Hazardous Wastes Research Paper

BACKGROUND

Federal law defines waste as hazardous if it corrodes, explodes, ignites easily, reacts with water, is unstable when heated, or is poisonous. Issues in hazardous waste management involve the effects and disposal of these environmental pollutants and health hazards.

BROWSE FOR BOOKS ON THE SHELF USING THESE CALL NUMBERS

363.729

363.7392

LOOK UNDER THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS IN THE CATALOG (CARD OR COMPUTER)

Hazardous wastes

Hazardous wastes—Environmental aspects

Hazardous wastes—Law and legislation

Hazardous wastes—United States

USE PAMPHLET FILE (ALSO CALLED VERTICAL FILE) UNDER THE HEADINGS

Hazardous wastes

Pollution

REFERENCE MATERIALS THAT MAY HELP (BOOKS OR CD-ROMS)

Editorials on File. Facts on File.

Facts on File

Magill, Frank N., ed. Magill’s Survey of Science: Earth Science Series, 1990.

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 1992.

The New Book of Popular Science. Grolier, 1994.

General encyclopedias

PERIODICAL INDEXES TO SEARCH (BOOKS OR CD-ROMS)

EBSCO Magazine Article Summaries

InfoTrac

NewsBank and other newspaper indexes

Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature

SIRS (Social Issues Resource Series)

WILSONDISC

ONLINE DATABASES TO SEARCH

America Online

CompuServe

Dialog
Internet

Prodigy

KEY WORDS AND DESCRIPTORS FOR PERIODICAL INDEX AND ONLINE SEARCHES

Hazardous wastes

Hazardous waste treatment facilities

Hazardous substances

Hazardous substance disposal

VIDEOTAPES ON THIS TOPIC

Cleaning up Toxics at Home. League of Women Voters, 1990.

Danger at the Beach. PBS Video, 1991.

We All Live Downstream. Greenpeace USA, 1990.

FICTION BOOK RELATING TO TOPIC

Sleator, William. Others See Us, 1993.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO CONTACT FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Center for Hazardous Materials Research, 320 William Pitt Way, University of Pittsburgh, Applied Research Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15238.

Citizens Clearinghouse for Hazardous Wastes, P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040.

SUGGESTIONS FOR NARROWING THIS TOPIC

Choose a specific hazardous material to research; e.g., asbestos, mercury, lead, dioxin.

Create an inventory of household hazardous wastes.

Investigate hazardous waste management.

Write about radioactive waste storage sites.

SUGGESTIONS FOR RELATED TOPICS

Electromagnetic fields

Carcinogens

Chernobyl

Nuclear arms

Pollution

Recycling

This RESEARCH TOPIC GUIDE is intended to help the library user find information and materials on a particular topic in many sources throughout the library. Resources on this topic are not limited to those described and availability will depend upon the individual library. Feel free to ask a librarian for assistance.