WASTES

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WASTES POLLUTION DR. AYESHA
HUMAYUN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR PUBLIC HEALTH
CONSULTANT COMMUNITY HEALTH SCIENCES
FMH, COLLEGE OF MEDICINE DENTISTRY,
SHADMAN, LAHORE, PAKISTAN.
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I had been teaching and training doctors in the
fieldof Public Health for morethan five years.
The topic of wastes and pollution is very vast
but I have tried to cover it in one lecture.
Details of each sub topic will be covered in my
next lectures.
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. To conceptualize the
natural and human sources of wastes and
pollution. 2. To understand the hazards of waste
production 3. To understand the importance of
waste management
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• PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
• By the end of the lecture the students should be
  able to
• 1. View environmental impact of the man made and
  natural sources of waste production.
• 2. Correlate different options of waste
  management with practical life.

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As human beings, we are part of the
environment.The way in which we interact with
our environment influences the quality of our
lives.WASTE is the by- product of human
activities.It may be in the form of solid,
liquid or gases. It may be Risk or Non- Risk
waste.

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TYPES OF WASTES1. Human body wastes urine and
feces2. Excess materials and foods trash and
garbage3. Vegetation wastes grass clippings and
tree branches4. Construction and manufacturing
wastes (including excessheat and noise).
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5. Transportation wastes carbon monoxide,
nitrous oxides, hydrocarbons, other gaseous
pollutants and used motor oil6. Energy
production wastes mining wastes, electrical
power (combustionof coal), nuclear power
(radioactive) wastes and weapons production
(radioactive) wastes
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Man- Made Factors that contribute to a worsening
of environmental hazards are urbanization,
industrialization, population growth, and the
production of disposable products and
containers. Natural factors causing
environmental hazards can be physical such as
volcanic activity severe weather biological,
such as epidemic diseases psychological or
social.
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I- SOLID WASTESinclude garbage, trash, yard
waste, wood, metal, stone, and glass scrapes from
domestic or industrial sources.(non-
Hazardous)1. Sources of solid waste a.
Agriculture b. Mining c. Industry d. Municipal
sources
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Solid waste management is the collection,
transportation, and disposal of solid
waste. Collection is the gathering and
transporting of solid wastes from the point of
origin to the point of disposal.
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• Disposal is the final disposition of solid
  wastes in such a way as to prevent them from
  harming the environment or human health.i.
  Sanitary landfills are sites or locations judged
  suitable for the in-ground disposal of solid
  wastes.ii. Incineration is the burning or
  combustion of solid wastes.iii. Recycling
  (resource recovery) is the collection and
  reprocessing of a solid waste "resource" so it
  can be reused.iv. Source reduction is the
  reduction in, or elimination of use of materials
  that could become solid waste.

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II- HAZARDOUS WASTESare those that are
dangerous to human health or to the
environment.Hazardous wastes are solid wastes
that cana. Cause or significantly contribute to
an increase in mortality or an increase in
serious irreversible, or incapacitating,
reversible illness.b. Pose a substantial present
or potential hazard to human health or the
environment when improperly treated, stored,
transported, or disposed of, or otherwise
managed.
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• Hazardous waste management
• a. Secured landfills are the least expensive
  method of hazardous waste disposal when they
  arei. Carefully designed and locatedii.
  Monitored for leakage
• b. Deep well injection is the pumping of
  liquid hazardous waste into wells below the
  aquifer.c. Incineration of hazardous waste is
  the controlled combustion of hazardous waste.d.
  Hazardous waste recycling is the process of
  reusing hazardous waste to produce a usable
  product, a process sometimes accomplished through
  "waste exchanges" in Europe.

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e. Neutralization of hazardous waste is the
process of detoxifying the waste so it is less
toxic, corrosive, or otherwise hazardous.f.
Source reduction is the alteration of
manufacturing processes to reduce or eliminate
the generation of hazardous waste.3.Hazardous
waste cleanupa. Since the disposal of hazardous
waste was unregulated before 1976, there exist
many hazardous waste sites around the United
States.b. The "Superfund" Law (CERCLA) was
passed in 1980 and amended in 1986 to clean up
such sites.
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Air pollution is the contamination of the
air by substances in amounts great enough to
interfere with comfort, safety and health.1. Air
pollution can arise from both natural and human
sources.2. Air pollution can occur indoors as
well as outdoors.3. Major sources of outdoor air
pollution includea. Transportationb. Electric
power plants fueled by oil and coalc. Industry
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1. Air pollutants of greatest concern are called
"criterion pollutants".2. National standards for
allowable levels of criteria pollutants are known
as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.3.
The Pollutant Standard Index is a scale that
relates pollution concentrations to health
effects.4. Special concerns with outdoor air
include Acid rain, destruction of the ozone
layer, global warming, and photochemical smog.
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Acid rain refers to the deposition on the
earth surface of sulfuric and nitrous acids
removed from the atmosphere during the formation
of rain droplets.i. Acid rain can damage
vegetation and human structures.ii. Acid rain
often falls on areas distant to the pollution
source.
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b. The ozone layer surrounds the earth and
filters out a significant portion of the sun's
ultraviolet radiation.i. Chloro-fluorocarbons, a
group of industrial chemicals, is believed to be
partly responsible for depleting the ozone
layer.ii. Industrialized countries have agreed
to stop or reduce the use of CFCs.
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c. Global warming is the gradual increase in
the earth's temperature.i. There is still
controversy among scientists as to whether global
warming is actually occurring.ii. It may be that
the building up of greenhouse gases will trap
heat radiated by the earth' s surface and cause
global warming.
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d. Photochemical smog is a secondary air
pollutant created when primary pollutants react
with sunlight and atmospheric oxygen.i. Denver,
Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salt Lake City all
experience photochemical smog.ii. Thermal
inversions, the trapping of cooler air under
warmer air, worsen the effects of photochemical
smog.
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e. Protection of outdoor air through regulation
dates to 1815 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.i. Air
quality in the U. S. deteriorated until the Clean
Air Act was passed in 1963.ii. The first Earth
Day was celebrated in 1970, the same year that
the Environmental Protection Agency was
established and important amendments to the Clean
Air Act were passed.
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f. Indoor airi. As outdoor air has become
cleaner, there has been more concern about the
quality of indoor air.ii. Indoor air pollutants
are gases or particulate matter inside buildings
that interfere with human comfort, safety and
health.a) Asbestosb) Biogenic pollutantsc)
Combustion by-productsd) Formaldehydee)
Radonf) Environmental tobacco smokeg) Volatile
organic compounds
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Protection of indoor air quality can be
achieved by changes in policy and/or individual
behavior.a) Policy to regulate indoor air
quality is generally aimed at smoking.b)
Individual behavioral changes represent an
important way to improve indoor air quality.
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D. Water and Its Pollution1. Sources of fresh
water include surface water and ground water.a.
Surface water includes water from lakes,
reservoirs, rivers and streams.b. Ground water
lies in aquifers many feet below the earth's
surface.c. Salt water must be desalinized before
use.2. Treatment of water for domestic usea.
Municipal water treatment plants provide water
that is chemically and biologically safe for
human consumption.b. Treatment of surface water
includes several cleaning steps and then
disinfection.
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3. Sources of water pollution a. Point source
pollution occurs at a single point, for example
and industrial plant.b. Non-point source
pollution is all other pollution in water.4.
Types of water pollutantsa. Biological
pollutants are living agentsi. Viruses,
bacterial and other parasitesii. Overgrowth of
plant life in water sourceb. Toxic pollutantsi.
Inorganic chemicals such as lead, copper,
etc.ii. Radioactive pollutioniii. Synthetic
organic compounds such as pesticides
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5. Water Related Issuesa. Water quantityi.
Overall there is ample freshwater in America.ii.
Certain areas have experienced droughts resulting
in water shortages.b. Water quality in the
United States is threatened by four conditionsi.
Population growthii. Growth of the chemical
industryiii. Environmental mismanagement,
including irresponsible waste disposaliv.
Reckless land use practices
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6. Strategies to insure safe watera. Policy
federal legislationi. The Clean Water Act had as
its goal to make U. S. waterways swimmable and
fishable.ii. The Safe Drinking Water Act had as
its goal to ensure safety of public drinking
water.b. Municipal waste water treatmenti.
Primary treatmentii. Secondary treatmentiii.
Tertiary treatmentb. Septic systemsc.
Conservation of water
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E. Radiation1. Sources of Radiationa. Naturally
occurring radiationb. Human made radiation2.
Policy and nuclear radiationF. Noise Pollution
can be defined as excess noise.1. What is noise
and how is it measured?a. Noise is the result of
energy conversion to vibrations that are detected
by instruments and our ears.
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b. Noise has various qualities such as frequency
and amplitude.2. Approaches to noise
abatementa. Policyi. Most policies that deal
with noise are local policies.ii. Noise Control
Act of 1972 was the first federal law on noise
control and dealt with consumer products only.b.
Educational programs aimed at reducing noise are
unproven in their effectiveness.c. Environmental
modifications offer solutions for reducing noise
in some situations.