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Acute Effect
The effect caused by a short exposure to a high level of toxin.
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Catalytic Converter
A platinum-coated device that oxidizes most of the VOCs and some of the CO that would otherwise be emitted in exhaust, converting them to CO2.
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Closed-Loop Recycling
- When materials, such as plastic or aluminum, are used to rebuild the same product.
- An example of this is the use of the alumnimum from aluminum cans to produce more aluminum cans.
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Building-Related Illness
When the signs and symptoms of an illness can be attributed to a specific infectious organism that resides in teh building.
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Chronic Effect
An effect that results from long-term exposure to low levels of toxin.
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Deep Well Injection
Drilling a hole in the ground that's below the water table to hold waste.
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Dose-Response Analysis
A process in which an organism is exposed to a toxin at different concentrations, and the dosage that causes the death of the organism is recorded.
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ED50
The point at which 50% of the test organisms show a negative effect from a toxin.
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Gray Smog
Industrial Smog
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Heat Islands
Urban areas that heat up more quickly and retain heat better than nonurban areas.
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LD50
The point at which 50% of the test organisms die from a toxin.
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Leachate
The liquid that percolates to the bottom of a landfill.
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Noise Pollution
Any noise that causes stress or has the potential to damage human health.
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Open-Loop Recycling
When materials are reused to form new products.
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Poison
Any substance that has an LD50 of 50 mg or less per kg of body weight.
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Physical Treatment
In a sewage treatment plant, the inital filtration that is done to remove debris such as stones, sticks, rags, toys, and other objects that were flushed down the toilet.
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Primary Pollutants
Pollutants that are released directly into the lower atmoshpere.
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Primary Treatment
- When physically treated sewage water is passed into a setling tank, where suspended solids settle out as sludge.
- Chemically treated polymers may be added to help the suspended solids separate and settle out.
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Secondary Pollutants
Pollutants that are formed by the combination of primary pollutants in the atmosphere.
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Secondary Treatment
The biological treatment of wastewater in order to continue to remove biodegradable waste.
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Sick Building Syndrome
When the majority of a building's occupants experience certain symptoms that vary with the amount of time spent in the building.
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Sludge
The solids that remain after the sevondary treatment of sewage.
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Sludge Processor
A tank filled with aerobic bacteria that's used to treat sewage.
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Superfund Program
A program funded by the federal government and a trust that's funded by taxes on chemicals; identifies pollutants and cleans up hazardous waste sites.
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Threshold Dose
The dosage level of a toxin at which a negative effect occurs.
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Tropospheric Ozone
Ozone that exists in the tropsphere.
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U.S. Noise Control Act
Gave the EPA power to set emission standards for major sources of noise, including transportation, machinery, and construction.
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Vector
The carrier organism through which pathogens can attack.
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Waste-to-Energy Program
When the energy released from waste incineration is used to generate electricity.
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Factors of Substance Harmfulness
- Dosage amount over a period of time
- number of times of exposure
- size or age of the organism that is exposed
- ability of the body to detoxify that substance
- organism's sensitivity to the substance
- synergistic effect.
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Criteria Pollutants
- Carbon monoxide
- Lead
- Ozone
- nitrogen dioxide
- sulfur dioxide
- particulate matter
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Carbon Monoxide
- odorless, colorless gas that's typically released by incompletely burned material.
- Binds irreversibly to hemoglobin, which is the molecule responsible for transporting oxygen to lungs.
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Lead
- Pollutant that is released as particulate, but settles in land and water.
- When eventually consumed, it causes nevous disorders, including mental retardation.
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Tropospheric Ozone
- Secondary pollutant formed by the interaction of nitrogen oxides, heta, light, VOCs.
- Poisonous, and a major component of smog.
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Nitrogen Dioxide
- Formed when atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen react as a result of exposure to high temperatures.
- Released from combustion engines.
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Sulfur Dioxide
- Colorless gas with a suffocating odor, respiratory irritant.
- released through the combustion of coal.
- Reacts with water vapor to produce acid rain.
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VOC
Volatile Organic Compounds, which are released through industrial processes.
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Smog
Produced when the burning of CO and CO2 mix with particulate matter.
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Photochemical Smog
- Produced by NOx, VOCs, and ozone combine to form smog with a brownish hue.
- The intensity of sunlight on photochemical smog accelerates the creation of ozone.
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Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
- Man-made chemicals used in aerosols.
- Once released, they migrate to the stratosphere, where UV breaks them down that releasees chlorine atoms that break apart ozone
- Significantly reduced by the Montreal Protocol
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Effects of Acid Rain
- Leaches minerals from the soil.
- Builds up sulfur in the soil.
- Increases aluminum concentration in soil and water, which is toxic.
- Lowers pH of bodies of water, killing life there.
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Radon
- Second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S.
- Gas emitted by uranium as it undergoes radioactive decay.
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Temperature Inversion
- Air pollutatnts become trapped over cities beacause they are not able to rise into the atmosphere.
- In normal atmospheric conditions, the warm polluted air over a city rises into the cooler atmosphere.
- In an inversion, the air above the city is warm, and blocks the polluted air from rising.
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Eutrophication
- Overgrowth of zooplankton and phytoplankton caused by runoff of excess nutrients.
- Deprives water of dissolved oxygen.
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Hypoxic Zone
A water zone in which nothing that depends on oxygen can grow.
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Water Pollution sources.
- Biggest source is agricultural activities.
- Followed by mining and industrial activities.
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Why Groundwater Doesnt' Recover from Pollution
- No evaporation
- Little movement.
- Cold, which slows biodegradation.
- Low Oxygen, which slows beiodegradation
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Tertiary Treatment
- Involves passing secondary treated wastewater through a series of sand and carbon filters, and then further chlorination.
- Expensive, but valuable in arid regions.
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