Definitions: Modules 21-23

Question 1

solid waste

Answer 1

total of all materials thrown away from homes and commercial establishments, excluding hazardous wastes and industrial nonhazardous wastes

Question 2

raw sewage

Answer 2

• mainly water

- also has debris, grit, dissolved and particulate organic material like feces

Question 3

preliminary treatment

Answer 3

• removes large debris from the sewage

- disposed at local landfill

Question 4

effluent

Answer 4

discharged off-site when there is a partial plant by pass

Question 5

denitrification

Answer 5

microbes turn nitrates into nitrogen gas, occurring in the absence of oxygen

Question 6

sludge

Answer 6

• used to describe the solid organic rich material that settle at the bottom of tanks
• can be used as fertilizers

Question 7

hazardous chemicals

Answer 7

chemicals that have one or more of the following attributes: flammable, corrosive, toxic (Acute or chronic), and reactive

Question 8

acute toxicity

Answer 8

symptoms are immediate

Question 9

chronic toxicity

Answer 9

symptoms develop overtime

Question 10

carcinogenic

Answer 10

chemical is a causative agent of cancer

Question 11

tetratogenic

Answer 11

chemical causes fetus in exposed mom to develop abnormally

Question 12

bioaccumulation

Answer 12

• the storage of chemicals in an organism in high concentrations than is normally found in the environment
• occurs when substances are ingested but cannot be excreted/broken down

Question 13

biomagnification

Answer 13

multiplying effect of bioaccumulation that occurs throughout a food chain

Question 14

precautionary principle

Answer 14

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Question 15

population pyramids

Answer 15

illustrates within a given population how many people belong to different age groups

Question 16

ecological footprint

Answer 16

measure of all natural areas required to satisfy human needs

Question 17

sustainable society

Answer 17

society in balance with the natural world, which continues generation after generation, which does not deplete resources by exceeding sustainable yields and does not produce pollutants in excess of nature’s capacity to absorb them