CHEAOUS Quiz: Environmental Pollution and Health Unit 2 Flashcards

Study Notes

Environmental Pollution and Health

Pollution is the accumulation and adverse interaction of contaminants within the environment, occurring on or within land, oceans, or the atmosphere.
Contaminants can be chemical compounds, biological entities, particulate matter, or energy, and can be of natural or anthropogenic origin.

Sources of Environmental Pollution

Environmental pollution can be hazardous for all living beings, leading to multiple diseases, such as skin, nose, and throat irritation, wheezing, coughing, respiratory concerns, etc.

Impacts on Human Health

Air pollution, water pollution, thermal pollution, and radioactive pollution can have severe impacts on human health.

Air Pollution

Air pollution is the presence of unwanted substances in the ambient atmosphere, generally resulting from human activities.
Sources of air pollution include:
- Natural sources: volcanoes, pollen grains, forest fires, dust storms, biogenic (plant emits hydrocarbons)
- Anthropogenic sources: human activities, industrial emissions, vehicle emissions
Types of air pollution:
- London smog (reducing smog or sulfurous smog): high concentration of SO2 in the air
- Los Angeles Smog (oxidizing smog or photochemical smog): air contains NO2 and hydrocarbons, and mixture is exposed to sunlight

Water Pollution

Water pollution is any contamination of water with chemicals or other foreign substances that are detrimental to human, plant, or animal health.
Major sources of water pollution include:
- Human settlements
- Industrial activities
- Agricultural activities
Facts about water pollution:
- 2 million tonnes of human waste are disposed of into water bodies
- 1.8 billion people in the world drink faecal-contaminated water
- 70% of industrial waste in developing countries is dumped untreated into water
Major water pollutants:
- Sediments: excessive amount of soil particles carried by flowing water
- Oxygen-demanding wastes: organic wastes (animal manure, plant debris, etc.) decomposition by bacteria leads to oxygen depletion
- Infectious microorganisms: parasitic worms, virus, bacteria from infected organisms and human
- Organic compounds: carbon-containing synthetic chemicals from industries, cleaning agents, etc.

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution has a significant impact on wildlife, as they are more dependent on sound for survival.
Effects of noise pollution on wildlife:
- Animals develop a better sense of hearing than humans
- Noise pollution can cause aggressive behavior in pets and wildlife

Thermal Pollution

Thermal pollution is a sudden increase or decrease in temperature of any natural body of water caused by human activity.
Major causes of thermal pollution:
- Factories/plants taking in water from natural sources and putting it back with altered temperature
- Deforestation: exposing water to direct sunlight
- Run-off from hot surfaces (e.g., roads falling into waterbodies)
- Volcanoes/geochemical activity under the ocean that trigger warm lava to raise the temperature of water
Impacts of thermal pollution:
- Decrease in levels of dissolved oxygen: suffocate species and cause mass killing
- Loss of biodiversity: some species can’t tolerate higher temperature
- Alien species could migrate into the area: alteration of food-web

Radioactive Pollution

Radioactive pollution is the deposition or introduction of radioactive substances into the environment, where their presence is unintended, or the levels of radioactivity are undesirable.
Impacts of radioactive pollution:
- Harmful to life due to the emission of ionizing radiation
- Potent enough to cause damage to tissues and DNA in genes

Description

Learn about the definition of pollution, which involves the accumulation and adverse interaction of contaminants within the environment. Contaminants can be natural or anthropogenic, and can include chemical compounds, biological entities, particulate matter, or energy. Explore the rigorous science-based integration of physical, chemical, and biological properties and processes that influence pollution.