Toxic places audit
Introduction
Hazardous waste is defined as waste that contains intrinsic properties that present risks to health and the environment.[1][2].
According to Spanish legislation on waste Law 7/2022 established on the basis of European regulations and international conventions, hazardous waste is considered to be the waste itself, as well as the container or packaging that may have contained it.[3].
The decision on whether waste is dangerous or not is up to legislators and public authorities. There is a common concept that is used to define the properties that make a waste dangerous (such as being flammable, toxic, carcinogenic, infectious, among others). However, some waste produced in certain industrial practices, or exhibiting certain properties, may be outside the scope of a waste management regime; While other wastes may be outside the scope of waste management, they may be regulated by other regimes (wastewater; wastewater legislation; industrial gas emissions; emissions control legislation; radioactive waste; radioactivity legislation, etc.). Hazardous industrial waste can, basically, be subject to hazardous waste legislation, as is the case, for example, of the EU, regardless of whether it is produced in solid, liquid or sludge form.[4].
Examples of hazardous waste include mine tailings, air emissions from chimneys, industrial spills in surface waterways, traces of pesticides still found in vegetables, as well as paints, sprays, solvents, etc.
History
Contenido
Hasta hace pocas décadas, los residuos hoy catalogados como peligrosos eran parte de los desechos industriales, hospitalarios e incluso domiciliarios. Estos se depositaban en lugares no autorizados como basureros, orillas de ríos, humedales o simplemente se vertían al agua o bien se disponían en vertederos "Vertedero (basura)") municipales juntamente con los desechos sólidos domiciliarios. Hay muchos eventos conocidos que, a raíz de estas malas prácticas, han generado perjuicios a la población y salud humana. Por ejemplo, la acumulación de sales de plomo en el norte de Chile, que en sectores cercanos han causado a la población infantil problemas de tipo neurológico (leucemia) y efectos teratogénicos en la población adulta.
La mayor conciencia ambiental, surgida a través del Convenio de Basilea, Convenio de Róterdam y otros acuerdos medioambientalistas, llevó a los países en vías de desarrollo y desarrollados a legislar acerca de la materia y a que se legislara sobre su clasificación, almacenamiento y disposición final.