• Question: What makes Toxic Waste so Toxic?

    Asked by impossiblenerds to Hermine, Katy, Laura, Nathalie, Paula on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Nathalie Pettorelli

      Nathalie Pettorelli answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi there,

      It depends on the nature of the waste – sometimes it can contaminate water and the organisms depemding on it, sometimes it can get picked by plants and the organisms consuming them. Toxicity can come in many shapes – do you have a particular example in mind?

    • Photo: Paula Salgado

      Paula Salgado answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Basically, toxic waste is waste that can cause harm or injury to leaving creatures.

      It usually is the product of industry or commerce, but also comes from residential use, agriculture, medical facilities, military tests, etc.

      Depending on its source it can contain toxic chemicals, heavy metals, radiation or dangerous pathogens and other toxins. These are all things that can cause serious health problems, making this a huge problem.

    • Photo: Katy Mee

      Katy Mee answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      The ‘toxic’ part of toxic waste refers to the damage that it can do to living organisms, and depending on what type of toxins are in the waste depends on how poisonous it is to the organisms that are exposed to it, as some organisms may be more susceptible to certain toxins than others.

      We quite often refer to nucler waste as ‘toxic’ waste because of the serious health implications that radioactive waste can have and because of the huge length of time that it takes for the radiation to decay down to ‘background’ (safe) levels.

    • Photo: Laura Dixon

      Laura Dixon answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Toxins? LOL
      All the chemicals, residues, etc. from products we use can build up, forming this toxic waste (very generally speaking). These leftovers often contain cancer causing agents so can make living organisms around the waste very ill.

    • Photo: Hermine Schnetler

      Hermine Schnetler answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Toxic waste is a category of hazerdous waste. This category contains chemicals that are harmful to organisms, such as people or plants, anything that lives. So what makes toxic waste toxic is the chemical that is harmful to organisms, which then comes down to what ever the company is throwing out.

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