Leaflet no. 82. Danger! Hazardous materials - spread the message not the waste

There may be dangers lurking in the home, in the garden and on the farm and you may not even be aware of them! The dangers arc household and garden chemical products that can make you sick if you eat or drink them. And some can harm you if you breathe in their fumes or touch them. The aim of this learning leaflet is to make you and others aware of the hazards of using and throwing away these toxics, and to introduce alternatives that arc safer for people and the environment.

Activity 1: What are hazardous materials?

(a) Here are some pictures of household products. Could any of these harm you if you ate or drank them, breathed in their fumes or touched them? (Do not experiment with these products if they are in your home.)

Figure

Items that produce harmful effects in people and other living things are called hazardous materials.

How can you discover which products are dangerous without harming yourself? The easiest clue is the warning labels that should be printed on the product. What words or pictures on product labels indicate to you that the contents are poisonous or may cause injury?

Activity 2: Warning labels

(a) Words such as DANGER, CAUTION or WARNING, and pictures such as a skull and crossbones may be on labels. There may be other warning labels, too. See which household products have the following words on their containers: TOXIC or POISONOUS, CORROSIVE, INFLAMMABLE, and REACTIVE. These words help describe the type of hazardous material in the container. To find out the meanings of these words, follow the lines below that link the words to their meanings:

Figure

(b) Make a list of products in your house that show any of the above warnings. Draw pictures of the containers, and include in your drawings any symbols you find that might also indicate a hazardous material. Do you think the instructions and warnings on the labels can be improved? Are the hazardous products kept out of reach of young children? Why is this important? What are these hazardous substances used for? Repeat this exercise in a neighbourhood shop for food, garden/farm supplies, drugs, paint etc.

(c) Design a container label for a hazardous product found in your home. The label can include the product name, purpose of the product, application instructions and safety and disposal information. How will your label warn someone who cannot read? Can you think of a symbol that will warn young children to stay away from the product? What colour is your label? Put your label on the hazardous product that is kept in your house. (Make sure your label does not hide any safety or other instructions on the containers.)

Activity 3: When do hazardous materials become hazardous waste?

Hazardous materials become hazardous waste when they are no longer wanted and are thrown away or when materials are spilled or released into the environment. For example, a partially-used can of paint is a hazardous material when it is stored on a shelf, but it becomes a hazardous waste when it is discarded. A leak from an oil storage tank contaminates the ground with hazardous waste, even though the oil is a usable product.

Ask your parents how they get rid of (a) pesticides (b) used batteries (c) old paint. Can these disposal methods cause problems? Find out from your local authorities how hazardous materials are - or should be - disposed of in your locality. Think of ways to publicise these methods.

Using safer alternatives

Many of us like to think that widespread pollution of groundwater, soil and air is entirely due to the irresponsibility of large industry. But we may also be contributing to the poisoning of the planet. Substances used in homes, at school and on the land, such as paint thinners, batteries, pesticides, cleaners and solvents can become hazardous waste.

There is no completely safe way to dispose of toxic waste. What we can do is to reduce our usage of hazardous materials by using safer alternatives instead. Alternatives to "household toxics" are usually more time-consuming to prepare, but they are cheaper than commercial products, and they are better for our health and for the environment.

Activity 4: Making a household cleanser

Most household cleaning needs can be met with six simple ingredients:

Vinegar	Cuts grease.
Soap	Biodegrades safely without polluting water. Sold as liquid, flakes, powder or in bars. (Check ingredients on label to avoid synthetic scents and other additives.)
Baking soda	Cleans and deodorises. Good scouring powder. Softens water, increasing the cleaning power of soap.
Washing soda	Disinfects. Cuts grease and removes stains
Borax	Cleans, deodorises and disinfects. Softens water.
Ammonia	Cuts heavy grease and grime, but it can be hazardous. Use only as a last resort, when other cleaners are not strong enough to remove dirt. Fumes irritate eyes and lungs. Never mix ammonia with chlorine bleach or commercial cleansers - deadly fumes may form.

Various combinations of these simple substances can do most household cleaning jobs. Use caution with all cleansers. Even some non-toxic cleansers are unsafe to swallow.

To make an all-purpose cleanser, you will need:

* 1 litre (approximately 1 quart) water;
* 5 ml (1 teaspoon) soap;
* 10 ml (2 teaspoons) borax;
* washing soda or vinegar;
* spray bottle.

Mix borax and soap with water, and store in a spray bottle. Add vinegar or washing soda to cut grease. This solution is effective for many cleaning jobs.

Activity 5: Testing safer household cleansers

You will need:

* a large surface area, such as painted wood, plastic, tiles;
* some dirt;
* some grease;
* water,
* soap;
* vinegar and salt mixture;
* baking soda and water,
* some cleaning solution using the recipe shown in Activity 4;
* various containers;
* cloths for applying cleansers;
* tape;
* paper and pencil.

1. Prepare the surface by dividing it into five areas. Use the tape to label each area (1) water only; (2) soap and water; (3) vinegar and salt; (4) baking soda and water (5) cleaning solution:

Figure

2. Rub equal amounts of dirt into each area.

3. Guess which cleanser you think would work best. Record your guess here:___________

4. Use the appropriate cleanser on each area of the surface.

5. On a chart similar to the one shown below rank the cleansers according to which works best (1 = best cleanser; 5 = worst cleanser)

6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 but apply grease to the surface, not dirt.

7. Repeat steps 2 to 5 but apply a combination of dirt and grease.

Now answer the following questions:

1. Which is the best cleaner for removing dirt? For removing grease? For removing grease and dirt?

2. What substance (dirt, grease or dirt/grease combined) does soap and water clean best? What does vinegar and salt clean best? What does the cleaning solution clean best?

Were your guesses (step 3) accurate?

The cleanser that removes:	dirt best	grease best	grease/dirt best
water only
soap and water
vinegar and salt
baking soda and water
cleaning solution

Extension Activity: Try this experiment using other cleaning surfaces.

Activity 6: Spreading the message, not the waste

You can encourage others who are using hazardous commercial products to switch to the natural methods and materials that are safer for health and the environment. For example, you can design a poster that advertises the cleansers described above.

Source of reference: Stepping lightly on the Earth, a leaflet produced by Greenpeace 1436 U Street NW Washington, D.C. 20009, USA

OUTREACH pack 95 pp 3-4. Other Learning-By-Doing Leaflets and Information packs are available from Dr. James Connor, OUTREACH Director, Environmental Education Center, 200 East Building, New York University, New York NY 10003, U.S.A. or Richard Lumbe, OUTREACH Coordinator, Information & Public Affairs, UNEP, P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, KENYA