Ch.1 Flashcards
What is the dilution paradigm?
“The solution to pollution is dilution”
What is the Boomerang paradigm
“What you throw away can come back and hurt you”
Incidents that changed the paradigm from dilution to boomerang
- Minamata Bay
- Ouch ouch disease
- Radiation in air
Explain minamata bay
- Discharge of Hg
- Accumulation in food web (ch3hgch3)
- Chronic symptoms (Headaches/ Fatigue..)
- in utero effects (poor speach/walking)
Explain itai-itai disease
- Name comes from how painful condition is
- brittle bones
- mining in Jinzu River for Zn, Cu, Pb
- Slag contaminated river from holding pond
- Cd poisoning was the cause
- Replaces Ca in bones
When and why did radionuclides become a concern
- Open air testing
- detonations
- hemispheric dispersal much more rapid than expected
- fission products begin to rapidly accumulate in food chain
- Human body burdens of ^137 Cs increase rapidly
What are the different units radiation can be measured in?
- Curies (2.2x10^6 dpm or 3.7 x 10^4 dps )
- Dpm (disintegrations per minute)
- Dps (“ “ “ second)
- Becquerel (1 dps) =SI unit for measuring radioactivity
How many curies are in a becquerel
1 curie = 3.7 x 10^4 Bq
What’s an example of food chain bioaccumulation
Veggies -> cows milk -> man -> cancer
What is an example of a plutonium release due to a fire
- 1957
- NW england
- 20,000 Curies 131^ I
- Released during fire and firefighting
- 2 mil L of milk dumped into ocean
- Case was classified
- lots of people got cancer
What are some examples of recent nuclear releases
- Three mile island (1979), 3curies were released , 965M to clean
- Chernobyl (1986), Core melt down, 301 M curies released
Explainthe Amoco Cadiz oil spill
- 1978
- 68.7M gallons
- 6th biggest spill
- By france
Explain the Exxon Valdez oil spill
- 1989
- 41,340 M^3 spilled
- area: Prince William Sound
What is one reason its good to understand ecotox
- mickie will pass you
- essential for cost benefit analysis of technology and industry
What is the value from the services from nature?
$33 trillion (US) annually
What was the definition of environmental toxicology in 1980
The study of the effects of toxic substances occurring in both natural and manmade environments
What was the definition of environmental toxicology in 1995
The study of the impacts of pollutants upon the structure and function of ecological systems (molecular to ecosystem)
What is the definition of ecotoxicology in 1998
The science of contaminants in the biosphere and their effects on constituents of that biosphere including humans
Define Pollutant
a substance that occurs in the environment at least in part due to human activities and which has a deleterious effect on living organisms
Define Contaminant
a substance released by human activity
Define Xenobiotic
a foreign (usually manufactured) chemical or material not produced in nature and not normally considered a constitutive component of a specified biological system
Define Stress
a response to or an effect of a recent disorganizing or detrimental factor at any level of ecological organization. This can be cellular stress or “fight or flight” responses.
Define stressor
Anything that produces stress
Define the lorax incongruity
The delusion of selfless motivation in environmental stewardship and advocacy
why is the lorax incongruity a problem
- decisions are generally based on the perceived value of services provided by intact ecosystems relative to technological goods and services
- can cause well-intentioned narrow-mindedness
- different values may cause problems
