1. Introduction

Household waste is something that is common among most, if not all, living residences. Like any industrial facilities that handle potentially hazardous materials, households too dispose and use hazardous substances. The chemical complexion in the waste substances makes it so if disposed improperly, it could ignite, explode, poison, or corrode. Household hazardous waste (HHW) becomes what it is once thrown away. Methods of the waste being improperly disposed is pouring the substance down the drain, into storm sewers, on the ground, and throwing it in

among the trash. It may not be obvious that these substances, once disposed, will be a danger, but particular varieties of HHWs have the prospective to:


A big problem that occurs/can occur through improper disposal of HHW would be the deconstruction that the sewage treatment plants are able to obtain. These plants are not able to deconstruct HHW compounds that people would drain or flush, which will end up traveling into lakes and rivers, unprocessed. As a result, one of the main releasers of dioxins and furans was from sewage systems. The substances proved to threaten human health due to the fact that they were highly carcinogenic. Other than the fact of the carcinogenic dangers, interference with the treatments plants could transpire. The toxins that would be processed could poison the microorganisms in the biological process. That would bring us to the position where our water systems would be more susceptible to harmful contaminants.

As a given, hazardous waste is poisonous to all life forms, exposure of such hazardous substances to any living organism (plants and animals) could devitalize it. As a consequence, to the environment, hazardous waste could diminish natural resources and be contaminating to humans. Giving the young/fetuses, whether human or animal, exposure to these hazards would be substantially dangerous, as they are in a process or rapid growth. Introduction to chemicals for the living body would also interfere with biological structure, causing malfunction of organs and limbs.

In addition to the effects to the human and animal bodies, hazardous waste would hinder plant growth. The impeding of plants that are of much use to the human race through manufacturing and consumption would affect our habitat. If the plants were slowly changing, for the worse, it would affect the animals that are needed for food, farm work, and would cause a whole new era of extinction.

If our plant growth can affect our way of living easily, dumping the HHW into landfills gives us a much bigger problem. Landfills that are improperly maintained are major problem; even if they seem to be isolated from any contact, they can contaminate the environment around them. These landfills produce foul-smelling and toxin gases. Along with the gases and toxins, landfills generate leachate, which can travel to our water sources of lakes, rivers, and oceans. This would dig us into a deeper problem of both environmental and human existences. Thereby, leaving HHW unattended and improperly disposed could potentially destroy the ecosystem.
