Final Flashcards
1970
Official Formation of EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
1971
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
1996
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendment
Category of Environmental Engineering
(WWANERS)
Wastewater, water, air, noise, energy, risk, solid waste
3 human survival and negative aspects related
Air (lasts seconds) –> polluted air
Water (last 3 weeks) –> waste/polluted water
Food (last 2 months) –> contaminated soil
1996
National Research Council Study (NRC)
1987
World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)
Calculation of mass accumulation
Total Mass flow in = total mass flow out + rate of mass storage
Types of wastes
Municipal, Hazardous, Biomedical
Properties of hazardous waste
Toxicity, reactivity, ignitability, corrosiveness (TRIC)
Emerging contaminants
PFAS: Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
–> hazardous substances that we should remove from emerging contaminants
Recent trends for energy use (emerging contaminants: carbon sequestration)
capturing and storing atmospheric CO2
→ reduce CO2 in the atmosphere to reduce global climate change
1963
Clean Air Act
6 major air pollutants
NGLPCS
Particulate matter(PM; Dust, smoke, haze)
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
Carbon monoxide (CO)
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
Ground-level ozone (O)
Lead (HEAVY METAL)
Effects of particles: 10 um
Removed in nose and throat
Effects of particles: 5 to 10 um
Removed in trachea & bronchi –> doesn’t get to lungs
Effects of particles: 0.5 to 5 um
Alveoli –> lung damage
Characteristics of NO2
Acid rain
Characteristics of CO
hemoglobin’s affinity for CO = 210 times its affinity for O
1974
Safe Drinking Act (SWDA) from EPA (Environmental Protection Agency
Major water contaminants
(BOISAH)
Biological Pathogens
Organic chemicals and toxic organic chemicals
Inorganic chemicals: nutrients, toxic metals, salts
Sediments
Acidity
Heat
Major water contaminants and their process: Biological Pathogens
Biological
Major water contaminants and their process: Organic chemicals and toxic organic chemicals
Chemical
Major water contaminants and their process: Inorganic chemicals: nutrients, toxic metals, salts
Chemical
Major water contaminants and their process: Sediments
Physical
Major water contaminants and their process: Acidity
Chemical
Major water contaminants and their process: Heat
Physical
1980s and 1990s: Legislation made by EPA to regulate contaminants size
Ressource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
1980s and 1990s Classification of waste Hazardous vs non-hazardous waste:
Comprehensive, Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) -> ask responsible parties to pay for cleanup costs “special tax:”
Classification of non-hazardous waste
Municipal Solid Waste(MSW)-> recyclables, compostable materials, garbage from home, businesses, institutions, constructions and demolitions sites
Classification of hazardous waste: 4 parameters characteristics
Ignitibility: ability to burn easily or cause fire
Corrosivity: strong acids and bases that could corrode surfaces
Reactivity: React violently and cause explosion, including reactions with water
Toxicity: threaten water supplies and health, as determined by laboratory tests of leachability
TCLP (Toxic characteristic leaching procedure)
Radioactive Waste and their method of disposal:
High level radioactive waste
No permanent method of disposal
Radioactive Waste and their method of disposal:
Low-level radioactive waste
Burial of waste in special landfills
Global warming problem (5 steps)
- Emission of greenhouse gases
- Increases in atmospheric concentration
- Increases in radiative forcing
- Increases in average temperature
- Changes in global climate
Kyoto Protocol
1997 conference accord stated that Major Industrial countries to reduce their overall emissions of CO2, CH4, and N2O(Nitrous oxide)
Radiative spectrum
UV (ultraviolet): > 400 nm
VIS (visible light): 400 - 700 nm
IR (infrared): 700+ nm
History - Iron age:
Heating in the presence of carbon (charcoal)
History - Iron age (Empire):
Learn to produce with mercury
History - Industrial Revolution:
Installation of iron water pipes (no need of the wood anymore)
Life Cycle Inventory Process: Stage
- Raw Materials acquisition
- Manufacturing
- Use/reuse/maintenance
- Recycling Waste management
Inputs for manufacturing
Materials, energy
Outputs for manufacturing
Intended products, co-products and energy released
Outputs for use/reuse/maintenance
Atmospheric emissions
Outputs for recycling/waste management
Waterborne wastes, solid wastes
Characteristics of Exposure Assessment
Lifetime Average Daily Dose (LADD) = (Concentration * Intake rate * Exposure frequency * Exposure duration * Absorption factor) / (Averaging time * body weight)
Understanding of risk
Risk = (Probability of an undesired consequence) x (size of the loss or hazard effect)
