Journal of Research in Environmental Science and Toxicology

An Impact of Industrial Wastes on Human Health

Javier Almorox^* Department of Environmental Science, Pompeu Fabra, Lugo, Spain
^*Corresponding Author:
Javier Almorox, Department of Environmental Science, Pompeu Fabra, Lugo, Spain, Email: javier.alrox@upm.es

Received: 04-Sep-2023, Manuscript No. JREST-23-118817; Editor assigned: 07-Sep-2023, Pre QC No. JREST-23-118817 (PQ); Reviewed: 21-Sep-2023, QC No. JREST-23-118817; Revised: 01-Dec-2023, Manuscript No. JREST-23-118817 (R); Published: 28-Dec-2023, DOI: 10.14303/2315-5698.2023.59

Introduction

Industrial waste is defined as waste generated by industrial activity and comprises any material made unusable during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills or mining operations. Dirt and gravel, masonry and concrete, scrap metal, oil, solvents, chemicals, scrap timber and even vegetable matter from restaurants are examples of industrial waste. Industrial waste can take the shape of a solid, semi-solid or liquid. It could be either hazardous waste (some of which are toxic) or non-hazardous garbage. Industrial waste can affect local soil and water bodies, contaminating groundwater, lakes, streams, rivers and coastal waterways. Because industrial trash is frequently intermingled with municipal waste, precise assessments are challenging. As of 2017, the United States was estimated to produce 7.6 billion tons of industrial trash each year. Most countries have adopted regulations to address the problem of industrial waste, but the degree of strictness and compliance varies. There is always the issue of enforcement.

Description

Classification of industrial waste and its treatment

Clean up of a Massachusetts river bed contaminated with PCBs: Hazardous waste, chemical waste, industrial solid waste and municipal solid waste are waste classifications used by governments around the world. Some industrial wastes, namely those containing traditional contaminants such as Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), can be treated by sewage treatment plants. Toxic contaminants or excessive concentrations of other pollutants (such as ammonia) in industrial waste necessitate the use of specialized treatment methods.

Industrial wastes can be classified on the basis of their characteristics:

• Solid waste, but some pollutants therein are in liquid or fluid form, e.g., crockery industry or mineral or coal washing.
• In the dairy business, for example, waste is dissolved and the pollutant is in liquid form.

Environmental impact

• To get huge amounts of water for manufacturing operations or equipment cooling, many factories and most power plants are built near bodies of water. Electric generating stations are the top water users in the United States. Pulp and paper mills, chemical facilities, iron and steel mills, petroleum refineries, food processing plants and aluminum smelters are some businesses that need a lot of water.
• Many developing countries that are becoming industrialized do not yet have the resources or capacity to dispose of their trash in an environmentally responsible manner. Untreated and partially treated effluent is frequently discharged into a nearby body of water. Metals, chemicals and sewage dumped into bodies of water have a direct impact on marine ecosystems and the health of individuals who rely on the waters for food or drinking water. Depending on the contamination, wastewater toxins can kill marine life or induce varied degrees of disease in individuals who ingest these marine species. Metals and chemicals dumped into bodies of water have an impact on marine ecosystems.
• Nutrient containing wastewater (nitrates and phosphates) frequently causes eutrophication, which can kill off existing life in bodies of water. According to the Thailand study on the causes of water pollution the highest amounts of water contamination in the U-tapao river exhibited a direct association to industrial wastewater discharges.
•Thermal pollution (the release of hot water after it has been used for cooling) can also result in polluted water. Elevated water temperatures limit oxygen levels, which can kill fish and change the makeup of food chains, reduce species biodiversity and encourage the invasion of new thermophilic species.

Solid and hazardous waste

•Solid waste, often known as municipal solid waste, primarily refers to nonhazardous materials. This category covers trash, rubbish and refuse, as well as building detritus and garden waste. Because of the more careful and sophisticated management required of such wastes, hazardous waste often has special definitions. Waste can be classed as hazardous under US law based on the following characteristics: Ignitability, reactivity, corrosively and toxicity. Regulations expressly mention certain categories of hazardous trash.
•The Royal Thai Government (RTG) organizes roles in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management and industrial waste management in Thailand, which is divided into three levels: Central (national) government, regional government and local government. Each government is in charge of certain tasks. The central government is in charge of promoting regulations, rules and standards. The regional governments are in charge of coordinating the activities of the federal and local governments. Local governments are in charge of garbage management in their jurisdiction. However, local governments do not dispose of waste directly, but rather contract private companies who have been granted permission by Thailand's Pollution Control Department (PCD). The main companies are Bangpoo Industrial Waste Management Centre (BIWMC), General Environmental Conservation Public Company Limited (GENCO), SGS Thailand, Waste Management Siam LTD (WMS), Better World Green Public Company Limited (BWGPCL) and Bangpoo Industrial Waste Management Centre (BIWMC). These companies are accountable for the waste they receive from their consumers before releasing or burying it in the environment.
•Additionally, the EPA uses Superfund to locate hazardous locations, identify parties accountable and fund cleanups when said parties are unknown or unable to do so. Superfund also focuses on determining and implementing final cleanup treatments. The Superfund process is designed to: Collect necessary information known as the Remedial Investigation (RI) phase); assess alternatives to deal with any potential risks to the environment and human health (known as the Feasibility Study (FS) stage); identify the most appropriate remedies that could reduce the risks to more appropriate levels. Some sites are so contaminated from previous garbage a disposal that cleaning them up or reducing the contamination to acceptable levels takes decades, necessitating long-term management of those sites. As a result, determining a final remedy is not always achievable, which is why the EPA devised the adaptive management plan.
•The EPA has created national standards governing trash processing, treatment and disposal. Individual state environmental agencies have been authorized by the EPA to implement and enforce RCRA regulations through approved waste management programs.

Conclusion

EPA inspections are used to monitor state compliance. In the event that waste management guidelines are not followed. Compliance violations can be rectified through direct cleanup by the site responsible for the trash or by a third party contracted by that site. Prior to the passage of the clean water act (1972) and the RCRA, open dumping or dumping wastewater into local bodies of water were popular means of waste disposal. Such rules were required due to the severe consequences on human and environmental health. The RCRA framework includes specific subsections that define nonhazardous and hazardous waste products, as well as how they should be managed and disposed of. The prohibition of open dumping is included in the guidelines for the disposal of nonhazardous solid waste. Hazardous waste is traced from "cradle to grave"; each stage in the waste generation, transit and disposal processes is tracked. Currently the EPA manages 2.96 million tons of solid, hazardous and industrial waste. Since its inception, the RCRA programme has undergone modifications to address inefficiencies and evolve waste management methods."