Universal waste includes: CRTs — Cathode Ray Tubes (computer monitors, TVs); fluorescent light bulbs, also called fluorescent lamps; mercury-containing thermostats; certain batteries, mostly rechargeable ones; lighting ballasts (transformers) that contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); mercury devices, such as mercury thermometers, mercury containing barometers, and mercury containing switches from appliances (sump pumps, for example); motor vehicle mercury switches; and digital picture frames, desk top printers.
It may surprise you to learn that universal wastes are hazardous. Although you use the items listed above without any special protective equipment, and it is perfectly safe to handle thermometers and fluorescent lamps that are not broken, all these items contain hazardous chemicals that can harm human health and the environment. These items, when not handled and disposed of properly, can pollute the environment the same way the traditional, “icky” hazardous wastes, like those containing dioxin and arsenic, can.
Until recently many viewed these products as items that could be thrown in the trash. Research has shown that this is not a good idea, especially when it comes to products with mercury.
The most common hazardous chemical contained in universal wastes is mercury. Mercury is a neurotoxin. This means it slows fetal and child development and impairs brain function. High exposure can cause tremors, numbness of fingers and toes, loss of muscle control, memory loss, and kidney disease. Mercury enters the human body primarily by eating fish. Recent studies of fish and loons (which eat fish) in Maine have shown mercury to be much more widespread and in higher concentrations than previously thought. We have lots of work to do to reduce the levels of mercury in Maine’s environment.
What can you do?
The most important thing you can do to keep hazardous chemicals in the universal waste and out of Maine’s environment is to separate fluorescent lamps, thermometers, thermostats, etc. from your household trash. Store them safely to prevent breakage, and take them to a place that accepts universal wastes. Your town must provide you with an option to recycle universal waste. The most popular is to provide a separate location for universal waste at the local transfer station. (Some charge a small fee to fund appropriate disposal or recycling.) Others may direct you to a regional recycling facility.
Contact your town office to see how your town is separating universal waste. You can contact the DEP at 287-2651 or visit our Web site (MaineDEP.com) for more information.
Peter Moulton is an environmental engineer in the DEP’s Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management. E-mail your environmental questions to infodep@maine.gov or send them to In Our Backyard, Maine DEP, 17 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333.
The difference between hazardous and universal waste
In Our Back Yard
Courtesy of the state Department of Environmental Protection
You have probably heard the term “hazardous waste”. Most people know this as the type of waste they definitely do NOT want to be around, a waste that is dangerous to handle without proper safety equipment (like safety glasses and chemical resistant gloves) and dangerous to store without taking special precautions. Hazardous waste has been regulated and managed for years. Now there is a new term – “universal waste” – for classifying wastes from households that pose hazards if not managed properly.
