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95 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is an Impact Assessment? Identify all the steps.
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A way to test the potential risks and hazards.
1st – Hazard Assessment 2nd – Dose-response assessment (how much? Determines toxicity) 3rd – Exposure assessment (how long do you need to be exposed to get sick?) 4th – Risk Characterization (How many were impacted?) |
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What is Minimata Disease?
What caused it? Where did it occur? |
A neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. 12,000 people in Japan. Symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, narrowing of the field of vision and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma and death follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms. A congenital form of the disease can also affect fetuses in the womb.
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Name all the types of toxins
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Carcinogens – A type of toxin that causes cancer
Mutagens – A type of toxin that causes DNA mutations Teratogens – A type of toxin that causes birth defects Allergens – A type of toxin that causes allergies Neurotoxins – A type of toxin that causes brain and nervous system damage Endocrine disruptors – A type of toxin that interferes with the body’s hormones |
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What is biomagnification?
What is bioaccumulation? |
Biomagnification - Amount of contaminants that increase at each step of the food chain. As predators eat prey, the concentration of contaminants magnifies.
Bioaccumulation -the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other organic chemicals in an organism over time |
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People living in Monsanto had high levels of what in their system?
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PCBs
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What is "Integrated Pest Management"?
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Pest control using an array of complementary approaches including natural predators, parasites, pest-resistant plant varieties, pesticides, and other biological and environmental control practices.
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What is "biocontrol"
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the use of natural enemies to reduce the damage caused by a pest population.
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What makes a food "organic"?
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No hormones in the food. Animals that are “organic” have not been fed food that has hormones in it.
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What is "Snow White Syndrome"?
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We want our fruit to be big and shiny, so we use pesticides and hormones to do so. We are adding chemicals to alter the look of a fruit rather than focusing on crop yield.
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Name the family of chemicals used in refrigeration, air conditioning, packaging, insulation, or as solvents and aerosol propellants.
Because these are not destroyed in the lower atmosphere they drift into the upper atmosphere where their chlorine components destroy the earth's protective ozone layer |
CFCs
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True or False: A Eutrophic Lake is low in dissolved nutrients; deep, clear, has plants and soil
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False! That would be an Oligotrophic Lake
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True or False: An Oligotrophic Lake is low in dissolved nutrients; deep, clear, has plants and soil
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True!
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What is the word for very low oxygen concentration?
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Hypoxia
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What are some examples of particulate matter?
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Dust, soot, asbestos
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True or false: systemic is a population explosion due to poisoning the natural enemy that would normally eat the pests
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False! RESURGENCE is a population explosion due to poisoning the natural enemy that would normally eat the pests
Systemic means that it is part of the plant. For example, if hormones or pesticides in a fruit or vegetable were systemic, you would not be able to wash it off with water. |
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What are the primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere?
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Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.
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Which of the following is not a greenhouse gas:
Nitrous Oxide, Ozone, Carbon Monoxide, Methane |
Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas
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What is the "Love Canal"?
Where is it? What happened? Who was effected? |
Love Canal is a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York,
where they discovered 21,000 tons of toxic waste that had been buried beneath the neighborhood by Hooker Chemical. There were many birth defects and miscarriages caused by this. |
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What defines a pest?
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Anything that causes disease or weakness. Anything that transfers disease. Anything that “harasses”. Anything that feeds off of crops or livestock
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True or false: Emissions are defined by: gases released into the air as byproducts.
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False! Emissions are defined by BOTH gases and particles released into the air as byproducts.
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How is photochemical smog created?
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photochemical smog is the chemical reaction of sunlight and nitrogen oxides (NOx) and in the atmosphere, which leaves airborne particles (called particulate matter) and ground-level ozone.
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What are the sources of Nitrogen Oxides?
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burning engines in cars, trucks, coal power plants, and industrial manufacturing factories
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What are the "perfect conditions" for photochemical smog?
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A hot, sunny, windless day in an urban area.
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What is the MAIN component of photochemical smog?
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Nitrous Oxide
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True or false: Ozone Gas is a primary pollutant
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False! Ozone is a secondary pollutant because it is produced by a reaction.
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What are the main components of Acid Rain?
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Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide and Water
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True or False: Sulfur Dioxide and Ozone are the main components of acid rain.
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False! Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide are the main components of acid rain.
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What is a "Proxy Indicator"?
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Indirect evidence that serve as substitutes for direct measurement and that shed light on past climate. A few examples are: pollen from sediment cores and air bubbles from ice cores.
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What is pH?
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a scale devised to quantify the acidity or basicity of solutions; it runs from 0-14. Pure water has a pH of 7
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True or false, pure water has a pH of 6.
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False, pure water has a pH of 7
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What is the range of the pH scale?
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0 - 14
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Would a liquid with a pH of 13 be very acidic or very basic?
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A liquid with a pH of 13 would be very basic.
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Would a liquid with a pH of 1 be very acidic or very basic?
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A liquid with a pH of 1 would be very acidic.
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True or false: Phosphate deposits can contain significant amounts of heavy metals.
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True!
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What adverse health effects did the Monsanto incident bring?
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Liver damage, skin irritations, thyroid problems, reproductive and developmental effects and cancer.
Children born after 1995 also have high amounts of PCBs in their blood |
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What is the main source of SO2 in our air?
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The main source of Sulfur Dioxide in our air is the combustion of fuel containing sulfur -- mostly coal and oil. Also produced during metal smelting and other industrial processes.
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What is the "risk of being young"?
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There has been strong indication that chemicals = increase in childhood diseases. In the last 30 years, childhood cancer has increased. Asthma is also increasing rapidly. Asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism and hospital admissions. If a child lives in an urban area, they have an 83% chance of having asthma.
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What is the source of Nitrates?
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Fertilizer
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True or false, bottled water undergoes lots of testing, more so than tap water.
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False! Actually tap water gets tested better than bottled water
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What are the predicted impacts of climate change in the USA?
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Warmer temperatures, higher seas, change in precipitation, more floods, more drought, change in water vapor, severe storms will damage energy and transportation infrastructure, health problems from heat waves and diseases spreading will rise, species will shift northward and uphill and water shortages will worsen.
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How does cultural eutrophication take place?
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Humans speed up the natural eutrophication process by clearing land to build big cities and towns, treatment plants, farms, and golf courses that use lots of fertilizers.
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True or false: eutrophication is caused by humans.
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False! Eutrophication is a natural process, humans simply speed it up
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Whats up with Tijuana's sewage?
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Untreated wastewater is dumped into the sea from the Tijuana River. This is made worse by population growth and the capacity for sewage treatment facilities are full. The dirty water carries pathogens which are posing a health threat and lead to higher medical costs. Dirty sewage in the water also alters conditions for aquatic life by lowering concentrations of dissolved oxygen which increases mortality for species which decreases sustainability for species.
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What are LUSTs and was the article in class about?
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Leaking Underground Storage Tanks.
Congress says it would cost $12 billion to clean up LUSTS. Most LUSTs contain petroleum. |
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What are the 5 most polluted seas in order?
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1. Mediterranean – Sewage and Garbage
2. North Sea – Oil Spills 3. Baltic Sea – Nuclear Waste 4. Red Sea – Oil and Shipping 5. Caribbean Sea – Tourism and Sewage |
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What is the source of pollution in the Baltic Sea?
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Nuclear Waste
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What is the source of pollution in the Meditteranean Sea?
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Sewage and Garbage
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What is the source of pollution in the North Sea?
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Oil Spills
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What is the source of pollution in the Red Sea?
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Oil and Shipping
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What is the source of pollution in the Caribbean Sea?
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Tourism and Sewage
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What are the top 8 most polluted cities in the world in order?
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1. Hanford, Washing – Radioactive Waste
2. New Delhi, India – Water pollution (raw sewage) 3. Lanzhou, China – Coal burning power plants 4. Bangkok, Thailand – Industrial Chemicals 5. Mexico City, Mexico – Automobiles 6. Hong Kong, China – water pollution 7. Cancer Alley, Louisiana – most chemical plants in US 8. Chelyabinsk, Russia - Radiation |
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What is the source of pollution in Hanford, Washington?
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Nuclear / Radioactive waste
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What is the source of pollution in New Delhi, India?
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Water pollution, raw sewage
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What is the source of pollution in Lanszhou, China?
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Coal-burning power plants
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What is the source of pollution in Bangkok, Thailand?
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Industrial Chemicals
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What is the source of pollution in Mexico City, Mexico?
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Cars
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What is the source of pollution in Hong Kong, China?
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Water Pollution
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What is the source of pollution in Cancer Alley, Louisiana?
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Most chemical plants in the US
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What is the source of pollution in Chelyabinsk, Russia?
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Radiation
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What is the connection between caribou, mosquitoes, and global warming?
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Due to global warming and the rise of the temperature, the mosquitoes are vastly reproducing which irritate the caribou. The caribou head to higher ground to escape the pests. The warmer temperatures mean less ice and more snow and the caribou get stuck and can’t find their food and starve to death.
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How are Zooplankton and crabs indicator species for global climate change?
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Zooplankton and crabs are two species that cannot handle temperature changes. Even if the water temperature is raised a few degrees, they will die. The lower levels of these species indicate global climate change.
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What is the connection between asthma in children, Sea Fan disease, African dust, Atlantic air currents and global climate change?
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Because the ocean temperatures are rising, Lake Chad dried up, now only shallow channels remain. The dust from Lake Chad is being blown and carried to places like the Caribbean. Asthma in the Caribbean children has increased tremendously due to this dust. Sea Fan disease is caused by a pathogen that is carried by dust and settled into the sea water.
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What is the major source of oil in our water?
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The majority of all oil pollution in the water accumulates from widely spread sources such as leakage from small boats, runoff from human activities from land (dumping oil on ground, using it to make roads less dusty).
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True or False: Ozone can injure living tissues and cause respiratory problems?
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True!
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How are consumers part of the problem with pesticides
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Consumers can be part of the problem with pesticides because we have the power to choose to eat organic food which is grown without pesticides but we usually don’t because it is more expensive.
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Why is the Greenhouse effect not a man-made problem?
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The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth’s average temperature would be about 60ºF colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as greenhouse gases. While greenhouse effect is a natural process, we have increased these gases which quicken GCC
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How are ice cores used to understand past weather and global climate change?
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Ice cores can be used to show a link between temperature and global sea level variations. The air trapped in bubbles in the ice can also reveal the CO2 variations of the atmosphere from the distant past, well before modern environmental influences. The study of these ice cores has been a significant indicator of the changes in CO2 over many millennia, and continues to provide valuable information about the differences between ancient and modern atmospheric conditions.
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What has medicine in our surface water caused?
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Due to medicine in the water, there has been many adverse effects such as inter-sex fish in the Potomac River and frog mutations in Wisconsin. This is mostly due to consumers flushing their old medications down the toilet
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Will you find chemicals in the water due to eutrophication?
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Yes
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Describe the stages of waste water treatment.
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1. Preliminary Treatment (large debris screened out) - this takes out all of the big debris that are in the water.
2. Primary Treatment (clarifies the water, water sets for a period of time) (Feces will sink, and oil will go to the top of the water) During Primary Treatment removal heavy material sinks, light material is skimmed off, and the after material removed is "raw sludge 3. Secondary Treatment- addition of bacteria (this feeds off waste, and now is called "active sludge") (Note…neither removes nutrients) 4. Advanced Treatment- Addition of material. EX: Lime- for phosphate to take out nutrients. (not all places do this) |
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What is the difference between a hole in the ozone layer and ozone smog?
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The "ozone hole" consists of a region of thinned ozone density in the stratosphere over Antarctica and the southernmost ocean regions. It has reappeared seasonally each September in recent decades. While ozone smog is a significant problem in big cities. Ozone is formed as part of a complicated process involving nitrogen oxides, ozone formation and ozone loss. Ozone smog formation shows just how interconnected processes in the atmosphere really are.
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What is the main source of SO2 in our air?
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The main source of sulfur dioxide in the air is industrial activity: high sulfur coal mines
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True or false: 85% of S02 in our air comes from human sources?
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False! About 99% of the sulfur dioxide in air comes from human sources.
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What is the difference between primary and secondary waste water treatment?
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Primary Treatment clarifies the water, leaving the water to set for a period of time and during that time the feces and other heavy material sink while the oil will go to the top where the skim it out. Secondary Treatment is when they add bacteria to feed off the waste which is now called active sludge.
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What is the ozone shield?
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Stratospheric ozone layer, giving protection to the Earth's surface due to intense absorption of harmful solar ultraviolet radiation by the gas.
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What happens when there are excessive nutrients in marine ecosystems?
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Pollution from fertilizer runoff or other nutrient inputs can create dead zones in coastal marine ecosystems. Excessive nutrient concentrations also may give rise to population explosions among several species of marine algae that produce powerful toxins that attack the nervous systems of vertebrates. Blooms of these algae are known as harmful algal blooms. Harmful algal blooms can cause illness and death among zooplankton, birds, fish, marine mammals, and people as their toxins are passed up the food chain.
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True or false: Particulates pose a very serious environmental concern.
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False! Particulates do not really pose any environmental concern.
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In what ways are we empowered regarding pollution?
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1. Economic – we can choose to spend our $ differently
2. Political – we can be vocal enough to have power and change things 3. Media – we can spread the word and get media coverage to change something 4. Census – we can use the census to gain a better understanding of our population |
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What is an endocrine disruptor?
What does it interfere with? |
A type of toxin that interferes with the body’s hormones
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What is a teratogen?
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A type of toxin that causes birth defects
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What is a mutagen?
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A type of toxin that causes DNA mutations
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What was the article about the safety of Michigan inner lakes for eating fish?
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You shouldn’t eat sturgeon, carp, catfish, or certain Whitefish from Michigan’s lakes. Some of the fish contain chemicals such as PCBs, dioxin, and Mercury.
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What was the article about Pesticides and Child Development?
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In the Yaqui Valley, synthetic pesticides were used in the 1940s to increase crop yields. Study in 1990-4, High levels of pesticides were found in women’s breast milk and umbilical cords of newborn babies. Children who grew up around farms and pesticides were significantly behind the children who grew up away from the pesticides in coordination, physical endurance, fine motor skills and long term memory
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The movie on Cryptosporidium in Milwaukee:
What happened? Who? When? Caused by what? |
• What happened? There was an influenza outbreak. Pharmacies ran out of diarrhea meds
• Who? The elderly, infants, and sick people were most effected • When? 1993 • Cause? It was really caused by human waste entering the city water |
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What was the article about Monteverdi and Rising temperatures?
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Scientists hypothesize that changes in the climate were causing population fluctuations and disease outbreaks in the Golden Toad. Changes were being unleashed in the composition of the community.
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What was the article about babies breathing toxins in Los Angeles?
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In LA, a 2 week old baby has breathed in a lifetime's worth of toxins.
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What was the article about visibility after a black out?
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By having power plants down for just 2 days, visibility in Detroit increased by 25 miles.
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What happened with Lake Erie?
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Lake Erie is the shallowest and warmest of the five Great Lakes, and the basin is also intensively developed with agriculture, urban areas, industries and sewage treatment plants. For decades, pollution filled Lake Erie with far more nutrients than the lake could handle, with phosphorous being the main culprit. Phosphorous is a fertilizer that induces plant growth and algae and was also found in many commercial detergents at the time. Plants began growing, dying and decomposing in Lake Erie, creating anoxia (severe deficiency of oxygen) at the bottom of the lake and leaving the water's surface putrid and mossy. The lack of oxygen killed fish and other aquatic species, and the smelly surface repelled anglers, tourists and those living around Lake Erie. Heavy metals also had contaminated much of the fish population of Lake Erie
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What is the quickest "route of pollution"?
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Inhalation, inhaling pollutants is the quickest way into the body
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What are the types of toxins?
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Carcinogens - Cancers
Mutagens - DNA mutations Teratogens - Birth Defects Allergens Neurotoxins - Causes NS / brain damage Endocrine Disruptors - Interferes with hormones |
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What does the pesticide DBT cause?
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It can cause breast cancer, miscarriages, infertility
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What are the three types of pollution?
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Emissions - Pollution released into the air and falls to the water and the ground
Runoff- Pollution on the ground or surface Leaching- Pollution soaking into ground water |
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What are the four types of hazards?
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1) Physical - volcanoes, floods, earthquakes
2) Chemical - pesticides, CFCs 3) Biological - viruses, infections 4) Cultural - smoking |
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What predicts the effects of higher doses and predicts toxicity for humans at various levels?
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The Dose-Response curve
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What is a risk-benefit analysis?
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It is estimating the short and long-term benefits and risks.
1) How important is the thing? For example, pesticides 2) How large is the population of the people that benefits from the pesticides? 3) Do the benefits outweigh the risks? |
