Bio 2106: Environmental
Biology
Lab 3: Your House Can Be
Hazardous To Your Health
Lab Requires:
Internet Access
Time to Compete: 2-3 days, YOU MUST COMPLETE ALL FOUR PARTS OF
THE LAB FOR FULL CREDIT
In the readings about
hazardous waste (if you are taking Bio 2206), you learned that childhood
leukemia in
We now know that playing
with mercury and radon will kill you. But neither Zappa, nor his family,
had any idea that chemicals brought into their home were lethal. Thus is
it crucial to be aware of your own environment and the chemicals that can harm
yourself, and your loved ones.
In this exercise your job
is to search your house for 10 chemicals that may be toxic. The garage, laundry
room, workshop and bathroom cleaners are good places to start. If you can not
find 10 in your own home, go visit a friend of family member and search their
environment. Unfortunately, it won’t take long
Part A: Identifying
Harmful Products
1. List the ten substances you have
found and fill out the following table. Please follow all the safety
instructions on the manufacturer’s label when handling the product!
SUBSTANCE (chemical name) and it’s function |
Location in House |
Warning Label on Product |
Toxicity Level |
Proper Disposal |
Ex. Bleach To kill germs |
Laundry room |
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Part B: Checking
Toxicity’s
Now that
you have your ten substances, go to the Internet and type in the following
address at the URL prompt: http://www.herc.org/library/msds.htm. This
site will give you the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS's)
for 50 or more common household products. Manufacturers are required to post
this information by law: but if doesn't always end up on the back of the bottle
where it would be easy for you to see it and read it!! Another site which gives
you general information (in case your product is not at the first site) is
http:/www.cleaningpro.com/toxic.cfm. This is a very
large site with a lot of useful (and sobering) information. Scroll down half
way or more to find the toxicity information for house hold products (you can
use this site or find one of your own).
Locate the ten substances
that you found in you home and look each one up. Write a brief paragraph about
each substance that compares the information that is listed by the independent
web against the information provided by the manufacturer’s label. For instance
you may note that important information about the substance is incorrect,
minimized, or missing altogether from the manufacturer’s label. Please note
which substance in your home is considered most dangerous.
Part C.
Alternative Solutions To Toxic Substances
Frequently, there is a
non-toxic, alternative substance to replace your toxic chemical. Often health
food stores and environmentally friendly stores carry these products. Here in
Austin, we have a variety of stores that carry non-toxic alternatives. These
stores include Sun Harvest, Whole Foods Market, Central Market, and the Wheatsville Food Coop In this part of the assignment you
need to go to one, or more of these stores and find an alternative product for
each of your toxic substances- in other words a product that will serve the
same function (such as bleach that whitens) but without the toxicity. If you
can not find a store that carries you product, go to http:/www.cleaningpro.com
for some ideas.
Toxic Substance |
Alternative Product |
Store that carries Alternative |
Difference between the two products |
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D. Weighing the
alternatives
You now have two products, which
can potentially serve the same function in you home. One is more toxic than the
other. For each of the original 10 substances, choose the one (toxic OR
nontoxic) which you believe you will actually use in the future. There will be
cost and benefits for each product: the alternative product may not work as
well, may not last as long, may require special sprayers or pumps, or simply
cost more that you can afford. Thus to complete this part of the assignment,
for each of you ten substances, you must state which substance (toxic or non
toxic) you will buy, and give your reasons why.