Every year, major health problems result from hazardous waste.  Increasing amounts of hazardous waste have caused increasing health problems.

There are over 80,000 chemicals in existence, and many are used commonly in industrial processes.  Often, these chemicals find themselves in places where they are able to harm human health.

Insufficient research has been done to provide data on the effects of every chemical.  Because waste chemicals often mix together, it will also be necessary to learn how combinations of these chemicals affect human health.

To compound the problem created by a lack of knowledge, 1,500 new chemicals are invented every year and many are introduced into industrial processes.

Though the health problems being created are uncertain, they definitely do exist.

In 1989, a school in New Jersey had to be closed because students there had suffered excessive exposure to chromium.  It was later learned that large amounts of chromium had been dumped nearby, and had blown over to the school area.

Often, the lack of knowledge and certainty about what chemicals are dangerous reduces the possibilities of restricting their use.

Sadly, it is often only after someone has died or become seriously ill that governments will intervene and reduce levels of dumped hazardous waste.