Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
• 1 point: The immune system can be altered by POP exposure.
• 1 point: POP exposure can lead to developmental and behavioral issues.
C. How do POPs enter the environment? Explain POP reservoirs. (2 points maximum):
• 1 point: Some POPs are released during combustion, including the burning of biomass and fossil
fuels.
• 1 point: Insecticides and fungicides often are released through spraying.
• 1 point: Effluent release (for example, from factories or sewage treatment plants) introduces POPs
into water supplies.
• 1 point: Once in the atmosphere, POPs can be deposited onto the land and into the water.
• 1 point: POPs can enter water through runoff from the land.
• 1 point: POP reservoirs are the long-term storage of POPs in the sediment of marine or freshwater
ecosystems. POPs are not very soluble, so they bond to particulate matter and are then are deposited
on the bottom of aquatic environments, where they can remain for long periods of time.
D. Name and describe one of the international treaties related to POPs (2 points maximum):
• 1 point: The Basel Convention.
• 1 point: The Basel Convention controls the transport of hazardous waste between nations, and partic-
ularly the transfer of waste from developed to less developed countries. It also focuses on manage-
ment practices and the reduction of waste toxicity through monitoring of storage, transfer, reuse, re-
cycling, and disposal of hazardous waste.
• 1 point: The Rotterdam Convention.
• 1 point: The Rotterdam Convention aims to protect human and ecosystem health through proper use
of potentially harmful pesticides and industrial chemicals. It also promotes sharing of information
and responsibility.
• 1 point: The Stockholm Convention.
• 1 point: The Stockholm Convention banned or set a schedule for phasing out 12 of the worst persist-
ent organic pollutants (POPs), including DDT, eight other pesticides, PCBs, dioxins, and furans.
These were called the "dirty dozen."
E. Explain the purpose of DDT and issues with its use (2 points maximum):
• 1 point: DDT is used as a pesticide, particularly for the eradication of mosquitoes.
• 1 point: DDT bio-accumulates in organisms and bio-magnifies throughout the food chain.
• 1 point: DDT was responsible for the decline of many predatory bird populations due to its thinning
of eggs and resultant death of offspring.
• 1 point: DDT is persistent in the environment, remaining for long periods of time.
• 1 point: DDT can break down into DDE, which is also persistent and toxic.
4.
This question is worth a maximum of 10 points, as follows:
A. Identify two environmental consequences of coal combustion (2 points maximum):
• 1 point: The particulate matter of mercury emissions deposits onto land and into aquatic environ-
ments. Runoff can carry mercury from the land into the aquatic environments where it enters the
food chain and biomagnifies through the food web.
• 1 point: The combustion of coal releases sulfur into the atmosphere, where it reacts with oxygen to
form sulfur dioxide, which in turn reacts to form acid precipitation and industrial smog.
