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148 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Define "Environment"
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The climatic, edaphic (soil), biotic factors that act upon an organism or ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival
The aggregate of social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community |
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Cassiterite:
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-Tin-oxide (SnO2)
-mined for in Africa ("unearthed by the poor, controlled by the strong and consumed by a world oblivious to their origins") -people travel over 30 miles with 100lb bags of cassiterite -used in computers, cell phones, CDs, etc - - |
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US Adults Believe....
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30% UFOs and other civilizations
60% ESP 40% Astrology is scientific 70% Magnetic therapy is scientific 32% in luck numbers 88% in alternative medicines (*This is actually good) |
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Green House Gases:
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Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Methane (CH4) Water (H2O).. absorbs ~15% of solar radiation. 15 billion tons in the atmosphere *~65% reduction in green house gas emissions is needed to combat the problem of global warming |
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Increase in Malaria:
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-3,000 children deaths per day
-before 1970 at higher elevations had colder temps and caused freezing which limited mosquitos, mosquito borne disease, and plants from being too high in elevation -rather than use mass spread insecticides, they are trying to use personal mosquito nets to protect against malaria. -Today, increased warmth has caused mountain glaciers to shrink so mosquitos are more widespread (Muir Glacier) |
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Methyl Bromide
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CH3Br
-fungicide (used to fumigate a house with fungus) -breaks down to CH3 and Br in the atmosphere and is a greenhouse gas -used in agriculture (strawberries and tomatoes) -Although phased out in 1995, in 2005 Montreal Protocol was held in Prague and agreed 12 developed countries to use methyl bromide to a limited extent (the US uses over half of the "allowed" CH3Br for developed countries) |
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Sulfur Dioxide (Asian smog)
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-Byproduct of lighting a match
-inhibits breathing and destroys lung tissue -everywhere except for Asia SO2 is going down |
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Access to clean water:
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-6 billion people in the world
-1 billion with no access to clean water -2 billion with inadequate sanitation |
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Efficiency of recycling?
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recycling works, but not as well as we'd hope.
-it is often too time consuming or difficult to separate different chemical units from one another (glass, plastic, metal) |
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Effect of melting snow/ice in oceans:
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When the cold ice and snow melt into the oceans, it is very dark water which attracts sunlight which accelerates global warming.
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What are we flushing down the drain
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-old toilet flushes were 2 gallons, now they are 1 gallon (useless since urine is sterile)
-in Europe they have toilets with 2 levels of flush (different amount of water depending on excrement) -over half of ingested antibiotics -shampoos/soaps contain phosphates which create foam because phosphates are food for algae (now we make soaps that break down properly) |
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USA energy supply:
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-85% of energy is from fossil fuels (nuclear power more prevalent in Europe)
-6% renewable energy (mostly from hydropower and biomass... solar, wind, and geothermal are not significant sources of energy for the US) -We import 13 million barrels of oil per day and produce 7 million -imports from Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, Nigeria |
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Reserves of fossil fuels in the world;
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Oil: 80 years
Gas: 70 years Coal: 700 years |
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Worlds use of energy:
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-90 million barrels of oil used per day
-USA, Canada, and Europe not increasing energy demands but China is (in 2015 China will be using more energy than the US) |
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Should we be eating fish?
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-Fish contain omega-3 fatty acids which promote regular heart beats, reduces heart disease, and promote higher birth IQs.
-HOWEVER, fish contain mercury which is extremely detrimental to the development stage. *The solution: Eat fish in moderation and avoid large predator fish (such as tuna, swordfish, etc.) |
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Dioxins
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-extremely toxic
-created from incinerating plastics -gets in air, comes down in rain and is in grass -cows eat grass and we eat hamburger, we all have dioxins in our blood |
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Acrylamide
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This is a carcinogen from toasting hamburger buns
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The truth about "organic"
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-genetically modified food is no worse than organic (and in many cases better).
-we get lutein (anti-oxidant) from both organic and genetically modified corn -recall on spinach last year because of E. coli (sick, wild animal defecated in field and contaminated field) *organic doesn't mean safe -people protest because they have agendas |
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Alcohol:
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-ethanol is a carcinogen
-in fact, if alcohol was a synthetic substance being put on the market it would not pass FDA or Health Canada standards -but alcohol is naturally produced so it doesn't fall under such legislation *Natural does not mean non-carcinogenic -the key is moderation (no more than one drink a day) -there is a linear relationship between alcohol consumption and risk of breast cancer -Red wine does contain resveratrol which reduces cholesterol |
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Grapefruit juice:
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-contains many antioxidants
-reduces the risk of heart disease -however, grapefruit juice blocks the activity of an enzyme that normally breaks down medications, so medication effects can be exacerbated (certain medications cannot be taken with grapefruit juice) |
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Carrot juice:
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-no problems to take with medications
-but.. can be contaminated with botulin (very toxic)... grows under anaerobic conditions |
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Do we really need to be drinking 8 glasses of water a day?
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No, your body tells you when you need to hydrate. No study has ever justified drinking this much water.
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What is in tap water?
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Tap water is microbiologically pure because it has been treated with chlorine.
-chlorine treatment produced trihalomethanes such as chloroform which when consumed in small doses over a long period of time can pose a threat (carcinogenic) -Fluoride is added to water to prevent against cavities (it is true that it is used as rat poison but at extremely high concentrations). There is a link between poor oral health and heart disease. Bacteria get in blood stream via the gums. -Fluorinated toothpaste works better than fluorinated water though |
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Why is average age of first menstruation so much younger than 100 years ago?
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-100 years ago menstruation average was 17 years old
-today it is 11 -Plastic water bottles contain bisphenol A which can leach out and into water. Bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor. -Could possibly be environmental exposure (for example more people living in the world, estrogen is in urine, more urine in the world, filtration of water doesn't separate hormones. this is an unlikely explanation though -More likely than anything, earlier age of puberty due to better nutrition |
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Antimony
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-antimony is an element located in the same chemical family as the toxin arsenic (so it could be potentially harmful to us)
-antimony is used in the polymerization of polyester drinking bottles. -there is worry of antimony leaking out into water |
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Antiperspirants:
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-contain parabens
-rumor that parabens can lead to breast cancer -parabens are in many things though -no credible study that shows parabens increase likelihood of cancer |
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Risk of taking a hot shower?
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There are 108 chemicals released from the plastic shower curtain with hot water. But we shouldn't worry about these (trace amounts and they are all flowing down towards the drain not our face.
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Risks in every day household items:
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-hair dyes have been linked with non-hodgkins lymphoma
-nail polish contains carcinogenic endocrine disruptor dibutyl phthalate (feed rats dibutyl phthalate and male offspring will have a smaller anal-genital distance.. this is a concern because females should have a shorter anal-genital distance than males) -Pillows contain polyurethane which releases isocyanates which is unsafe. -Power lines are linked with leukemiea -Rubber balloons may be contaminated with carcinogenic nitrosamines *BOTTOM LINE: if you are hungry, thirsty, smelly, unkempt, and bored you are safe.... there is no need to avoid all the above mentioned products or other "carcinogenic foods" and such You need a risk benefit analysis, don't just listen to the uninformed media who know nothing about science. Ex. Polyester bottles contain antimony at 3 parts per billion. The daily acceptable intake of antimony is 6 parts per billion. ADI means that if you were to constantly drink water all of your life contaminated with antimony at 6 ppb, you would have no adverse effects. To derive ADI, they reduce exposure until there are no side effects on animals. We take this concentration and divide it by 100 to find the "safe" level. ADI has a huge safety margin |
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Most cost effective health intervention in the world:
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Washing hands with soap and water (no antibacteria stuff though)
-Sanitation is the most important medical advance since 1840, ahead of antibiotics and anesthetics -More than 5X more children die a day from poor sanitation than AIDS -Hand washing can prevent over 30% of hospital acquired infections -Benefit was noticed by Ignez Sammelweis who noticed women would die during childbirth from contamination of doctors hands who went straight from anatomy lab to delivery |
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Air quality in churches:
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-Terrible
-candles and inscents combustion produce free radicals, small particulates, and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons *air in church is worse than in a highly polluted city. |
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Safety concerns over flying..
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-People worry about deep vein thrombosis
-Theoretically possible, but very uncommon -Since 1914, there have been 15,000 deaths from airplanes -In cars there are over 50,000 deaths a year -After 9/11 more people drove, we saw an increase in accidents and deaths |
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Fruit and vegetable wax
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-natural protective layer to retain water
-picked fruit is washed to remove bacteria and wax is removed -wax is applied for long transport to prevent dehydration (synthetic waxes that are approved by FDA and Health Canada) -Mix morpholine with wax to apply it in a very thin layer -Morpholine can react with naturally occurring nitrates in body to form carcinogen *The amount of morpholine present in fruits and veggies is not enough to ever cause cancer |
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Coffee
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-Coffee smell contains over 1000 chemicals
-Contains caffeic acid, benzene, styrene, formaldehyde, furfural (all carcinogens) -But coffee is our number one source of anti-oxidants so neither the benefits or the risks are significant |
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Furfural
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-in apples, sweet potatoes, grains, and used to make plastics
-200mg/kg body weight produces cancer in rats -We woudl have to eat 600 loaves of bread a day to consume enough furfural that causes cancer in animals. ONLY THE DOSE MAKES THE POISON |
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The Hormesis Effect:
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"Only the dose makes the poison" (Paracelsus)
-effect at low doses is contrary to the effect at high doses -Ex. Vitamin A toxic at high doses but beneficial at low doses |
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Benzopyrene
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-Created from BBQing
-Eating 100 steaks with benzopyrene will increase risk of cancer by 1 in a million -Lifetime risk of developing cancer is 1 in 3, therefore eating 100 steaks increases risk of cancer by 0.0003% (not a big risk) |
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Cigarettes
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-smoking 1.4 cigarettes already increases risk of cancer (much more than eating 100 steaks)
-Therefore, people shouldn't be worried about eating steak, since every cigarette they smoke is increasing chance of cancer |
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Misleading data presentation: post-menopausal hormone therapy.
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-Don't trust how facts are presented.
-People claim that taking hormonal replacement drugs in menopause increases chance of breast cancer by 30%. but what does this mean? -3-4% of women will develop breast cancer in 10 year period post menopause -Risk increases to 5% for those who take estrogen hormone therapy -30% represents the increase from 3.5% to 5% -More correct to say: one in 100 women will develop breast cancer from taking post menopausal hormone therapy -However, breast cancer survivors do have a large increased risk of taking estrogen (11 in 100 will develop breast cancer.. so maybe those who have survived breast cancer already should not be taking estrogen) |
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Mad Cow Disease
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-Was a drastic over reaction by media
-Hardly a real risk -only 200 people have died worldwide |
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Quality of studies: parabens in antiperspirants
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-Dr. Philippa Darbre claimed that parabens in antiperspirants lead to breast cancer.
-Parabens do mimic estrogen so theoretically her hypothesis made sense. -She found parabens in woman with breast cancer and made a huge jump to state that it was the parabens from antiperspirants that caused this -The truth is that we all have parabens in our blood -Ironically, spray antiperspirants (which she blamed) don't even contain parabens -She was basically laughed at by scientific community (she had no controls, and didn't test anyone without breast cancer for parabens) -However, media ran with story and now people around the world are afraid of antiperspirants. -She refuses to admit she is wrong despite people proving otherwise |
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Pesticides: a risk?
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Family tried to sue pesiticides used for lawn care because their child developed non-hodgkins lymphoma.
-This is an "after it, therefore because of it" claim -Studies show no correlation between pesticides and non-hodgkins lymphoma *Correlation does not imply cause and effect (Birth rates declined when stork population declined. So storks bring babies? No.) -Pesticides to have risks though. Workers in pesticide factories have a higher rate of cancer. |
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Andrew Wakefield
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Famous English doctor who claimed that vaccines caused cancer. Got a lot of people to not vaccinate their children (who got sick and died). He was making money in an agenda against pharmaceutical companies. He was responsible for many deaths due to his fraudulence.
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4 Incorrect Health Scare Themes:
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1. Ignorance of "only the dose makes the poison
2. Belief that data from animals can be extrapolated to humans 3. Idea that if activity has any risk at all should not be done (unrealistic bc there is a risk for everything 4. synthetic is more dangerous than natural |
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Teflon chemicals:
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-3M company made PFOS (in Scotch Guard) but phased it out when they found it in animals and switched to PFBS (only 4 carbons opposed to 8 so more biodegradable)
-Teflon anti-stick pan has PFOA -Cooking in a teflon pan is actually safer bc it prevents sticking and burning (Which produces benzopyrenes) -PFOA is carcinogenic but not found in final product. How is it in our environment then? Possibly from: 1. incineration of teflon 2. aging of teflon 3. bacteria breakdown of teflon 4. Fluortelomers used in grease proofing materials -population is exposed to PFOA at 5 ppb, and animals have shown carcinogenic at 40ppb -Du Pont company has hid how much PFOA exposure their workers have. They have been fined for leaking PFOA in the environment |
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Bisphenol A (BPA)
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-used to make polycarbonate (used originally to cover electrical meters, now used in sports equipment, riot gear, food cans, etc)
-With age, polycarbonate breaks down and produces BPA -Polycarbonate baby bottles are banned (worry of BPA leaching out) -BPA studied show cancer, diabetes, obesity, hormonal disruptions, and other developmental problems but these studies are done by anti-BPA groups and they can't be trusted -originally formulated as estrogen for hormonal replacement -European toxicological union and national toxicological program say levels of BPA we are exposed to aren't harmful -Canada is first country to declare BPA has toxic (which just means it can be more easily regulated) -Rats exposed to high levels of BPA have female characterists -No definitive studies (especially not in long term) -Bottom line: we should just minimize risk. Therefore no baby bottles (we have to be very careful with babies) |
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NOAEL
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"No Observed Adverse Effects Level"
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What are Phthalates?
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-Class of compounds used as a plasticizer for PVC
-Each unique phthalate has unique side chains and different toxicities (DHEP is the most toxic) -Since phthalates aren't chemically bonded to PVC, they can leach out in air, liquid, food, etc -Phthalates have endocrine properties |
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Where are Phthalates found?
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-perfumes: to retard evaporation of active ingredient (without it, smell would dissipate much faster)
-nail polish: so that the polish conforms to the nail -Pizza boxes: ink. Using normal ink it would puncture the cardboard -human blood and urine contain phthalates |
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Risks of phtalates:
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Dr. Swan fed phtalates to pregnant rats
-male offspring had short analgenital distance (characteristic of females) -DHEP blocks testosterone synthesis -The difference in the analgenital distance was only 3-4% though.. so how much of an effect is this? (can we really accurately measure this distance?) -DHEP leads to incomplete descent of testicles -Mothers whose blood contains high levels of DHEP have male offspring with smaller penis' -Also decreased level of sperm production Puero Rican girls have high levels of phthalates in their blood -could be the cause of their premature breast development? -however it is more likely that it is from the placental creams they use EU does not allow phthalate concentration to exceed 0.1% of mass of plastic toy |
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Alternatives to phthalates:
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-polyester shower curtains
-Citrates as plasticizers -hospital tubing uses silicone, polyethylene, and polyurethane instead of PVC -using real rubber for "rubber ducks" (however, real rubber has polyisoprene which leaches out) *Green Peace launched campaign to eliminate pthalates from sex toy industry (huge industry) |
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Perrier Water Accident
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-small amount of benzene found in Perrier water (in natural state it has some benzene)
-company used organic carbon to remove impurities (benzene) -one day a guy forgot to change the filters -cost company $70 million -the "contaminated" Perrier had benzene at 10 ppb (insignificant amount). Tomato juice naturally has over 4X this (the recall was unnecessary) |
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Halifax (1917)
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-ships carrying picric acid, TNT, guns, cotton, fuel, oil, etc collided
-huge explosion |
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Texas (1947)
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ships carrying explosive ammonium nitrate, fuel, oil
-ammonium nitrate breaks down to nitrous oxide in water -at high temps continues to break down to nitrogen and oxygen -flammable gasses that caused huge explosion |
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Oklahoma (1995)
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Truck full of ammonium nitrate caught fire and blew up a building in Oklahoma City
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Missisagua (1979)
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-Train car filled with propane exploded
-Car next to it was full of Chlorine -Worry that the chlorine would explode and kill many people -had to evacuate 100s of thousands of people -amazing that no one died -as a result we now use tripple walled cars for transport |
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St. Basile Le Grand (1998)
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-PCB fire
-3,500 people evacuated for 18 days |
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Haggersville, ON (1990)
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-pile of tires caught fire
-burnt for months (couldn't be put out) -leaked into groundwater (containing benzene, dioxins, toluene, and xylene) |
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Montreal (1976)
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-panels in biodome caught fire releasing Cl, HCl, and dioxins into the atmosphere
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Seveso, Italy (1976)
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-company making disinfectant hexachlorophene
-dioxins released in atmosphere -study found that fathers had disproportionate amount of daughters (proved endocrine effect) |
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Bhopal, India (1984)
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-accident in plant making pesticide carbaryl caused release of raw material methyl isocyanate
-lead to deaths and many eye injuries -eyes could have been protected by a simple wet cloth over the eyes (methyl isocyanate is soluble in water) |
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2005 Texas City
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BP oil refinery caught fire
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2006 Danvers, MA
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heptane explosion
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Georgia (2008)
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sugar refinery caught fire
-sugar has large surface area for O2 -dust caught fire from a spark |
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Pamakkule, Turkey
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-hot water in springs dissolve calcium carbonate (CaCO3) to form calcium bicarbonate which goes to the surface and releases CO2 and forms solidified CaCO3 again ("cotton castle")
-CO2 gets caught in caves, people go in there and die instantly (used to believe these caves were the gates to hell) |
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Cameroon (1986)
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CO2 gas released from lake (thousands of people and animals were dying)
-the CO2 was heavier and settled along the land, asphyxiating the people and animals -calcium carbonate under water was releasing huge bubbles of CO2 at a time |
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Pig Manure
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Hydrogen sulfide gas is released from stored manure and suffocates people
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Michigan State Park (1993)
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-Ranger park house spontaneously exploded
-bats had nested in attic -their feces created methane gas -pump for toilet in basement created spark and caused explosion. -police asked biologists and they said that the methane gas from bat dung led to explosion -shouldn't have asked biologists, any good chemist knows methane is lighter than air so it being created in the attic couldn't sink down to the basement to create an explosion. Methane actually came from backup from tight tank connected to toilet in basement |
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Canadian water use (compared to USA and France)
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-Canada uses similar amount of water per capita as US but has much more available
-France has much less than Canada and US and uses much less per capita -majority of Canadian water goes towards industry -majority of US is agriculture and industry -France uses water mostly for industry -Ethiopia uses most of their water for agriculture |
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Water footprint (how much water do we use to make.....)
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-1 cup of water = 140 L
-1 kg of corn = 900 L -1 kg of beef = 16,000 L -1 pair of leather shoes = 8,000 L -1 pair of jeans = 10,000 L -1 car = 150,000 L *notice how much more water it takes for 1 kg of beef than 1 kg of corn.. Meat is much more expensive on the environment |
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Aral Sea
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-In Uzbekistan and Khazikstan
-used to be the 4th largest freshwater lake in the world -it is now 1/10 of its previous size (due to the agriculture of cotton) -water has receded over 20 km -the remaining water left is in bad condition due to leaching of pesticides from the cotton |
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Disposable vs. Cotton diapers for the environment
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-cotton diapers require a lot of water and pesticides to grow cotton
-they are washed with a lot of hot water and detergents -disposable diapers are made of petroleum and don't take up much space in landfills -if we were to ask babies which they preferred it would definitely be disposable (inside of diaper is made of polyporpoline which is highly hydrophobic. Inside liner is made of cellulose/cotton which isn't in direct contact with babies skin. There is sodium polyacrylate (absorbs all liquid). Result is that baby doesn't feel wetness whereas with the highly hydrophilic cotton diaper the baby gets diaper rash. |
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Alberta Tar Sands
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-converted to oil using steam (500 million L of water a day produces 1 million barrels of oil per day)
-every liter of oil produces requires 3X as much water |
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Domestic use of water per capita (rankings of countries)
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1. USA
2. Canada 3. Italy 4. Sweden 5. France 6. Israel |
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How do we use our water domestically?
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1. bathing (35%)
2. Flushing (30%) 3. Laundering (20%) 4. Cooking/drinking (10%) 5. Cleaning (5%) |
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Flushing the toilet
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Canada uses much more water per flush than France (in France you can choose big flush or small flush)
-US government demanded all high efficiency toilets -US citizens didn't like this, started smuggling toilets in through the Canadian border -The water we flush is already highly treated (we could drink from it) but we flush it all away unnecessarily |
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Laundry
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-Canada uses almost twice as much water as France
-In developing countries, hand washing is highly inefficient. Lots of foam created from detergents |
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Cooking
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-Canada uses 3 times as much than France
-In France you have a water meter and pay for how much water you use (here we don't think twice about water going down the drain) |
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Human Body and Water
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-avg male = 60% water
-avg female = 50% water (radishes are 98% water.. which is more than watermellon and other highly water containing fruits/veggies) |
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Earth's water:
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70% of Earth's surface is water
-97.2% is oceans -2.15% is ice caps -0.65% is groundwater -0.01% is surface water *Antarctica has 70% of the freshwater in the world |
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Water treatment vs Sewage treatment
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-Water Treatment = treatment of water before it is used
-Sewage Treatment = treatment of water after it is used |
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Consumption of water bottles per capita (rankings of countries)
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1. Italy
2. Mexico 3. Luxembourg 4. USA 5. Canada |
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Water quality in Bangladesh
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-naturally occurring Arsenic in water
-usually tied up by iron but when they drilled wells they released it -safe level of Arsenic is 50 ppb |
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Water Intoxication
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Potentially dangerous disturbance in brain functions when normal balance of electrolytes is disturbed by over consumption of water and the osmotic movement of water into the cell which has higher concentration of solute
causing cell to swell, there is no room for expansion in the brain so cells get crushed |
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Cuyahaga River
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-So polluted that it caught fire
-Not even fish could live in it -Now its been cleaned up and its a vacation area |
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Sewage problems
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-40% inadequate sanitation around the world
-2 million children deaths a year -80% of all sickness is caused by inadequate sanitation (WHO) |
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Kibera, Nairobi
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-huge slum (over 1,000,000 people)
-no toilets -using "flying toilet" -defecate in bags and throw them |
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Dharavi, India
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-another huge slum (the one in Slumdog Millionaire)
-1 toilet per every 1500 residents |
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Best conditions for biodegration
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-Cold and fast flowing water
-cold means lack of kinetic energy, less likely for gases to escape -fast flowing churns water incorporating oxygen |
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3 steps in municipal sewage treatment:
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1. Primary: the removal of debris and suspended solids by screening and settling
2. Secondary: use of biological processes (oxygen + bacteria) to break down organic material and remove additional suspended material 3. Tertiary: additional chemical or biological processes to remove specific compounds |
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-Sewage Treatment in Montreal:
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-used to think "the solution to pollution is dilution" Montreal had dirtiest water in all of North America
-in 1976 hosted the Olympics. $1 billion spent on Olympic Stadium instead of sewage treatment plant -1984 Sewage treatment plant was finally built -mostly primary and some secondary -originally treated the North island more because South island is on the St. Lawrence so the north had less water to disperse pollution -in 2008 Montreal decided to treat sewage with ozone |
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What contributes to the most sewage (residential, agriculture, or pulp and paper industry?)
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-pulp and paper (residential is the least)
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Methemoglobinemia
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-"Blue baby syndrome"
-nitrate tied up in hemoglobin -nitrates can come from fertilizers (biodegradable organics takes space of O2 in water) -children are more susceptible because they are smaller |
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Eutrophication
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-nitrates and phosphorus from fertilizers get in water
-they promote algae growth, which is initially good (promotes production of O2) -but when algae die and decay they use all available O2 and fish and other organisms die -happens during the summer in lakes |
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Blue-green algae problem in Quebec:
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-blue-green algae are cyanobacteria
-caused by fertilizer (very water soluble) |
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Hard Water
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-contains magnesium and calcium, which combines with detergents and leaves a precipitate in the bathtub
-phosphate is added to detergents to tie up Calcium so it can't react with the detergent -phosphates have been banned from most detergents but are still found in automatic dishwasher detergents |
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What is better, organic or synthetic fertilizer?
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-they both contain the same elements necessary for plant growth
-there is no evidence that foods prepared with "organic" fertilizers are any more nutritious for you -organic fertilizers are time consuming though (are they worth it) -however the one plus for organic fertilizers though is that they are less prone to runoff |
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Mercury (how is it in our environment and how toxic is it?)
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-mostly comes from factories that burn coal
-also found in dental fillings. There is concern of it being released during cremations so they add Selenium to tie up the mercury so it isn't released in the environment -liquid mercury is not very toxic -mercury vapor and organic mercury are extremely toxic (can cross the blood/brain barrier) |
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Minimata, Japan (1953)
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-people were developing neurological disorders and dying
-Swedish scientists looked into this problem and found that cats were developing same issues as humans. Cats were eating fish. -Analyzed the fish and found that they contained organic mercury -Chlorine and hydrogenoxide plant was releasing non-toxic mercury into water. -under the influence of microorganisms though, the mercury was being converted to CH3Hg (organic mercury = VERY TOXIC). -plankton was eating CH3Hg and then fish were eating the plankton and it went up the food chain -executives of the plant were found guilty and he committed suicide |
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Bioaccumulation
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-the process of small organisms eating toxic elements and then larger organisms eating them and so on and so on.
-higher up on the food chain gets the most toxicity |
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Mercury poisoning worry with fish (should we be eating fish? how much? should we avoid any types of fish?)
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-Today there is still worry about mercury poisoning in fish
-It is recommended not to eat large predator fish more than once a week (tuna, swordfish, salmon, etc) -pregnant woman shouldn't eat these types of fish more than once a month -tuna is the most mercury containing fish -although we do want the omega-3 fatty acids from fish so we shouldn't avoid them all together |
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Mercury poisoning to Dartmouth chemist
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-chemist at Dartmouth working with CH3Hg
-she knew how dangerous it was and was wearing double gloves -a drop fell on the gloves, went through both layers and into her skin and killed her |
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Toxic waste:
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-usually stored in drums
-this can work as long as the drums are intact -not always efficient -best way to deal with toxic waste is incineration at very high temps -but this is time consuming and expensive so a lot of people just dispose of waste in environment |
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PCBs in Montreal
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-poly-chlorinated biphenyls used as insulation
-it was decided not to use them anymore (potentially carcinogenic) and they were stored -one of these storage sites in south Montreal caught fire and PCB was released into environment -after much debate, the remaining PCB was burned on the North shore -PCBs have a risk of 0.2 (tap water has risk of 1.0 and smoking has risk of 12,000) |
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Dioxin (what is it?)
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-dioxin is a byproduct of making other chemicals (containing chlorine)
-most toxic man-made chemical (there are more toxic natural chemicals though) -shows different toxicity to different species |
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Times Beach (1983)
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-guy was called to come pick up oil to spray on the roads to keep the dust off
-oil was contaminated with dioxin -EPA bought the town for $40,000,000 |
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Dioxin in farmed salmon:
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-dioxin has been found in farmed salmon
-salmon were fed other fish, through bioaccumulation got in their flesh -there is actually more dioxin in beef than in farmed salmon (both cases the amount is very very small though) -they now are feeding farmed salmon vegetables rather than other fish |
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Myths about dioxin:
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-that is is in plastic water bottles (no chlorination of these water bottles)
-that it is released from microwave use |
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Seveso, Italy (1976)
-list symptoms |
-explosion of disinfectant plant
-people exposed to dioxins -symptoms include: 1. chloracne 2. nervous system damage 3. Liver damage |
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Viktor Yuchenko
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-only known case of dioxin poisoning
-10 years ago was going to be elected as Ukraine president -Russia didn't like him -it is believed he was poisoned -he has chloracne now but he does not have cancer (there is also not a higher death rate/cancer rate in Seveso, Italy) |
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Agent-Orange and dioxin:
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-people were exposed to dioxins when producing agent-orange
-they had a lower overall cancer rate but a higher sarcoma rate -increased birth defects in Vietnam -US soldiers sued company for use of agent orange (settled out of court) |
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Environmental Protection Agency vs. National Academy of Science on dioxin:
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-EPA states there is no safe level for dioxins
-NAS disputes this; there must be some threshold level -regardless, dioxin emissions is down 92% and the concentration found in humans is down 80% |
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The Hydrological Cycle:
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-the amount of water in the world is fixed (just keeps going through the cycle)
1. Evaporation 2. Condensation 3. Precipitation 4. Water soaks into Water Table 5. Pools into rivers, lakes, oceans, etc. *continues the cycle |
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The "blood" in the Nile
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-actually from red tide
-red tide is the result of algae bloom -produce Brevetoxin A (responsible for the red color) -brevetoxin A can be problematic for those with asthma -people used to think that the red in the water was the reflection of the flames of hell |
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The Romans and the aqueducts:
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-Romans made the aqueducts from lead
-also drank red wine from lead cups -lead leaches out -may explain all the crazy things the Romans did (orgy's, etc.) |
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John Snow (1854)
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-breakout of cholera (many deaths in London)
-made a map and plotted the cases -found convergence on Broad Street -there was a water pump here -He removed the pump handle and the deaths subsided |
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Thomas Crapper
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-owned plumbing company in London
-laid the first sewage lines in London - |
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Treating water with Chlorine
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-Cl2 + H2O ---> hydrochloric acid + hypochlorous acid
-in very small amounts (1 ppm) hypochlorous acid can kill all the bacteria -bleach can also react to form hypochlorous acid so it can be used to purify water (8 drops in 1 L) -chlorination of water completely eliminated typhoid fever -there is a danger in manufacturing and transport of chlorine though |
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Contaminants found in water:
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-disease organisms
-organics -metals (mercury, antimony, lead) -dissolved gases -suspended solids -byproducts of treatment (Cl2 can react with things to form organohalides) |
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Beaver Fever
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-caused by Giardia (microscopic parasites)
-nausea, cramps, diarrhea -can lead to dehydration and even death -can pass in a few days or be chronic -can be treated/prevented with medication |
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Tetraglycine Hydroperiodide:
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disinfectant that can be used on water during camping trips
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Outbreak of cryptosporidium in Milwaukee:
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-isn't prevented by chlorination but by filtering
-in Milwaukee there was too much feces contaminated water that went through the filters due to a flood *UV light can inactivate both cryptosporidium and Giardia |
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Walkerton (2000)
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-didn't put enough chlorine in water to deal with E. coli from farm animal fecal run off
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Aluminum sulfate:
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-pulls down impurities during water filtration
-in Cammelford, a driver put aluminum sulfate in treated water instead of untreated water by accident -there are links between aluminum an Alzheimer's Disease |
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Antiseptics (triclosan)
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-almost all cleaning products contain antiseptics now
-completely unnecessary (all we need is soap and water) -kills good sewage eating bacteria and creates bacteria resistance as well |
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waste products in water:
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-dissolved ammonia from pesticides
-pig fecal matter runs off from large storage legumes -cleaning agents/solvents dumped into drains -water treatment facilities are not designed to remove drug and hormone metabolites -antiseptics |
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Montreal Water Treatment (summary)
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1. water taken from St. Lawrence
2. screen filters out large debris 3. sand filters out floating impurities 4. ammonium sulfate added (to drag down impurities 5. ozone kills bacteria and viruses (no ozone left in water in distribution though so it can get re-contaminated) 6. chlorine must be added for distribution for safety |
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London Water Treatment (summary)
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1. water from Thames
2. through holding tank (sludge settles at bottom) 3. airated with O2 4. through filter 5. through sand filter 6. chlorinated |
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Problems with chlorination
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-chlorine can react with organics in water to form carcinogenic organochlorides
-these organochlorides (trihalomethanes) must be below 80 ppb -theory that showering in hot water causes these organochlorides to evaporate (small droplets have larger surface area) and we can inhale them (such as chloroform). Extremely difficult to conduct this study. Shouldn't be too big of a concern. |
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Link between tap water and miscarriage:
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-this is true but isn't necessary the tap water vs bottled water.
-more likely to be the fact that women of lower economic class are drinking more unfiltered tap water than women in high economic class and other factors related to economic class effect miscarriage |
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Activated carbon
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-absorbs organics
-used in filters (such as Brita) -works through reverse osmosis (unfiltered water gets pushed through extremely thin membrane with small pores) *one piece of organic carbon has the surface area of a soccer field (the piece is like a grain of sand) |
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Water softening filters:
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-removes calcium and magnesium
-attached to washing machines to prevent precipitate from getting on clothes -sodium chloride is in the filter -sodium is exchanged for the calcium and magnesium |
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Stupid water salesmen marketing ploys:
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-put electrodes in water and then there will be gross precipitate
-of course water conducts electricity (there are ions in it.. only 100% pure water won't conduct) -the precipitate actually is from the iron electrodes the salesmen puts in the water -o-tolodine is what we use to check for chlorine in pools -salesmen will show that there is chlorine in your water then have you stick your finger in water and watch it disappear -he will claim that you have absorbed the poisonous chlorine through your skin -clearly you have warmed the water so the chlorine has evaporated |
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Bottled water (America vs. Europe)
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-Europeans drink bottled water in hopes of getting more minerals.
-North Americans drink bottled water in hopes of getting less minerals *only benefit of bottled water is possibility of less chlorinated compounds (not significant though) |
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Dasani and Aquafina
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-Just tap water re filtered (marketing scam)
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Perrier
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-comes from the ground already carbonated
-remove carbonation then recarbonate it -no better than regular club soda |
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Composition of air:
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80% Nitrogen
20% Oxygen 0.9% Argon smaller amounts of CO2, neon, helium, methane |
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Methane
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-comes from cows (more from front end than back end)
-methane is 6X more efficient at capturing heat than CO2 |
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Particles in air contributing to pollution:
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-Major one = sea salt spray
-nitrates -terpenes from pine trees -forest fires -volcanoes -pollen -sand from Sahara desert (it is blown all the way across the ocean) (natural pollutant particles outweigh human-made pollutant particles by 3:1) |
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Smoking
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-1.6 million deaths a year from indoors smoke (From cooking)
-400,000 deaths a year from smoking cigarettes -20% of Canadians smoke -cigarette smoke contains 4800 chemicals (400 of which are toxic and 40 that are proven carcinogenic) -lethal dose of nicotine is 60 mg -cigar contains 120 mg of nicotine (but we don't die from one cigar because a lot is exhaled and burned off without inhalation) -large amount of nicotine depressed the CNS, small amounts stimulate CNS -before smoking was introduced there were only 400 cases of lung cancer per year, now there are 150,000/yr |
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Number one death from smoking:
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-heart disease caused by nicotine and carbon monoxide
-1/5th of hemoglobin in smokers is tied up with carbon monoxide - |
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Cancer in men and women:
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-number one cancer in men is prostate
*number one killer is lung cancer -number one cancer in women is breast *number one killer is lung -lung cancer in men has stabilized, but women are smoking more and more every year and their incidence of lung cancer is going up |
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Best way to quit smoking?
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cold turkey
-proven by scientists -people still insist on the patch or gum, but is not as effective as cold turkey |
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London Smog
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Conditions:
-cold, damp air -sulfur dioxide -sulfuric acid (from sulfur dioxide and cold damp air) -soot (from particulate in atmosphere) |
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London (1952)
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-8,000 deaths in one week from London smog
-was so bad bus drivers had to be guided by flagsman walking in front of bus -idea was to use very high chimneys to disperse the pollutants over a larger area (tallest smokestack in the world is in Sudbury, Canada) |
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LA Smog (photochemical)
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Conditions:
-Dry, sunny air -Nitrogen Oxides -Carbon Monoxide -Hydrocarbons -Lead -Nitric Acid -Aldehydes *much more things contribute to LA Smog compared to London smog *occurs when there is not much air movement (in a valley trapped between mountainous region) |
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Temperature Inversion
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leads to LA smog
-basically there is a layer of warm air trapped between cold air (which hold pollution from escaping) -air should get colder as you get up, but the layer of hot air keeps all the pollution from dispersing |
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Clean Air Act (1978)
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-USA and Canada
-brought down CO, hydrocarbons, and NO by 90% -was done by introducing catalytic converter which oxidized hydrocarbons to form CO2 and H2O, oxidized CO to form CO2, and reduced NO to nitrogen gas -gas became unleaded because the lead stuck to the catalytic converter and made it less functional |
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Oxyfuels
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-in winter to reduce pollution we need to add ethanol or methanol to gas
-cold weather means less O2 in air so we need to add oxygen to the gas to ensure complete combustion and limit release of CO |
