ecosystem
YANGYANG
Pollution.pptxPollution and Ecosystem Health
Spring 2018
ECS 111
1
What’s in the water?
Geoengineering:
2005-Present
$8.8 M
Out like Flint?
Home fires buring:
Pollution and Ecosystem Services
Extraction of ecosystem services often leads to the introduction of unwanted substances into the environment.
These in turn modify ecosystem function and typically also decrease ecosystem services, although often in unrelated ways.
This set of often unforeseen consequences are termed
Loosing our Bees
Our artificial environments
Fracking and Energy Independence
What is Fracking?
Fracking a State
Transporting it somewhere:
Natural Gas: It’s a gas
Oil and the Future
Cutting Edge Journalism 1964 versus the scene today
Agricultural pollution and urban water quality.
Fire Kendall Area
19 April 2015
Types of pollution
Solid waste: Household garbage; industrial; agricultural
Water pollution: thermal; chemical (point and distributed); natural sources
Air pollution: smoke; NOX compounds; CO2
Contaminated soils: heavy metals; salts; PCBs; oil
Pollution and Rights
Camacho (1998) Introduction to Environmental Injustices, Political Struggle
Sandweiss (1998) The social construction of environmental justice
Cases: - Pollution in proximity to properties
- Exposure to toxins
Context is U.S. system
Frameworks:
Property rights → Civil Rights
Why is this the framework invoked here?
What is the experience with government action with respect to these issues?
Why is there a discussion of insurgency?
What is the limitation here with the justice system? … executive branch? … legislative?
What are the other frameworks?
Commercial sector: Industry, investment,…
Various government entities & political system
Non-effected portions of the population
Scientific issues involved
Economic frames of reference
- Transaction issues (cost, expertise,…)
- Delays in process
Even in a world of good intentions.
Why does pollution happen?
Is pollution and its effects just part of the cost of doing business?
Who bears the burden of contamination?
How do we decide pays the bills?
A case study: The consequences of progress.
The Green Revolution in the third world
Insecticides for progress: Saving India’s farmers
Making the economics work: Moving the industry to the market
Hiring local: Spreading the wealth. Making use of newly educated Indian workers
An International Example: Bophal
Chemical (Insecticide plant) accident in India 3 December 1984
Union Carbide
Casualties: 15-30,000 dead and 0.5 million poisoned
- Lapierre and Moro (2002) Five-past midnight in Bophal
The price of economics:
Soviet style economics
Location of infrastructure
Control (costs) of pollution
A toxic legacy
Not just a problem with planned economies:
Pollution prevention costs jobs
Government regulation is expensive and intrusive
Is tea a pollutate?
Polluted Landscapes
16 April 2018
ECS 111
Dr. Olson
Who is responsible?
Who cleans up the mess?
The Problem with Water Supplies
Arsenic: The poison of choice?
A tragedy in the attempts to provide clean water.
Acute versus Chronic
Acute poisoning involves the introduction of a lethal dose over a short time period.
Chronic doses are those introduced steadily over long time periods.
Note: These terms in Epidemiology can refer to toxic chemicals, smoke particles, or diseases.
New York Times 8 April 2014
Four Ways to Address Chemical Pollution
Safe disposal
Pollution prevention (containment, replacement)
Recycling
Treatment
Power points by C.E. Adams
Hazardous Chemicals: Pollution and Prevention
ID toxicology and chemical hazards
A history of mismanagement (spills)
Cleaning up the mess (expensive, complete?)
Managing current hazardous waste
Understanding media i.e. water, air, soil
Toxicology and Chemical Hazards
Dose response and threshold
The nature of chemical hazards: HAZMATs
Sources of chemicals entering the environment
The threat from toxic chemicals
Involvement with food chains
The Threshold Level
The Threshold Level
Event
Chronic exposure
The Nature of Chemical Hazards: HAZMATs
Hazardous Materials: HAZMATs
Chemicals That Present Hazard or Risk
Ignitability: catch fire readily; gasoline
Reactivity: unstable and may explode or create toxic fumes when mixed with water; explosives, concentrated sulfuric acid
Toxicity: injurious to health; pesticides, chlorine
Sources of Chemicals Entering the Environment: Total Product Life Cycle
Groundwater Remediation
Toxics Release Inventory
Occupational Safety and Health Act OSHA
- Lists of HAZMATs in workplace
- Safety office to handle spills
Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) 1986
Industries must report locations and quantities of toxic chemicals stored on site and releases of toxic chemicals.
Toxic Release Inventory
Fig. 19.4 Source EPA
The Threat from Toxic Chemicals
Many are broken down by natural processes
Two types persist in the environment
Heavy metals
Synthetic organics
Heavy Metals
Lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, tin, chromium, zinc, copper
Used in metalworking, paint, and pesticides, among other products
Heavy Metals
Soluble in water and readily absorbed by body
Interfere with enzyme function
Example: mental retardation from lead poisoning
Involvement with Food Chains
Minamata disease
Small fishing village in Japan
Suffered from mercury poisoning
Biomagnification
“Mad as a hatter”
Hatmakers exposed to mercury suffered from insanity
Organic Compounds
Chemical basis for plastics, synthetic fibers and rubber, solvents, and pesticides
Resistant to biodegradation
Major health effects: carcinogenic and mutagenic
Organic Compounds
Halogenated hydrocarbons
At least one of the hydrogen atoms is replaced with a halogen atom
Chlorine (most common)
Bromine
Fluorine
Iodine
Halogenated Hydrocarbons
Methods of Toxic Disposal
Disposal in waste water (illegal? When?)
Incineration (burning substance)
Marine dumping (solid or liquid)
Deep-well injection
Surface impoundments
Landfills
Deep-well Injection
Deep-well Injection
Site identification
System design
Monitoring
Surface Impoundments
Secure Landfills (see previous Fig.)
Properly lined
Supplied with a system to remove leachate
Provided with monitoring wells
Appropriately capped
Midnight Dumping and Orphan Sites
Hazardous wastes left on remote or unoccupied properties by unscrupulous haulers.
Companies stored wastes on their own properties and went out of business, abandoning the property and wastes.
Scope of the Mismanagement Problem
The Love Canal story
Hooker Chemical and Plastics Company
17,000 tons of hazardous wastes dumped in abandoned canal
Covered canal with clay cap and sold it to the Niagara Falls school board
People reported serious health problems: birth defects and miscarriages
$233 million spent on cleanup and lawsuits
Cleaning Up the Mess
Ensuring safe drinking water
Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974
Groundwater remediation
Superfund for toxic sites (EPA)
State regulations and efforts
Superfund for Toxic Sites
Advanced cleanup technology
Incineration to burn off contaminants in soil
Cleaning soil with detergent
Bioremediation
Phytoremediation
Brownfields
Costly and slow
Managing Current Hazardous Wastes
Clean Air and Water Acts
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 1976
Reduction of accidents and accidental exposure
RCRA
All disposal facilities must have permit
Pretreatment of toxic wastes
“Cradle to grave” tracking of toxic wastes
Reduction of Accidents and Accidental Exposure
Leaking underground storage tanks (LUST)
Underground storage tank (UST) legislation
Department of Transportation Regulations (DOT Regs)
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
Reduction of Accidents and Accidental Exposure
Emergency Planning and Community Right- to-know Act (EPCRA); also known as Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA)
Toxic Substances Control Act
Major Hazardous Waste Laws
Air Pollution
Clean Air Act (1970)
Respiratory issues: Mortality and chronic issue.
Esthetics: Smog in cities to Haze in National Parks
Acid Deposition
Click to edit Master text styles
Second level
Third level
Fourth level
Fifth level
The Respiratory System
The Appearance of Smog
Impacts of Smog: Temperature Inversion
Trends in Automobile Emissions
The Hydroxyl Radical: Nature’s Cleanser
