Household Hazardous Materials

Materials in your home that are marked as flammable, toxic, poisonous, corrosive, or caustic must be treated as a household hazardous waste.

Mercury

Mercury is a naturally occurring element. Its distribution in the environment is the result of both natural and man-made processes. There are three categories of mercury with unique characteristics and unique potential health effects:

-         Elemental or metallic mercury

-         Organic mercury compounds

-         Inorganic mercury compounds

Not all forms are encountered by the general public. The forms most likely encountered by the general public are:

-         Elemental mercury vapor (Hg0) from metallic mercury or liquid mercury - This is the elemental or pure form of mercury; i.e., it is not combined with other elements. It is the primary form of mercury released into the air by natural processes, such as volcanic activity.

-         Methylmercury - Microorganisms in the environment can convert inorganic mercury to the organic form methylmercury. This form can build up in the environment and accumulate in certain freshwater and saltwater fish, and marine mammals. Methylmercury is the form of mercury that is most likely to cause adverse health effects in the general population.

-         Ethylmercury - This is an organic form of mercury found in some medical preservatives. Also used in some parts of the world as an antifungal agent in grains.

-         Inorganic mercury (mercuric salts) - This is an oxidized mercury that combines with other chemical elements to create salt forms.

Our division picks up elemental mercury free of charge. Contact us at 419-936-3015

Lead

Lead is a naturally occurring bluish-gray metal found in small amounts in the earth’s crust. Lead can be found in all parts of our environment. Much of it comes from human activities including burning fossil fuels, mining, and manufacturing.

Lead has many different uses. It is used in the production of batteries, ammunition, metal products (solder and pipes), and devices to shield X-rays. Because of health concerns, lead from paints and ceramic products, caulking, and pipe solder has been dramatically reduced in recent years. The use of lead as an additive to gasoline was banned in 1996 in the United States.

Solvents & Oils

Solvents are substances that are capable of dissolving or dispersing one or more other substances. Organic solvents are carbon-based solvents (i.e., they contain carbon in their molecular structure). Millions of U.S. workers are exposed to organic solvents that are used in such products as paints, varnishes, lacquers, adhesives, glues, and degreasing/cleaning agents, and in the production of dyes, polymers, plastics, textiles, printing inks, agricultural products, and pharmaceuticals.

Many organic solvents are recognized by NIOSH as carcinogens (e.g., benzene, carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene), reproductive hazards (e.g., 2-ethoxyethanol, 2-methoxyethanol, methyl chloride), and neurotoxins (e.g., n-hexane, tetrachloroethylene, toluene). Many different classes of chemicals can be used as organic solvents, including aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, amines, esters, ethers, ketones, and nitrated or chlorinated hydrocarbons.

Used motor oil should never be poured into a storm drain.  Contact local auto parts stores or garages near your home to see who takes in used automotive fluids.  This service is free to the public.  If oil is poured into a storm drain the oil eventually ends up in our lake where it can devastate the ecosystem.  Used oil should never be poured down a sanitary sewer or down a drain in your home.  Water treatment plants cannot effectively remove the oil before the water is returned to our watershed.

Batteries

Every year in the United States, billions of batteries are bought, used, and thrown out. In 1998 alone, over three billion industrial and household batteries were sold. Households generally use disposable alkaline, rechargeable, and car batteries. The demand for batteries can be traced largely to the rapid increase in cordless, portable products such as cellular phones, video cameras, laptop computers, and battery-powered tools and toys.

Because many batteries contain toxic constituents such as mercury and cadmium, they pose a potential threat to human health and the environment when improperly disposed. Though batteries generally make up only a tiny portion of municipal solid waste (MSW)—less than 1 percent—they account for a disproportionate amount of the toxic heavy metals in MSW. (For example, EPA has reported that, as of 1995, nickel-cadmium batteries accounted for 75 percent of the cadmium found in MSW.) When MSW is incinerated or disposed of in landfills, under certain improper management scenarios, these toxics can be released into the environment.

Specialty waste

These items include:

-         old electronics (computers, televisions, smoke detectors, microwaves, etc)

-         automotive fluids (transmission fluid, coolant, oil, power steering fluid, etc)

-         household batteries (rechargable)

-         flourescent bulbs

-         paints, turpentine, and strippers

-         pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides

To locate where to properly dispose of these products please contact 419-213-2230