Engineering the risks of hazardous wastes

Contents Foreword xiii Preface xvii Acknowledgments xxi 1. An Engineering Perspective on the Risks of Hazardous Wastes 1 How Engineers Can Help Reduce the Risks Posed by Hazardous Wastes 1 History of Hazardous Waste Engineering 2 Why Engineers Should Care about Hazardous Wastes 3 Case Study: The Case of Love Canal, New York 5 What Is Our Focus? 8 What Human Values Are Important in Hazardous Waste Decisions? 8 What Is Hazardous Waste, Anyway? 11 Toxicity Testing 18 2. Entering the Risk Era 23 How Engineers Can Manage Hazardous Waste Risks 23 Discussion: Cleaning up a Hazardous Waste Site 23 How Toxicity Is Calculated and Applied to Risk 29 Comparison Values 31 Reference Dose 37 Minimal Risk Levels 38 Hazard Index 38 Cancer Slope Factor 39 Cancer Classifications 39 Estimating Exposure to Hazardous Waste 44 Discussion: What Goes on in the Laboratory? 45 Discussion: Time Is of the Essence! 50 Where Does the Engineer Fit in the Risk-Assessment Paradigm? 53 Discussion: Ecologic Risk Assessment 55 Risk Roles for the Engineer 58 vii viii Contents Discussion: Toxic Dyes and Pigments versus New Optics Paradigms: Thinking Outside the Light Box 59 Case Study: U.S. Army’s Site Level Waste Reduction 61 3. The Fate, Transformation, and Transport of Hazardous Chemicals 63 How Hazardous Compounds Move and Change in the Environment 63 Physicochemical Properties of Chemicals 70 Degradation Mechanisms in the Environment 70 Abiotic Hydrolysis in Solution 72 Surface-Mediated Hydrolysis 72 Photolysis 73 Microbially Mediated Hydrolysis 74 Physical Transport Mechanisms 74 Discussion: Pollutant Transport: The Four Ds 76 Chemical Sorption Kinetics 81 Organic Chemistry Discussion: Why Are Carbon Compounds Called Organic? 83 What Kinds of Hazardous Chemicals Are There? 84 Organic Compounds 84 Persistent Organic Pollutants 87 How Are Dioxins Formed? 90 Inorganic Compounds 92 Discussion: Sources, Movement, and Fate of Semivolatile Organic Compounds in the Environment 93 Orphan Pesticides: The Complicated Example of Lindane 100 Production and Use of HCH Worldwide 101 Presence of HCH Isomers in the Environment 102 Evidence for Isomerization of Lindane 102 Other Explanations for the Abundance of α-HCH in the Environment 103 Using Physical Movement and Chemical Changes to Estimate Possible Chemical Risks 103 What Is the Hydrogeology of the Site? 105 How Is Groundwater Contamination Characterized at the Site? 108 How Can Contaminant Transport Models Be Applied to Remediation? 109 What Would Happen without Intervention? 110 How Does This Compare to Pumping with Recharge? 112 Case Study: Mixed Inorganic and Organic Hazardous Wastes: The Double Eagle Refinery, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 113 Discussion: Use Rules of Thumb with Caution 115 Contents ix 4. Opportunities for Hazardous Waste Intervention by Engineers 121 Intervention to Prevent and Control the Risks Associated with Hazardous Wastes 121 Intervention at the Source of Hazardous Waste 122 Intervention at the Point of Release of the Hazardous Waste 123 Intervention As the Hazardous Waste Is Transported in the Environment 123 Intervention at the Receptor of Hazardous Waste 124 Intervention to Control the Dose of Hazardous Waste 127 Intervention at the Point of Response to Hazardous Waste 127 Opportunities in Science, Engineering, and Technology to Control the Risks Associated with Hazardous Wastes 127 A Prerequisite Consideration: The Peirce Progression 128 Thermal Processing: Examples of the Science, Engineering, and Technology of Hazardous Waste Incineration 128 Rotary Kiln 131 Multiple Hearth 131 Liquid Injection 133 Fluidized Bed 133 Multiple Chamber 135 Microbiologic Processing: Examples of the Science, Engineering, and Technology of Hazardous Waste Biotreatment 136 Discussion: Metal-Eating Algae 136 Discussion: PCB Cleanup Efforts 137 Trickling Filter 140 Activated Sludge 141 Aeration Ponds 144 Hazardous Waste Storage Landfills: Examples of the Science, Engineering, and Technology of Long-Term Storage of Hazardous Waste 146 Siting 146 Design 148 Operation 150 Post-Closure Management 151 Chemoluminescence and Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH): Examples of the Science, Engineering, and Technology Available to Monitor the Magnitude of the Risks Associated with a Hazardous Waste Problem 151 The Example Measurement and Monitoring Problem: Contaminated Soil 152 Chemoluminescence for Sensing the Levels of Nitric Oxide Emissions from Soil 152 x Contents Using FISH to Analyze Soil Microbial Communities Exposed to Different Soil Contaminants and Different Levels of Contamination 155 Connecting the Results of the Two Monitoring Techniques 155 5. A Risk-Based Assessment to Support Remediating a Hazardous Waste Site 159 How Risk Information Is Used in Hazardous Waste Site Remediation 159 The Scenario 159 Assumptions 162 The Charge to the Engineer 167 Answers and Explanations 168 HCH Cancer Risk Calculations 171 Risks from Piles and Tank Remediation 174 Cleanup Standards 179 Noncancer Rick Calculations 188 6. The Role of the Engineer in Emergency Response 191 Lessons from the Emergency Response at the World Trade Center 191 Using Ambient and Exposure Data to Support Cleanup and Emergency Response 192 Calculation of Endocrine Risk in a Cleanup: The 1,3-Diphenyl Propane Example 196 When Is It Safe to Move Back? 198 Discussion: Choosing the Correct Monitoring Equipment 201 7. Risk Perception: What You Say May Not Be What They Hear 207 What Are People’s Perceptions of Risks Posed by Hazardous Waste? 207 What Is the Possibility of a Severely Negative or Catastrophic Outcome? 208 How Familiar Are the Situation and the Potential Risks? 209 Can the Engineer Succinctly Explain the Processes and Mechanisms Being Proposed or Undertaken? 210 How Certain Is the Science and Engineering? 210 How Much Personal Control Is Perceived? 211 Is the Exposure Voluntary or Involuntary? 211 Discussion: Choose Your Route of Exposure 212 Are Children or Other Sensitive Subpopulations at Risk? 212 Discussion: Children’s Safety Factor 212 When Are the Effects Likely to Occur? 213 Are Future Generations at Risk? 213 Are Potential Victims Readibly Identifiable? 214 Contents xi How Much Do People Dread the Outcome? 214 Do People Trust the Institution Responsible for Assessing the Risk and Managing the Cleanup? 214 What Is the Media Saying? 215 What Is the Accident History of This Site or Facility or of Similar Sites or Facilities? 215 Is the Risk Distributed Equitably? 215 Are the Benefits Clear? 216 If There Is Any Failure, Will It Be Reversible? 216 What Is the Personal Stake of Each Person? 216 What Is the Origin of the Problem? 217 What Is the Bottom Line about Risk Perception? 217 The Enigma of Risk Perception 217 Using Benchmarks to Explain Exposures and Risks 218 Risk Perception Lessons in Other Fields 219 8. Closing Thoughts on the Future of Hazardous Waste Engineering 223 Appendix 1. Glossary of Hazardous Waste Engineering Terminology 225 Appendix 2. Minimum Risk Levels for Chemicals 245 Appendix 3. What to Do If a Company Produces Only a Small Amount of Hazardous Waste 259 Appendix 4. Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Protocol for Field Activities 263 Appendix 5. Fundamentals of Chemical Equilibria 273 Endnotes and Commentary 281 Index 299