ABSTRACT
Materials that are collectively referred to as ‘‘wastes’’ vary in form and physicochemical characteristics. The hazards posed by materials may not be derived from all measures of hazard but from one or a combination of a few components of hazard measures. The factors that are most commonly used to identify wastes are toxicity to living organisms, reactivity, corrosivity, and ignitability. Regulatory agencies have established minimum quantitative levels of each of these parameters for classification of materials as hazardous wastes. In some cases, parameters that are surrogates of one or more of these parameters are used by regulatory agencies. The reader should note that hazardous waste may be identified on the basis of just one of the parameters listed above.
