EP -Winter-Spring 2004 - Household Hazardous Waste

Tip #1: Store wastes in their original containers with the labels intact. Labels of hazardous products are required by federal law to list signal words. DANGER or POISON labels indicate that the product is highly toxic, corrosive or extremely flammable. WARNING or CAUTION labels indicate that the product is moderately or slightly toxic. Keep them out of the reach of children and pets, and away from heat to prevent any accidents at home.

Tip #2: Read and follow directions about how to properly use the product and dispose of the container. Pay close attention to warnings such as "do not incinerate" or "do not mix with bleach". When leftovers remain, never mix household hazardous waste with other products. Incompatibilities may react, ignite, or explode and contaminated household hazardous waste may become unrecyclable.

Tip #3: Before you purchase a product, read the label and make sure it will do what you want and don't buy more than you need. Once you buy something, you are also responsible for disposing of it properly. Select the least toxic item "to do the job" and buy only the minimum amounts necessary. Buying in large quantities is not a bargain if half of it has to be discarded.

Tip #4: If the material is still useable, has not been damaged, and the shelf life has not expired, check with friends and neighbors and even community groups to see if they can use the product. If these outlets for disposal are not available, or the material is not usable, it should be taken to an area IEPA Household Hazardous Waste Collection. This program ensures that your household hazardous waste is recycled or, otherwise, managed, in an environmentally preferable way, under the hazardous waste provisions of the law.

When you look in your garage, under your sink, or in the basement or shed, do you see lots of old paint cans, jugs of used motor oil and antifreeze, unwanted pesticides, containers of dirty paint thinner, and other unusable household chemicals? When certain household chemicals are not used up, they can become household hazardous waste (HHW).

Many household products contain the same chemicals as strictly regulated industrial wastes and pose similar environmental and health problems. Although the quantities of chemicals disposed of by individual households may be small, the number of households are many, and the amount of hazardous waste adds up.

Each year, the average home can accumulate as much as 100 pounds of household hazardous waste and thousands of people are injured by exposure or accident involving hazardous household products. This can happen in a number of ways.

First, you may be exposed to toxic substances during use. Second, the chemicals may contaminate water supplies when improperly discarded down the drain or into a ditch. Third, when tossed into the garbage, the wastes may injure sanitation workers or react on the truck or in the landfill.

In order to protect health and the environment, every consumer should know how to properly use, store, and dispose of hazardous household products.

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