MODULE I: INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Ecology or Environmental biology is the branch of science concerned with plant

and animal relationship and their interaction with the environment. Ecology is a
multidisciplinary science which includes not only the life science, but also Chemistry, Physics,
geology, geography, meteorology, climatology, hydrology, anthropology, archeology, sociology
and even mathematics and statistics as well.. Many practical applications of ecology are found in
agriculture, horticulture, forestry, limnology, fishery, pest control, public health, toxicology,
pollution control etc. A knowledge of ecological principles helps in discovering new sources of
food, unpolluting sources of energy (e.g., solar energy) and new methods of pest control. By
making use of ecological principles the deserts can be converted into agricultural lands

DEFINITIONS OF ECOLOGY
Ecology has been defined in a number of ways:

. The scientific study of the interactions of the organisms with their physical environment and
with each other is called ecology.

. The term ecology (Greek, Oikos meaning house or habitation and logos meaning discourse or study)
was introduced by Reiter as the science which deals with organism and its place to live. Since
organism's place to live is its environment, so ecology is also called environmental biology.

. A study of ecosystems or the totality of the reciprocal interactions between living organisms and their
physical surroundings.

. The scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms is referred to as ecology.

PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY

The basjc principles may be summarised as follows:

All organisms and the physical environment are interdependent and affect each other.

. The environment is holocoenotic, in which, alteration of anyone component affects all

the other-components.

The environment is modified by the organisms according to their needs. The carrying
capacity of the environment determines the size of organism's population which can
survive in that environment
.
.The existence of life depends upon the flow of energy through food chains and on the
cycling of nutrients. These processes ensure the stability of ecosystem.

. The nature strives for greater diversity, i.e., greater variety of organisms in a system,
which leads to its stability.
 KINDS OF ECOLOGY

Ecology may be divided into following classes:'

Autoecology. Autoecology deals with the study of an individual species or organism
in relation to its environment. It includes the behaviour and adaptation of each of the individual species
to the environmental conditions at every stage of its life cycle. That is why auto ecology is also known
as species ecology.

Synecology. Synecology deals with the study of groups of organisms, i.e., communities, their
composition, behaviour and relationship with the environment. Therefore, synecology is also known as
community ecology. Synecology is further sub-divided into:
a. Population ecology. It relates the organism with various groups of organisms
and their inter-relationship.
b. Gene ecology. It deals with the genetic make up of species in relation to the
environment.
c. Taxonomic ecology. It includes ecology of taxonomic groups as microbial ecology,
vertebrate or invertebrate ecology, insect ecology etc.

Ecosystemology or Ecosystem Ecology. The term ecosystem was proposed by A.C. Tansley in
1935 where eco implies the environment and system denotes an interacting, interdependent complex.
Ecosystem may be defined as the system resulting from the integration of all living and non-living
factors of the environment..
Earth is a giant ecosystem where abiotic and biotic components are constantly acting and reacting
with each other bringing structural and functional changes in it.

Types of Ecosystems

1. Natural Ecosystems. Thes systems operate by themselves under natural

conditions without any major interference by man. These are further divided
into:
(i) Terrestrial ecosystem which include forest, grassland and desert etc.
(ii) Aquatic ecosystem may be further distinguished as
(a) Fresh water, which may be lotic (running water as spring, stream or rivers)
or lentic (standing water as lake, pond, pools, ditch, puddles, swamp etc.)
(b) Marine water such as ocean (deep bodies) or sea or estuary (shallow ones).

2: Artificial (Man-engineered) Ecosystem. These are maintained artificially by man

where, by addition of energy and planned manipulations, natural balance is
disturbed regularly. For example, croplands like maize, wheat, rice, fields etc,
where man tries to control the biotic community as well as the physico-chemical -
environment, are man-engineered ecosystems. There is recognition of some other
ecosystem, known as space ecosystem.

Components of an Ecosystem

An ecosystem refers to a biotic community and its abiotic environment taken together.
Biotic (living) Component

This is the trophic structure of any ecosystem, where living organisms are
distinguished on the basis of their nutritional relationships. From th~s trophic
(nutritional) standpoint, an ecosystem has two components:
 1. Producer's autotrophic component. Here fixation of light energy, use
of simple inorganic substances and build up of complex substances predominate.
The component is constituted mainly by green plants, including photosynthetic
bacteria. Chemosynthetic microbes also contribute to the build up of organic
matter.
2. Consumer's heterotrophic component. Here utilisation, rearrangement
and decomposition of complex materials predominate. The organisms involved
are known as consumers, as they consume the matter built up by the producers
(autotrophs).
. Macroconsumers. These are the consumers, which in an order as they
occur in a food chain are, herbivores, carnivores (or omnivores).
Herbivores are also known as primary consumers. Secondary and tertiary
consumers, if present, are carnivores or omnivores. These are
phagotrophs which include chiefly animals that ingest other organic and
particulate organic matter.
3. Decomposers.' These are saprotrophs (osmotrophs) microconsumers and
include mainly bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi. They breakdown complex
compounds of dead or living protoplasm, absorb some of the decomposition or
breakdown products and release inorganic nutrients in environment, making them
available again to autotrophs.
The biotic component of any ecosystem is regarded as the functional
kingdom of nature. The trophic structure of an ecosystem includes eater and the
eaten sequence represented by primary producer and primary, secondary and
tertiary consumers, which form the food chain. Each link of the chain is referred
to as trophic level or food level.
A food chain is represented as
Phytoplankton Zooplankton Small fishLarge fish

Abiotic Components

These consist of non-living factors of physical environment which strongly

influence the structure, behaviour, distribution and inter-relationship of the organisms.
Abiotic component can be divided into following parts:
. Inorganic components, e.g., CO2, H2O, N2, Ca, Sand P.
. Organic components. Proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids form
link between abiotic and biotic components and are synthesized by living forms, i.e.,
flora and fauna of an ecosystem
Edaphic factors are pH, soil and topography. Energy is required for maintaining the
activities of life in the ecosystem. Energy from the sun is trapped by plants to
synthesize their food. However, the flow of energy through the ecosystem is non-
cyclic, unidirectional and follow the classical principles of thermodynamics. Within
an ecosystem, there will be a gradual loss of energy within each trophic level from
producer to consumer. So shorter the food chain, greater would be the available food
energy.

Ecological Pyramids

In pond system the organisms at the beginning of food chain are relatively
abundant, while those at the end are few. The trophic structure and function at
successive trophic levels, i.e., Producers HerbivoresCarnivores is known as
ecological pyramid. These are of three types:

(i) Pyramid of numbers showing number of organisms at each level.

(ii) Pyramid of biomass showing the total dry weight and total amount of
living matter.
 (iii) Pyramid of energy showing the rate of energy flow and productivity at
successive trophic levels.

ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS
BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES IN THE ENVIRONMENT

Biogeochemical cycles in the environment are the cyclic pathways in which a regular
and continuous transition of elements occur from the environment into the organism and
from organism into the environment. The word bio-denotes living organisms, geo represents
soil environment while chemical means elements such as C, S, P which undergo transition
continuously. Cycles are classified into two types:
1. Sedimentary Cycles. Reservoir pool is in the deep sediment. Examples are Sand
P cycle.
2. Gaseous Cycles. Reservoir pool is the atmosphere. Examples are 0, C, H, N cycles.

Both types of cycles are driven by the flow of energy and tied to the hydrological
cycle

The Oxygen Cycle

The Nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen cannot be used directly by most forms of life. It must be fixed before it
can be utilised by plants and animals. By fIxation, Nz is converted into NOa and NHa.
Nitrogen fixation is of two types.
(i) Physico-chemical Nitrogen Fixation. Doo to thunder storm in rainy season,
nitrogen and oxygen of air combine to form NO and NOz. The latter react with water
to form nitric acid in presence of oxygen of atmosphere. Nitric acid (acid rain) comes
to the earth and combines with basic components in soil to form nitrates which are the
basic food of the plants in the soil.
N2 +O22NO, 2NO + O22N02, 4NO2+2H20 + O2 4HNO3
HNO3 + NH3NH4NO3, CaO + 2HNO3  Ca(N03)2 + H2O
(ii) Biological Nitrogen Fixation. This fixation is limited to a few, but abundant
organisms like the free living bacteria Azetobacter and Clostridium, symbiotic nodule
bacteria on leguminous plants like rhizobium and some blue green algae. They
convert nitrogen into nitrates which can be easily assimilated by plants.
The Sulphur Cycle
The Phosphorus Cycle

ROCKS CONTAINING PHOSPHATES

EROSION
PHOSPHATES IN SOIL RUN OFF TO
RIVERS

DECOMPOSERS
PLANTS

CONSUMERS
Environmental pollution

Environmental pollution is contamination of air, water and land from man-made

waste. Pollution leads to depletion of the ozone layer, global warming and climate
change.

POLLUTION => is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes

instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms
they are in.

POLLUTANTS=>are the elements of pollution, can be foreign substances or

energies, or naturally occurring; when naturally occurring, they are considered
contaminants when they exceed natural levels.

Classification of Pollutants on the basis of their form

• Primary pollutant: Any pollutant released directly from a source to the

atmosphere are primary pollutant . Sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and
carbon monoxide are all primary pollutants.

• Secondary pollutant: Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly to the air,
water, or soil. Secondary pollutants are synthesized in the environment by
chemical reactions involving primary, or emitted chemicals.
The best known of the secondary pollutants are certain gases that are synthesized
by photochemical reactions in the lower atmosphere. The primary emitted chemicals
in these reactions are hydrocarbons and gaseous oxides of nitrogen such as nitric
oxide and nitrogen dioxide

Classification of Pollutants from the ecosystem point of view

• Biodegradable or non-persistent pollutants=>decompose gradually in nature.

e.g.=>domestic sewage, vegetable wastes etc.

• Slowly degradable pollutants=> cannot decompose in a natural way for a long

period of time. e.g. plastics and DDT.

• Non-biodegradable (Persistent) pollutants => do not degrade at all, e.g. lead,

mercury etc.
 Environmental fate of pollutants

Environmental fate of pollutants

Non-biological Biological

Transformation Transfer & Transformation Transfer &

Transport Transport

Biotransformation
Photolysis
Vapourization Biodegradation
Hydrolysis Bioconcentration
Solubilization
Oxidation Biomagnification
Adsorption

Biodegradation
Biodegradation is the destruction of chemical compounds by the
biological action of living organisms. The degradation of chemicals
can be accomplished by any living organism, but the micro-
organisms (bacteria, fungi & algae) play extremely important role.
This is because of their high catabolic versatility, species diversity
and metabolic rate per unit weight.
For a chemical pollutant to be biodegraded efficiently following set of
criteria must be met:
 Presence of at least one microbial species in soil
 The compound must be in a form suitable for microbial degradation
 Contact between the organism and the chemical molecules should
occur
 The compound must be capable of inducing the enzymes needed
for its detoxication
 Favourable environmental conditions (optimum pH, temperature
etc.) for the micro-organisms to proliferate and for its enzymes to
operate should exist.
 Hydrolysis
Hydrolysis is a displacement reaction involving the replacement
of one functional group with another. Water serves as an
important medium for the chemical reactions. Several pollutants
reacts with water molecules in the environment by incorporating
the hydroxyl group into their chemical structures. For example,

Organic molecule
RCOX + H2ORCOOH + HX

Inorganic molecule
TX + H2OTOH + HX

The rate of hydrolysis follows the normal first order chemical

reactions since the solvent (water) is present in excess.

Photolysis

• Photolysis is an important process by which many

atmospheric contaminants and some chemicals that
reside on surfaces (e. g. pesticides on the leaves of
vegetation or in water) degrade and disappear.
Chemicals in the environment can react photo
chemically by reaching an excited state
themselves or by reacting with another chemical
that has reached an excited state. A chemical can
reach an excited state either by direct absorption
of light or by accepting energy from an excited
donor molecule (sensitizers).
 Transport and Transfer processes
Chemicals released into the environment and their degradation products may remain
at the point of their release or formation, or be transported to other location. When a
chemical enters an environmental compartment (air), it may be carried long distances
within the same medium to another medium. Examples of long range transport in air
include gaseous emissions (SO2).

Possible modes of transfer of chemical pollutants from one environment compartment to

another

Air

Soi Water
l

Biota

Pollutant Transfer between Media

 Bulk transfer:
When the transfer or the transport mechanism moves all of one
substance from one compartment to another massively, irrespective
of any differences in concentration, it is called a bulk transfer.
E. g. the occurance of acid rain which is a result of the process in
which SO2 in the atmosphere is dissolved by the rainfall and
massively transported into water bodies.

 Interfacial transfer:
It is the result of the driving forces caused by the concentration
differencess in either side of the interphase. It thus follows an
equilibrium concept and is highly influenced by environmental
conditions such as temperature and pressure.
 Solubilization
The solubility of a chemical in water indicates the upper limit of
the extent of its incorporation into aqueous phase. The solubility
of a pollutant is indicative of its hydrophilicity.
The water solubility of a chemical, in relation to its vapour
pressure is determined by using Henry’s law content.

H = P/S
Where,
H=Henry’s law constant
P= vapour pressure of the pollutant
S= water solubility of the pollutant
Thus H provides a relative measure of a chemicals solubility in air to
its solubility in water.

Volatilization

Volatilization is a phenomenon of escape of chemical

molecule into the atmosphere. Many low-boiling
organic chemicals found on the surface of water, soil
or plant leaves volatize into the atmosphere by this
process.

The escape of chemical pollutants by means of

volatilization can be calculated by the following
relationship:
PA = CA [PA / CA]
Where,
PA = partial pressure of the chemical in air
PA = vapour pressure of pure A
CA = concentration of A in water
CA = the equilibrium solubility of A in water
 Adsorption
Adsorption is the clinging of a chemical molecule to
another substance. The later could be sediments, soils,
particulate matter in the atmosphere or suspended solids
in the hydrosphere. The adsorption of chemical pollutants
to the various adsorbents is a result of Van der Waals
dipole-dipole interactions or coulombic forces between
them.

The adsorption behaviour of a chemical can be

determined by shaking it in an aqueous solution with the
adsorbents, untill an equilibrium concentration between
the aqueous and the solid phase has been established.

Bioconcentration referers to the accumulation of a chemical in an

organism at concentrations above those of the immediate environment.
The degree of bioconcentration is expressed as
BCF(bioconcentration factor), which is represnted as the concentration of
a chemical in an organism divided by the concentration of the same
chemical in the environment or an environmental compartment(e.g.,
water).
The bioconcentration factor is mostly used to predict the degree of
accumulation by fishes of an organic pollutant in water.