PAPER
MITIGATING THE UNKNOWN - RISKS IN POLLUTION ASPECTS (II) Mainak Ghosal PhD (pursuing) Dr. M. N. Dastur School of Material Science & Engineering Indian Institute of Engineering Science & Technology (IIEST), Shibpur 1.0 INTRODUCTION Solid waste implies any garbage, refuse, sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility and other discarded materials including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material, resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations etc. Improper solid waste disposal leads to substantial negative environmental impacts (pollution of air, soil, water, and generation of greenhouse gases from landfills), and health and safety problems (such as diseases spread by insects and rodents attracted by garbage heaps, and diseases associated with pollution. There is also evidence that nanoparticles are released by these processes even if they have not been added to the materials. For example, demolition and refurbishment of ordinary concrete has been shown to release a very high number of nanoscale particles (although these account for a tiny proportion of the total dust released in terms of mass or volume). There is little information available to show if or how this might be changed by the addition of nanomaterials to the concrete at construction levels1. Be it Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune or Visakhapatnam- huge mountains of waste gets piled up every day reaching up to 25 to 35m (80 to 100 feet) above the existing ground level. Due to lack of proper space for landfills or dumping grounds, the municipalities let them grow higher and thus needing the approval of Airport Authority of India for the dumps that come in the flight paths near airports. The waste also contains skin of fruits and vegetables, stale food, wood, plastic and paper rejects, glass pieces, ceramics, injection and needles, old medicines, chemicals, things made of rubber, batteries, mortar, concrete, etc. According to the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, the quantities of municipal waste produced in the cities every day is ‘1.6 lakh metric tonnes’ i.e. 16 crores kg of waste every day from 424 Municipalities. The Municipalities pick up the waste and dump it at places which are called landfill sites or dumping grounds which are either within city limits or in rural areas adjoining the city and are now spread over 1000 acres in the country. The life of the people and environment are badly affected in the places where this work goes on continuously. On one hand the waste generates toxic gases that are inflammable and on the other hand the decomposition of this waste produces a toxic liquid called ‘leachate’. This liquid destroys the ground water and crops in the adjoining areas. Besides taking a huge toll of the areas where this mayhem is happening, it is also gradually returning to the cities through food, water and air. 2.0 BRIEF DESCRIPTION The toxicity of these solid wastes is a cause of many diseases. Apart from bacillary dysentery, malaria, typhoid fever, cholera, flies, bad odor, skin infections diarrhea and amoebic dysentery, plague, salmonellosis, trichinosis, endemic typhus, cholera, jaundice, hepatitis, gastro enteric diseases, etc. it may also include dengue,chickengunea and gynecological disorders. Nanomaterial use has grown exponentially in recent years for their proven multiple benefits. Engineered nanoparticles (1-100nm) are found in an increasing number of consumer products such as lotions, shampoos, socks, paints, toys, chips, tyres, etc. The study of toxicity of engineered or non-engineered DECEMBER 2019
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