Hazardous materials can be found in your household cleaners, the paint on your walls and the fuel in your car. Trains, tractor trailers and airplanes transfer these chemicals across the country daily. Companies use them every day to make products. These materials include the chemicals used by your dry cleaner to the pesticides you put on your garden. About 4.5 million retailers and industrial plants use hazardous materials daily. These materials, their use in manufacturing and their transportation are fine if you are careful. If these materials are leaked into your environment in large amounts, they can make you sick or even kill you. Acute exposure can come from a chemical spill at a local plant, a train derailment of cars carrying hazardous materials or tanker truck wreck on the highway. While these types of accidents are rare, the pose serious threats to the environment and anyone exposed to the chemicals.