Introduction
Chemicals are an integral part of everyday life with over 100,000 different substances in use. Industries
producing and using these substances have an enormous impact on employment, trade and economic growth worldwide.
There is hardly any industry where chemical substances are not implicated and there is no single economic
sector where chemicals do not play an important role.
However, besides the benefits from chemicals it is increasingly recognized that they also have
the potential to adversely impact human health and the environment if not managed properly. The health related
effects range from acute poisoning to long term effects, such as cancers, birth defects, neurological disorders,
and hormone-disruption.
Environmental effects range from effects on sensitive species / ecosystems, to large scale issues
such as eutrophication of water bodies and stratospheric ozone depletion. Chemicals contamination is wide
spread both on land and in water. People are exposed through occupational activities as well as in daily
life through intake of contaminated drinking water, ingestion of contaminated food (e.g. fish contaminated
with mercury, DDT and/or PCBs), inhalation of polluted air (outdoor as well as indoor), and through direct skin contact.
Meanwhile, the continued growth pattern of global production, trade and use of chemicals exerts
an increasing chemicals management burden on the developing countries and those with economies in transition
that have the least capacities to deal with such complex challenges. By 2020, developing countries are expected
to lead the world in growth rate for high volume industrial chemicals, increasing their share of world chemicals
production to 31 %. Chemical consumption in developing countries is likewise growing much faster than in developed
countries and could account for a third of global consumption by 2020. Sustainable use of chemicals is an issue that
needs urgent attention in these countries not to endanger ecosystems, environmental resources, and the livelihoods
and health of future generations.
Objective
To minimize the impact of harmful substances and hazardous waste on the environment and human beings.
While chemicals are major contributors to national economies, they require sound management throughout
their life cycle. Otherwise, in addition to the benefits, they will pose significant risks to human health and the
environment and result in significant costs to national economies. There is an established link between the condition
of poverty and increased risks of exposure to toxic and hazardous chemicals, as they affect predominantly the poor who
routinely face unacceptable high risk of poisoning because of their occupation, living location and lack of knowledge of
proper chemicals management.
The global economy is also seeing a rapid increase in generation of hazardous wastes. These wastes not only
pose risks and hazards because of their nature but also have the potential to contaminate large quantities of otherwise
non-hazardous wastes if allowed to get mixed. Thus proper segregation, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes are of
paramount importance.
Although most of the conventional hazardous wastes are produced in industrial and manufacturing operations,
significant amounts are also generated in non-industrial sectors, including sludge from waste water treatment plants,
waste oils, and waste batteries.
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