of deaths in the developing world are linked to environmental factors, including pollution. The same report indicates that environmentally rich factors contribute to more than 80% of regularly reported illnesses.
Every year, the world generates more than two billion tons of trash. Even against the backdrop of a global pandemic, there is much being bought and sold, so things are used and discarded. People tend to forget about the things they have thrown “away” – as though they cease to exist when we are finished using them. However, material goods don’t just vanish; their environmental impact lingers.
In our exploration of the Environmental Time Bomb, we gained insights into the types of toxic pollution affecting our planet. Let us gain some knowledge about the cause and think about the betterment of it.
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References:
[1] Greenfield, P., & Weston, P. (2023, July 24). The five biggest threats to our natural world . . . and how we can stop them. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/14/five-biggest-threats-natural-world-how-we-can-stop-them-aoe. Accessed 11/11/2023.
[2] Wolters, C. (2021, May 3). Toxic waste, explained. Environment. https://tinyurl.com/2sdh3yhx. Accessed 11/11/2023.
[3] ldag, R. J. (2014, February 7). Toxic waste | Definition, Examples, Effects, Laws, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/toxic-waste. Accessed 11/11/2023.
[4] Parameswaran, B. S. (2013, November 20). Toxic waste “major global threat.” BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-24994209. Accessed 11/11/2023.
[5] Blacksmith Institute & Green Cross Switzerland. (2013). THE WORLDS WORST 2013: THE TOP TEN TOXIC THREATS.