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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Hazardous waste. (Discuss) Proposed since October 2011.

Valley of the Drums, a toxic waste site in Kentucky, United States, 1980.

Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death, injury or birth defects to living creatures ^[1]. It spreads quite easily and can contaminate lakes and rivers and atmosphere. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment.

Hazardous wastes are poisonous byproducts of manufacturing, farming, city septic systems, construction, automotive garages, laboratories, hospitals, and other industries. The waste may be liquid, solid, or sludge and contain chemicals, heavy metals, radiation, dangerous pathogens, or other toxins. Even households generate hazardous waste from items such as batteries, used computer equipment, and leftover paints or pesticides..^[2]

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state departments oversee the rules that regulate hazardous waste. The EPA requires that toxic waste be handled with special precautions and be disposed of in designated facilities around the country. Also, many cities in the United States have collection days where household toxic waste is gathered. Some materials that may not be accepted at regular landfills are ammunition, commercially generated waste, explosives/shock sensitive items, hypodermic needles/syringes, medical waste, radioactive materials, and smoke detectors.^[3]

Health effects[link]

Toxic wastes often contain carcinogens, and exposure to these by some route, such as leakage or evaporation from the storage, causes cancer to appear at increased frequency in exposed individuals. For example, a cluster of the rare blood cancer polycythemia vera was found around a toxic waste dump site in northeast Pennsylvania in 2008.^[4]

The Human & Ecological Risk Assessment Journal conducted a study which focused on the health of individuals living near municipal landfills to see if it would be as harmful as living near hazardous landfills. They conducted a 7-year study that specifically tested for 18 types of cancers to see if the participants had higher rates than those that don’t live around landfills. They conducted this study in western Massachusetts within a 1-mile radius of the North Hampton Regional Landfill. ^[5]

People encounter these toxins buried in the ground, in stream runoff, in groundwater that supplies drinking water, or in floodwaters, as happened after Hurricane Katrina. Some toxins, such as mercury, persist in the environment and accumulate. As a result of the bioaccumulation of mercury in both freshwater and marine ecosystems, predatory fish are a significant source of mercury in human and animal diets.^[6]

Handling and disposal[link]

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Disposal is the placement of waste into or on the land. Disposal facilities are usually designed to permanently contain the waste and prevent the release of harmful pollutants to the environment. The most common hazardous waste disposal practice is placement in a land disposal unit such as a landfill, surface impoundment, waste pile, land treatment unit, or injection well. Land disposal is subject to requirements under EPA’s Land Disposal Restrictions Program.^[7]

Organic wastes can be destroyed by incineration at high temperatures; however, if the waste contains heavy metals or radioactive isotopes, these must be separated and stored, as they cannot be destroyed. The method of storage will seek to immobilize the toxic components of the waste, possibly through storage in sealed containers, inclusion in a stable medium such as glass or a cement mixture, or burial under an impermeable clay cap. Waste transporters and waste facilities may charge fees; consequently, improprer methods of disposal may be used to avoid paying these fees. Where the handling of toxic waste is regulated, the improper disposal of toxic waste may be punishable by fines^[8] or prison terms. Burial sites for toxic waste and other contaminated brownfield land may eventually be used as greenspace or redeveloped for commercial or industrial use.

History of US toxic waste regulation[link]

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Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Enforcement, ^[9]. The Act gives the United States Environmental Protection Agency the authority to control the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste^[10] The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act was followed by the Toxic Substances Control Act, which took effect on January 1, 1977. The Act authorized the EPA to secure information on all new and existing chemical substances, as well as to control any substances that were determined to cause unreasonable risk to public health or the environment.^[11]

The Superfund Act is another act administered by the EPA. It contains rules about cleaning up toxic waste that was dumped illegally.^[12]

There has been a long ongoing battle between communities and environmentalists versus governments and corporations about how strict and how fairly the regulations and laws are written and enforced. That battle began in North Carolina in the late summer of 1978, as EPA's TSCA regulations were being implemented. In North Carolina, 31,000 gallons of PCB-contaminated oil were deliberately dripped in a 3-foot swath along some 240 miles of rural Piedmont highways, creating the largest PCB spills in American history and a public health crisis that would have repercussions for generations to come. The PCB-contaminated material was eventually collected and buried in a landfill in Warren County, but citizens' opposition, including large public demonstrations, exposed the dangers of toxic waste, the fallibility of landfills then in use, and EPA regulations allowing landfills to be built on marginal, but politically acceptable sites.

Warren County citizens argued that the toxic waste landfill regulations were based on the fundamental assumption that the EPA's conceptual dry-tomb landfill would contain the toxic waste. This assumption informed the siting of toxic waste landfills and waivers to regulations that were included in EPA's Federal Register. For example, in 1978, the base of a major toxic waste landfill could be no closer than five feet from ground water, but this regulation and others could be waived. The waiver to the regulation concerning the distance between the base of a toxic waste landfill and groundwater allowed the base to be only a foot above ground water if the owner/operator of the facility could demonstrate to the EPA regional administrator that a leachate collection system could be installed and that there would be no hydraulic connection between the base of the landfill and groundwater. Citizens argued that the waivers to the siting regulations were discriminatory mechanisms facilitating the shift from scientific to political considerations concerning the siting decision and that in the South this would mean a discriminatory proliferation of dangerous waste management facilities in poor black and other minority communities. They also argued that the scientific consensus was that permanent containment could not be assured. As resistance to the siting of the PCB landfill in Warren County continued and studies revealed that EPA dry-tomb landfills were failing, EPA stated in its Federal Register that all landfills would eventually leak and should only be used as a stopgap measure.

Years of research and empirical knowledge of the failures of the Warren County PCB landfill led citizens of Warren County to conclude that the EPA's dry-tomb landfill design and regulations governing the disposal of toxic and hazardous waste were not based on sound science and adequate technology. Citizens^[who?] concluded also that North Carolina's 1981 Waste Management Act was scientifically and constitutionally unacceptable because it authorized the siting of toxic, hazardous and nuclear waste facilities prior to public hearings, preempted local authority over the siting of the facilities, and authorized the use of force if needed.^[13]

In the aftermath of the Warren County protests, the 1984 Federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act focused on waste minimization and phasing out land disposal of hazardous waste as well as corrective action for releases of hazardous materials. Other measures included in the 1984 amendments included increased enforcement authority for EPA, more stringent hazardous waste management standards, and a comprehensive underground storage tank program.^[14].

The disposal of toxic waste continues to be a source of conflict in the U.S. Due to the hazards associated with toxic waste handling and disposal, communities often resist the siting of toxic waste landfills and other waste management facilities; however, determining where and how to dispose of waste is a necessary part of economic and environmental policy-making.^[15]

Mapping of toxic waste in the United States[link]

TOXMAP is a Geographic Information System (GIS) from the Division of Specialized Information Services^[16] of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) that uses maps of the United States to help users visually explore data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Superfund and Toxics Release Inventory programs. TOXMAP is a resource funded by the US Federal Government. TOXMAP's chemical and environmental health information is taken from NLM's Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET)^[17] and PubMed, and from other authoritative sources.

See also[link]

• Superfund
• List of Superfund sites in the United States
• Pollution
• Radioactive waste
• Hazardous Waste
• Healthy Child Healthy World
• Environmental remediation
• Agent Orange

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

• Information on toxic waste from the CDC
• TOXMAP: Environmental Health e-maps from the US National Library of Medicine

Mario Götze

Mario Götze in June 2011
Personal information
Full name	Mario Götze
Date of birth	(1992-06-03) 3 June 1992 (age 20)
Place of birth	Memmingen, Germany
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder/Winger
Club information
Current club	Borussia Dortmund
Number	11
Youth career
1997–1998	SC Ronsberg
1998–2001	FC Eintracht Hombruch
2001–2009	Borussia Dortmund
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2009–	Borussia Dortmund	54	(12)
National team‡
2007	Germany U15	2	(0)
2007–2008	Germany U16	8	(3)
2008–2009	Germany U17	13	(5)
2010	Germany U21	2	(0)
2010–	Germany	14	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:00, 28 April 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:18, 31 May 2012 (UTC)

Mario Götze (born 3 June 1992) is a German footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga and the German national team. He primarily plays as an attacking midfielder and a right winger. Götze is considered to be an up-and-coming, potential world class player due to his speed, technical skill, play-making abilities and creativity. German Football Association's technical director Matthias Sammer called him "one of the best talents that we've ever had".^[1]

Club career[link]

Götze is a product of Dortmund's youth academy, first entering the club as an eight-year-old. He made his Bundesliga debut on 21 November 2009 in a 0–0 draw against Mainz 05, coming on as a substitute for Jakub Błaszczykowski in the 88th minute. During the winter break of 2009–10 Bundesliga season, Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp promoted Mario Götze to the first team.

Götze took his chance and was an important player in Dortmund's Bundesliga winning squad of the 2010–11 season.

In January 2012, Götze was diagnosed with a hip injury. Cartilage in Götze's hip had inflamed under stress.^[2]

On 27 March 2012, Götze signed a new contract with Borussia Dortmund, keeping him at the club until 2016. Götze spoke about his contract extension saying, "Everyone knows how comfortable I feel in Dortmund. The club are far from finished with their recent resurgence. And I want to be part of this development."^[3]

In April 2012, Götze made the squad for the first time since his hip injury but was an unused substitute against rivals Schalke. Götze played his first game since his hip injury when he came on as a substitute against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

International career[link]

After ascending through several youth teams, Mario Götze was called up for his first senior match for Germany against Sweden, on 17 November 2010. He made his debut that day, coming on in the 78th minute in a goalless draw, substituting for his Dortmund teammate Kevin Großkreutz^[4] and becoming the youngest German international since Uwe Seeler.^[5] Götze and André Schürrle who came on simultaneously are the first two Germany players to be born in reunified Germany. He made his second appearance for the national team in a friendly match against Italy on 9 February 2011. Götze's first goal for Germany was against Brazil on 10 August 2011; at 19 years and 68 days he became the joint-youngest goalscorer for the German national team in the post-war era along with Klaus Stürmer who scored on debut against France on 16 October 1954.^[6]

Personal life[link]

His father Jürgen Götze is a renowned professor at the Dortmund University of Technology.^[7][8] His brother Fabian Götze currently plays for VfL Bochum II, having left Dortmund's youth system in 2010.

Career statistics[link]

Club career[link]

Statistics accurate as of 21 January 2012^[9]

International goals[link]

Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	10 August 2011	Mercedes-Benz Arena, Stuttgart, Germany	Brazil	2–0	3–2	Friendly
2.	2 September 2011	Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany	Austria	6–2	6–2	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Borussia Dortmund

• Bundesliga (2): 2010–11, 2011–12
• DFB-Pokal (1): 2011–12

Germany[link]

• UEFA U-17 Championship (1): 2009

Individual[link]

• Fritz-Walter-Medal 2009 in Gold (Category U17)
• Fritz-Walter-Medal 2010 in Gold (Category U18)
• Member of the kicker team of the year (German Bundesliga season 2010–11)
• Golden Boy Award: 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website (German)
• Mario Götze at National-Football-Teams.com
• Mario Götze – UEFA competition record

v t e Germany squad – UEFA Euro 2012 1 Neuer 2 Gündoğan 3 Schmelzer 4 Höwedes 5 Hummels 6 Khedira 7 Schweinsteiger 8 Özil 9 Schürrle 10 Podolski 11 Klose 12 Wiese 13 Müller 14 Badstuber 15 L. Bender 16 Lahm (c) 17 Mertesacker 18 Kroos 19 Götze 20 Boateng 21 Reus 22 Zieler 23 Gómez Coach: Löw