Hazardous waste accounts for some of the toxic chemicals released each year in the United States
Shutterstock/Brandon Bordergis
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that toxic chemical releases to air, water, and soil increased 8% in the United States between 2020 and 2021. The increase may be related to the return to normal activity after many industries closed or suspended production at the height of the covid-19 pandemic.
The annual report analyzed data from EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory, which includes information on waste management from more than 21,000 facilities in industries such as mining, oil and coal, manufacturing, and hazardous waste.
Between 2020 and 2021, approximately 1.5 billion kilograms of toxic chemicals were released into the environment in the United States as part of routine operations. More than half of the releases occurred on land, mainly from metal mining. The remainder were emissions to air, surface water, and other waste (such as landfills) away from the reporting facility.
Economic indicators show post-2020 rise could be due to recovery in industrial activity after covid-19 decline pandemic, the report was found. EPA’s Charlotte Snyder said in a briefing on the report that many facilities have returned to full production after covid-related shutdowns.
Despite year-on-year increases, overall emissions have decreased by 10% since 2012. This long-term decline is due in part to a decline in coal-fired power, a trend that has reduced hydrochloric and sulfuric acid emissions to the atmosphere. .
Since 2012, the United States has seen a 22% increase in the amount of chemicals being recycled, treated, or otherwise managed to prevent their release into the environment, Snyder said at the briefing.
Eve Gartner of US environmental advocacy group Earthjustice said the report was a valuable window into chemical releases but provided an incomplete view. The roughly 800 chemicals the report covers are “just a fraction” of the chemicals in use, she said, not including some facilities that release toxic chemicals, such as airports. .
Reports also rely on companies accurately reporting their releases, which, according to Gartner, tend to be based on estimates of planned activity rather than on actual measurements. . “They capture what it would be like if things worked perfectly,” she says.
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