Public Health

MKBS 317
 Lecturer Information

 Dr. Deidré Van Wyk

 Building A12-B
 Office no. G02
 Email: 20418876@nwu.ac.za
 Consultation hours
 First
two hours immediately after classes – By
appointment only
Textbooks

Prescott’s
Microbiology,
Willey,
Sherwood,
Woolverton,
8th to 11th
Edition

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 Evaluation

Credits
• Module carries 16 credits toward your qualification
• I will contribute 8 credits (50%) toward your qualification

Assessments Criteria
• The requirement for NQF Level 7
• Is 40% Knowledge assessment and 60%
Application assessment
• 4 lessons, each carry a weight of 12.5%
 Evaluation Opportunities
Assessments Exams

• 3-4 Theory assessments 1st opportunity - June

• Contribute 30% in final 2st opportunity - July

mark

• Practical assessments –
contribute 20% in final
mark
 Absence from mark carrying
evaluations (test/ practical's etc.)

• It is your responsibility to contact the Lecturer if

you miss a test

• Only 2 opportunities for writing tests

 Copying of text NOT ALLOWED

Warning Against Reformulate in own words

Plagiarism

Acknowledge the sources

(Reference)
 Fields of Microbiology
Bacteriology
Virology
Immunology
Mycology
Protozoology

Microbiology
Medical microbiology
Environmental microbiology
Industrial Microbiology
Careers in
Microbiology
 Teaching/Academic
 Medicine
 Pharmaceutical Scientists
 Research Scientists
 Biotechnologist
 Food Microbiologist/Technologist
 Forensic - Police Force
 Science writer
 Module: Public Health

• It is the science and art of

preventing disease
• to prolong life and
promote human health
• through organized efforts
and informed choices of
everyone
• Including society,
organizations - public and
private, communities and
individuals
• Analyzes the health of a
population and the threats
associated
 Career

• Health informatics specialists

• Employers: food and drug
administration clinics, clinical
biostatistics organizations,
government
• Health care administrators
• Employers: hospitals, clinics,
healthcare facilities, wellness
centers
• Epidemiologists/research analysts
• Public health project managers
• Health and safety engineers
 Module Outcomes

• Expected from Students

• To know major products of industrial pollution (water/air)

• Major microorganisms responsible for biodegradation and

bioremediation

• Waterborne and Airborne diseases and their implications

 Industrial Air Pollution

Outcomes: Lesson 1

After completion of lesson 1 module, you are expected to be able

to:
• Describe industrial air pollution in general terms
• Describe, in summary, the two National ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS)
• Define and describe primary and secondary air pollutants
• Name and describe the six conventional air pollutants
 Major Products of Industrial Air Pollution and
their implications on Airborne diseases

Outcomes: Lesson 2
• Name the 6 greenhouse gases and explain their purpose
• Name the types of HAP chemicals, their classification and list 6
examples
• Describe 5 different types of diseases caused by air pollution
 Biodegradation

Outcomes: Lesson 3
• Define biodegradation and explain its 3 stages
• Describe the 2 types of reductive dehalogenation
• List the 3 genera and species that carry out reductive dehalogenation and explain briefly how
they do it
• Explain the following statement with 2 examples: Degradation processes that occur in soils is
often very effective however sometimes does not reduce toxicity
• Describe the application of microbial fuel cells in the oxidation of toluene by the bacteria,
Geobacter metallireducens
 Bioremediation

Outcomes: Lesson 4
• Define bioremediation
• Describe the difference between bioremediation and biodegradation
• Discuss the use of glucose in bioremediation
• Discuss the requirements for stimulating hydrocarbon degradation in oil spills
• Define phytoremediation and discuss it using an example
• Define rhizoremediation and discuss it using an example
• Define bioaugmentation and explain it briefly
• Describe metal bioleaching
 Industrial Pollution

 Def:Generally referred to the

undesirable outcome when factories
or industrial plants emits harmful by-
products and waste into the
environment
 such as emissions to air or water
bodies (water pollution)
 depositionon landfills and
emission of toxic chemicals into
the atmosphere (air pollution)
Industrial Air Pollution

 India, China and SA are rapidly growing cities that

currently face serious air pollution challenges
 Legal enforcement has improved and helped to
improve public health however many cities still
have bad air
 Cities with major ports, oil and gas
extraction areas and industrial cities
 Air pollution impairs human health, damages
crops and ecosystems and corrodes buildings
and infrastructure
 Greenhouse gas pollutants are changing our
climate
 Aesthetic degradation such as odors and lost
visibility are also consequences of air pollution
11 out of Africa's 15 most polluted
cities are all in South Africa
 https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/11-out-of-africas-1
5-most-polluted-cities-are-all-in-south-africa-report-2021112
4
Many natural factors degrade air quality

These
include ash
and gases
from
volcanoes
and desert
dust

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Many natural factors
degrade air quality
• Termites and ruminant animals also
produce methane
• Forest fires produce particulate
matter, nitrogen oxides, and carbon
monoxide
• However, these sources usually are too
diffuse to cause severe damage
• Thus, when we refer to pollutants, we
generally mean human-caused
emissions
 The Clean Air Act

• There have been countless efforts throughout history to

control high smoke, odors, and noise,
• E.g., in 1963, the EPA Clean Air Act (1st national air
quality legislation in the U.S.) set and enforced air
quality regulations
• Amendments to the U.S. Clean Air Act in 1970 designed
new standards to be applied for six major conventional
pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxide, ozone (and its precursor volatile organic
compounds), lead, and particulate matter (slide 26)
• Transportation and power plants are the primary
sources of conventional pollutants
 The Clean Air Act

• National ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) identify maximum allowable

limits for the six conventional pollutants in ambient air (the air around us)

• The EPA Clean Air Act addressed the six because they contributed the most
significant volume of air quality degradation

• and are also considered the most severe threats to human health

• Primary standards are intended to protect human health

• Secondary standards are also set to protect crops, materials, climate, visibility,
and personal comfort
Table 16. 1: National Ambient Air Quality
Standards (NAAQS)
 The Clean Air Act

• In addition to the six conventional pollutants

• Clean Air Act regulates other unconventional pollutants

• compounds that are produced in less volume than conventional

pollutants that are toxic or hazardous

• Such as asbestos, benzene, mercury, polychlorinated

biphenyls (PCBs), and vinyl chloride

• Most of these are uncommon or have no natural sources

Pollutants are distinguished according to how they
are produced

Primary pollutants Secondary pollutants

 Released directly from the  Formed by chemical reactions
source into the air in a
harmful form (e.g., coal-
burning power plants)
in the air
• and converted to a
hazardous form in the air
• Solar radiation provides
energy for these reactions
• Photochemical oxidants and
atmospheric acids are the
most important secondary
pollutants in terms of health
and ecosystem damage
 Point Source Pollution
• Smokestack
• Fugitive emissions are those that do
not go through a smokestack

• E.g., dust from soil erosion, strip

mining, rock crushing and building
construction (and destruction)

• leaking valves and pipe joints and

evaporation of volatile compounds
from oil-processing facilities

• contribute ≈ 90% of the

hydrocarbons and volatile
organic chemicals (VOCs)
emitted from oil refineries and
chemical plants
 Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
 Sulfur dioxide is a colorless, corrosive gas that is directly
damaging to both plants and animals
 Human activity-based pollution (anthropogenic emission) in urban
areas contribute as much as 90% of the sulfur in the air
 The predominant form of anthropogenic sulfur is sulfur dioxide
(SO2) from combustion of sulfur-containing fuel (coal and oil)
 and industrial processes such as smelting of sulfide
ores
 In the atmosphere it reacts with oxygen and water vapor to form
sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
 a major component of acid rain
 Small solid particles or liquid droplets can transport the acidic
sulfate ion (SO4−2) through the air and into the lungs (very
damaging)
 Some of the smelliest and most noxious air pollutants are
organosulfur thiols from paper mills
 Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)

 Nitrogen oxides are highly reactive gases formed when nitrogen in

fuel or in air is heated (during combustion) in the presence of
oxygen
 Then nitric oxide (NO) oxidizes in the atmosphere to nitrogen
dioxide (NO2) a reddish-brown gas that gives photochemical smog
its distinctive color
 In addition, nitrous oxide (N2O) is an intermediate form that results
from soil denitrification
 Nitrous oxide absorbs ultraviolet light and shields the biosphere
 Reacts with water to make nitric acid (HNO3) a major component of
acid rain
 About 95% of all human-caused NOx is produced by fuel
combustion in transportation and electric power generation
 Thus, more driving and increased electricity consumption have led
to less success in controlling NOx than other pollutants
 Carbon
monoxide (CO)
 Is a colorless, odorless and highly toxic gas
 Produces mainly by incomplete combustion of fuel (coal, oil, charcoal
or gas)
 such as in furnaces, incinerators, engines or fires
 Blocks oxygen uptake in blood by binding irreversibly to hemoglobin (the
protein that carries oxygen in our blood), making hemoglobin unable to
hold oxygen and deliver it to cells
 Human activities produce CO emissions by transportation (engines
combustion)
 Also, land-clearing fires and cooking fires also are major
sources
 About 90% of CO in the air is converted to CO 2 in photochemical
reactions that produce ozone
 Growing recognition of risks associated with climate change have led to
recent regulations on CO2
 Catalytic converters on vehicles are one of the methods to reduce CO
production by ensuring complete oxidation of carbon to CO 2
 Ozone (O3) and
Photochemical Oxidants

 Ozone (O3) high in the stratosphere provides a valuable shield for the biosphere
by absorbing ultraviolet radiation
 But at ground level O3 is a strong oxidizing reagent that damages vegetation,
building materials (such as paint, rubber, and plastics) and sensitive tissues
(such as eyes and lungs)
 Ozone has an acrid, biting odor that is a distinctive characteristic of
photochemical smog
 Ground-level O3 is a product of photochemical reactions (by sunlight) between
other pollutants such as NOx or volatile organic compounds(VOCs)
 One of the most important of these reactions involves splitting nitrogen dioxide
(NO2) into nitrous oxide (NO) and oxygen (O)
 This single O atom is then available to combine with a molecule of O2 to
make ozone (O3)
 Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - a general term for organic chemicals that
evaporate or exist as gases in the air
 Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOCs)

 The
greater health threats from
VOCs involve other synthetic organic
chemicals
 such as benzene, toluene,
formaldehyde, phenols,
chloroform…
 which are released into the air by
human activities
 transportation, power plants,
chemical plants and petroleum
refineries
 Lead

 Lead is the most abundantly produced metal air

pollutant
 It is toxic to the brain and nervous system
(affects body cells)
 The main sources of airborne lead are smelting of
metal ores, mining and burning of coal
 Also burning of petrol (transportation) that has
lead in it
 In U.S leaded gasoline was phased out in the
1980s
 It was one of the most successful pollution-control
measures in American history
 Children’s average blood lead levels have
dropped by 90%percent
 Particulate Matter
 Solid
particles or liquid droplets
suspended in a gaseous form (aerosols)

 Includesdust, ash, soot, lint, smoke, pollen,

spores...

 Particlessmaller than 2.5 micrometers in

diameter produced by fires, power plants or
vehicle exhaust are among the most
dangerous
 We breathe them into our lungs - damage
the respiratory tissues
 Asbestos fibers and cigarette smoke
are among these dangerous fine particles
 Particulate Matter
cont..
 Reducing sulfur in coal and diesel fuel
(which produces aerosol droplets of
sulfuric acid) is one important strategy for
controlling PM2.5 particulates

 InChina, vast dust storms blow out of

the Gobi desert every spring, choking
Beijing and closing airports and schools in
Japan and Korea
 Lesson Outcomes

Describe In general, what is industrial air pollution

Describe The 2 NAAQS standards

Define and Primary and secondary air pollutants

describe

Name and The 6 conventional air pollutants

describe