ENS 201 Environmental studies and Disaster Management

(1+1)

Course Teacher
M.Sundaravel.,M.Sc.,(Forestry)
Assistant Professor(Forestry)
 Air Pollution

Air pollution is said to exist if the levels of gases,

solids or liquids present in the atmosphere are high enough to harm
humans, other organisms, or materials.
Primary air pollutants
Air pollutants are harmful chemicals that are released directly
from a source into the atmosphere
Secondary air pollutants
Secondary air pollutants produces from chemical reactions involving
the primary pollutants
 Air Pollutants

Air pollutants are harmful chemicals that are released directly from a source into the
atmosphere.

Primary air pollutants

Particulate matter: this includes both solid particles and solid suspensions. Soil Particles, soot,
lead, asbestos and sulphuric acid droplets
Oxides of carbon and nitrogen and sulphur dioxide
Hydrocarbon like methane and benzene

Secondary airof pollutants

Ozone: it is form oxygen and is a pollutant in the troposhere or the layer of the atmosphere
closest to the earth surface
Sulphur trioxide: This is formed when sulpher dioxide reacts with oxygen
 Sources of Pollutants

Outdoor pollution
 Burning fossil fuels
 Automobiles, domestic cooking and heating
 Power stations and industries (Primarily the chemical, metal and
paper industries )
 Mining activities
 Burning biofuels ,tropical rainforest, wastes of all kinds
 Natural emissions from animals, decaying organic matter
 Sources of Pollutants

Indoor air pollution

 Pesticides, mosquito repellents, cleaning agents

 Building materials like asbestos, glass fiber, paints,glues

 Cigarette smoke and gases from stove

 Usage of traditional stoves

 Important Air Pollutants

 Carbon compounds
 Sulphur compounds
 Nitrogen oxides
 Ozone
 Fluorocarbons
 Hydrocarbons
 Metals
 Photochemical products
 Particulate matter
 Carbon compounds

Carbon dioxide (CO2) and Carbon monoxide (CO)

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

 Major amount released in the atmosphere from burning of fossil
fuel (Coal, oil etc.)
 Fuel consumed in furnaces of power plants, industries, hot mix
plants
 In India on an average, thermal power plants released of 50
million tonns of CO2 the atmosphere
 Carbon compounds

Carbon monoxide (CO)

 Chief source are automobiles, though other involving a
combustion process as stoves, furnaces, open fires, forests and
bush fires, burning coal mines, power plants etc
 CO comprises for as much as 80% of all automobile emissions,
and for more than 60% of all major pollutants added to the
atmosphere
 Cause hypoxia – Oxygen deficiency
 Sulphur compounds
Sulphur dioxide(SO2) and Hydrogen sulphide(H2S)
Sulphur dioxide(SO2)
 Burning of fossil fuels(coal) in thermal power plants
 Smelting industries
 Manufacturing of sulphuric acid and fertilizers
 Emissions from automobiles and petroleum refineries
 SO2 causes intense irritation to eyes and respiratory tract
 In most plants leaf area collapses under SO2
 SO2 is also involved in the erosion of building materials as limestone
marble
 Sulphur compounds

Hydrogen sulphide(H2S)

Decaying vegetation and animal matter, especially in aquating

habitat

At a low concentration, H2S causes headache, nausea, collapse,

coma and final death
 Nitrogen Oxides

Nitrous oxide (N2O), Nitric oxide(NO) and Nitrogen dioxide(NO2)

Nitric oxide(NO)
 Produced by combustion of O2 and N2 during lightning discharges
and by bacterial oxidation of NH3 in soil
 Its responsible for several photochemical reactions in the
atmosphere . Ex: NO2,PAN,O3
 At the urban level its cause little evidence of health hazard
 Nitrogen Oxides

Nitrogen dioxide(NO2)
 Deep reddish brown gas, which is the only prevalent colored
pollutant gas
 Photochemical smog main problem in metropolitan areas

 Causes irritation in of alveoli upon prolonged exposure to 1ppm

level
 Lung inflammation may be followed by edema and final death

 NO2 is highly injurious to plants, sensitivity plants show visible

leaf injury
 Ozone(O3)
 Temperature inversion in stratosphere
 Its limits the vertical mixing of pollutants, thereby causing the
dispersal of very large area, near the earth surface.
 Ozone near the earth surface in troposphere create pollution
problem.
 Its formed light dependent reactions between NO2 and
hydrocarbons
 Also formed by NO2 under UV radiations effect.
 Its causes photochemical smog
 Reduces the crop yield
 Photochemical Products

 This are secondary air pollutants

 Result of photochemical Reaction by interlinking of Nox,

hydrocarbons and O3 in the atmosphere.
 The principal photochemical products are olefins , aldehydes ,
ozone, PAN, PBzN and Photochemical smog
 Photochemical Products

PAN – Peroxyacetyl nitrate

 Reaction between Nox and hydrocarbons under the effect of UV
radiation of sunlight, when O3 formed
 It’s a potent eye irritant

 PAN and O3 causes respiratory distress and toxic to plants

 PAN and Nox causes death of forest trees

 Photochemical Products

Photochemical smog
 Its highly oxidizing polluted atmosphere comprising largely of
O3,NO3,H2O2,organic peroxides, PAN and PBzN
 Its cause eye irritation and reduced visibility

 Its formation occurred of only during night or cloudy days

 Particulate matter

Particulate matter is a discrete mass of any material, except pure

water, that exits as liquid or solid in the atmosphere and of
microscopic and submicroscopic dimensions.

PM range in size from 0.001μm to several hundred μm

Particles in air are either:

 directly emitted, for instance when fuel is burnt and when dust is carried by
wind, or
 indirectly formed, when gaseous pollutants previously emitted to air turn into
particulate matter.
 Particulate matter

Fuel combustion and Mining, smelting, polishing, furnaces and

industrial operations textiles, pesticide, fertilizers and chemical
productions
Industrial fugitive process Material handling, loading and transfer
operations

Non Industrial fugitive process Roadway dust, agricultural operations,

construction, fire etc.

Transportation process Vehicle exhaust and related particles from fire

 Particulate matter

 It cause respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis and cancer

 Cotton dust causes occupational disease Byssinosis, very

common in india
 Particulate matter

 It cause respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis and cancer

 Cotton dust causes occupational disease Byssinosis, very

common in india
 Water Pollution

The addition of any substance to water or changing of water’s

physical and chemical characteristics in any way which
interferes with its legitimate purposes

Water pollutants come from point and non point sources

Point sources

Specific places like sewage treatment plants and factories are

point sources that discharge pollutants through pipes, sewers
or ditches
 Water Pollution

Non Point sources

 Pollutants enter water over large areas that at a single point,
called non point sources
 Surface runoff, mining wastes, acid rain, soil erosion
 Sources of water pollutant

 Sewage and other waste

 Industrial effluents

 Agricultural discharges

 Industrial wastes
 Water pollutant

Ground water Pollution

Receive pollutants from septic tanks, landfills, hazardous waste

dumps, and underground tanks containing petrol,oil,
chemicals etc.

Lead, arsenic and fluoride remain in ground water permanently

 Water pollutant

Mercury Pollution
 Its enter waters into naturally as well as through industrial
effluents
 Enter into water body and converted into Methyl mercury
compounds by anaerobic microbes.
 Fish may accumulate Methyl mercury ions directly

 Minamatta epidemic in japen and sweden

 Water pollutant

Lead pollution
 Lead poisoning is common in adults.

 The chief source of lead to water are the effluents of lead and
lead processing industries
 Its causes damage to liver and kidney, reduction in
haemoglobin formation and abnormalities in fertility and
pregnancy
 Water pollutant

Fluoride pollution

In india bedrock contains minerals with high fluoride content.

When bedrock weathers, the fluroide leaches into the water
and soil

Excessive extraction of groundwater has led to deeper and

deeper bore wells, which draw water from aquifers containing
high fluroide con
 Soil Pollution

Soil pollution is defined as the presence of toxic chemicals

(pollutants or contaminants) in soil, in high enough
concentrations to pose a risk to human health and/or the
ecosystem
 Types of Soil Pollutants

Biological Agents

Biological agents work inside the soil to introduce manures and

digested sludge (coming from the human, bird and animal
excreta) into the soil
 Types of Soil Pollutants

Agricultural Practices

The soil of the crops is polluted to a large extent with pesticides,

fertilizers, herbicides, slurry, debris, and manure.
 Types of Soil Pollutants

Radioactive Pollutants

Radioactive substances such as Radium, Thorium, Uranium,

Nitrogen, etc. can infiltrate the soil and create toxic effects.
 Types of Soil Pollutants

Urban Waste

Urban waste consists of garbage and rubbish materials, dried

sludge and sewage from domestic and commercial waste.
 Types of Soil Pollutants

Urban Waste

Urban waste consists of garbage and rubbish materials, dried

sludge and sewage from domestic and commercial waste.
 Types of Soil Pollutants

Industrial Waste

Steel, pesticides, textiles, drugs, glass, cement, petroleum, etc.

are produced by paper mills, oil refineries, sugar factories,
petroleum industries and others as such.
 Types of Soil Pollutants

 Lead(PB)

 Mercury(HG)

 Arsenic(AS)

 Copper(CU)

 Zinc(ZN)

 Nickel(NI)

 PAHs (polyaromatic hydrocarbons)

Impact on Environment
Impact on Environment
Impact on Environment
 INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER

 Industrial wastewater is one of the important

pollution sources in the pollution of water
environment.
 During the last century huge amounts of industrial
waste water was discharged in to rivers, lakes
and costal areas.
 This resulted in serious pollution problems and
caused negative effects to the ecosystem and
human’s life.
TYPES OF INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER

 There are many types of industrial wastewater

based on different industries and contaminants
 Each sector produces its own particular
combination of pollutants
 The treatment of industrial wastewater must be
designed specifically for the particular type of
effluent produced
 Generally industrial wastewater can be divided
in to two types
Sector Pollutant

Iron and steel Oil, Metals, Acids, Phenols and

Cyanides

Textiles and leather Pulp Solids, Sulfates and Chromium

and paper Solids, Chlorinated organic compounds

Petrochemical and refineries Mineral oils, Phenols and Chromium

Chemicals Organic chemicals, Heavy metals and

Cyanide
Non ferrous metals Fluorine

Microelectronics Mining Organic chemicals

Metals, Acids and Salts

Inorganic industrial wastewater
 Wastewater produced mainly from

 Coal and steel industries

 Commercial enterprises

 Industries for surface processing of metals

(electroplating plants)
These wastewaters contain large proportion of
suspended matter, which can be eliminated by
sedimentation.
Often together with flocculation means
addition of iron or aluminium salts, flocculation
agents and some kinds of organic polymers.
 COAL WASHING

 In the seperation of coal from dead rock large

amounts of water is used, this water contains
large amounts of coal and rock particles known
as Coal washing water.
 This water is recycled by the removal of coal and
rock particles through flotation and
sedimentation processes.
COAL WASHING
 ROLLING MILLS

 Rolling mills means a steel mill where metal is

rolled into sheets and bars.
 Wastewater from rolling mills contain mineral oil
and require additional installations such as scum
boards, skim-off apparatus for the retention and
removal of mineral oils.
Wastewater from rolling mills
Organic industrial wastewater pollution

 Wastewater produced mainly from

Chemical industries which mainly use organic

substances for chemical reactions.
 Pharmaceutical factories

Tanneries and leather factories

Textile factories

Paper manufacturing industries

Synthetic detergents
Organic dye stuff
 Waste water from pharmaceutical
industries
 The quality of wastewater from these industries
varies to a great deal owing to variety of basic
raw materials, working processes and waste
products.
 Waste substances include extraction residues
of natural and synthetic solvents, used nutrient
solutions and many other organics.
 Usually concentration of COD is around 5000-
15000mg/L. Concentration of BOD is relatively
low.
 Waste water from pharmaceutical
industries

 The ratio of BOD/COD is lower than 30% which

means wastewater has a poor biodegradability.
 Such wastewater has bad odour high pH value
and it needs strong pre-treatment method,
followed by a biological treatment process with
a long reaction time.
Waste water from pharmaceutical
industries
Wastewater from tannery plants
 A tannnery is one of the most water intensive
plants.
 The wastewater resulting from the different
processes are as follows:
Soaking & washing 22.5%

Liming 17.5%

Rinsing 5.5%

Plumping and bating 19%

Chrome tanning 2%

Bark tanning 2%
Wastewater from tannery plants
 Reference

Ecology and Environment by P.D.Sharma

Environmental studies – From crisis to cure by R.Rajagopalan