Poisoning and chemical burns resulting from contact with small amounts of hazardous chemical waste mixed with general waste. Burns and other injuries resulting from occupational accidents at waste disposal sites or from methane gas explosion at landfill sites. Some studies have detected excesses of cancer in residents exposed to hazardous waste. Many studies have been carried out in various parts of the world to establish a connection between health and hazardous waste. The unhygienic use and disposal of plastics and its effects on human health has become a matter of concern.
Coloured plastics are harmful as their pigment contains heavy metals that are highly toxic.
Some of the harmful metals found in plastics are copper, lead, chromium, cobalt, selenium, and cadmium. In most industrialized countries, colour plastics have been legally banned. In India, the Government of Himachal Pradesh has banned the use of plastics and so has Ladakh district. Other states should emulate their example. Proper methods of waste disposal have to be undertaken to ensure that it does not affect the environment around the area or cause health hazards to the people living there.