Environmental Engineering & Industrial Safety

Study Notes

Environment is the sum total of water, air, land, and interrelationships among themselves and with human beings, other living organisms, and materials.
It includes all physical, chemical, biological conditions that surround and affect organisms during a lifetime.

Environmental engineering is concerned with applying scientific and engineering principles to:
- Protect the environment and public health by reducing waste and pollution.
- Provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and other organisms.
- Design technologies and processes that control pollution releases and clean up pollution sites.

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the environment, causing damage and undesirable changes in physical, chemical, biological characteristics of air, water, or land.
Pollutants can be chemical, biological, thermal, radioactive, or mechanical (dust, sediment, grit, etc.).

Air pollution: presence of materials in air that cause harmful effects on environments and living organisms.
- Six main pollutants: ozone, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and lead.
Water pollution: presence of undesirable materials that decrease water quality.
- Common pollutants: mercury, nitrates, phosphorous, fertilizers, pesticides, and bacterial pollution.
Soil pollution: pollution of the Earth's land surfaces.
- Common pollutants: heavy metals, pesticides, herbicides, organic chemicals, oils, tars, explosive or toxic gases, combustible or radioactive materials, biologically active compounds, and asbestos.
Noise pollution: undesirable levels of noise caused by human activity that disrupt the standard of living in the affected area.
- Sources: traffic, airports, railroads, manufacturing plants, construction or demolition, concerts.
Radioactive pollution: release of radioactive waste into the environment.
- Sources: uranium mining, production of nuclear fuel, nuclear power reactors, nuclear tests, disposal of nuclear waste.
Thermal pollution: sudden increase or decrease in temperature of natural bodies of water.
- Harmful impact on aquatic organisms, including plants, insects, microorganisms, and fish.

Pollutant allowable limits: specification of maximum allowable concentration of pollutants permissible in the environment.
Known as Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) or Ambient Environmental Standards (AES).