Household Hazardous Waste in Massachusetts

Abstract

Household wastes, when disposed of improperly, are hazardous to health. This paper reports a random digit dial telephone survey of Massachusetts households concerning household hazardous waste (HHW) disposal with a 54% response. Of the automotive oil disposed of by 33% of survey households, 57% was deposited in the ground, sewer, or landfill. Annually by household oil disposal in Massachusetts is estimated to be 8.8 million quarts. Four percent of hazardous waste generated in Massachusetts is from households. Improper disposal makes it a major environmental contaminant. More households (41.5%) in smaller communities disposed of oil compared with 26% of households in larger communities. Paint and pesticides were disposed of by 10% of the households, but were dumped on the ground sewer or landfills more than 90% of the time.