Indoor Pollution (Household Hazardous Waste)

Many may not realize about the presence of indoor pollution in our surroundings. There are various types of garbage from our households that are seriously harmful to both humans and the environment because of their chemical and/or biological nature.

Indoor pollution is commonly known as Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) and according to US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the HHW is defined as any leftover home products that contain toxic, corrosive, flammable and/or reactive substances.

These HHW include leftover paints, cleaners, oils, pesticides, bleach, aerosols, old batteries, cosmetics, unfinished medicines, syringes and many more. All of these items require special care of treatment for waste disposal.

Common activities that cause health effects and impacts to the environment:

1.       Diabetics patients that use syringes for insulin injection commonly discard the used it in general dustbin

2.       Unfinished medicines and insecticides (and all types of pesticides) often end up at landfill – once dissolve in rainwater, it may leach into the underground water system (aquifer) and subsequently being a potential agent that able to contaminate the resources of drinking water

3.       At present, there is no specific revenue or initiative activities for HHW disposal in Malaysia.

4.       The present of HHW disposal in landfill are highly possible to cause soil and water poisoning (increase contamination level)

5.       HHW in landfill can pose a serious threat (harmful) to living organisms

6.       Exposure of HHW is carcinogenic (cancer causing) over a long term effect

7.       Sources of contamination from HHW are likely prone to bio-accumulate (via bio-magnification process) causing detrimental ecological disaster

8.       In fact, if HHW ended up in incineration (without proper treatment), it may cause the release of air pollutants into the atmosphere

Solutions and actions to minimize the exposure to HHW:

1.       Common practice – 3?Rs (Reduce the purchase of HHW products, Reuse any remaining HHW materials and Recycle HHW whenever possible)

2.       Identify and avoid using hazardous products (such as lead-based paints, CFC-based aerosol containers, cadmium based batteries and etc.)

3.       Dispose leftover HHW through authorized HHW collection facilities center (Eg: Send unfinished medicines back to pharmaceutical collection office and etc.)

4.       Call local waste management agencies if facing difficulty dealing with the disposal of HHW

5.       Seek to participate in any recycling programs (commonly available will be the e-waste campaign – collection of computer and other electronic gadgets)

6.       Try finishing every source of HHW (Eg: medicines, paints, cosmetics and etc. before discarding them)

7.       Do not mix HHW with other non-HHW and food items

8.       Always read labels and follow the HHW precautionary measures [safety guidelines of HHW – also often regarded as the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) ]

9.       Use protective measures (such as gloves, goggles, masks and suits) when dealing with HHW

10.   Seek for alternative items to replace HHW items (opt for green products)

11.   HHW campaigns and education safety awareness activities

12.   HHW related regulations to help creating public awareness

13.   Separation of HHW at source (with separate storage of HHW)

Do you aware of any HHW at your surroundings?

What say you about the HHW management in your community?