This guide is designed to help individuals make responsible decisions about safe use and disposal of household products. It consists of eight sections dealing with: (1) hazardous chemicals in the home, how hazaradous products become hazardous waste, and whether a hazardous waste problem exists in Puget Sound; (2) which household wastes are…

The document maintains that the world is filled with health hazards and the best a person can do is to assess the danger of individual products, learn the risks, weigh the risks against the benefits, and decide whether or not to personally take these risks or to subject family members to them. This perspective begins in the home. This book…

Suggests that a literature survey can alert students to real-life ethical problems surrounding many organic compounds. Topic areas students could explore include: hazards in the workplace, toxic chemicals, and nerve gas structures. Background information and an extensive bibliography are given. (DH)

The Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Project was established as an interagency effort to reduce the level of toxicants entering the environment by developing a control plan for the safe disposal of small quantities of household chemicals. This summary report provides an overview of the aspects of this problem that were examined, and the steps…

Discusses the nature of toxic substances, examining pesticides and herbicides, heavy metals, industrial chemicals, and household substances. Includes a list of major toxic substances (indicating what they are, where they are found, and health concerns) and a student activity on how pesticides enter the food chain. (JN)

This curriculum consists of a one-week course of study designed to introduce students in grades 4-6 to (or increase their awareness of) toxic substances commonly found in the home. It includes an introduction/conceptual framework, four lessons, a unit evaluation, and appendices. Each lesson consists of a statement of purpose, objectives,…

Describes the potential health hazards of using thioacetamide in introductory courses where students are involved in qualitative inorganic analysis. Describes the chemical as possessing carcinogenic, hepatotoxic, and mutagenic properties. Cautions that thioacetamide has caused various biochemical changes in the liver, and recommends limited uses…

During the 1986 Coastweek, a national event dedicated to improvement of the marine environment, a large beach cleanup was organized on the Texas coast. The goals of the cleanup were to create public awareness of the problems caused by marine debris, and to collect data on the types and quantities of debris found on the Texas coastline. The…

This curriculum consists of a one-week course of study designed to introduce students in grades 7-8 to (or increase their awareness of) toxic substances commonly found in the home. It includes an introduction/conceptual framework, four lessons, a unit test, and appendices. Each lesson consists of a statement of purpose, objectives,…

Recounts the problems of a high school chemistry program in safely storing and disposing of chemicals. Describes the school's new system of inventorying and dating all chemicals, using warning stickers, isolating certain hazardous substances, and cataloging references to the use of each chemical and its container. (TW)

Describes an activity in which students examine hypothetical exposure to toxins by being showered by different colored pieces of confetti over several visits to exposure sites. Students record quantities of confetti that stick to packing tape. Colors correspond to different toxins posing different health problems. Students process their findings…

This report focuses on three 11-day summer institutes on "The Impact of Toxic and Hazardous Materials on Humans and the Environment" conducted for 90 secondary school science teachers over the course of three summers at Sonoma State University, California. These summer institutes were all followed up with in-service days during the…

Discusses the need for chemistry laboratory safety procedures. Provides descriptions of techniques to increase students' awareness of the symptoms of such things as toxic gas clouds that could escape into the laboratory, along with defensive strategies for reacting to such situations. (TW)

This curriculum consists of a one-week course of study designed to introduce students in grades 9-12 to (or increase their awareness of) toxic substances commonly found in the home. It includes an introduction/conceptual framework, five lessons, a unit test, and appendices. Each lesson consists of a statement of purpose, objectives, list of…

Encourages instruction about disposal of hazardous wastes in college chemistry laboratories as an integral part of experiments done by students. Discusses methods such as down-the-drain disposal, lab-pack disposal, precipitation and disposal, and precipitation and recovery. Suggests that faculty and students take more responsibility for waste…