Unit 8 Environmental Science

What percent of solid waste in the United States is agricultural?

10%

What percent of solid waste in the United States is industrial?

10%

How many pounds, on average, is produced by each person in the United States per day?

3 to 5 pounds

What percent of solid waste in the United States is from mining?

70%

What is one important characteristic of modern landfills?

A plastic liner

Mining and oil and gas production produces a significant amount of solid waste in the United States. About how much of our solid waste is produced by these industries?

About 70%

Which of the following is corrosive?

Acid

How do we qualify a risk?

Analyzing the severity and probability of the risk

A homeowner gathers up branches and trimmings and puts them in bags to be collected. This type of waste accounts for approximately what percent of the municipal solid waste stream?

Between 10-15% of MSW

DDT lasts a long time in the environment. When an animal continues to eat food with DDT in it, DDT can accumulate in the animal. What is the term we use to describe this phenomenon?

Bioaccumulation

Which of these occurs when an organisms absorbs a toxic substance at a rate faster than the organism can lose it via excretion and catabolism?

Bioaccumulation

DDT lasts a long time in the environment. It can magnify up the food chain, which means if a small animal eats something with DDT, then a larger animal eats small animals with DDT, there will be even more DDT in the larger animal. What is the term that we use to describe this phenomenon?

Biomagnification

A risk assessment requires a least 3 things. Two of these are hazard identification and calculating the probability of risk. What is the third thing needed for a risk assessment?

Calculating the consequences of risk

There are several chemicals that can last for a very long time in an environment and can biomagnify in the environment. Agent Orange and PCB are examples of these types of chemicals. What is another example of one of these chemicals?

DDT

Which of these agencies classifies hazardous materials into 9 primary classes?

Department of Transportation (DOT)

If a risk exists, we can do several things to manage that risk. For example, you must assess the risk and create a strategy to reduce the risk. What else must you do?

Examine the financial commitment

What do we call anything that can cause injury, disease, death to humans, damage to personal or public property, or deterioration or destruction of part of the environment?

Hazard

What do we call the process of examining evidence and linking a potential hazard to its harmful effects?

Hazard assessment

What is a major environmental PROBLEM with leachate?

It can pollute groundwater.

What is a problem with leachate that is collected in the landfill?

It must be disposed of somewhere

What do we call the liquid that is released from a landfill?

Leachate

What is the MOST common reason that people illegally dump hazardous waste?

Legal disposal is expensive

What percent of solid waste in the United States is municipal solid waste (MSW)?

Less than 2 percent

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is waste that is produced in residential areas and accounts for very little of our total waste. Approximately what percent of all solid waste is MSW?

Less than 2%

Chemicals bioaccumulate in the body. However, there IS an organ that can help filter these toxins. Which organ filters toxins?

Liver

Which of the following is considered toxic?

Mercury

As trash in the landfill decomposes, a greenhouse gas is produced and leaks from the landfill. We install gas detection units at various locations around the landfill to detect this gas as it is released. Which gas is released?

Methane

Many people do not want landfills sited near their homes, but they do want their trash to go somewhere. This is called _.

NIMBY

Which acronym do we use to mean that people need and want landfills, but that they don't want to live near them?

NIMBY - Not in my back yard

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a term we use for trash from non-industrial and non-agricultural sources. Which of the following BEST describes MSW?

Non-hazardous

What is the cheapest way of dealing with hazardous waste?

Not producing it at all

Who regulates hazardous materials in the workplace?

Occupational Saftey and Health Administration (OSHA)

What do we call the level of risk that the public THINKS exists?

Perceived risk

Sometimes, plants are planted with the express purpose of removing hazardous waste from the soil. What is this process called?

Phytoremediation

What do we call it when there is scientific evidence demonstrating a plausible risk from a chemical, it must be further tested to prove that it is safe before it can continue to be used?

Precautionary Principle

Which of the following is an agreement between members of the European Union about the regulation of chemicals?

Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)

What do we call the probability of suffering injury, disease, death or a loss as a result of exposure to a hazard?

Risk

Surface impoundments are open ponds that store hazardous waste, which means earthquakes could cause the waste to seep into the groundwater or contaminate other areas. For this reason, what is one of the MOST important considerations we must make when deciding where to build a surface impoundment?

The geological activity of the area

Hazardous materials and their transportation are regulated by all of the following organizations in the United States EXCEPT _.

United States Space Force (USSF)

Surface impoundments are pond-like areas that are used to hold liquid hazardous waste. Surface impoundment sites should have _.

a heavy, plastic liner that keeps waste from leaking into the soil

Surface impoundments are pond-like areas that are used to hold liquid hazardous waste. To be in compliance with current environmental laws, these impoundments require _.

a liner

Modern landfills are required to have _.

a plastic liner

Which of the following risk situations should definitely be addressed FIRST to protect public health?

a risk with a very high probability and very high severity

Substances that can rust or decompose are considered _.

corrosive

Hazards are anything that can cause _.

death

After leachate is collected from a landfill, it must be _.

disposed of on or off site

Which of these activities carries the greatest risk in the United States?

driving a car

Which chemical is LEAST persistent (goes away the fastest) in the environment?

fertilizer

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a term we use for trash from non-industrial and non-agricultural sources. Which of the following is NOT part of MSW?

gaseous waste

Why do many companies fight to have substances classified as solid waste rather than hazardous waste?

hazardous waste is expensive

Substances that can catch on fire are considered _.

ignitable

Phytoremediation is when plants are used to clean soil of toxic waste. Which of the following is NOT a disadvantage of phytoremediation?

it is relatively cheap

Liquid that comes out of a landfill is called _.

leachate

Solid waste is _.

nonhazardous

Which of the following substances does NOT bioaccumulate and, therefore, is NOT biomagnified through a food chain in the environment?

oxygen

Which of the following compromises MOST of our domestic trash?

paper

The largest component of municipal solid waste stream is _.

paper and paperboard

DDT and other pesticides belonging to the chlorinated hydrocarbon group were banned by the EPA due to their _.

persistence in the environment leading to biomagnification

Chemicals that stay in the environment for a long time are known as _.

persistent

Which method of dealing with hazardous waste involves plants?

phytoremediation

When hazardous waste is stored underground in barrels, the barrels must be made of _.

plastic

Substances that can explode are considered _.

reactive

Which of the following is NOT a step in risk management?

refusing to reduce the risk regardless of the outcome

The probability of suffering injury disease, death, or some loss as a result of exposure to a hazard is known as what?

risk

Which act primarily regulates hazardous waste?

the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

Which of the following is an INTERNATIONAL agreement between 127 nations to phase out, ban, or reduce 12 specific chemicals?

the Stockholm Convention

Bulldozers are continually covering landfills with dirt. Which is NOT a reason for covering the landfill with dirt?

to make it easier to dig up trash for use in the future

No human activity has _ percent risk.

zero