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Environmental Science > 3.4.1 Pollution: properties of pollutants > Flashcards

3.4.1 Pollution: properties of pollutants Flashcards

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1
Q

what states of matter can pollutants be?

A

solid
liquid
gas

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2
Q

What does state of matter affect?

A

the ability for the pollutant to be dispersed by moving water or air

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3
Q

What is usually the case with the dispersal of solid pollutants?

A

usually deposited close to the source

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4
Q

What is usually the case with the dispersal of gases?

A

transported easily in the atmosphere

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5
Q

What are the different energy forms of of pollutants?

A

Noise
Heat
Ionising radiation
light

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6
Q

What is the general behaviour of different energy forms?

A

Widley varying impacts due to the way energy behaves

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7
Q

How will density affect dispersal of pollutants?

A

Denser materials will require more kinetic energy to keep suspended (more likely to be deposited close to source

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8
Q

What is an example of a high density pollutant?

A

Lead dust

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9
Q

How does density of Gases affect dispersal?

A

Some gases are denser than air and settle close to the ground if there is insufficient wind to disperse them

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10
Q

What is an example of a disaster involving dense gases?

A

Hydrogen cyanide Bhopal India 1984

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11
Q

What is persistence?

A

measure of the length of time a pollutant remains in the environment before it breaks down chemically (degrades)

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12
Q

What is one of the main ways persistence can be measured?

A

Half-life

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13
Q

What is half-life?

A

the amount of time it takes for half the pollutant to breakdown

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14
Q

What conditions can affect the rate of breakdown?

A

light
temperature
oxygen levels
pH
presence of bacteria

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15
Q

What are some pollutants with a high persistence?

A

CFCs
Organochlorine insecticides (DDT)

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16
Q

What pollutants have a low persistence?

A

Sewage
Pyrethroid insecticides

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17
Q

What are the three types of degradation?

A

Biodegradation
Photodegradation
Thermal degradation

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18
Q

What is biodegradation?

A

caused by living organisms/ bacteria

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19
Q

What is photodegradation?

A

caused by light

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20
Q

What is thermal degradation?

A

caused by heat

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21
Q

What is toxicity?

A

a measure of how poisonous a substance it to living organisms

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22
Q

How do most toxic substances cause harm?

A

by damaging proteins, especially enzymes meaning cells may malfunction

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23
Q

What do toxins have varying levels of which can affect target species?

A

specificity

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24
Q

What is specificity?

A

some substances are more or less toxic to certain organisms

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25
Q

What is an example of specificity?

A

insecticides have a high toxicity to insects but low to mammals

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26
Q

How is Lead toxic?

A

inhibits enzyme action in nerve cells and can affect the brain, kidneys and bones

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27
Q

Why was Lead toxicity a problem for humans?

A

Lead was present in paint until 1992 and people may be at risk of exposure when removing old paint during renovations

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28
Q

What can reactivity affect?

A

Severity of pollution increasing or reducing the problems caused

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29
Q

How reactive are CFCs?

A

Low reactivity unless exposed to UV light

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30
Q

What is the stability of CFCs like?

A

Relatively stable in troposphere but broken down in stratosphere and releases chlorine

31
Q

What is the reactivity of NOx, ozone and Hydrocarbons?

A

High

32
Q

What more harmful pollutant is created when NOx, ozone and hydrocarbons create?

A

react with each other to produce PANS which are more toxic

33
Q

What are PANS?

A

secondary pollutants formed by the photochemical reaction of hydrocarbons with nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere

34
Q

Wat is a reactive pollutant that degrades rapidly?

A

Sewage

35
Q

What is an example of a pollutant that reacts with other substances to produce secondary pollutants?

A

NOx to create acid rain and photochemical smog

36
Q

What is Adsorption?

A

when pollutants become attached to the surface of materials such as soil particles or aquatic sediments

37
Q

What can adsorption do to pollutants?

A

immobilize them so they cant cause pollution problems

38
Q

What is the problem with pollutants that have been absorbed?

A

they may be released later to cause problems after a period of time when their presence was not obvious

39
Q

what is an example of pollutants being released for an absorbed store?

A

disturbance of lake sediments by storms releasing phosphates or PCBs

40
Q

What does water soluble mean?

A

it dissolves into water

41
Q

What are the characteristics of water soluble pollutants?

A

tend to be less harmful
can excrete them from our body (urine)
don’t tend to bioaccumulate

42
Q

What does lipid soluble mean?

A

Dissolves into fats (lipids)

43
Q

What are the characteristics of lipid soluble pollutants?

A

tend to be more toxic
cannot be expelled from our body
continuous exposure causes bioaccumulation

44
Q

What is an example of a lipo-soluble pollutant?

A

mercury

45
Q

What is bioaccumulation?

A

when the concentration of a pollutant builds up overtime in the body if regular exposure occurs
as concentration increases so does toxicity

46
Q

What is biomagnification?

A

occurs when pollutants increase in concentration through the trophic levels (food chain)

47
Q

What must occur for biomagnification to take place?

A

bioaccumulation
pollutant must be soluble in lipids

48
Q

what is synergism?

A

involves 2 or more pollutants where their effects interact to create a different effect (usually more serious)

49
Q

what is important to remember with synergism?

A

pollutants themselves do not interact to produce a new pollutant (secondary pollution) it is their effects that interact

50
Q

What is an example of synergism?

A

Tropospheric Ozone damages leaf cuticles which enables sulphur dioxide to cause more damage to newly exposed living cells

51
Q

What is a mutagen?

A

agents which cause changes in the chemical structure of DNA by damaging chromosomes by rearrangement of DNA structure (mutation)

52
Q

Where does the Gonadic effect occur?

A

Cells in ovaries and testes

53
Q

What is the Gonadic effect?

A

mutation in egg, sperm cells or embryo that may cause a birth abnormality in offspring

54
Q

Where does the Somatic effect occur?

A

general body cells

55
Q

What is the Somatic effect?

A

mutation in body cell may make it behave abnormally as damaged DNA cannot control normal cell function

56
Q

Why is singular cell death not an issue?

A

as can be replaced by division of healthy cells

57
Q

What are some serious consequences of DNA mutations that are not killed?

A

Cancer

58
Q

What is cancer?

A

uncontrollable cell division which produces a tumour

59
Q

What are some examples of mutagenic pollutants?

A

ionizing radiation
UV light
chlorinated organic substances (PCBs, dioxins)
cadmium
asbestos

60
Q

What is carcinogenic action?

A

Mutagens that cause cancer

61
Q

What does cell manipulation by carcinogens cause?

A

mass of tissue called a tumour

62
Q

How can a tumour cause health problems?

A

by preventing normal tissue function

63
Q

What are Teratogens?

A

cause birth abnormalities by preventing normal gene expression

64
Q

What do Teratogens not do?

A

do not change DNA structure but inhibit function of proteins and enzymes that DNA would normally control

65
Q

Can teratogen abnormalities be inherited?

A

no because DNA structure is not affected

66
Q

What are some examples of Teratogenic pollutants?

A

mercury
Herbicide 2,4,5T (no longer used)

67
Q

What is pollutant mobility?

A

ability of pollutant to move dependant on its properties (state of matter, density and solubility in water)

68
Q

What are more mobile pollutants likely to do?

A

Travel greater distances and affect larger areas

69
Q

What might reduce severity of mobile pollutants?

A

Dilution

70
Q

How mobile is lead dust?

A

high density of atmospheric dust cause most particles to be deposited near source

71
Q

What is the mobility of smoke particles?

A

Very mobile
easily washed from atmosphere by rain or settle if relatively stable
smaller particles settle more slowly

72
Q

What is the mobility of Sulphur dioxide gas?

A

Very mobile
soluble in water and easily removed from atmosphere by rain
usually moves 250km from source

73
Q

What is the mobility of CFCs?

A

Chemically stable
low water solubility so remain in atmosphere for a long time
disperse throughout whole atmosphere

74
Q
A

Environmental Science (90 decks)

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