Q1
There are four categories that house the priority pollutants and while collectively they impose one of the biggest challenges in solid waste management their individualistic acute toxicity is significant as well; the priority pollutant categories are as follows:
Non Metals – Substances such as Arsenic (AS) and Selenium (Se) are prominent in the category of non-metals. Long term exposure to these compounds could inflict fatigue, loss of energy, staining of fingers, staining of teeth and hair, weakness, depression and in general cases irritation in the nose and mouth.
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Metals – In the category of metals, the deadliest toxicity within such elements comes from Lead and Mercury. Both these substances are severely hazardous to an individual’s health while long term exposure could lead to kidney and brain damage, damage to the nervous system and birth defects among new born children.
Organic Compounds – Organic compounds are mostly flammable in nature. Substances such as Benzene, Toluene, are mostly nontoxic and just cause irritation at the surface of the skin, the eyes and or the mucus membrane.
Halogenated Compounds – Halogenated compounds are normally categorized as narcotic substances that might slow down sensory receptors in an individuals which in turn effects a person’s reaction time. These compounds are artificially induced during medical procedures and apart from skin irritation do not cause any blunt damage whatsoever (Bahadori, 2014).
Q2
Litigation has been a key component of waste management for over many decades now while without laws and set standards waste management would be inefficient, costly, and prone to health hazards and various outbreaks. Standard laws such as the prohibition of littering and classification of the said litter into recyclable / non-recyclable groups, yields numerous benefits for administrators and for the general wellbeing of society. There are many particular disposal bans which lawfully mandate industrial establishments to not pour paint via the drain and to dispose of radioactive material in a prescribed manner.
The most underlining of such standards is the prohibition of burning any type of trash in an open complex, as burning non-biodegradable waste can lead to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide to be emitted into the atmosphere which leads to the greenhouse effect and global warming. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in the United States overseas all such laws and one of the most noteworthy regulation they have brought in is the RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act). In compliance with this act, the digging of landfills and disposing waste without segregation is to be deemed illegal.
These policies further enable us to lab test separate waste entities and then to further improve our disposal, transportation and the general ISWM program when dealing with these environmental issues.
Q3
Definitively, BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) refers to the amount of oxygen that is needed for active microorganism to break organic waste into simpler forms such as water, carbon dioxide and ammonia. The causes of BOD are high levels of FOG (Fat, Oil and Grease) in any given water source, which then lets the microorganisms feed on these and exponentially increase themselves. The increasing microorganism thereby take more oxygen and hamper the aquatic life present in the water source (Guerrero, 2013)
Suspended solids are organic and inorganic solid waste materials that predominantly hang below the water surface. By right, suspended solids should be captured in any 2.0 µm or smaller filter under a controlled environment or to put it in layman’s terms a coffee filter. The reason why suspended solids are a menace to aquatic life is because of the simple reason that SS fundamentally captures pockets of heat within themselves which increases the overall temperature. A higher temperature in an aquatic setting reduces the overall oxygen level and marine life most probably comes under severe stress.
Both BOD and SS share a directly proportional relationship and correlate to each other’s existence in a polluted water source (Sharholy, 2008)
Q4
Population is a sign of a strength for any thriving community and a growing population implies that the standard of living and the health facilities available to that society are worthy of praise. That said, there are many communities that thrive on the economy of a manufacturing or industrial market, these towns and cities are prone to getting overlooked due to lack cluster waste disposal standards and failing to provide a coherent waste management system could potentially lead to many hazardous scenarios.
Most of the current health hazards stem from the fact that small mining towns, and cities boasting of industrial manufacturing suffer from pollution created via unchecked and untreated hazardous waste disposals. These could lead into a bunch of catastrophic problems as industrial waste is high on toxic substances such as lead, mercury and other non-biodegradable solid waste. If the local population is potentially exposed to these compounds then the overall healthcare of the municipality would decrease causing long term migration from budding towns into greener pastures.
Towns such as Centralia and Chernobyl are contemporary examples of how due to radiation or other mining hazards communities that were once expanding needed to be evacuated due the safety of its residents.
References
Bahadori, A. (2014). Waste management in the chemical and petroleum industries. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Guerrero, L. A., Maas, G., & Hogland, W. (2013). Solid waste management challenges for cities in developing countries. Waste management, 33(1), 220-232.
Sharholy, M., Ahmad, K., Mahmood, G., & Trivedi, R. C. (2008). Municipal solid waste management in Indian cities–A review. Waste management, 28(2), 459-467.
