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<blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 9732711" data-attributes="member: 50987">Sometimes.&nbsp; Other times, Mother Nature makes the poison for us through natural processes.&nbsp;&nbsp; Some chemicals only become toxic when oxidized or mixed with water, for example.&nbsp; We release something perfectly safe, and then 30 years later Mother Nature goes and adds a hydroxide ion to it and turns it into poison.For those substances, we try to transform them into safer compounds before releasing them (like mixing chlorine with citric acid), or binding them with stuff that doesn't mobilize as easily (like soaking up spilled hydraulic fluid with kitty litter), or we find other places to put it instead of the environment (like landfills).&nbsp; Bonus points if you can turn a waste product into something&nbsp; useful (yep, even chemicals get recycled sometimes.)It gets really complicated when you factor illegal dumping into the equation.&nbsp; Or accidents like train derailments.&nbsp; Or when two different industries don't talk to each other,&nbsp; and end up releasing two different waste streams that would be safe on their own, but are toxic when accidentally combined.&nbsp; How do you predict this stuff?All this to say:&nbsp; mad respect for the environmental engineers out there.&nbsp; Y'all are doing a hard job, and you don't get nearly enough respect for it in the industry.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CleverNickName, post: 9732711, member: 50987"] Sometimes. Other times, Mother Nature makes the poison for us through natural processes. Some chemicals only become toxic when oxidized or mixed with water, for example. We release something perfectly safe, and then 30 years later Mother Nature goes and adds a hydroxide ion to it and turns it into poison. For those substances, we try to transform them into safer compounds before releasing them (like mixing chlorine with citric acid), or binding them with stuff that doesn't mobilize as easily (like soaking up spilled hydraulic fluid with kitty litter), or we find other places to put it instead of the environment (like landfills). Bonus points if you can turn a waste product into something useful (yep, even chemicals get recycled sometimes.) It gets [I]really[/I] complicated when you factor illegal dumping into the equation. Or accidents like train derailments. Or when two different industries don't talk to each other, and end up releasing two different waste streams that would be safe on their own, but are toxic when accidentally combined. How do you predict this stuff? All this to say: mad respect for the environmental engineers out there. Y'all are doing a hard job, and you don't get nearly enough respect for it in the industry. [/QUOTE]

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