Many of these products are used regularly around the house and contain ingredients similar to the hazardous chemicals produced by industry and regulated by state and federal environmental rules. When used or disposed of incorrectly, these household hazardous materials may threaten not only your health, but also the surface water, the groundwater, and the rest of the environment as well.

Like industrial hazardous materials, household hazardous materials have at least one of the following properties:

• Toxic: poisonous or cancer-causing
• Flammable or ignitable: burns or ignites easily
• Corrosive: eats through materials
• Reactive: can explode

According to the Missouri Resource Review, the average American household contains an estimated 50 to 100 pounds of accumulated household hazardous wastes.

Over the past few decades, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of "convenience products" that are available to consumers. Unfortunately, these products offering quick and easy ways to clean and maintain your home can also pose health risks.

For example, chemicals such as sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide, which are found in liquid drain cleaner, can be corrosive to your eyes, skin, mouth, throat, esophagus, and stomach. Improperly storing a bottle of drain cleaner, stain remover, disinfectant, or any other household hazardous material may also increase the risk of accidental injuries or explosions. Be sure to read warning labels carefully and always follow directions on the container.

The danger associated with household hazardous material does not disappear once these chemicals leave the confines of your home. In fact the hazardous materials found in common household products cannot be treated by sewage treatment plants and septic tanks.

When products such as drain cleaner are poured into sinks and drains, they can contribute to the pollution problem in our lakes and bayous. The same sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide in the drain cleaner that can burn your eyes and skin can also change the pH of water, causing fish kills.

When household chemicals are no longer useful, they are often discarded with other household garbage. But unlike food scraps and paper goods that are thrown out, household hazardous wastes may pose serious threats to the air, land, surface water, and groundwater, as well as pose a health risk to sanitation workers.

Groundwater and surface water bodies can become contaminated when household chemicals are improperly disposed of outside the home. Motor oil, antifreeze, pesticides, paint, and paint thinners should never be poured down storm drains or into open ditches for disposal. Storm sewers and ditches are fit for only uncontaminated storm water; they lead directly to lakes, rivers, and bayous without any wastewater treatment.

Household chemicals put out with the trash usually end up in a landfill or incinerator, and most municipal sanitary landfills don't have a proper lining system to protect the groundwater.

However, because household hazardous materials are exempt from hazardous waste regulations developed for industrial sources, tons of drain cleaner residue, antifreeze, nail polish remover, and other potentially toxic substances are disposed of daily in municipal solid waste landfills.

Most hazardous materials do not biodegrade through natural environmental processes. In other words, they will not disappear with time. For example, all-weather house paint is formulated to withstand sunlight, harsh weather conditions, and small organisms such as termites. Those same endurance qualities make paint a potentially volatile hazardous material even after years in a landfill.

When hazardous chemicals are combined with thousands of pounds of unsegregated solid waste in a municipal landfill, all sorts of adverse chemical reactions may take place. In the long run, household hazardous wastes may corrode the liner system of a landfill and migrate into a community's groundwater supply, ultimately contaminating the water we drink.

The bottom line is that household hazardous chemicals cannot be disposed of safely at home or at landfills designed only for safe disposal of solid waste. So how do we get rid of the stuff?

In Louisiana, companies such as Rollins Environmental Services, Dow U.S.A., and Chemical Waste Management, along with DEQ, periodically sponsor "Household Hazardous Waste Day." This offers citizens an opportunity to bring old paint, pesticides, and similar waste products to a central location. Hazardous materials professionals safely package the waste and then transport it to a permitted incinerator for disposal.

In May 1992, more than 71,000 pounds of household hazardous waste were collected in the Baton Rouge area as a result of the Household Hazardous Waste Day sponsored by Dow U.S.A. and DEQ. As people become more aware of household hazardous chemicals, the number of collection drives and amount of waste collected are expected to increase.

The best way to prevent the risks associated with household hazardous waste is simply to avoid buying the materials in the first place. There are several safe and convenient alternatives to the cleaning and lawn-care products available in stores.

For example, a nontoxic alternative to store-bought glass cleaner is a vinegar-and-water mixture. Instead of spraying roach and ant repellent, sprinkle powdered boric acid around baseboards. Boiling water poured down a drain once a week can work as well as a commercial drain cleaner. In most cases, cleaning substitutes may require a little more "elbow grease" but are well worth the effort to protect your health and the environment.

Be aware of labels on products at the grocery or hardware store to determine if the products are toxic. Words such as Danger, Warning, and Poison indicate that a product is harmful and may require a specific means of disposal. Ask local merchants what nontoxic alternatives to toxic household items they have in stock, and use them.

If you must purchase products containing toxic substances, buy only the amount you can use at one time. If you do have leftover materials, ask your friends if they can use them, or donate the materials to a local charity group.

And always dispose of product containers properly, following your community's policy on household hazardous waste and checking product labels for specific disposal instructions. If your community doesn't already have a collection program, encourage business and civic leaders to organize a Household Hazardous Waste Day.