APES Water Pollution
Explain where sediment pollution comes from
-consists of soil, sand, and minerals washed from land into water, usually after rain. The sediments pile up in reservoirs, rivers, ands harbors, destroy fish and wildlife habitat, and cloud the water so that sunlight cannot reach aquatic plants. *careless farming, mining, and building activity can expose sediment materials, allowing them to wash off the land into water after rainfall.
Explain sanitary landfills
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List all the primary and secondary air pollutants and where they come from?
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Name the ecosystem services that the atmosphere provides.
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What contaminants does sewage add to water?
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Ever ton of recycled paper saves...
17 trees, 7000 gallons of water, 4100 kwh of energy, and 3 cu ft of landfill space.
Compare and contrast point source pollution vs non-point source pollution.
A point source is a type of pollution that can be seen and a non-point source is a source that is not easy to link to anything specific. An example of a non-point source is animal waste and an example of a point source is seeing a pipe from a building running directly to a stream.
Explain the difference between primary and secondary pollutants and how each enters the atmosphere
A primary pollutant is an air pollutant emitted directly from a source. A secondary pollutant is not directly emitted but forms when other pollutants (primary pollutants) react in the atmosphere. These two constitute air pollution which is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials into the atmosphere.
How does thermal inversion contribute to localized air pollution?
Areas with heavy pollution are prone to unhealthy air and an increase in smog when an inversion is present because they trap pollutants at ground level instead of circulating them away.
Name the common indoor air pollutants?
Asbestos, radon, carbon monoxide, nitrohgen oxide, tobacco smoke
Explain how CO and radon are produced and what they do to human bodies
Carbon monoxide is formed with combustion of carbon based materials take place and there is not enough oxygen to create carbon dioxide. Poisoning can cause headache and nausea, escalating to the inability to breath and death. Radon is formed by the natural radioactive decay of uranium in rock, soil, and water. It can cause cancer for humans.
Explain the impacts that common heavy metals have on humans
Lead poses serious health threat, especially in infants the lead and exposure can damage the brain, nervous system and kidneys. Arsenic is drinking water is associated with cancers of the skin, lungs, kidneys, and bladder. Inoragnic mercury is not particulary harmful, but its release into the enviroment can be hazardous because of a chemcial transformation it undergoes.
Name the common water pollution contaminants
Lead, Chlorine, Iron, Arsenic, Fluoride, Trihalomethanes, Bacteria & Nitrates, Sulfur, Heavy Metals - Zinc, Cadmium, Copper, Viruses & Microorganisms, Fertilizers & Pesticides/Herbicides; Industrial Wastes - PCE (perchloroethylene or tetrachloroethylene), Chromium, Mercury, Benzene, Formaldehyde, Dioxin, Ethylene, Glycol PACs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons), Pharmaceuticals, and Personal Care Products (PPCPs), Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
What is oxygen sag and where does it occur?
Oxygen sag is the dip in dissolved oxygen present in water that is the result of the introduction of waste material. Typically bacteria present in the water congregate near the food source (waste) and consume oxygen. If waste is concentrated in a certain area, the oxygen also will be depleted, causing oxygen sag. In some cases, however, some waste compounds consume oxygen on their own and are not the result of bacteria.
What is the role of ozone in the stratosphere and troposphere?
Ozone and oxygen molecules in the stratosphere absorb ultraviolet light from the Sun, providing a shield that prevents this radiation from passing to the Earth's surface. In the troposphere enhanced production of ozone in the summer can cause photochemical smog.Ozone changes in the troposphere have a large impact on the tropospheric composition and can act as a greenhouse gas.
Explain the process of how Photochemical smog is created
Photochemical smog is a condition that develops when primary pollutants (oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds created from fossil fuel combustion) interact under the influence of sunlight to produce a mixture of hundreds of different and hazardous chemicals known as secondary pollutants.
What is turbidity?
The cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by individual particles (total suspended or dissolved solids) that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air.
How does the "Dead Zone" in the Gulf of Mexico occur?
The primary human-related factor in the formation of the dead zone is agriculture. Substantial increases in synthetic nitrogen fertilizer production and fossil fuel combustion, and land-use changes involving clearing and conversion, crop cultivation, and drainage of wetlands, among other factors, have significantly altered the global nitrogen cycle. The increased rate of nitrogen input is affecting the quality of the atmosphere and, in many regions, soil, groundwater, lakes and streams, and estuarine and nearshore marine environments. High losses of wetlands and riparian areas throughout the U.S. - in large part due to agricultural expansion - have exacerbated the problems associated with nutrient pollution. It is a seasonal occurrence triggered by the high influx of nutrient-laden freshwater washing down from the Mississippi with the onset of melting snow and spring rains; it typically forms in May - though sometimes as early as February - and remains until September or October.
Define particulate matter
a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets. Particle pollution is made up of a number of components, including acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles.
Explain the Safe Drinking Water Act
authorizes the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) to set national health-based standards for drinking water to protect against both naturally-occurring and man-made contaminants that may be found in drinking water. US EPA, states, and water systems then work together to make sure that these standards are met. Originally, SDWA focused primarily on treatment as the means of providing safe drinking water at the tap. The 1996 amendments greatly enhanced the existing law by recognizing source water protection, operator training, funding for water system improvements, and public information as important components of safe drinking water. This approach ensures the quality of drinking water by protecting it from source to tap.
Explain the Clean Air Act and the Amendments of 1990
designed to control air pollution on a national level. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and enforce regulations to protect the public from airborne contaminants known to be hazardous to human health. The 1963 version of the legislation established a research program, expanded in 1967. 1990 CAAA substantially increased the authority and responsibility of the federal government. New regulatory programs were authorized for control of acid deposition (acid rain) and for the issuance of stationary source operating permits. The NESHAPs were incorporated into a greatly expanded program for controlling toxic air pollutants.
Define Eutrophication
excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.
What is sick building syndrome?
headaches, allergies, chronic fatigue and other symptoms caused by poorly vented indoor air contaminated by pathogens or toxins
Define bioremediation
the use of either naturally occurring or deliberately introduced microorganisms or other forms of life to consume and break down environmental pollutants, in order to clean up a polluted site.
