Differentiate between industrial and manmade hazards

Man-made disasters:
• Man-made disasters are difficult to predict, however they are preventable. With a
little vigilance, they shouldn't occur in the first place.
• Events such as gas leaks, oil spills, nuclear meltdowns, and industrial fires
transpire through human error and carry grave consequences.
• Although the world has seen many natural disasters over time, man-made
disasters continue to grow, with equally tragic results.
• Gas leaks tend to be some of the most dangerous disasters, because they seem
innocuous until it's too late. Gas can directly and indirectly poisonous to people
and the environment - spreading rapidly, being unobserved, potentially igniting,
causing death.
• The most serious gas leak occurred in Bhopal, India in 1984, Known as the
Bhopal Gas Tragedy, it began with the leakage of methyl isocyanides (MIC).
• It killed roughly 5,000 people, affected 50,000 more people, and left at least 1,000
blind.
• Another gas leak occurred recently in 2015, at the Aliso Canyon Facility near Los
Angeles.
• Oil spills are some of the most familiar man-made disasters, devastating to people,
the environment, animals and global socioeconomics.

Industrial hazard:
• Leaked gas or faulty mechanical equipment is considered a man-made cause.
• For example, in 1944 leaked gas from a Cleveland gas company found its way
into a sewer, where it ignited.
• The explosion blew manholes into the air and ignited funnels of fire, which set
homes on fire.
• The disaster ended with 130 dead and many more homeless.
• In 1991, a food chicken processing plant in North Carolina saw 25 deaths due to a
fire caused by a faulty hydraulic piece.
• Safety and prevention measures are no excuse for the loss of line in man-made
disasters.
• Safety is maintained through equipment management, operational planning,
diligent preparation and detailed prevention.
• Unfortunately, man-made disasters have many more causes now than ever before.
Food chain

• The transfer of food energy from the source (i.e. plants) through a series of
organisms with repeated eating and being eaten is called as food chain.
• There are two basic types of food chains observed in any kind of Ecosystem,
grazing and detritus food chains.

Grazing Food Chain: It comprises of producers followed by herbivores and then

carnivores. Some common examples of grazing food chains are as follows :

Terrestrial Food Chain

(i) Vegetation ➔ Grasshopper ➔ Shrew ➔ Hawk
(ii) Vegetation ➔ Frog ➔ Snake ➔ Peacock
(iii) Plant ➔ Butterfly ➔ Frog ➔ Snake ➔ Hawk

Aquatic Food Chains

(i) Phytoplankton ➔ Zooplankton ➔ Small Crustaceans.
(ii) Phytoplankton ➔ Zooplankton ➔ Fish ➔ Crane ➔ Hawk.

Detritus Food Chain: It starts with dead organic matter and passes through detritus
feeding organisms in soil to, organisms feeding on detritus feeder and their predators.
Effects of air quality deterioration on humans, plants, and animals

At local and regional levels its manifestations are in the form of alterations in (i) visibility, (ii)
intensity of sunshine, (iii) precipitation amount, and (iv) acid rain. Its global effects are. (i) Change in
natural climate by rise of temperature, melting of snow, (ii) increase in carbon dioxide, (iii) increase
in particulates, (iv) holes in ozone layer, etc.

1. Effects on Human Health:

Some environmental poisons can cause acute illness and even death. Others may be harmful,
but the disease may take years or even decades to appear. Air pollution mainly affects the
respiratory system.

Bronchitis, emphysema, asthma and lung cancer are some of the chronic diseases caused due
to exposure to polluted air. It is feared that lung cancer is caused mainly due to polluted air
because carcinogens are found in it. Its mortality rate is higher in urban areas.

Sulfur dioxide is the most serious and widespread air pollutant. Its lower concentration is a
cause of spasms in the smooth muscle of bronchioles and its higher concentration induces
increased mucus production.

Sulfur dioxide is also considered to cause cough, shortness of breath, spasm of the larynx and
acute irritation to the membranes of the eyes. It also acts as an allergenic agent. When it
reacts with some compounds, sulfuric acid is formed which may damage lungs.

Carbon monoxide often affects the oxygen carrying capacity of blood. Nitric oxide is
reported to be a pulmonary irritant and its excess concentration may cause pulmonary
haemorrhage.
Hydrogen sulfide is also toxic. Lead emitted from automobile exhausts is a cumulative poison
and is dangerous particularly to children and may cause brain damage.

The particulate pollutants such as asbestos, silica, carbon, beryllium, lead, etc., are capable of
exerting a noxious (fibrotic) local action in the interstitial areas of the lungs. Radioactive
elements are also harmful to man and other living organisms. As described earlier, smog has
a killer effect, which is also the result of air pollution. The death toll by smog varies from few
persons to thousands.

In December 1952, about 4,000 persons died in London due to smog. Similar cases have been
reported from London itself in 1956, 1957 and 1962 in which the death toll was between 700
and 1,000 persons. In other countries also smog deaths have been reported. In fact, the
growing air pollution has now become a health hazard for man.

2. Effects on Animals and Plants:

The impact of air pollution on animals is more or less similar to that on man. Chronic
poisoning results from the ingestion of forage contaminated with atmospheric pollutants.
Among the metallic contaminants, arsenic, lead and molybdenum are important. Fluoride is
another pollutant, which causes fluorosis among animals.

A number of livestock have been poisoned by fluorides and arsenic in North America. Bone
lesions in animals due to excessive fluorides have also been reported.

Air pollution has caused widespread damage to trees, fruits, vegetables, flowers and in
general, vegetation as a whole. The total annual cost of plant damage caused by air pollution
in USA alone has been estimated to be in the range of 1 to 2 billion dollars. The most
dramatic early instances of plant damage were seen in the total destruction of vegetation by
sulfur dioxide in the areas surrounding smelters.

When the absorption of sulfur dioxide exceeds a particular level, the cells become inactive
and are killed, resulting in tissue collapse and drying of leaves. Cotton, wheat, barley and
apple are more sensitive to this pollutant.

Fluorides are responsible for various types of injuries to plants. The leaves of apple, apricot,
fig, peach and prune are more susceptible to air borne fluorides. Fluorides seem to interfere
with the photosynthesis and respiration of plants. Smog also causes injury to plants. Similar
impact of ozone can be seen in the lesions to plants. Chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide,
etc., are also harmful to vegetation.
COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENT

• Environment can be defined as the sum total of all surroundings of a living

organism, including natural forces and other living things which provide
conditions for development and growth as well as danger and damage.
• Environment is the surroundings or control conditions in which all living
organisms exist.
• The Environment may vary from micro level to macro level. In case of some local
studies such as study of an ecosystem or solid waste management, it is the micro
level study. On the other hand global issues such as Green House Effect or Ozone
Depletion form the macro level studies.
• The environment comprises basically of Living organisms, Non-living factors and
their mutual interaction.
• The living organisms, also called Biotic Factors, mainly comprise of different
bacteria, viruses, plants and animals whereas nonliving factors, also called Abiotic
Factors are air, water, light etc.
• The interaction between these two factors leads to formation of Ecology which is
a part of environment.
• When there is a proper balance between these factors it leads to healthy
environment (e.g. a self-sustaining ecosystem without the external interference,
especially man).

Biotic/Living:

Producers: These are self-nourishing organisms. Green plants (autotrophs) and algae
are the examples of this group.
The autotrophs take solar energy and convert it into chemical energy in the process of
photosynthesis. This stored energy is utilized by other organisms.

Consumers: These are other organisms that depend on producers for their energy
source (called heterotrophs) e.g. man, birds, animals, fish, etc.

Decomposers: These are mainly the bacteria and fungi that decompose the decayed
material. They play a major role in converting the organic matter in to simpler
compounds.

Abiotic/ Non-living:

Climatic factors: These include precipitation, light, temperature, atmospheric

humidity and wind.

Physiographic factors: These include all such factors that have their origin in the
form, behaviour and structure of earth's surface. Physical and chemical constituents of
the soil, such as its structure, chemical properties etc. fall under this category.
Global warming
Environmental quality management

• Environmental quality is a set of properties and characteristics of the environment,

either generalised or local, as they impinge on human beings and other organisms.
It is a measure of the condition of an environment relative to the requirement of
one or more species and/or to any human need or purpose.
• Environmental Quality management play a vital role in sustainable developments
in environmental systems.
• Environmental quality management provides environmental compliance,
remediation and construction services.
• Thus EQM is a leading environment consulting remediation and construction
method which provides expertise in engineering and environmental compliance,
environmental problems, environmental remediation and construction services
related to industrial, public and government sectors.
• EQM provides a robust approach to guide in all respect of air quality permitting,
compliance outsourcing, water quality management, waste management, chemical
reporting, industrial hygiene, stack testing etc.
• Wetlands are a significant natural resource providing important habitat to many
plant and animal species.

Following are the various common concerns related to EQM.

(i) Management processes
(ii) Documentation processes
(iii) Customer or stakeholder process
(iv) Human resource management
(v) Product or service realization process
(vi) Monitoring and measurement process
(vii) Emission or Waste management process
(viii) Emergency management process
(ix) Continual re improvement process
Air (P&CP) act

To implement the decisions taken at the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment held at Stockholm in June 1972, Parliament enacted the nationwide Air
Act.
The main objectives of this Act are to improve the quality of air and to prevent,
control and abate air pollution in the country. Important provisions of this Act are
given below:

• The Air Act’s framework is similar to that of the Water Act of 1974. To enable an
integrated approach to environmental problems, the Air Act expanded the authority of
the central and state boards established under the Water Act, to include air pollution
control.
• States not having water pollution boards were required to set up air pollution boards.
• Under the Air Act, all industries operating within designated air pollution control
areas must obtain a “consent” (permit) from the State Boards.
• The states are required to prescribe emission standards for industry and automobiles
after consulting the central board and noting its ambient air quality standards.
• Act granted power to the Board to ensure compliance with the Act including the
power of entry for examination, testing of equipment and other purposes and power
to take the sample for the purpose of analysis of air or emission from any chimney, fly
ash or dust or any other outlet in such a manner as may be prescribed.
• Prior to its amendment in 1987, the Air Act was enforced through mild court
administered penalties on violations. The 1987 amendment strengthened the
enforcement machinery and introduced stiffer penalties. Now, the boards may close
down a defaulting industrial plant or may stop its supply of electricity or water. A
board may also apply to the court to restrain emissions that exceed prescribed limits.
Notably, the 1987 amendment introduced a citizen’s suit provision into the Air Act
and extended the Act to include noise pollution.