Lecture 2 Flashcards
Name 4 major sources of lead in the air.
Metals processing, waste incinerators, utilities, and lead-acid battery manufacturers.
Depending on the level of exposure of what criteria air pollutant can affect the nervous system, kidney function, immune system, reproductive & developmental systems and the cardiovascular systems.
Lead.
What demographic of people are especially sensitive to lead exposures?
Infants/children.
What effect can lead have on infants?
Behavioral problems, learning deficits and lowered IQ.
What effect does elevated levels of lead in the environment have on plants and animals?
Decreased growth and reproduction.
What effect does lead have on vertebrates?
Neurological effects.
Air toxics can be gases, compounds, or elements. Name a compound air toxic.
Asbestos.
Acid deposition is better known by what other name?
Acid rain.
What 2 types of acid deposition is there?
Wet deposition and dry deposition.
Rain and snow are already naturally acidic, but their acidity becomes problematic below what pH level?
5.
Which acid forms from sulfur dioxide, and becomes a major cause of acid deposition?
Sulfuric acid.
Current government regulations and changes in industrial practices are expected to reduce the rate of SO2 and nitrogen emissions in what sector?
Electricity.
What does acid deposition do to metal, paint, and stone?
Corrodes metal, deteriorates paint and stone.
What is the effect of acid deposition on algae and seagrass?
Acid deposition may increase their photosynthetic and growth rates.
What marine species may be harmed by acid deposition?
Molluscs, corals and some varieties of plankton.
What is the effect of acid deposition on coral reefs?
They may become vulnerable to storm damage and slow the recovery rate.
What is common in the chemical compounds that thin the Earth’s ozone layer in the upper atmosphere?
They contain gaseous chlorine or bromine from industry and other human activities.
Where is the thinning of the ozone layer most pronounced?
In polar regions, especially over Antarctica.
How is ozone-destroying chlorine liberated from CFCs?
UV radiation.
What are CFCs?
Chlorofluorocarbons are a major source of chlorine in the stratoshpere.
Which protocol began the phaseout of CFCs in 1987?
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer sought to achieve a 50% reduction in global consumption from 1986 by what year?
1998.
In the countries that were parties to the Montreal protocol, how much had the consumption of ozone-depleting chemicals fallen by 2005?
90% - 95%.
GWP is the ratio of the radiative forcing from emissions of one kg of a GHG to that from the emission of one kg of what other GHG?
Carbon dioxide.
GWP is a ratio that is measured over a period of time. What is the usual period of time considered?
100 years.
Describe a form of water pollution, besides the release of substances into bodies of water.
The release of energy, in the form of radioactivity or heat.
Name 4 major water contaminants.
Pathogens, organic waste, nutrients, and toxic organic chemicals.
What is the primary source of water-contaminating pathogens?
Domestic sewage.
Sewage-treatment processes reduce the wastewater levels of pathogens and what other pollutant?
Organics.
Besides untreated sewage, from where else can pathogens enter waterways? (3)
Runoff from naturally vegetated areas, malfunctioning septic systems, and stormwater drains.
Pathogens can lead to health issues ranging from mild impacts to serious life-threatening illnesses. Name 2 such serious illnesses.
Typhoid and cholera.
Organic pollution (the release of organic compounds into water courses) can lead to the depletion of what in surface waters?
Oxygen.
Organic pollutants consist of what 4 organic compounds?
Proteins, carbohydrates, fats and nucleic acids.
Organic waste originates from what 4 sources?
Domestic sewage (raw or treated), urban run-off, industrial (trade) effluents and farm wastes.
What nutrients can be considered as a major water contaminants?
Nitrogen and phosphorous.
Nitrogen and phosphorous support the growth of which water based organisms?
Algae and aquatic plants.
Nitrogen and phosphorus are nutrients that are natural parts of aquatic ecosystems.
True.
When are nutrients such as nitrogen or phosphorous considered pollutants?
When they are present in excess.
Infants are vulnerable to what nitrogen-based compound in drinking water?
Nitrates.
What pollutants are produced by excess nitrogen in the atmosphere?
Ammonia and ozone.
What are the 3 potential harms of ammonia and ozone in the atmosphere?
Impaired ability to breathe, limited visibility and altered plant growth.
Can excess atmospheric nitrogen harm the health of forests, soils, and waterways?
Yes, when the excess nitrogen comes back to earth.
The 4 primary sources of excess nitrogen and phosphorus are?
Agriculture, stormwater, wastewater, and fossil fuels.
What additional substance is found in toxic synthetic organic chemicals?
Chlorine.
Some organic chemicals are known or suspected carcinogens, meaning what?
Meaning they are cancer causing.
Some organic chemicals are known or suspected mutagens, meaning what?
Meaning they produce genetic mutations.
Oil spills count as water contamination via an organic compound.
True.
Pesticides count as a class of toxic organic compounds.
True.
Name 3 observed effects of pesticides (such as DDT) on organisms.
Reduction in reproductive capacity, birth defects, and tumors.
VOCs count as a class of toxic organic chemicals.
True - volatile organic compounds.
VOCs are often used as what 2 things?
Industrial or household solvents, and as ingredients in chemical manufacturing processes.
Many VOCs are known/suspected mutagens.
False - carcinogens.
Solid waste falls under what two categories?
Hazardous solid waste, and nonhazardous wastes.
Which act passed in 1976 was established to set up a framework for the proper management of hazardous waste?
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Hazardous wastes are classified on the basis of which of their properties?
Their biological, chemical, and physical properties.
What are the 6 possible characteristics of hazardous solid waste?
Toxic, reactive, ignitable, corrosive, infectious, or radioactive.
What characteristic of liquids makes them ignitable?
Flashpoints below 140 degrees Fahrenheit .
Can nonliquids or gasses also be considered ignitable?
Yes - nonliquids with the potential to ignite via the specific conditions and compressed gases.
Corrosive waste can do what?
Corrosive waste can rust and decompose materials.
Corrosive waste can be basic, rather than acidic.
True.
Aqueous waste with what acidity level is considered corrosive?
2 pH (or less).
When is waste is considered reactive?
When it’s capable of explosion and detonation that may produce toxic gases.
When is waste considered toxic?
When it’s fatally poisonous to ingest or absorb.
What kind of batteries are considered toxic?
Lithium-sulfur batteries.
What chemical analysis process is used to determine whether there are hazardous elements present in a waste?
The Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP).
The TCLP involves a simulation of what?
Of leaching through a landfill.
Is Municipal solid waste (MSW) considered hazardous?
No - MSW is nonhazardous.
Radioactive waste in Canada is defined as any material (liquid, gaseous or solid) that contains what?
A radioactive nuclear substance.
Can radioactive waste contain hazardous substances that are not radioactive?
Yes.
List the 5 activities that produce radioactive waste.
Nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons reprocessing.
The storage and disposal of radioactive waste to protect human and environmental health is regulated by who?
Government agencies.
What are the 3 broad categories of radioactive waste?
Low-level waste, (LLW), intermediate-level waste (ILW), and high level waste (HLW).
High-level radioactive wastes are the highly radioactive materials produced as a byproduct of what?
The reactions that occur inside nuclear reactors.
What are the two types of high level waste?
Spent nuclear fuel and reprocessing extracts isotopes from spent fuel.
Spent nuclear fuel is used fuel from a reactor that is no longer efficient in creating electricity. Why then is it considered high-level waste?
It is still thermally hot, highly radioactive, and potentially harmful.
Reprocessing extracts isotopes from spent fuel (that can be used again as reactor fuel) are characterized by what? (2)
Intensive radioactivity and very long half-life.
What is transuranic waste?
Waste that contains manmade elements heavier than uranium on the periodic table.
When is transuranic waste produced?
During nuclear fuel assembly, nuclear weapons research and production, and during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.
Transuranic waste falls into what two categories?
Contact-handled and remote-handled.
What can be said about the radionuclide content found in low-level radioactive waste?
LLW contains material with radionuclide content above the established clearance levels.
Low-level radioactive waste is free of long-lived radionuclides.
False - but there are limited amounts.
The radioactivity of low-level radioactive waste is necessarily just above background levels found in nature.
False - LLW can be highly radioactive.
When is low-level waste typically removed from on-site storage by licensees?
Either when it is no longer radioactive, or when amounts are large enough for shipment to a low-level waste disposal site.
What are the four classes of low-level radioactive waste?
Class A, Class B, Class C, and Greater than Class C.
Which of the four classes of low-level radioactive waste are generally acceptable for near-surface disposal?
Classes A, B, and C.
What is the Initial step in refining uranium ore dug from the ground?
Milling.
What are the residues from uranium ore milling called, and what do they contain?
Mill tailing contains radioactive decay products from the uranium.
Where are mill tailings and raffinates stored?
In specially designed ponds called impoundments.
Resource depletion occurs when the rate of consumption is greater than the rate of what?
Replenishment.
Natural resources fall under what two categories?
Renewable and non-renewable.
Humans consume resources for what 3 primary needs?
Food, energy, raw materials.
The term “land use” refers to what?
The human use of land.
Land use activities are necessarily economic.
False - they may also be cultural.
How are the uses different for public and private lands?
Urban development is rare on public land, and private land is rarely protected for wilderness users.
What 2 land use activities are major drivers of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation?
Agriculture and forestry activities.
Give 3 examples of ecological services that biodiversity provides?
Cleaning water, absorbing chemicals, providing oxygen.
Name 2 natural disturbances that biodiversity allows ecosystems to adjust to.
Fires and floods.
What are the benefits to genetic diversity?
Preventing diseases and helping species adjust to changes in their environment.
When is change and degradation of an area considered habitat loss?
When the area can no longer serve as a home to native species.
What are the 3 major types of habitat loss?
Habitat destruction, fragmentation, and degradation.
Filling in wetlands, dredging rivers, mowing fields, and cutting down trees are examples of what kind of habitat loss?
Habitat destruction.
Roads, development, dams and water diversions are examples of what kind of habitat loss?
Habitat fragmentation.
Pollution, invasive species, and disruption of ecosystem processes are examples of what kind of habitat loss?
Habitat degradation.
What are the 5 main causes of habitat loss?
Agriculture, land conversion for development, water development, pollution, climate change.
