What are contaminants?
The term “environmental contaminant” is another name for pollution. A contaminant is a substance that is where it shouldn’t be and is at high enough levels to have a negative effect on our health or on the health of animals or plants. A contaminant is any potentially undesirable substance (physical, chemical or biological). It usually refers to the introduction of harmful human-made substances. However, some substances that may have harmful effects at high levels, like cadmium, occur naturally in ecosystems and may also be introduced through human activities. Tissue samples taken from Porcupine caribou, for example, show traces of cadmium which is naturally present in the lichens the caribou eat. Contaminants can be man-made substances produced by factories, such as DDT or toxaphene. It is the substance’s long life and its ability to spread over a wide area that makes an industrial contaminant such a problem. Chemicals used in other parts of the world enter into the upper atmosphere an
The word ‘contaminants’ describe something that is in the wrong spot. Contaminants in the recycling stream are things that shouldn’t really be there as they reduce the productivity of the recycling process. Items that are not recyclable with current technology (contaminants) are; plastic bags, clothing and shoes, food wrappers, waxed cardboard, food waste, green waste, plant pots, cooking oil, chemicals or liquids, broken crockery, batteries and car parts, computer parts, wire or rope, gas cylinders, toys and nappies.
