Unit 8 APES EXAM
How does acid deposition form and what are the effects of it?
Acid rain forms when certain human activities disrupt the natural nitrogen cycle and sulfur cycle by adding too much nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide to the atmosphere. The effects of acid rain include it damages statues, can potentially lead to human respiratory diseases, can leach toxic metals, can harm ecosystems, crops, and mountaintop forests
What is acid rain aka acid deposition?
Act rain occurs when acids fall and acid-forming compounds from the atmosphere to the earth's surface
Distinguish among air pollution, primary air pollutants, and secondary air pollutants.
Air pollution is the existence of chemicals in the atmosphere which are in high concentrations often enough to detrimentally affect living things, ecosystems, alter climate, or human made substances. Primary air pollutants are substances/chemicals diffused directly into the air at high concentrations often enough to detrimentally affect living things, these substances/chemicals are from human activities and natural processes. Secondary air pollutants are dangerous chemicals that made in the atmosphere when a primary air pollutant reacts with normal air components or other air pollutants.
What is an oxygen sag curve? How can the problem be fixed?
An oxygen sag curve is a graph showing the oxygen levels decreasing downstream from a pollution source as decomposers stabilize waste materials. This problem can be fixed by not overloading streams with pollutants.
What is an example of a hormone mimic?
BPA
explain water treatment methods.
Bar screen- rain sewage passes through bar screens, grit chamber- slow flow causing remains to settle to the bottom of the basin, primary clarifier- sedimentation basin that is circular, aeration chamber- secondary treatment (utilizes biological processes in order to provide further treatment), secondary clarifier- small amount of sludge is transferred to the digester, chemical treatment- several wastewater treatment plants give a high level treatment before the effluent is disinfected, filter treatment- physical tertiary treatment, chlorination- last step of secondary treatment, UV light- light with a high intensity disinfect wastewater, dechlorination- immediate removal of chlorine, and digester- heated large enclosed tanks
Distinguish between bioaccumulation and biomagnification.
Bioaccumulation is the growth in the concentration of a chemical in certain tissues or organs at a higher level than expected. Biomagnification however is the growth in the concentration of DDT, PCBs, and several other chemicals that slowly degrade and are fat soluble in living things at high levels of a food chain or food web.
What is the difference between bioremediation and phytoremediation?
Bioremediation is when bacteria and enzymes help in the process of destroying toxic or hazardous substance or converting them to compounds that are harmless. Phytoremediation is natural or genetically engineered plants are utilized to absorb, filter, and take out contaminants from polluted soil and water.
What are brownfields, and what has been done to help redevelop such sites in the United States?
Brownfields are commercial and industrial sites that have been abandoned like factories and junkyards. In the United States the US Congress and many other state legislatures have enacted laws to promote cleanup of brownfields to eventually become parks and athletic fields.
What are CERCLA and RCRA?
CERCLA is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, whose main purpose is to find Superfund sites, areas in which hazardous wastes have contaminated the environment and clean them up. RCRA is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act whose purpose is to have the EPA establish standards for the managing of certain types of hazardous waste and issue permits.
What is CERCLA?
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, whose main purpose is to find Superfund sites, areas in which hazardous wastes have contaminated the environment and clean them up
Which city or cities in the US saw human deaths from a temperature inversion?
Donora, Pennsylvania
What does it mean for something to be a hormone mimic?
For something to be a hormone mimic it means that something is a hormone imposter or a endocrine disruptor, meaning the chemical substances that come in through the body and mimic hormones.
Describe the release of toxic chemicals from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India.
In Bhopal, India 45 tons of poisonous methyl isocyanate leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide plant. In the end about 15,000 people died and many were harmed, some became blind.
What happened at Bhopal?
In Bhopal, India a Union Carbide pesticide plant 45 tons of poisonous methyl isocyanate leaked from the facility.
What happened at Chernobyl?
In Ukraine at a power plant in Chernobyl one of the reactors exploded.
What happened at Minimata?
In the southwestern island of Kyushu in a town called Minamata the Minamata Bay was industrially poisoned.
How serious is indoor air pollution, and what are some of its sources?
Indoor air pollution is one of the most serious air pollution issues. Its sources include tobacco smoke, chloroform, para-dichlorobenzene, tetrachloroethylene, formaldehyde, styrene, benzo-𝛂-pyrene, radon-222, methylene chloride, carbon monoxide, asbestos, particulates, nitrogen oxides, and trichloroethane
How are industrial and photochemical smog different, and how do each of them form?
Industrial smog contains a mixture of SOx, sulfuric acid, and other particulates that are emitted from burning oil and coal, however photochemical smog contains a mixture of over 100 primary and secondary pollutants. Industrial smog forms when sulfur emissions and smoke which is originally from coal burning combines with the adequate conditions. Photochemical smog forms when nitrous oxide and VOCs react with help from the UV rays of the sun.
What is the difference between LD50 and Threshold Level?
LD50 is the exact lethal concentration that wipes out about 50% of the organisms that are tested. However threshold level measures the lowest concentration or dosage amount that continuously results in signs of toxicity.
What happened at Love Canal?
Love Canal was a community in Upstate, New York which sat above 21,000 tons of toxic industrial waste, which was buried by a company throughout the 19th century. However the toxic industrial waste that was originally buried started to bubble up and appear in many people's backyards and cellars.
What causes malaria?
Malaria is caused by a parasite, which is transmitted through the bites of specific mosquito species.
Why is Malaria so common in some places and what can be done to reduce the occurrence of the disease?
Malaria is so common in some places because the places that have usually have malaria experience a significant amount of climate change and often times the countries that have a widespread of malaria are less developed, meaning they do not have the money to prevent it through drugs. Methods that can be implemented to reduce the occurrence of malaria include providing insecticide-treated bed nets and window screens, distribute zinc and vitamin A supplements to children, and spraying low concentrations of the DDT two times a year in the inside of homes.
Distinguish among mutagens, teratogens, and carcinogens.
Mutagens are a type of toxic agent and are a chemical or form of radiation that results in changes that are inheritable, mutations in the DNA molecules in genes. Teratogens are usually viruses, ionizing agents, or chemicals that result in birth defects. Additionally carcinogens are usually ionizing radiation, chemicals, or viruses that result in or increase the changes of the development of cancer.
Describe the difference between point source and nonpoint source pollution.
Point source pollution releases pollution from specific locations, examples include factories and power plants. Nonpoint source pollution however has no specific location of releasing pollution, examples include agricultural fields and feedlots.
What is the difference between primary and secondary recycling?
Primary recycling is when specific materials are recycled into new products of the same kind. Secondary recycling is when waste materials are converted into new and different products.
What are the 4 R's in waste management?
Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
What is risk analysis?
Risk analysis is determining hazards and evaluating the risks associated with them, ranking them, coming up with options and implementing decisions involving either reducing or completely eliminating the risks, and educating the decision makers and the public about the risks.
How can risks be estimated, managed, and reduced?
Risks can be estimated by estimating the amount of harm a specific hazard can detrimentally affect human health or the environment. Risks can managed by coming up with methods to reduce a certain risk to a specific level and the cost. Additionally risks can be reduced by analyzing the risk, determining about how much can be reduced, and the amount of money that should be spent.
Distinguish among septic tanks, primary sewage treatment, and secondary sewage treatment as ways to reduce water pollution.
Septic tanks are tanks located underground that treat wastewater from homes and suburban and rural areas. Primary sewage treatment is a mechanical sewage treatment where huge solids are filtered out by screens and suspended solids settle out as sludge in a sedimentary tank. Secondary sewage treatment is the second step in most waste treatment systems where aerobic bacteria decomposed almost all oxygen demanding organic wastes in wastewater.
Distinguish between solid waste and municipal solid waste.
Solid waste is any undesirable or thrown away substances humans produce that is not gas or liquid. Municipal solid waste is a type of solid waste which is also called garbage and contains combined solid waste produced by homes and workplaces, not factories.
List ways to prevent and three ways to cleanup groundwater pollution.
Some ways to prevent groundwater pollution include finding alternatives for toxic chemicals, prohibiting hazardous waste disposal in landfills and injection wells, and taking toxic chemicals out of the environment. Some ways to cleanup groundwater pollution include injecting microorganisms to clean up contamination and pumping the groundwater to the surface cleaning it there and then returning it back to the aquifer.
What is the other name CERCLA is known by?
Superfund program
What is the Clean Air Act, and how has it helped reduce outdoor air pollution in the United States?
The Clean Air Act was enacted in 1970 and requires companies to submit toxic release inventories. It has helped reduce outdoor air pollution in the United States by reducing SOx emissions by approximately 40%.
Explain how the United States and most developed countries have reduced water pollution from point sources by enacting laws.
The United States and most other developed countries have reduced water pollution from point sources by enacting laws through discharge trading policies, improvements in the Clean Water Act of 1972, and the 1987 Water Control Act.
List the advantages and disadvantages of burning solid (and hazardous waste) in incinerators.
The advantages of burning solid in incinerators include decreases the amount of trash volume, produces energy, the sale of the energy reduces cost, and it concentrates hazardous materials into ash for burial. The disadvantages of burning solid in incinerators include the price to build is costly, production of a hazardous waste results, encourages some waste production, and emits some carbon dioxide and other air pollutants.
List the advantages and disadvantages of burying solid waste in sanitary landfills.
The advantages of burying solid waste in sanitary landfills include cheap costs to operate, there is no shortage in the amount of landfill space in several areas, the landfill can handle high amounts of waste, and the filled land can be used for other things. The disadvantages of burying solid waste in sanitary landfills include noise, dust, traffic, leaks can contaminate groundwater, greenhouse gases are released, and there is an output approach that encourages waste production.
List the advantages and disadvantages of using a plasma torch to detoxify hazardous waste.
The advantages of using a plasma torch to detoxify hazardous waste it makes a combination of carbon dioxide and hydrogen which can later be used as a fuel, makes no toxic ash, and it is easy to transport. The disadvantages include it is expensive, it makes carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, potentially can release particulate and chlorine gas, and can vaporize and release toxic metals and radioactive elements.
Distinguish among atmosphere, troposphere, and stratosphere.
The atmosphere is the area humans live under, which is a thin layer of gases which surround the earth. The troposphere is the atmospheric layer that is located closest to the earth's surface and it contains about three fourths of the mass of the earth's air and it expands about 11 miles above sea level. The stratosphere is second layer of the atmosphere and it expands about 11-30 miles above the earth's surface, containing various amounts of gaseous ozone.
Summarize the good and bad news about attempts to reduce water pollution in the Great Lakes.
The good news about the attempts to reduce water pollution in the Great Lakes include the signing of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (cut number and size of algal blooms, increase in amount of fish caught, and increased dissolved oxygen levels). The bad news about the attempts to reduce water pollution in the Great Lakes include the growth of nonpoint runoff of pesticides and fertilizers, biological pollution resulted, and organisms dealing with atmospheric deposition.
Describe the major components of a sanitary landfill.
The major components of a sanitary landfill solid wastes are expanded throughout in thin layers, compacted, and daily covered with a new layer of clay or plastic foam.
List the major pollution problems of the oceans. Why are most of these problems found in coastal areas?
The major pollution problems of oceans municipal sewage being dumped into oceans without treatment and millions of metric tons of plastic bottles, packaging material, and other trash is thrown off of ships into oceans each year. Most of these problems are found in coastal areas because about 40% of the population live on or close by coastal areas, causing them to contribute significantly to the pollution in them.
List major sources of groundwater contamination.
The major sources of groundwater contamination include landfills, accidental spills, coal strip mine runoffs, pumping wells, pesticides and fertilizers, polluted air, hazardous waste injection wells, sewers, septic tanks, water pumping wells, landfills, and gasoline stations.
How is the quality of drinking water protected in the United States?
The quality of drinking water it protected in the United States by enacting laws and regulations.
What was the result at Chernobyl?
The result was a nuclear meltdown, which inputted immense amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. Additionally the radiation spread westward, causing thousands of children to become diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
What was the result at Bhopal?
The result was about 15,000 people dying and many were harm and ended up suffering with deficiencies like blindness. Additionally many children were detrimentally affected with birth defects and Union Carbide paid victims about half a billion dollars.
What was the result at Love Canal?
The result was all the people living in the area selling their house to the government and moving to a different place. Additionally the spill also resulted in an establishment of program, whose purpose was to help clean up the toxic waste.
What was the result at Minimata?
The result was numerous people becoming diagnosed with the Minamata disease, which resulted in loss of motor functions, limb movements that was uncontrollable, slurred speech, and convulsions. Additionally many of the people who had the Minamata disease died.
What types of places are most likely to suffer from prolonged temperature inversions of each type?
The types of places that are most likely to suffer from prolonged temperature inversions of each type include a town or city in which the weather turns cloudy and cold during some of year and a city with lots of motor vehicles in a sunny climate, with mountains on all but one side and an ocean on the empty side
Distinguish between toxic chemicals and hazardous chemicals.
Toxic chemicals are compounds or elements that can potentially lead to temporary, permanent harm, or death to living things. However hazardous chemicals are chemicals that can potentially cause harm as they are usually flammable, explosive, causes irritation, causes damage to the skin/lungs, or can potentially cause allergic reactions.
Why is tuberculosis becoming a problem?
Tuberculosis is becoming a problem for many reasons including many people infected with do not know they have it, as there are little symptoms, it is highly contagious, and the treatment tends to be expensive and many cannot afford it.
List three factors that can increase air pollution
VOCs, high temperatures promoting chemical reactions, urban buildings slow wind speeds, and hills and mountains reduce the flow of air in valleys.
Describe the use of wetlands and wastewater gardens to treat sewage based on working with nature.
Wetlands and wastewater gardens are utilized to treat sewage based on working with nature by first having the sewage flow into a passive solar greenhouse or outdoor site which has rows of large open tanks that are populated by an increasingly complex series of organisms. Additionally after flowing through numerous natural purification tanks, the water passes through an artificial marsh which filters out algae and remaining organic waste. The water then flows into aquarium tanks and after ten days the clear water flows into a second artificial marsh for final filtering and cleansing.
What is tuberculosis?
a highly contagious bacterial infection of the lungs
What is a temperature inversion?
a layer of cool dense air that is trapped under of layer of less dense warm air
List the advantages and disadvantages of storing hazardous wastes in surface impoundments.
advantages: cheap, wastes can be retrieved often, and wastes can be stored forever if secure double liners are utilized. disadvantages: waste production is encouraged, air pollution from VOCs, and water pollution results due to leaking liners and overflows.
List the advantages and disadvantages of storing hazardous wastes in deep underground wells.
advantages:it is safe, cheap, and wastes can be retrieve often disadvantages: leaks can occur, encourages waste production, and it releases carbon dioxide along with other air pollutants.
Toxicity depends on what factors?
age of the living thing exposed to it, genetic makeup, dose, solubility, and a chemical's resistance to breakdown
oxygen demanding wastes effects?
animal feedlots, food processing facilities, paper mills, and sewage
plant nutrients effects?
animals wastes, inorganic fertilizers, and sewage
What is water pollution?
any chemical, physical, or biological adjustment in water quality that negatively affects living things.
What is hazardous waste?
any type of material or substance that is thrown away and can detrimentally affect human health or the environment because it tends to be poisonous, dangerously chemically reactive, corrosive, or flammable.
What are the major health effects of air pollution?
asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema (damage to air sacs which results in shortness of breath that is irreversible).
List two biological hazards
bacteria and viruses
What 4 types of hazards do people face?
biological hazards (which are from pathogens, organisms that often lead to disease in another organism like bacteria and viruses), chemical hazards (which are usually from dangerous chemicals in the air, food, soil, water, and many other human made products), cultural hazards (which include dangerous working conditions, poverty...), and natural hazards (which include floods, storms, fires....)
Summarize the problems of indoor pollution from formaldehyde.
can cause irritation of eyes, throat, skin, lungs, nausea, dizziness, and cancer.
sediments major sources?
can distract photosynthesis, food webs, and other processes
heavy metals major sources?
can potentially cause cancer, distract immune and endocrine systems
What are the major limitations of risk analysis?
can potentially cause conflicts if a person miscalculates an event after its risk.
thermal major sources?
can potentially make certain species susceptible to disease
List the six (plus CO2) major air pollutants regulated in the United States (and in most developed countries).
carbon dioxide (colorless odorless gas) carbon monoxide (colorless odorless gas) nitrogen dioxide (reddish brown gas) sulfur dioxide (colorless gas) ozone (annoying gas that smells bad) lead (solid toxic metal) suspended particulate matter (SPM) (particles and droplets)
What are the major sources of solid waste in the United States?
cardboard, paper, food waste, yard waste, plastics, and metals
plant nutrients major sources?
cause overgrowth of algae and other species
infectious agents effects?
causes diseases
What is risk management?
deciding the methods to reduce a specific risk to a specific level and the cost of it
oxygen demanding wastes major sources?
decrease amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aquatic species
Describe the hazards of Lead exposure
detrimentally affecting kidneys, the nervous system, blood pressure levels, and the reproductive system
Describe the hazards of dioxin exposure.
detrimentally affecting skin, the endocrine system, the nervous system, the reproductive system, and the immune system.
Describe the hazards of mercury exposure
detrimentally affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems
What happens to municipal solid waste in the United States?
either dumped into landfills, incinerated or ends up as litter
organic chemicals effects?
farms, households, and industry
List two physical hazards
frayed electrical cords and tripping hazards
What is a dose-response curve?
graph of data demonstrating the non detrimental and detrimental effects on doses of different amounts of a chemical that could potentially be dangerous on a population of live organisms
List two chemical hazards
harmful chemicals like methanol and sodium hydroxide
infectious agents major sources?
human and animal wastes
List three factors that can reduce air pollution
implementing cleaner burning technology like fluidized beds, covering AC ducts, and discarding high polluting vehicles and replacing them with hybrid vehicles
Summarize the problems of indoor pollution from radioactive radon gas.
include lung cancer, can seep into houses, cracks in the ground, openings in sump pumps, concrete blocks and could potentially cause damage.
inorganic chemicals major sources?
increases amount of toxins to aquatic systems
organic chemicals major sources?
increases amount of toxins to aquatic systems
thermal effects?
industrial plants and electric power
What are the types of water pollutants?
infectious agents oxygen demanding wastes plant nutrients organic chemicals inorganic chemicals sediments heavy metals thermal
what are the harmful effects of temperature inversion?
it pollutants can slowly build up to dangerous and even lethal conditions in the inactive layer of cool air close to the ground.
What key role does the stratosphere play in maintaining life on earth?
it serves as the "global sunscreen" by keeping about 95% of the sun's dangerous UV radiation from reaching humans on earth.
List three reasons why groundwater pollution is such a serious problem.
it takes thousands of years for it to cleanse itself, methods to clean it are expensive, and millions of people die because the unclean water.
sediments effects?
land erosion
heavy metals effects?
mining refuse, industrial discharges, unlined landfills, and household chemicals
List two cultural hazards
poverty and criminal assault
What questions do risk managers try to answer?
questions based on the amount of money that should be spent, the amount that should be reduced, the methods on how the risk will be reduced, and determining how the risk compares with other risks
What is the sick building syndrome?
studies that have connected various air pollutants found in buildings to a number of health effects. These health effects include sore throats, depression, headaches, coughing, sneezing shortness of breath, and more.
What is toxicology?
study of the detrimental effects of chemicals on humans and other living things. Scientists measure toxicity by utilizing a certain amount of live laboratory animals to exact doses of a certain chemical under conditions that are controlled
inorganic chemicals effects?
surface runoff, mining sites, households, and industry
How do we measure water quality?
testing a sample of water for the existence of infectious agents and testing the level of dissolved oxygen.
What is TC50?
toxic concentration that allows living organisms to thrive, grown 50% as well as the control group.
How do scientists measure toxicology?
utilizing a specific amount of live laboratory animals to exact doses of a certain chemical under conditions that are controlled. scientists also utilize a dose-response curve, they note the effects of doses of various amounts of chemicals