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Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death, injury or birth defects to living creatures.〔David Briggs, et al. "Health Impact Assessment Of Waste Management Facilities In Three European Countries." Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source 10.Suppl 1 (2011): 53-65. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.〕 It spreads quite easily and can contaminate lakes, rivers, and the atmosphere. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment. Hazardous wastes are poisonous byproducts of manufacturing, farming, city septic systems, construction, automotive garages, laboratories, hospitals and other industries. The waste may be liquid, solid, or sludge and contain chemicals, heavy metals, radiation, dangerous pathogens, or other toxins. Even households generate hazardous waste from items such as batteries, used computer equipment, and leftover paints or pesticides.〔"Toxic Waste." US EPA. National Geographic. Web. 15 Mar 2012. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state departments oversee the rules that regulate hazardous waste. The EPA requires that toxic waste be handled with special precautions and be disposed of in designated facilities around the country. Also, many cities in the United States have collection days where household toxic waste is gathered. Some materials that may not be accepted at regular landfills are ammunition, commercially generated waste, explosives/shock sensitive items, hypodermic needles/syringes, medical waste, radioactive materials, and smoke detectors.〔Household Hazardous Waste." Wake County Recycling and Solid Waste. Wake County Government, 2009. Web. 26 Apr 2010. Toxic wastes often contain carcinogens, and exposure to these by some route, such as leakage or evaporation from the storage, causes cancer to appear at increased frequency in exposed individuals. For example, a cluster of the rare blood cancer polycythemia vera was found around a toxic waste dump site in northeast Pennsylvania in 2008. The Human & Ecological Risk Assessment Journal conducted a study which focused on the health of individuals living near municipal landfills to see if it would be as harmful as living near hazardous landfills. They conducted a 7-year study that specifically tested for 18 types of cancers to see if the participants had higher rates than those that don’t live around landfills. They conducted this study in western Massachusetts within a 1-mile radius of the North Hampton Regional Landfill.〔Goodman, Julie E., Todd C. Hudson, and Richard J. Monteiro. "Cancer Cluster Investigation In Residents Near A Municipal Landfill." Human & Ecological Risk Assessment 16.6 (2010): 1339-59. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.>.〕 People encounter these toxins buried in the ground, in stream runoff, in groundwater that supplies drinking water, or in floodwaters, as happened after Hurricane Katrina. Some toxins, such as mercury, persist in the environment and accumulate. As a result of the bioaccumulation of mercury in both freshwater and marine ecosystems, predatory fish are a significant source of mercury in human and animal diets.〔"Toxic Waste." National Geographic. National Geographic, 2010. Web. 26 Apr 2010. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Toxic waste」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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