Industrial Ecology and the Geoenvironment - Sustainable Practices in Geoenvironmental Engineering - page 120

TABLE 4.1
Release of Heavy Metals through Efluent Discharge, Emissions, or Waste Disposal from Selected
Industries

Industry Heavy Metals Released

Fossil fuel combustion (electricity) As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Sb, Se

Mining, smelting, metallurgy As, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Ti, Tl, V, Zn

Petroleum reining As, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, Zn

Pulp and paper Co, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb

USSR has contributed up to 90% of the metal loading in the European Arctic - a very sen-
sitive environment (Pacyna, 1995). Arsenic (As), Cd, Pb, and Zn emissions in this region
contribute 4.5%, 2.4%, 3%, and 2.4%, respectively, of the global emissions. Wet and dry
deposition of the metals with sulfuric acid has resulted in the accumulation of the metals
in the soils, surface waters, and sediments. Acid rain enhances the environmental mobil-
ity of the metals and the bioavailability of these heavy metals. These metals may also
bioaccumulate in the foods in the food chain, thus endangering the health of the consum-
ers. Seabirds, seals, and polar bears have shown elevated levels of As, Cd, and Hg from
ingesting ish and shellish that eat contaminated algae, and plankton that accumulate
heavy metals from sediments. Kansanen and Venetvaara (1991) have shown that lichens
and mosses are effective bioaccumulators of heavy metals.
In 1995, more than 2 million tonnes of materials with heavy metals were emitted from a
Ni-Cu smelter in Siberia. Reports indicate that the population suffers from respiratory ill-
nesses. The precipitation of the materials in the areas has killed the lichens that affects the
grazing reindeer (Klein and Vlasova, 1992). The affected area has extended up to 70 km in
the SSE direction. Heavy metals may also be discharged from industrial efluents into riv-
ers, ponds, lakes, lagoons, wetlands, and oceans. Metals generated by various industries
are shown in Table 4.1. Mercury has been particularly problematic. Fish such as swordish
are known as hyperaccumulators of Hg. Fish samples in the Smithsonian Institute contain
up to 500 ppb of Hg, the limit permissible by the WHO. In Lake Ontario, Hg was been
found in ish exceeding this level in the early 1970s. Hg reached the lake as a result of
industrial discharges.

4.4.3 Land Environment Impacts and Sustainability Indicators

The indicators that deine or establish the path toward sustainability goals are speciic
to the activity and/or industry under consideration. One needs to deine or identify the
various processes or activities that impact directly or indirectly on the geoenvironment.
This can be a very detailed accounting of all the activities and their outcome or could be a
broad sweep of the major categories, elements, or issues. The basic elements that contribute
directly as land environmental impacts for most of the types of downstream industries
considered in this section (shown in Figure 4.1) include (a) deposition of airborne noxious
particulates, (b) acid precipitation provoked by smokestack emissions of SO 2 and NO x ,
(c) wastewater and other liquid waste discharges, and (d) solid wastes and other dispos-
able solids. The composition, distribution of the various components in the wastes and
particulates, and nature of the discharges are all functions of the type of process technol-
ogy, technological eficiency, smokestack emission control, “housekeeping” eficiency, and
waste management capabilities and strategies.