Even cosmetics and medicines contribute to pollution: Experts

CHENNAI: They had never been considered a major threat, but the use of batteries, detergents, light bulbs, expired medicines, electronic waste, containers of cleaning agents, paints and cosmetics is being studied for their environmental impact on the earth, the ambient air and the food chain.
Apart from hazardous waste from industrial, hospital (bio-medical) and commercial waste, waste from homes is also dumped into garbage bins and finds its way to dumping yards, since there is no dedicated or supervised collection system or centre for the latter.
“The accumulated waste from the widespread use of such common products is an emerging contaminant, and is the focus on Earth Day this year,” said G Karthikeyan, district environmental engineer, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. Emerging contaminants that make it to municipal sewers and land contains hazardous material, and add to the load on municipal waste, since there is no organised method of scientific disposal, he added.
Studies undertaken by the department of environmental engineering, Anna University, in 2008 show that the city generates 4,000 tonnes of household waste everyday, with 0.5% of it being hazardous in nature. It also estimated that television sets, computers and mobile phone units generate 2% of electronic waste from each of the electronic items. Some get into dumping yards and the rest of the household waste enter the water table or get into the water bodies, added Karthikeyan.
Ragpickers say they remove the aluminum holders from discarded tube lights for their resale value, and dump the broken bulb in the yard. According to experts, the mercury coating is an hazardous waste and proper disposal is necessary of lights, batteries and tyres.
Detergents are also a cause for concern since they contain phosphates which is a catalyst to algal growth, said Indhumathi Nambi, assistant professor, environmental studies, IIT Madras, who is researching the feasibility of using waste water for irrigation purposes, for their nutrient content. “The challenge lies in isolating the toxins from the waste water generated in households,” she said. There are 185 pumping stations in Chennai, pumping 486 MLD of sewer water everyday.
Experts rued the lack of a systematic method of disposal. “Corporation can declare one day every three or six months for door-to-door collection of hazardous waste. This will help reduce the people’s tendency to dump expired medicines, cleaning containers and other hazardous waste indiscriminately,” said Karthikeyan.