I strongly disagree with any…

I strongly disagree with any reduction of regulations, and of public and government oversight on the hazardous waste industry. These businesses are operating on small margins and will look for any ways they can to reduce monetary costs, regardless of the costs to the environment and human health. Since human health depends on a healthy and pollution-free environment, it is important to make sure that both are protected to as high a degree as possible especially since our health care system has been robbed of support over the last 7 years.
As a society we need to keep a careful watch on waste management industries and regulate them meticulously to keep our air and water clean. If that means they need to charge more for their services, so be it. Everyone has an interest in a healthy environment.
• Waste-management systems that transport and store waste, in particular, asbestos waste, hazardous waste and biomedical waste have the potential to cause serious harm to the natural environment and human health.
• Exposure to asbestos can cause serious health impacts, such as lung cancer and mesothelioma.
• Hazardous waste includes substances which are classified as “toxic substances” under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and includes metals such as arsenic and chromium that, which are listed as human carcinogens by the International Agency for the Research on Cancer.
• Biomedical waste can be infectious or biohazardous and can potentially lead to the spread of infectious diseases.

It is as important to track the location of these wastes and dispose of them in safe depositories as it is for nuclear waste. These substances have at least as much potential as nuclear waste to cause harm to the natural environment and human health.