Unit 8

RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)

"Cradle to grave" tracking, hazardous waste properly management

environmental impact of dead zones

- Decrease in overall diversity in area - Disproportionate loss of benthic/bottom-dwelling species - Loss of habitat area - Increase in disease in aquatic organisms as a result of stress - Reduction in dissolved oxygen - Die-off of fish and other aquatic organisms

a solution to reduce the amount of MSW disposed of in sanitary landfills

- Reduce the amount of materials at the source (reduce the amount of waste created by using more efficient packaging or substituting materials, increase composting, move to paperless options) - Reuse materials (reuse cups or glass bottles rather than recycling or discarding, repair objects instead of throwing them away) - Incinerate wastes

oil spill control methods

- booms to keep oil from spreading - chemicals break up oil, making is disperse - genetically engineered bacteria that consume oil - skimming the top of water to collect oil

Which of the following best describes the action of an endocrine disruptor?

An endocrine disruptor blocks the receptor protein binding site of a hormone so that the cell cannot receive a signal.

increase in water temperature would decrease the amount of dissolved oxygen, it would not increase the rate of decomposition

Increased decomposition could decrease dissolved oxygen, not the reverse.

Which of the following is a way to potentially eliminate one of the greatest threats to the world's mangrove wetlands?

Integrate ecologically sound shrimp aquacultural practices with mangrove management.

POPs are released in to the air, water, and land, which allows them to be transported and incorporated in multiple ways.

POPs are globally distributed by air or water currents. They can enter living organisms through exposure to contaminated air, water, or food.

Describe a potential environmental problem that could result from rain falling on a sanitary landfill

Runoff can contaminate surface water or groundwater with pollutants from the landfill. Toxins from runoff can be washed into the soil. Leachate can contaminate surface water or groundwater with pollutants from the landfill.

the role of the immune system in vertebrate animals.

The immune system attacks pathogens and other infectious agents, not hormones.

solutions

Use clay/plastic liners to reduce leakage of toxins into the landfill Install/improve a leachate collection system to collect water that has percolated through the landfill Install/improve a stormwater collection system to collect rainwater that falls on the landfill

describe how thermal pollution from power plant discharge would affect the frequency of dead zones.

Warmer water cannot hold as much dissolved oxygen as cold water can hold, which would increase the number of hypoxic zones/dead zones.

The concentration levels of toxins like mercury

are based on metabolic levels of absorption and excretion, which could vary between species.

Heavy Metal: Arsenic

from mining neurotoxic

The warm water decreased the amount of dissolved oxygen

leads to an increase in the respiration rate of the aquatic organisms

The Clean Water Act

regulates discharge of pollutants into the waters and regulates quality standards for surface waters in US

Organic solids that have settled during primary treatment are

sent to the sludge treatment tank for breakdown through biological processes

Problem: As leachate seeps through the landfill, chemical reactions can take place that produce methane, carbon dioxide, alcohols, and other toxic products

solution: Install/improve a methane collection system to capture methane gas (for electricity generation)

CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act)

taxes chemical/petroleum industries -Superfund: use the taxed money to cleanup -Brownfields: land whose reuse/development are complicated by the presence of hazardous materials

The Clean Water Act requires wetlands

to be constructed to mitigate the effect of newly drained wetlands.

Dysentery is caused by

untreated sewage in streams and rivers

Grit chamber

uses solids, such as sand, to settle out pollutants by gravity. This physical process of removing inorganic particles is part of primary treatment.

Fecal coliform is a bacteria found in

waste products from humans, livestock, and wildlife. Can enter rivers through direct discharge from untreated sewage.

pneumonia [nuːˈmoʊniə]

肺炎