14

Envir o nme ntal

C he mist ry
KEYNOTES 2.0
By: Dr. Anand Mani
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 ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

It is effect of undesirable changes in our surroundings that have harmful effects on plants,
animals and human beings.

ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION

It is studied as tropospheric and Troposphere extends to the

stratospheric pollution. height of ~10 km from sea level.

Stratosphere lies between 10 and 50

km above sea level. It contains N2, O2, Tropospheric pollution is due to
O3 and little H2O vapour. The
presence of O3 in it prevents about gaseous air pollutants and
99.5% of sun’s harmful UV radiations particulate pollutants.
from reaching earth’s surface.

Gaseous air pollutants

 SO2 which causes respiratory diseases, irritation to eyes resulting in tears and redness.
 Due to burning of fossil fuel in automobile engine, NO and NO2 are produced.
 The irritant red haze in the traffic and congested places is due to oxides of nitrogen.
 NO2 is lung irritant.
 Hydrocarbons are carcinogenic.
 CO is highly poisonous and produced as a result of incomplete combustion of carbon.
 CO binds to Haemoglobin to form carboxy haemoglobin, which is about 300 times more stable
than the oxygen- haemoglobin complex.
 High level of CO in blood may induce premature birth and deformed babies.
 CO2 is released in atmosphere by respiration, burning of fossil fuel and also during volcanic
eruptions.
 Increased amount of CO2 in the air is mainly responsible for global warming.

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Particulate pollutants
 These are minute solid particles or liquid droplets in air.
 Viable particulates: Bacteria, fungi, moulds, algae etc.
 Non-viable particulates: Cigarette smoke, Dust, Sand,
 Cement, fly ash, Sulphuric acid mist, fume particles etc.
 The effect of particulate pollutants are largely dependent on the particle size.
 Lead used to be a major air pollutant emitted by vehicles.

Stratospheric pollution is due to the depletion of protective ozone layer. C FCs combine with ozone and
damage ozone layer.
UV
CF2Cl2(g)   → Cl(g) + CF2Cl(g)
Cl(g) + O3(g) → ClO(g) + O2(g)
ClO(g) + O(g) → Cl(g) + O2(g)

GLOBAL WARMING AND GREEN HOUSE

EFFECT
About 75% of the solar energy
reaching the earth is absorbed by Green house gases: CO2, CH4, O3,
the earth surface, which increases CFCs, H2O vapour, N2O, O3,
its temperature.

CO2 molecules trap heat as they are CO2 is the major contributor to
transparent to sunlight but not to global warming.
the heat radiation.

ACID RAIN
 When the pH of rain water drops below 5.6, it is called acid rain.
 Oxide of S, N and C causes acid rain.
 The Taj Mahal is being slowly disfigured and marble is getting discoloured and lustreless due to
acid rain. The acid rain reacts with marble, CaCO3 of Taj Mahal.
CaCO3 + H2SO4 → CaSO4 + H2O + CO2

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 SMOG
 It is mixture of smoke and fog.
 Classical smog is mixture of smoke, fog and SO2, occurs in cool humid climate. It is a
reducing mixture.
 Photochemical smog results from action of sunlight on unsaturated hydrocarbons and
nitrogen oxides. It occurs in warm, dry and sunny climate. Its main components are O3, NO,
acrolein, HCHO and PAN. It is called oxidising smog.

WATER POLLUTION
 IPathogens: Bacteria and other organisms that enter water from domestic sewage and
animal excreta. Human excreta contain bacteria such as Escherichia coli and streptococcus
faecalis which cause gastrointestinal diseases.
 Organic waste: Leaves, Grass, Trash, Excessive phytoplankton growth etc.
 If the concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) in water is below 6 ppm, the growth of
fish gets inhibited.
 The amount of oxygen required by bacteria to break down the organic matter present
in a certain volume of a sample of water is called Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD).
 The amount of BOD in the water is a measure of the
 amount of organic material in the water.
 Clean water would have BOD value of less than 5 ppm whereas highly polluted water
could have a BOD value of 17 ppm or more.
 Chemical Pollutants:
 Water soluble inorganic chemicals such as Cd, Hg, Ni etc. These metals can damage
kidneys, central nervous system, liver etc.
 NaCl and CaCl2 are used to melt snow and ice in the colder climates.
 Petroleum products pollute many sources of water e.g. major oil spills in oceans.
 Pesticides that drift down from sprays or runoff from lands.
 Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which are used as cleansing solvent, detergents
and fertilizers. PCBs are suspected to be carcinogenic.
 Fertilizers contain phosphates. The addition of phosphates in water enhances algae
growth, which reduces oxygen concentration in water.
 The process in which nutrient enriched water bodies support a dense plant population,
which kills animal life by depriving it of oxygen and results in subsequent loss of
biodiversity is known as Eutrophication.

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International standards for drinking water.

Fluoride: Its deficiency causes tooth decay. It makes enamel on tooth much harder

1 by converting [3Ca3(PO4)2 × Ca(OH)2] into [3Ca3(PO4)2 × CaF 2].

F ion concentration above 2 ppm causes brown mottling of teeth.

2 Lead: Upper limit of lead in drinking water is 50 ppb.

3
Sulphate: Excessive sulphate (>500 ppm) in drinking

water causes laxative effect.

Nitrate: Upper limit of nitrate in drinking water is

4 50 ppm.

Excess of it causes diseases such as methemoglobinemia

(‘blue baby’ syndrome)

Other metals:

5 Metal
Maximum Concentration (ppm)
Fe
0.2
Mn
0.05
Al
0.2
Cu
3.0
Zn
5.0
Cd
0.005

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 SOIL POLLUTION
 Insecticides, pesticides and herbicides cause soil pollution.
 Prior to World War II, nicotine were used as pest controlling substance for major crops.
 After the World War II, DDT was used in various crop diseases.
 Pesticides are basically synthetic toxic chemicals with ecological repercussions.
 As insect resistance of DDT increased, other organic toxins such as Aldrin and Dieldrin were
introduced.
 These days herbicides such as NaClO3 and Na3AsO3 have more attention. Some herbicides cause
birth defects.

INDUSTRIAL WASTE
 Biodegradable waste: It is generated by cotton mills, paper
 mills and textile factories.
 Non-Biodegradable waste: It is generated by thermal power
 plants, iron and steel plants etc.
 Now a days, fly ash and slag from steel industry are utilised by the cement industry.
 Fuel obtained from plastic waste has high octane rating.
 It contains no lead and is known as “green fuel”.

WASTE MANAGEMENT
 The improper disposal of wastes is one of the major causes of environmental degradation. Therefore
the management of wastes is of utmost importance.
 Two programmes are being implemented Swatchh Bharat Mission - Urban (SBM - U) Swatchh Bharat
Mission - Gramin (SBM - G)

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 GREEN CHEMISTRY
 It is a way of thinking and it about utilising the existing knowledge and principles of chemistry and
other sciences to reduce the adverse impact on environment.
 Tetrachloroethene (Cl2C = CCl2), was earlier used as solvent for dry cleaning and is also a suspected
carcinogen. Now, liquefied CO2 with a suitable detergent is used.

Catalyst
CH2 = CH2 + O 
Pd(II)/Cu(II)(in water)
→ CH3 CHO (90%)

 Kernel of tamarind seeds has been found to be effective to make waste water clean.
 Green chemistry is a cost effective approach which involves reduction in material, energy
consumption and waste generation.

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