Midterm pt 1

Question 1

What are the 4 Determinants of health?

Answer 1

Environment,
genetics
lifestyle,
medical care

Question 2

List 2 types of pollution that were occurring in the 1960s that raised public awareness about environmental issues.

Answer 2

Visible air

water pollution

Question 3

How strong was the health risk data that was available to support the initial federal legislation that was passed in the 1970s to clean up the environment

Answer 3

not strong so the public health people and environmental health people joined forces.

Initial legislation, the Clean Water Act, was to protect the environment not to protect public health.

Two of its primary goals was to have fishable and swimmable lakes, rivers and other water ways.

Question 4

List 2 sentinel events (total) that occurred in the 1960s and early 1970s that focused the public’s interest on issues of the environment.

Answer 4

1. The 1969 Santa Barbara Oil spill- the largest US oil spill of its time, still the 3rd largest oil spill in the US today, Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring about pesticides thinning bird egg shells.
2. The 1969 Cayahoga River fire – river so polluted it caught on fire. The river was a source for drinking water in Cleveland.

Question 5

What is environmental justice?

Answer 5

Equitable distribution of the harms of environmental benefits and burdens – in some cases enforcement of pollution standards may be less rigorous in communities composed of low SES or minority populations. Also may often place disposal facilities and pollution generating industrial companies in communities with disadvantaged populations. The communities want the jobs but as previously mentioned, the pollution standards may not be well enforced.

Question 6

Discuss one current or developing issue involving “environmental justice

Answer 6

Maps of the major pollution sites and major municipal waste sites in CT show all are located in communities with high percentage of minorities.

Question 7

In 1969 the National Environmental Policy Act was passed by Congress. What major requirement concerning federally funded projects did this act put in place?

Answer 7

EIS-Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for all federally funded projects

Question 8

Which federal agency other than EPA plays a major role in protecting the environment in the implementation of this NEPA and why?

Answer 8

The Army Corps of Engineers – responsible for navigable waters and must approve plans for any interstate navigable waters

Question 9

Why is NEPA, which predates the establishment of EPA, such an important piece of legislation and what process does it require in the review of proposed projects?

Answer 9

First time US showed a commitment to protecting the environment. It not only requires the EIS but also public hearings. Public hearings have resulted in stopping projects.

Question 10

Pollution prevention is a term that is gaining prominence in environmental regulatory programs. How does the implementation of a pollution prevention policy differ from our past and current policies of environmental enforcement? What role do standards play?

Answer 10

Pollution prevention is a move away from just meeting a standard towards aiming for lowest possible levels of pollution. Incentives are provided in the form of “cap and trade” where industries achieving lower levels of pollution can sell (trade) their part of their achievement (credit) to industries not achieving the standard. This incentivizes both the low polluter with financial gain to go lower and the high polluter with a penalty to go lower to avoid the penalty. Only being able to sell a portion of the pollution credit results in lower overall pollution. The standards provide the cap – have to be below the cap to have anything to trade and if above the cap have to reduce below or buy credits.

Question 11

What role does a manifest play in the disposal of hazardous waste?

Answer 11

A manifest tracks the creation, use, transport and ultimate disposal of hazardous wastes. It provides accountability and liability for proper use and disposal of hazardous waste by all parties involved in the full chain of custody of the hazardous waste

Question 12

who are the four (4) parties that sign the manifest?

Answer 12

• agency that issues the permit (send and receive hazardous waste),
• generator of the waste,
• transporter of the waste
• disposer

Question 13

3 environmental/public health problems that are controlled when a community changes from “open dumping” to dispose of garbage to the use of a “sanitary landfill”

Answer 13

Mosquitoes,
rodents and
smoke from land-fills catching fire.

Question 14

What are 2 problems associated with the use of a sanitary landfill?

Answer 14

• Contamination of ground water by leaching of contaminants

- methane gas and hazardous waste still put into landfills until 1978 when regulations

Question 15

With regard to drinking water, what are coliform organisms used for

Answer 15

Coliform bacteria used as an indicator organism of a potential problem with contamination entering the water system.

Coliform bacteria itself generally doesn’t cause disease but may indicate the presence of a bacteria that does. Test is for present or absent

Question 16

List one (1) advantage and one (1) disadvantage when using coliform for this purpose.

Answer 16

Advantage – ease of sample collection, reliability of test results, quick results (24 hrs), relatively inexpensive test and it’s not a pathogen. Tests for E-coli performed if coliform is present

Disadvantage – absence doesn’t mean water is safe. There are downstream opportunities for contamination including cross talk and back flow

Question 17

What is the current chemical that is used to disinfect most U. S. drinking water supplies? Describe the controversy with regard to using this chemical

Answer 17

Chlorine

In the presence of decayed organic matter (hydrocarbons) trihalomethanes, a carcinogen, are formed. If in a developing country and need to disinfect use Chlorine – need to address immediate issue, Cancer is a long exposure disease. Also chlorine doesn’t kill all disease causing organisms – e.g. giardia and cryptosporidium – filter sized for giardia – too big for tiny cryptosporidium

Question 18

List 4 drinking water waterborne diseases caused by micro-organisms

Answer 18

Cholera,
dysentery,
typhoid fever,
polio

Question 19

Describe the process of issuing and releasing a “boil drinking water advisory”

Answer 19

Present coliform test usually doesn’t result in a boil water order unless – call water treatment plant and they report an issue (e.g. pipe break) or docs reporting outbreak of diarrheal illness. If coliform present test for E-Coli. If E-Coli present – issue boil water order. DPH tells water treatment facility to issue an order. The water treatment facility writes it, DPH reviews and authorizes the order and the water treatment facility issues it.

Question 20

In the protection of a public drinking water supply, what is a cross connection?

Answer 20

Cross connection is an unintended mixing of potable and non-potable water sources e.g. using a non-potable well source for irrigation and having a common line where the well water and the household water supply system are connected to each other

Question 21

why is cross connection a problem, how is the problem eliminated?

Answer 21

Back siphonage is when contaminated water can enter into a clean water supply – e.g. sucking water out of a supply fast enough so create suction (low pressure) and pull in surrounding untreated water

Question 22

Describe the role of tertiary treatment in wastewater treatment.

What environmental problem is eliminated when it is used

Answer 22

Tertiary treatments is removing nitrates and phosphates.

Algae blooms are eliminated.

Question 23

List two (2) goals of the federal Clean Water Act (1972).

Answer 23

All waters swimmable and fishable by 1985

Question 24

What is the role of secondary treatment in the wastewater treatment process?

Answer 24

-Enhance O2 carrying capability by reducing demand for O2 ⇒ reduce suspended particles (need O2 to decompose) and/or increase O2 carrying capability via aeration ⇒don’t take O2 away from the fish in the aquatic environment after treated waste water discharged into the environment

Question 25

What is the role of primary treatment in the wastewater treatment process?

Answer 25

is to remove scum and sludge (like a big septic tank)

Question 26

Define the term “non point source” pollution

Answer 26

Pollution generated from diffuse sources- Unlike pollution from industrial and sewage treatment plants, nonpoint source (NPS) pollution comes from many diffuse sources. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters

Question 27

List three examples of “non point source” pollution

Answer 27

Erosion,
parking lots,
lawns

Question 28

Why is a “non point source” of pollution a public health and environmental concern?

Answer 28

because it’s hard to control and can impact the quality of drinking water so can impact public health and wildlife and aquatic life.

Question 29

What is a combined sewer overflow

Answer 29

Combined sewers combine both sewer drains and residential and industrial waste water are collected by one system for transport to the water treatment facility. When heavy rains or melt overwhelm the capacity of the water treatment facility the excess combined flow of untreated waste bypasses the treatment facility and is released directly into the environment.

Question 30

List three (3) diseases that can be caused by sewage contaminated with feces.

Answer 30

Typhoid fever,
polio,
cholera,