ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

October 2016
 Definition
• A multi-disciplinary science involving
chemistry, life science, medical science, public
health, sanitary engineering and many related
fields.
• It covers sources, reactions, transport, effect
and fate of species in water, air, soil and effect
on human activity
 Terms
• Pollutant: A substance present in nature in
great abundance and has detrimental effect
on the environment. E.g. lead, mercury CO,
SO2 ,e.t.c
• Contaminant: A material /specie that does not
occur in nature but is introduced by human
activity into the environment; affecting its
composition.
 …..
• A contaminant becomes a pollutant when it
exerts detrimental effect on the environment.
• Receptor: A medium that is affected by
pollutant e.g water, soil.
• Sink: A medium that retains and interacts with
a long lived pollutant e.g oceans are sinks of
carbondioxide.
 …..
• Speciation: Different chemical forms or species of
inorganic /organic compounds/ organometallics
present in the environment.
This is vital since some are toxic and others are
essential.
• Threshold limit value: Permissible levels of a toxic
pollutant in the atmosphere to which a healthy
worker is exposed during an 8-hour day without
adverse effect. e.g Be and Zn recommended
levels are 0.2 and 1.00mg/cubic metre resp;
beyond which they become toxic.
 ….
• Pathway: A mechanism by which a pollutant is
distributed from its source into the
environmental segments.
• Bioaccumulation: chemicals are taken up by
aquatic organisms fro water directly through
consumption of contaminated water.
• Bioconcentration: there is a net accumulation
of chemicals directly fro water into the aquatic
organism due to uptake across the body.
 Types of Pllution
• Air , water and land pollution.
• These are primary and secondary pollution.
• Primary pollution occursrs from primary
pollutants (CO, NOx), hydrocarbons, SOx and
particulates).
• Secondary pollution occurs when primary
pollutants undergo reactions to interact with
the environment.
 Pollution…
• The main pollutant is CO2
• Sources: Volcanic action, natural gas emission,
Seed germination, electrical discharge.
• Human: transport industry, industrial sector,
steel and paper
• Forest fires; agricultural burning:
 …..
• Control: At industry Carbon monoxide is
controlled by internal combustion of engines,
exhaust system development that can change
pollutants into accessible discharges,
substitution of reactants and use of
converters.
 ACID RAIN

• Much of NOx and SOx in the atmosphere

converts HNO3 and H2SO4 resp. The two
combine with HCl from that damages leaves
and leads to loss flora and fauna.
 Parameters for Monitoring Pollution
• Dissolved oxygen demand for photosynthesis
• Chemical oxygen demand due to oxidation of
reactions
• Total oxygen demand- oxidation of all organic
and oxidisable matter
• Total organic carbon
• Solid content – suspended and dissolved
solids, nutrients, pH, heavy metals and
radioactive substances.
 WATER POLLUTION
• Any deviation from pure condition where its
normal function and property are affected.
• Signs include: bad taste, coloured, aquatic
growth (death or too much growth) and
presence of grease or oil.
• Water pollution affects: recreation, fishing,
agriculture, industry and transport.
 Water Pollutants
• Include:
• Organic pollutnats- pest/herb/fungi and
insecticides
• Inorganic products from urban, sewage, fertilizers
• Sediments
• Radioactive materials/Pharmaceuticals
• Thermal pollutants for temperature change
• Detergents
 Carcinogens
• A group of elements that cause cancer in
animals and humans. They affect DNA
preventing it from giving the necessary
directions for the synthesis of substances that
control cell growth. Some of these
carcinogens may be products or degradation
products of pharmaceuticals or industries.
 Green house effect
• Gases absorb radiation and block a large
fraction of the earth’s emitted radiation. The
radiation absorbed by these gases is partly re-
emitted to the earth’s surface. The net result
is that the earth’s surface gets heated up by
phenomena called green house effect. This
hetaing up is called global warming.
 Green house….
• Greenhouse gases include: methane, CO2,
water vapour, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides,
chloro fluoro carbons (CFCs) e.t.c.
• Global warming is measured as global
potential (GWP) using carbonmonoxide as a
reference. CFCs have the highest GWP.
 Green house….
• The contributions to temp rise are as follows:
• CO2 – 50%, H20 – 2%, N20 – 4%, CFC- 17%, CH4-
19%.
Effects of global warming include:
• Raising earth’s temperature, decrease in
biological production, rise in sea levels due to
partial melting of glaciers and ice caps.
• Climate change
 Control of global warming
• Planting trees
• Substitute CFCs with environmentally friendly
substances in refrigeration
• Use clean and renewable energy
• Maintain cleaner production in industries
• Use good agricultural practices
• Use good solid waste management
 Cleaner production
It has the following advantages:
• Conservation of raw materials and energy
• Reduces quantity /emission of of toxic
materials
• Reduces waste
• Ensures safety of workers
• Shortens production process
• Improves quality
 Cleaner….
• Improves investor confidence
• Ensures customer satisfaction
• Improves the profit margin

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