By Professor. Jonathan Santiago

Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death or injury to living creatures. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment.As with most pollution problems, toxic waste began to be a significant issue during the industrial revolution. It usually is the product of industry or commerce, but comes also from residential use (e.g. cleaning products, cosmetics, lawn care products), agriculture (e.g. chemical fertilizers, pesticides), the military (nuclear weapons testing, chemical warfare, medical facilities (e.g. pharmaceuticals), radioactive sources, and light industry, such as dry cleaning establishments.

WASTE FROM FACTORIES, AND EVEN SINKING SHIPS CAUSE HARMFUL AND DEADLY EFFECTS TO US AND OUR ENVIRONMENT.

WASTE MATERIALS CAUSE CANCER,BIRTH DEFFECTS IN NOT ONLY HUMANSBUT ANMALS, THEY ALSO KILL AND DAMAGEANIMALS AND THEIR HABITATS SUCH AS FISH

Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), a United States federal law designed to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites. Superfund provides broad federal authority to clean up releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment. The law authorized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify parties responsible for contamination of sites and compel the parties to clean up the sites. Where responsible parties cannot be found, the Agency is authorized to clean up sites itself, using a special trust fund.

WITH HUNDREDS OF SITES ALL OVER THE U.S. SUPERFUNDHAS TAKEN A BIG STEP IN ELIMINATING POLLUTION AND OF TOXIC WATSE TO HELP PRESERVE WHAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED.

http://www.marchofdimes.com/855_9146.asp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7863290.stm

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/cercla/05list.html

http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/wasthazardouswaste.html

http://www.urbanedpartnership.org/target/units/recycle/toxic.html