Chapter 10 - Properties Of Pollutants Flashcards
How does state of matter affect a pollutants behaviour in the environment
Whether a pollutant is a solid, liquid, or gas affects its ability to be dispersed by moving water or air
How does energy form affect a pollutants behaviour in the environment
Different pollutants that are energy forms, such as noise, heat, ionising radiation or light have widely varying impacts because of the way energy behaves
How does density affect a pollutants behaviour in the environment
The density of a material will affect its dispersal
— denser materials require more kinetic energy to keep them suspended
What is persistence
It’s a measure of the length of time that a pollutant remains in the environment before it degrades
What is toxicity
This is a measure of how poisonous a substance is to living organisms. Harm is usually caused by damage to proteins
How does reactivity affect a pollutants behaviour in the environment
The reactivity of a pollutant can affect the severity of the pollution caused, either increasing or reducing the problems caused
What is adsorption
Some pollutants can become attached to the surface of materials such as soil particles or aquatic sediments. This can immobilise them so they cannot cause pollution problems, however the disturbance to them can release the pollutant e.g, by disturbance to lake sediments by storms
How does solubility in lipids/water affect a pollutants behaviour in the environment
-Substances that have high solubility in water are easily dispersed in water bodies e.g, nitrates
-substances that dissolve in lipids may be able to pass through phospholipid cell membranes and be stored in fat within cells
What is bioaccumulation
This is the process where the amount of a substance within an organism increase. The original dose may be too small to be toxic but may eventually build up to reach toxic levels
What is biomagnification
Substances that bioaccumulate may become more concentrated as they pass along a food chain
What is synergism
Synergism in pollution involves two or lore pollutants where their effects interact to create a different effect, usually a more serious one. For example, ozone damages leave cuticles which enables sulfur dioxide to cause more damage to the newly exposed living cells
What is mutagenic action
Mutagens are agents which cause chemical changes in the structure of DNA by damaging chromosomes by the rearrangement of the DNA structure
What is carcinogenic action
Carcinogens are mutagens that cause cancer by stimulating rapid cell multiplication predicting a tumour
What is teratogenic action
It affects the DNA of a developing foetus by causing birth abnormalities by preventing normal gene expression. They don’t change the DNA structure
