Hazard ranking systems for chemical wastes and chemical waste sites
- Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
- Mathes (John) and Associates, Inc., Columbia, IL (United States)
Hazardous materials and substances have always existed in the environment. Mankind has evolved to live with some degree of exposure to toxic materials. Until recently the risk has been from natural toxins or natural background radiation. While rapid technological advances over the past few decades have improved the lifestyle of our society, they have also dramatically increased the availability, volume and types of synthetic and natural hazardous materials. Many of their effects are as yet uncertain. Products and manufacturing by-products that no longer serve a useful purpose are deemed wastes. For some waste products land disposal will always be their ultimate fate. Hazardous substances are often included in the waste products. One needs to classify wastes by degree of hazard (risk). Risk (degree of probability of loss) is usually defined for risk assessment as probability of an occurrence times the consequences of the occurrence. Perhaps even more important than the definition of risk is the choice of a risk management strategy. The choice of strategy will be strongly influenced by the decision criteria used. Those decision criteria could be utility (the greatest happiness of the greatest number), rights or technology based or some combination of the three. It is necessary to make such choices about the definition of risks and criteria for management. It is clear that these are social (i.e., political) and value choices and science has little to say on this matter. This is another example of what Alvin Weinberg has named Transcience where the subject matter is scientific and technical but the choices are social, political and moral. This paper shall deal only with the scientific and technical aspects of the hazardous waste problem to create a hazardous substances classification system.
- Research Organization:
- Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76OR00033
- OSTI ID:
- 6013595
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/OR/00033-T457; ON: DE92004765
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
CHEMICAL WASTES
GROUND DISPOSAL
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
CLASSIFICATION
TOXIC MATERIALS
TOXICITY
WASTE MANAGEMENT
DECISION MAKING
GROUND WATER
POLLUTANTS
SORTING
SURFACE WATERS
US CLEAN AIR ACT
US EPA
US SUPERFUND
WASTE DISPOSAL
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LAWS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NONRADIOACTIVE WASTES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION LAWS
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
WATER
540220* - Environment
Terrestrial- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
540320 - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety
990200 - Mathematics & Computers