One important objective of this program is to
inform consumers of the risks and potential hazards posed by many products
used in and around the household. Whether working in the garage, in the
kitchen, or out in the yard, important decisions must be made to ensure
not only that the proper products are used, but that they are used
safely with regard to environmental and human health.
Listed and defined below are terms that may be helpful in understanding
the material in this program. Knowing the terms and "jargon" of
household waste management will make this program easier to understand
and, hopefully, more informative.
- Hazardous Substance:
- A substance that is potentially dangerous, including but not limited
to material that is explosive, radioactive, ignitable, corrosive, toxic
or reactive. Examples in the home include paint cleaners, gasoline,
drain cleaners and chlorine bleach. Products may
be quite safe when used according to instructions,
but still be capable of easy misuse. Carefully examine product labels
for written warnings as well as warning symbols. [For more information,
go to the Read the Fine Print subsection of
the Handle with Care portion of this program.]
- Toxicity:
- The quality, relative degree, or specific degree of being toxic or
poisonous. Capable of causing injury or death through ingestion, inhalation,
or absorption. Some toxic substances are known to cause cancer (carcinogens),
genetic damage (mutagens), and fetal harm (teratogens).
- Acute Effects:
- Effects that are felt soon afterwards exposure, usually within 24 hours
and in some cases almost immediately. Characterized by severe symptoms
with a sudden onset. Skin burns and disfigurement from splashing battery
acid, fire caused by an exploding aerosol can stored too close to a stove,
or an overnight fish kill resulting from dumping toxicants down the storm
sewer are examples of acute dangers caused by hazardous products.
- Chronic Effects:
- Effects that are gradual and occur through repeated exposure over
an extended period of time. Headache and trouble thinking caused by
carbon monoxide leaking from an appliance, allergic reactions that occur
each time you open the cupboard where aromatic cleaning products are
stored, or the slow pollution of groundwater resulting from the disposal
of small amounts of herbicide down a sinkhole every growing season are
examples of chronic dangers caused by hazardous substances.
Some of the most common chronic health effects are liver or kidney damage,
central nervous system damage, cancer and birth defects.
- Contamination Pathways:
- Toxic compounds enter the environment in many ways and in many forms.
Some are poured into sewers or onto the ground, some are
carried in exhaust fumes from cars and factories, others may be taken
as solids to landfills and dumps. Once in the environment, chemicals
may undergoes series of reactions forming new products, some of which
may be toxic and some of which may take on a new phase (solid, liquid,
or gas). Compounds can also move from one environmental medium to
another. Acid rain is an example of airborne toxics moving from one
environmental medium - the air - to another - water.
- Toxics can thus reach humans and animals through variety of pathways.
Toxics enter our bodies through ingestion (the mouth), inhalation
(breathing), and dermal absorption (movement through the skin, including
the eye tissues).
- Bioaccumulation:
- The net accumulation by an organism of a chemical from its combined
exposure to water, food, and sediment. Species higher in the food web
can be exposed to all the chemicals that lower-order species accumulate.
Being at the top of the food chain, humans are susceptible to high
levels of bioaccumulated toxins in their diets. Lifelong exposure to
even low level concentrations of contaminants from species lower in the
food chain can cause serious health problems, including cancer, birth
defects, birth complications, and nervous and mental disorders.
Pesticides and heavy metals are common sources of contamination by
bioaccumulation.