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NATS1512: Environmental Pollution > NATS1512 FINAL EXAM > Flashcards

NATS1512 FINAL EXAM Flashcards

1
Q

Worldwide, how many people do not have access to an improved water source?

A

780 million

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2
Q

What is Water Pollution?

A

The contamination of bodies of water (eg. lakes, river) where pollutants are directly or indirectly discharged into them without adequate treatment

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3
Q

What is a point source? Provide an example.

A

Pollution that is a discharged from a single source/ point (eg. sewage, industrial, oil, mining)

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4
Q

What is a non-point source? Provide an example.

A

Pollution that is discharged from many sources rather than a single specific site (eg. road salt, animal waste, agriculture runoff, precipitation)

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5
Q

Is it harder to control pollution from a point source or a non point source? Why?

A

Non - point pollution is more difficult to control because it comes from multiple locations

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6
Q

What is a reservoir?

A

A location where water is stored

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7
Q

Major water reservoirs and percentages?

A

Ocean (96.5%)
Freshwater (2.5%)

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8
Q

What is the process that transports water TO the atmosphere?

A

Evaporation - as the sun heats up water (eg. in the ocean) it changes from a liquid to a gas
Sublimation - ice and snow can sublimate directly into water vapour

Evapotranspiration - evaporated water specifically from plants and soil

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9
Q

What is the process that transports water FROM the atmosphere?

A

water vapour in the atmosphere cools and condenses into clouds

Precipitation: if cloud particles grow large enough, they can fall out of the sky as precipitation (as either, snow, rain, hail etc)

Deposition - transfer of water vapour directly to solid water (ice/ snow)

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10
Q

What is the process that transports water ALONG the Earths surface?

A

Surface Runoff: precipitation flows over the ground until it ends up in a river/ stream because of gravity and then flows into a lake/ ocean eventually

Infiltration - precipitation can lead into the groundwater and eventually recharge into a lake/ ocean because of gravity

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11
Q

What are the 6 conventional water pollutants that are often present in large amounts and can have serious effects?

A

1 Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
2 Nutrients (eg. Nitrogen N)
3 Suspended soils
4 pH
5 Oil and Grease
6 Pathogenic microorganisms

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12
Q

Talk about case location: Baltic Sea (Case location for BOD and Nutrients)

A

95% of Baltic Sea is assessed as being eutrophied
Over 85 million people live within the Baltic Sea catchment area

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13
Q

Nutrients such as Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) are naturally occurring in our environment but excessive inputs of N and P into water systems is a direct result of _____

A

human activities

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14
Q

What are the primary sources of nutrient pollutions?

A
  • Runoff of fertilizers from agricultural fields
  • Animal manure
  • Sewage and wastewater
  • Laundry detergents and soap
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15
Q

Excess N and P in a water system can also lead to _____ ____?

A

cultural eutrophication

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16
Q

what is cultural eutrophication?

A

The process of nutrient enrichment and subsequent ecosystem degradation

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17
Q

What is the cultural eutrophication process?

A
  1. Nutrient input into a water system
  2. Algae at the surface of the water system feed on nutrients and flourish and block sunlight from entering ecosystem
  3. Eventually algae die and drift to the bottom of the water system, providing food for decomposers
  4. As decomposers breakdown algae, they remove oxygen from the water which limits the amount available for fish and plants (increased BOD)
  5. With a hypoxic zone created, most fish and plants die
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18
Q

What is BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand)

A

Amount of oxygen required to decompose a given amount of organic material. High BOD reduces or depletes dissolved oxygen in water. Fish that are mobile can move away from hypoxic (low oxygen) zones but sedentary organisms may die

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19
Q

True or false: prior to human existence on earth, eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems did not occur

A

False

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20
Q

What are some of the impacts of an aquatic ecosystem becoming eutrophied?

A

Aquatic - loss/ changes of biodiversity
Economic - loss in fishers/ tourism
Human - bloom of algae and phytoplankton can release toxins into the water or be toxic themselves

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21
Q

Suspended Soils (SS) is the most….

A

common pollutant in rivers, streams, lakes and reservoirs

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22
Q

What are some impacts of Suspended Soils (SS)

A

Human - can give drinking water drinking and odor problems
Economic - Sediment causes potentials of flooding in homes and sediment increases the cost of treating drinking water
Aquatic - Murky water prevents photosynthesis and vegetation from growing in water

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23
Q

Sediment pollution in water leads to a number of impacts on coral locations (case location: Australia) like…

A
  • Injury to coal tissue
  • Reduced photosynthetic efficiency (from shading caused by sediment)
  • Change in coral colour arising from changes in the density of photosynthetic pigments (coral bleaching!)
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24
Q

Talk about Little Rock Lake, Wisconsin USA (case location for pH)

A

Northern half of Little Rock Lake was part of a research experiment to investigate the impacts of pH on aquatic systems. After 6 years of acidification, everything in the lake died (1984 - 1990)

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25
Q

What is pH?

A

A scale of acidity from 0 - 14

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26
Q

Acidic solutions have a pH less than…

A

7

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27
Q

Basic/ Alkine solutions have a pH greater than….

A

7

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28
Q

Neutral solutions have an exact pH of…

A

7

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29
Q

A lake that is NOT affected by human activity has a pH of…

A

6 - 7

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30
Q

Effects of pH levels
7…
6…
5….
4.5-5…
4

A

7: Neutral pH, optimal conditions
6: snails and crayfish begin to die
5: fish eggs do not hatch, some fish begin to die
4.5 - 5: Fish species begin to die (like bass)
4: Flies/ frogs begin to die

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31
Q

What is the indirect impact of pH?

A

Aluminum stress: high concentrations of Aluminum in water bodies can cause stress on fish species causing higher rates of mortality

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32
Q

Case Location: Nova Scotia (Oil and Grease)

A
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33
Q

There are both natural and anthropogenic sources of oil to aquatic ecosystems:

A

Natural: Marine Seeps (200 known significant marine seeps)
Anthropogenic: Platforms (more than 8,000 offshore platforms globally) and Atmospheric deposition, Pipeline Spills

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34
Q

What is Oil?

A

Complex substance composed of thousands of different kinds of organic molecules

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35
Q

What are the 2 toxic effects of Oil?

A

Oiling - Organisms most affected by oiling are aquatic birds, particularly auks, penguins and diving sea ducks because they spend most of their lives on the surface of the sea

Disruption of Function -
Direct toxic effects include:
- Development
* Reproduction

Sublethal effects include:
* Disruption to energetic processes
* Interference with biosynthetic processes
* Structural development

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36
Q

Impacts of oil and grease on aquatic plants?

A

Oil spills block the sunlight that is required for plants to photosynthesize, kills plants growing in water

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37
Q

Case Location: Walkerton, Ontario (Pathogenic Microorganisms) Why was their illness?

A

Illness due to water contamination
problem occurred due to a specific microbe called Pathogens (can be a virus, fungus etc)

38
Q

Non point sources of Pathogens

A

Pathogenic microbes in a water body often result from human activities:
* Storm water runoff
* Cities with high degree of
imperious surfaces are especially susceptible to storm water runoff sources of pathogens
* Improperly operating septic systems
* Runoff from livestock operations

39
Q

Point sources of Pathogens?

A

Poorly functioning municipal sewage treatment plants
* During heavy rainfall events, water treatment plants can be bypassed (to avoid flooding) and deliver untreated water (including sewage) directly into the water body (we will come back to this later)

40
Q

What is epizootic ulcerative syndrome?

A

also knows as “red spot disease”, is a pathogenic disease that affects fish assemblages

41
Q

Vast majority of deaths and illnesses in Walkerton were caused by a bacteria present in the water called….

A

E. coli

42
Q

How many priority (toxic) pollutants are their and name 5:

A

126
Name 5: arsenic, cadmium, lead, nickel, copper

43
Q

What is Bioaccumulation:

A

increase in concentration of a pollutant in a single organism over its lifetime

44
Q

What is Biomagnification

A

increase in concentration of a pollutant up the food chain

45
Q

What are the 3 major types of water pollutants?

A

1) Conventional water pollutants (nutrients, BOD,
suspended soils, pH, oil and grease, pathogens)
2) Priority (toxic) pollutants (e.g. chromium)
3) Nonconventional and nontoxic pollutants (e.g. road salt)

46
Q

Examples of nontoxic and nonconventional pollutants:

A

Road salt, aluminium, iron

47
Q

What is done with all plastic waste?

A

Recycled (8-9%)
Incinerated (Waste to energy, 12%)
Put in a landfill (79%)
Mismanaged (litter)

48
Q

80 - 90% of our plastic waste is deposited into a..

A

landfill

49
Q

What are the landfill inputs/ outputs?

A

inputs: waste, water (rainfall)
outputs: Leachate, Biogas

50
Q

Day in the life of plastic bottle that is mismanaged:

A

After drinking, ends up in the ocean

51
Q

Physical threats to marine life when plastic is in ocean:

A
  • Malnutrition
  • Salvation
  • Suffocation
  • Drowning
52
Q

Chemical threats to marine life when plastic is in the ocean:

A

microplastic

53
Q

What are the 9 steps of treatment and testing that must be performed from when water is collected from Lake Ontario before it is delivered to your home?

A
  1. collect water from Lake Ontario
  2. screening, which removes large objects and debris
  3. chlorine, added to lake water to kill microorganisms
  4. settling basin
  5. filtration
  6. storage
  7. ammonia
  8. quality test, tested regularly to ensure quality
  9. distribution
54
Q

Worldwide, how many people dont have access to an improved water source?

A

780 million people

55
Q

what is water pollution?

A

the contamination of bodies of water (eg. lakes, oceans) when pollutants are directly or indirectly discharged into them without adequate treatment

56
Q

what is a point source? provide an example.

A

pollution that is discharged from a single source/ point. For example, sewage, mining, oil, industrial

57
Q

what is a non point source? provide an example.

A

pollution that is discharged from many sources rather than one single source. For example, agriculture runoff, animal waste, road salt, precipitation

58
Q

is it harder to control pollution from a point or non point source?

A

non point source since it comes from various sources

59
Q

what is a reservoir?

A

a location where water is stored

60
Q

what are the major water reservoirs?

A

oceans - 96.5 %
freshwaters - 2.5 %

61
Q

what are the criteria air pollutants?

A

Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)
Ozone (O3)
Particulate Matter (PM)

62
Q

what is ppb/ ppm

A

parts per billion/ parts per million

63
Q

is 5 ppm or 5 ppb larger?

A

5ppm is larger because million is less than billion

64
Q

what is a primary pollutant? provide an example.

A

a pollutant emitted directly from a source on earth (eg. NOx emitted from a vehicle)

65
Q

what is a secondary pollutant?

A

a pollutant generated in the atmosphere as a produce of chemical reactions (eg. ozone)

66
Q

the most significant source of criteria air pollutants to the atmosphere is from _____

A

fossil fuel combustion

67
Q

what is fossil fuel? provide an example.

A

a natural fuel formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms (eg. coal, natural gas, crude oil)

68
Q

what is combustion?

A

the process of burning a substance in the presence of oxygen

69
Q

what is complete combustion?

A

complete reaction of elements in the fuel with oxygen to form only carbon dioxide and water

70
Q

what is incomplete combustion?

A

incomplete reaction of elements in the fuel leading to the formation of by products (formed due to insufficient oxygen or heat)

71
Q

blue and yellow flame of fire: complete/ incomplete combustion?

A

yellow flame - incomplete
blue flame - complete

72
Q

if the major source of criteria air pollutants is combustion of fossil fuel, what is the minor source?

A

natural emissions

73
Q

human health impacts of PM (Particulate Matter)?

A

asthma attacks, heart attacks

74
Q

human health impacts of ozone and NOx?

A

coughing, shortness of breath

75
Q

what is soil pollution?

A

presence of a chemical or substance out of place and/or present at a higher than normal concentration that has adverse effects on any non-targeted organism

76
Q

it is estimated that _____ hectares of land globally are expected to be effected by soil pollution

A

22 million

77
Q

major pollutant in the soil?

A

1) heavy metals
2) nitrogen and phosphorus
3) pesticides
4) persistent organic pollutants (POC)
5) Radionuclides
6) emerging pollutants

78
Q

ATHABASCA OIL SANDS, AB: talk about it (land pollution)

A
  • Studies have found emission to the atmosphere of: NOx, SO2, PM, VOCs, CO, CO2 and other pollutants
  • a variety of heavy metals including mercury, arsenic, lead and cadmium, are being released into the soil and the Athabasca River
  • 3rd largest oil reserve in the world, after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia
79
Q

what is “heavy metal” pollutant? and what can high levels of it cause?

A

group of metals of relatively high atomic mass (eg. Lead, Copper, Zinc)

  • at high concentrations they can cause phytotoxicity and harm to human health
80
Q

Pollutant in the soil: Source of heavy metal to soil:

A
  1. Paint (heavy metals are in the pigments of paints)
  2. Coal combustion (releases large amounts of lead and cadmium, responsible for 42% of US mercury emissions)
  3. Leaded gasoline (leaded gas is banned in most countries but it was estimated that 10 million tonnes of lead was transferred to the global environment because of leaded gasoline running vehicles)
  4. Mining and Smelting Activities
81
Q

how would atmospheric emissions of mercury, lead and cadmium from a coal plant be a source of soil pollution?

A
  • deposition directly on to land
  • dissolving in a rain drop (rain drop delivers the heavy metals on to land)
82
Q

What is the major problem associated with heavy metals?

A

some of the most persistent and complex pollutants to remove from the environment (because they are persistent, they bioaccumulate and biomagnify)

83
Q

some old buildings in Toronto have walls covered with leaded paint. High concentrations of lead have been found in individuals who live in these buildings. Is this an example of bioaccumulation or biomagnification?

A

bioaccumulation - no reference of the food chain so it cant be biomagnification

84
Q

once heavy metals are present in soil, they can be:

A
  • taken up by plants
  • Runoff into nearby aquatic systems and accumulate in fish
85
Q

human health issues associated with heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic)

A

mercury - insomnia, meteor loss, cognitive and motor dysfunction
lead - kidney and brain damage, nervous system damage, anemia
cadmium: kidney, bone and lung disease
arsenic - cancer and skin lesions, negative impacts on cognitive development

86
Q

GRASSY NARROWS, ON: talk about it (land pollution)

A
  • In 1962, the Dryden Chemical Company began operating a chlor-alkali plant in Dryden, Ontario
  • The industrial effluent, which contained mercury, was discharged directly into the Wabigoon-English River System
  • In 1970, extensive mercury contamination was discovered in the river system
  • almost 90% of the Grassy Narrows community member suffer from mercury poisoning
87
Q

Major pollutant in the soil: Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) what are the primary sources?

A

Runoff of fertilizers from agricultural fields
* Animal manure
* Sewage and wastewater
* Laundry detergents and soap

88
Q

polychlorinated meaning?

A

many chlorines

89
Q

radionuclides is…

A

unstable = radioactive

90
Q

what pollutants do electronics contain that could pollute soil/ land?

A
  • metals, plastics (lead, cadmium)
91
Q

what is an advantage of phytoremediation?

A

natural, less human involvement, cheap

92
Q

what is a disadvantage of phytoremediation?

A

air pollution problem, slow process, impacts ecosystems

NATS1512: Environmental Pollution (2 decks)

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