United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Region 7
Office of Public Affairs
April 1990
SEPA
ENVIRONMENTAL
CURRICULUM
B> A\
^ ^
You Can Make A Differen
-------
907R90105
Dear Educator:
As we learn more about the Earth's environment, the lesson seems to center
around the fact that all of nature is connected in a complex web of interdepend-
ence. John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, expressed this concept a century
ago. More recently, we were impressed by the smallness of our planet when we
saw the first pictures taken from space. The visualization of the only known life
supporting region in the universe, a very thin layer at the surface of a rather
small astronomical body, has brought us to a sobering realization — The
resources of the Earth are finite, and if we pollute its systems beyond their ability
to recover, life on Earth could be seriously affected.
The first Earth Day in 1970 was in response to mounting public concern over
glaring problems affecting the environment. Cities were being choked with
clouds of soot, lakes and rivers were clogged with raw sewage and industrial
discharges, and automobile exhaust was laced with lead. Gains have been
made in all these areas. After two decades of environmental protection, we have
become a nation investing much time and effort in determining how to cope with
all the waste generated by our modern industrial society. We spend roughly $85
billion per year - $340 per capita - on pollution controls, but we still haven't
achieved our goals of clean air and water.
As Earth Day 1990 approaches, we are confronted with new problems. Global
warming, stratospheric ozone depletion, acid rain, radon, deforestation, soil
erosion, species extinction, and habitat destruction. These were not prime
issues of the first celebration. Even the disposal of society's garbage and solid
waste is proving to be a challenge.
Finding creative approaches to pollution prevention is a priority for EPA. A
national commitment to pollution prevention and the importance of the
individual to the solution are the themes of EPA's Earth Day 1990 celebration.
President Bush said, Through millions of individual decisions simple,
everyday, personal choices - we are determining the fate of the Earth," he said.
" We are all responsible for the environment and it's surprisingly easy to move
from being a part of the problem to being part of the solution."
One of the keys to pollution prevention is education. Education can increase
the public's understanding of the environment and encourage a national ethic
of individual responsibility. Environmental Education, combined with market
incentives, can influence the millions of choices we make as citizens and
-------
consumers. When children are involved, we must remember not to frighten
them or leave them without hope as we inform them about the conditions of our
environment and encourage them to become pollution preventers.
William K. Reilly, EPA Administrator, recently wrote, "Pollution prevention
must become a fundamental part of all our activities, all our initiatives, and all
our economic growth. The biggest environmental gains we have made have
been when industry phased out or found substitutes for problem substances.
Banning the use of DDT and taking the lead out of gasoline are great examples
of pollution prevention.
"During the 90s and beyond, our goal must be an efficient and sustainable
society that will preserve our planet while providing the economic growth
necessary to allow all peoples to benefit from the renewable worth the Earth
provides."
We hope you will find this Environmental Curriculum: A Five Day Plan
helpful in your teaching endeavors.
S~ -N
Rowena L. Michaels, Director
Office of Public Affairs
-------
How to Use This Curriculum
This curriculum is designed to be used during the week prior to Earth Day.
However, it may be used at any time to address environmental awareness. The
five days should be thought of as chapters. Each chapter has two major topics.
Flexibility is the key design criteria and a short discussion of the topic of com-
posting or a long-term project on the analysis of the classroom waste stream are
both appropriate applications.
Each of the ten topics covered in the five days has the following subsections:
Q ENVIRO - MINTS —Short, interesting, factual statements that indicate
some of the issues surrounding the topics. They can be used as discussion
starters or as background information for further study.
Q WHAT YOU CAN DO — A brief list of individual actions that can help the
problem identified by the topic. It can also be used as discussion material and
may help students realize that actions can be taken to improve a situation.
Q FOCUS — Questions that can be used to start class discussion and the
activities that follow them.
Q BACKGROUND — A short information section to provide answers to the
questions raised and further explanation of the topic.
Q ACTIVITIES — Many activities are provided for each topic, so choice is the
key. They vary from a crossword puzzle in Day 5 to the efficiency of a bicycle
in Day 2. There are far more than can be done in a day and they are adaptable
to grade levels.
A useful extensive glossary of environmental terms is included after Day Five.
-------
IV
-------
DAY 1 Page
Ecosystems 1
Waste Stream Generation 7
DAY 2
Global Atmosphere Change 10
Landfills 19
DAY 3
Water Resources 25
Source Reduction 28
DAY 4
Acid Rain 31
Composting 35
DAYS
Earth Day 38
Recycling 47
SAMPLE EXAMINATION 56
GLOSSARY 68
-------
Any views expressed in this material
should not be construed as official U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency policy.
VI
-------
ECOSYSTEMS
'When you dip your
hand into nature you
find that everything
is connected to every-
thing else."
John Mulr
(Founder of Sierra Club)
Enviro-mints
Q Ecosystems are made up of living organisms which
interact with each other as well as with non-living
substances, such as solar energy, wind, rainfall, and
inorganic chemicals. An ecosystem can be a planet,
a tropical rain forest, a lake, a desert, or even a small,
grassy portion of a large field.
Q The biosphere is the area of the planet which en-
compasses all living things. It includes ecosystems of
air, water, soil and rock.
Q Wetlands are the most productive wildlife habitat
on an acre-by-acre basis and are being destroyed at
a rate of 350,000 to 500,000 acres per year.
Q Numerous types of fungus and bacteria (up to 10
million per gram of soil) have been found 850 feet
below the surface.
Q The biosphere is the life supporting layer at the
surface of the Earth and is only about 10 miles thick.
Q Tropical forests cover only 7% of the Earth's
surface, but house between 50% and 80% of the
planet species.
G Tropical forests are found in areas where the
rainfall is 80 inches or more per year.
Q Some 25% of the medicinal substances in use in the
United States today contain ingredients originally
derived from wild plants found in tropical forests.
Q Numerous tropical rainforests are under attack by
man and less than 5% receive any protection.
Q By 1985, two-thirds of Central America's accessible
rainforests had been cleared or heavily depleted for
cattle farms.
Q In 1989, an estimated 28 million acres of tropical
rainforests were destroyed.
Pagel
-------
What You Can Do
Focus: Biosphere
Background
Activities
G Deforestation contributed to the recent droughts in
Africa and the devastating mud slides in Rio de
Janeiro.
G Contact your local elected representatives and en-
courage them to support wetlands protection pro-
grams.
Q Plant and maintain trees.
Q Become aware of which species are endangered and
what you can do to preserve them.
G Minimize driving by cutting out unnecessary trips
and by car-pooling.
G Educate others on the need to preserve the world's
rainforests.
1. What is the biosphere?
2. How large is the biosphere?
3. What can be done to protect the biosphere?
The biosphere is a thin spherical shell at the Earth's
surface that is habitable by living organisms on a
continuous basis. The biosphere contains the lowest
region of the Earth's atmosphere as well as the deep-
est ocean depths. It has a thickness of only about 10
miles (16 kilometers). This thin region contains the
habitat of all known living organisms in the universe.
G As an illustration, bring an apple to class and show
the student that the skin thickness on the apple is
about the same size in relation to the radius of the
apple as the thickness of the biosphere is to the radius
of the Earth.
G As an illustration and math activity, have the stu-
dents take a globe and measure its diameter and
divide this by two to get its radius. Then, have them
use a proportion to find the relative thickness of the
biosphere in relation to the globe.
Page 2
-------
Have them use the proportion:
Earth Biosphere Thickness - (10 mi.) ? Globe Biosphere Thickness
Earth Radius (4,000 mi.) ? Globe Radius
(0.0025)(Globe Radius) = Globe Biosphere Thickness
If the globe has a radius of 6", then the globe biosphere
would have a proportional thickness of:
(0.0025)(6 inches) = 0.015".
Take two plies of 20-pound paper and place it over a
portion of the globe to show the students how thin the
biosphere is. Twenty-pound paper is 10 mils thick
which is 10 thousandths of an inch. Two plies would
be .020" thick or thicker than the biosphere on the
globe in the example.
Q Use the following two questions and collection of
facts to initiate a class discussion on deforestation
and biodiversity.
Question 1;
Should people in developed countries care about
survival of tropical species never seen outside a
rainforest? If so, why?
Answer:
Page 3
Variety is the spice of life. Variety is the stuff of life.
Life needs diversity because of the interdependencies
that link flora and fauna, and because variation
within species allows them to adapt to environmental
challenges. Extinction is irreversible. As lowly spe-
cies (i.e., plants and insects) disappear unnoticed,
they take with them hard-won lessons of survival
encoded in their genes over millions of years.
-------
Discussion
Humanity already benefits greatly from the genetic
heritage of little-known species. Hidden anony-
mously in clumps of vegetation about to be bulldozed
or burned might be plants with cures for still uncon-
quered diseases.
Diversity is the raw material of Earth's wealth, but
nature's true creativity lies in the relationships that
link various creatures and given the complex working
of an ecosystem, it is never clear which species, if any,
are expendable. Different habitat areas of the earth
are each part of an ecosystem, a fragile, often deli-
cately balanced conglomeration of supports, checks,
and balances that integrate life-forms into function-
ing communities.
Only 1.7 million of the estimated 5 to 30 million
different life-forms on Earth have been cataloged.
Hundreds of thousands of species may be extinct by
the year 2000; the world has neither the scientists nor
the time tc identify the yet uncounted. Systematists
widely agree that whatever the absolute numbers,
more than half of the species on the Earth live in moist
tropical forests.
These ecosystems are found in warm areas where the
rainfall is 200 centimeters or more per year, which
allows broad-leaved evergreen trees to flourish. The
trees typically sort into three or more horizontal
layers, the canopy of the tallest being 30 meters (about
100 feet) or more above the ground. Together, the tree
crowns of the several layers admit little sunlight to the
forest floor, inhibiting the development of under-
growth and leaving large spaces through which it is
relatively easy to walk.
The belief that a majority of the planet's species live in
tropical rainforest habitat is not based on an exact
and comprehensive census but on the fact that the
two overwhelmingly species-rich groups, the arthro-
pods (especially insects) and the flowering plants, are
concentrated there.
Page 4
-------
Dividends From Diversity
Q University of Pennsylvania biologist Daniel Janzen
says that he knows of three plants with potential to
treat AIDS. "One grows in an Australian rainforest,
one in Panama, and one in Costa Rica."
Q Venom of the Brazilian pit viper was used to develop
a drug for high blood pressure.
Q A biotechnical firm in the United States found that
transplanting genes from tropical tomatoes increased
the density of U.S. tomatoes 2%, promising catsup
manufacturers extra profits.
Q Scientists believe that arcelin, a natural protein in
wild Mexican beans that repels insects, might protect
some U.S. crops without poisoning soil and water.
Q Future newspapers may be printed on paper from
kenaf, an African plant that can produce five times
as much pulp per acre than trees normally cut for
newsprint.
Question 2:
Why are so many species and habitats threatened?
Answer;
Throughout the tropics, developing nations are strug-
gling to feed their peoples and raise cash to make
payments on international debts.
Discussion
Many countries are chopping down their forests for
the sake of timber exports. The millions of tons of
hardwoods that are harvested to provide doors, win-
dow frames, and furniture in Europe, North America,
and Japan, come from tropical forests. In tropical
forests, perhaps 10 percent of the trees are valuable
timber species. The rest is left as the bulldozers drag
the huge trunks of the selected few across the delicate
forest soil, compacting it and damaging the roots as
they crunch their way toward the timber collection
yard.
Page 5
-------
Tropical forests worldwide are being cleared at a rate
of 7,700 square miles every year, not to produce
permanent farms, but to make a short-term profit
before the land is ruined.
As a rule, the soil in tropical rainforests is useless
without the tropical forests. Most of the nutrients are
not in the soil, but above ground, locked up in the
trees and plants. When anything dies, it is not
absorbed into the soil, but rapidly converted into new
plant growth. There simply isn't any fertile humus.
And once the canopy of the trees is removed, the soil
is exposed to torrential rainfall and the fierce heat of
the sun, and erosion quickly sweeps it away.
Old established farms on this so-called reclaimed land
do not exist. For example, 25 million acres of Ama-
zonian forest were converted to pasture (between
1966 and 1983). Yet, by 1986, nearly all the ranches
that were cleared before 1978 had been abandoned
because soil erosion and loss of productivity made
them worthless.
The United Nations Environmental Program is draft-
ing an international biodiversity-conservation treaty.
Among other things, it could provide financial incen-
tives to protect tropical forests, whose destruction
threatens thousands of life forms with extinction.
Forests are vital to watersheds that absorb excess
moisture and anchor topsoil. Deforestation contrib-
uted to the recent droughts in Africa and the devastat-
ing mud slides in Rio de Janeiro last year. Costa Rican
topsoil eroded from bald hills has greatly shortened
the life of an expensive hydroelectric dam. The
surrounding watershed might have been protected for
20 years at a cost of only $5 million. Now, the
government must reforest the watershed at ten times
that price.
It has been suggested by climatologists that the loss
of moisture from Africa's air as a result of the forest
clearance in West Africa has contributed to the south-
ward push of the Sahara Desert.
Page 6
-------
WASTE STREAM GENERATION
Enviro-mints
Q The United States has 6% of the world's population,
but uses 40-50% of the world's nonrenewable re-
sources.
Q It is estimated that the amount of waste we generate
in our lifetime is approximately 600 times our adult
weight, or we produce approximately 41/2 pounds of
trash per person per day. (Both estimates include
industrial and commercial wastes.)
Q Laid end-to-end, the 18 billion disposable diapers
thrown away in the United States each year would
reach back and forth to the moon seven times.
Q From 1958-1971, packaging in the United States
grew from 33 million to 66+ million tons.
What You Can Do
Focus: Eco-Fate
Q Use mugs instead of paper cups, rags instead of
paper towels, cloth instead of paper napkins.
Q Double-side photocopies and use the reverse sides
of paper.
Q Buy products with the least amount of packaging.
Q Study your community's waste disposal system. If
recycling isn't a part of it, lobby to start a recycling
program.
G Buy products that will last, and mend and repair
rather than throw-away and replace.
Q Recycle used motor oil, tires and batteries.
1. Where do the waste streams ultimately go from
your home, school, and community?
2. What are the amounts and contents of each waste
stream?
Page?
-------
Background
The breakdown of typical American trash is:
Paper products: 41%
Yard waste: 18%
Metals: 9%
Glass: 8%
Food waste: 8%
Rubber, leather, textiles, wood: 8%
Plastic: 7%
Other: 1%
Activities
Q Save all trash generated by an individual for one
week, i.e., have each student maintain a collection
bag. Have each sort, categorize and weigh the con-
tents of his/her bag. Have students compare their
trash. Are there major differences? How does each
student's collection of trash compare to the "average"
generation of 4 1/2 pounds of trash/day/individual?
(Categorize the items under "essential to survival,"
"necessary to maintain present lifestyle," or "luxu-
ries.")
Q Sort your classroom's trash at the end of the day
weigh it, itemize it, measure it, and draw it. Calculate
the volume of trash your classroom will probably
generate over a school year. How many classrooms
would it fill?
Q Take a walk and pick up small litter items around
school. Categorize and discuss the contents of your
findings.
Q Examine the different types of materials discarded
on a daily basis in your school lunchroom. Sort and
weigh the materials based on their general composi-
tion. Discuss options on minimizing any of the
streams.
PageS
-------
Q Invite the custodian to discuss waste management
at your school. Have questions prepared in advance.
Cover subjects such as volume of trash/day, problem
areas, and hazardous waste issues.
Q Design an ad campaign to discourage the littering
of fast food packaging or the overuse of packaging.
Draw posters for bulletin boards or prepare radio or
TV commercials. Consider the following key charac-
teristics of good consumer education programs:
a. Content.
b. Simplicity.
c. Convenience.
d. Quality.
e. Tone.
f. Timing.
Q Discuss the pros and cons of dealing with our waste
(residential, industrial, medical, radioactive, agricul-
tural) by the following:
a. Landfilling it.
b. Dumping it into a ravine or
hole in the ground.
c. Burning it (incineration plant,
fireplace, backyard).
d. Dumping it into the ocean, the
desert, a neighboring
state or country.
e. Incorporating it into building
materials (e.g., insulation,
paving and roofing materials,
parking space dividers)
f. Composting it.
g. Recycling it.
Consider the expected impacts on air, land, water,
and your health. How can the impacts be reduced?
What guidelines need to be established for each
disposal method? What are the costs associated with
each method? What methods are being used or
considered in your community? Should there be a
preferred order of use of such methods?
Page 9
-------
GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC CHANGE
"Hurt not the Earth
neither the sea, nor
the trees."
Revelation 7:3
Enviro mints
Q The greenhouse effect results from the entrapmen
of solar heat by carbon dioxide. Without this effect, th(
earth would be a frozen planet like Mars, the average
temperature being 0 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 5S
degrees Fahrenheit. However, through the burning ol
fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, we are
increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmos-
phere. On a global scale, this activity may, by early
next century, have increased the average global tem-
perature enough to shift agricultural production
areas, raise sea levels to flood coastal cities, and
disrupt national economies.
Q Investigators concluded in 1987 that the ozone hole
over Antarctica was the largest ever and was caused by
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Chlorofluorocarbons are
compounds that consist of chlorine, fluorine and
carbon. They are gaseous and have been used as
coolants for refrigerators and air conditioners, propel -
lants for aerosol sprays, agents for producing plastic
foam and cleansers for electrical parts. Each chlorine
atom in a CFC molecule can destroy as many as
10,000 ozone molecules.
Q Recent evidence shows a global loss of ozone
between 2% and 5% over the last 15 years.
Q Our total mileage each year equals 2 million round
trips to the moon.
Q Each car contributes 5 tons of CO, to the atmos-
phere.
alone.
That's 600 million tons of CO, from autos
Q More than half of the nation's air pollution comes
from mobile sources (cars, trucks, boats, and planes).
Q After 1974, U.S. consumption of aerosols dropped
sharply due to public concern about ozone depletion.
Q In 1978, EPA and other federal agencies banned the
non-essential use of CFCs as propellants.
Page 10
-------
What You Can Do
Background
The
Greenhouse Effect
Q Avoid the use of aerosols with CFC propellants.
Q Encourage car pooling, walking, use of public
transportation, or biking, whenever possible.
Q Avoid using car air conditioning whenever possible.
Q Keep your engine tuned.
Certain types of air pollutants are producing long-
term and perhaps irreversible changes to the global
atmosphere. These changes seriously threaten
human health and the environment. Industrial
growth since the mid-nineteenth century has released
large amounts of carbon dioxide. In the troposphere
(the lower ten miles of atmosphere) high levels of
carbon dioxide are producing an overall wanning of
the global temperatures. This "greenhouse" effect
may cause irreversible changes to the climate. In the
stratosphere (extending from the troposphere to
about 30 miles above the earth's surface) chlo-
rofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons are breaking
down the ozone layer which protects the earth from
ultraviolet radiation. This increased radiation threat-
ens to cause increases in skin cancer and other
adverse effects. CFCs and halons can remain in the
atmosphere from 75 to 100 years. Even if emissions
were eliminated today, the concentrations of these
gases would take many decades to return to pre-
industrial levels. The global warming trend may take
even longer to correct.
The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon
largely caused by carbon dioxide, which has an effect
comparable to that of the glass in a greenhouse.
Visible light passes through the atmosphere to the
earth's surface. The earth radiates the heat as infra-
red rays; some heat escapes, but carbon dioxide and
other gases in the troposphere trap the rest, warming
the earth. Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth
Page 11
-------
Global Concentrations of
Carbon Dioxide Have
Risen 10 Percent Since
1958
'350 y
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, 1985
Ozone Depletion
would be a frozen planet like Mars; the average
temperature of the earth would be 0° Fahrenheit,
rather than the current 59° Fahrenheit.
By increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels such
as coal, oil, and natural gas, we have created a
warming trend that may raise global temperatures
between 20° F and 80° F by the year 2050. The
clearing of rain forests also contributes carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere when
wood is burned. Moreover, the clearing of large areas
of rain forests means that less carbon dioxide is
removed from the air by plants. Deforestation in
Brazil, Africa, Indonesia, and the Philippines may be
contributing to rising global temperatures.
Global warming may change weather patterns and
regional climates. Many important agricultural areas
of the United States, for example, could become arid
and less productive. Natural ecosystems would also
be affected. One major consequence of global warm-
ing is already being felt; rising sea levels, amplified by
storms are increasing the erosion of many coastal
areas. Sea levels are being raised not only by the
melting of alpine glaciers and polar ice sheets, but also
by the expansion of the oceans as they are heated. Sea
level is expected to rise one foot in the next 30 to 40
years and 2 to 7 feet by the year 2100. Sea level rise
of this magnitude would inundate 50 to 80 percent of
U.S. coastal wetlands, erode all recreational beaches,
and increase the salinity of estuaries and aquifers. In
addition, coastal development would be damaged.
Increasing concentrations of the synthetic chemicals
known as CFCs and halons are breaking down the
stratospheric ozone layer, allowing more of the sun's
ultraviolet rays to penetrate to the Earth's surface. Ul-
traviolet rays can break apart important biological
molecules, including DNA. Increased ultraviolet
radiation can lead to greater incidence of skin cancer,
cataracts, and immune deficiencies, as well as de-
creased crop yields and reduced populations of cer-
tain fish larvae, phytoplankton, and zooplankton that
Page 12
-------
How Ozone Is Destroyed
are vital to the food chain. Increased ultraviolet
radiation would also contribute to smog and reduce
the useful life of outdoor paints and plastics. Strato-
spheric ozone also protects oxygen at lower altitudes
from being broken up by ultraviolet light and keeps
more of these harmful rays from penetrating to the
earth's surface.
Chlorofluorocarbons are compounds that consist of
chlorine, fluorine, and carbon. First introduced in the
late 1920s, these gases have been used as coolants for
refrigerators and air conditioners, propellants for
aerosol sprays, agents for producing plastic foam,
and cleansers for electrical parts. CFCs do not
degrade easily in the troposphere. As a result, they
rise into the stratosphere where they are broken down
by ultraviolet light. The chlorine atoms react with
ozone to convert it into two molecules of oxygen. More
important, chlorine acts as a catalyst and is un-
changed in the process. Consequently, each chlorine
atom can destroy as many as 10,000 ozone molecules
before it is returned to the troposphere.
, Dtewi«.iSit;: v: £-,:?{;>-*&
" ~L - i ; -v .. =-"> J->?-:'Xs?£
% ^
f"$t lorpfluffl i, K"J rfrflTT TTHTJfnrTf
In the tipper atmosphere ultraviolet ~ .The chlorine attacks an ozone molecule bxraking '_-'?""A3feete oxygen" Atom bfei^s^ip-me' ^
light- bxealcs off a chlorine atom - -" .^-- it jiMtrt. An-^nrrrfituty^Qxyjyr>''fyirtT^rfrfilg andi -"'-::-' j "_ f_^--cfilrtyine ^poaoyide, Thfe'rfUnriT^^ -- .
L chJoTofluorocarbcai molecule. ,\~ ^.-Tnofftrijjc oirj£lo]gqe^moooxide arc fcgmcdL j r -Jf"- ' ; 'S* ^*£.-5^ repeat the protesfi,, Jr-1^;"\
Ozone Hole
Over Antarctica
Page 13
Halons are an industrially-produced group of chemi-
cals that contain bromine, which acts in a manner
similar to chlorine by catalytically destroying ozone.
Halons are used primarily in fire extinguishing foam.
Laboratory tests have shown that nitrogen oxides also
remove ozone from the stratosphere. Levels of nitrous
oxide (N2O) are rising from increased combustion of
fossil fuels and use of nitrogen-rich fertilizers.
In 1985, atmospheric scientists of the British Antarc-
tic Survey published the unexpected finding that
there is an ozone "hole" in the atmosphere over
Antarctica. They found that springtime levels of
ozone in the stratosphere over Halley Bay, Antarctica
-------
Focus: Bicycle
Discussion
had decreased by more than 40 percent between 1977
and 1984. Measurements taken from space by the
Nimbus-7 satellite showed that the loss was occurring
above an area greater than the size of the entire
Antarctic continent. The British study provided the
first evidence that the stratospheric layer of ozone
surrounding the earth might be in greater jeopardy
than previously thought.
In 1987, scientists from four continents met in Punta
Arenas, Chile to conduct the most detailed study to
date, the Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment. Data
from high altitude airplanes, ground monitors, and
satellites were used to gather detailed information
about its size and chemistry. Investigators concluded
not only that the ozone hole in 1987 was the largest
ever, but that it is caused by chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs).
It is now clear that CFCs are responsible for reducing
the amount of ozone in the atmosphere. Moreover, the
CFCs that have already been released into the strato-
sphere will continue to break down ozone for decades
to come.
Many people see the bicycle as an attractive form of
transportation, since it does not rely on fossil fuels
which can be destructive to the atmosphere.
1. What is the efficiency of the bicycle and how does
it compare to the efficiency of other means of human
transportation?
2. How can the bicycle contribute to the reduction of
environmental pollution?
Efficiency of the Bicycle
Bicycles have been around since at least the early
1800s, and in their current form with sprocket and
chain drive since the late 1800s. In many societies,
such as Asia and Africa, the bicycle is the most
important form of transportation. One of the most
Page 14
-------
interesting facts about the bike is that it is the most
energy efficient form of transportation. A person on
a bicycle uses less energy to move a kilogram of body
mass over a distance of one kilometer than any other
machine or animal form of conveyance.
In terms of the environment the bicycle is non-pollut-
ing and can be beneficial to the health of the rider. The
bike uses only human power thus consuming no
gasoline, electricity, or nuclear power; has no exhaust
and therefore no harmful pollutants; and does not
require the land use or construction expense of large
highways and parking facilities.
The efficiency of a machine is defined as the ratio of
the work output by the machine to the work input to
the machine. Work in science is defined as the force
applied to move some object times the distance
through which the object moves as a result of the
applied force. The force and the distance in this
calculation must be collinear. If a force of 50 newtons
is applied to an object in a horizontal direction and
the object moves through a horizontal distance of 10
meters, the work done on the object by the force would
be:
(50 Newtons) X (10 meters) =
500 Newton meters =
SOOJoules
The Joule is the unit of work in the MRS system. Thus
the efficiency of a machine would be calculated using
the equation:
Efficiency =
Work Output -r Work Input
(1)
OR
Efficiency =
(Force Output x Distance Out-
put)/ (Force Input x Distance
Input)
(2)
assuming that the force and distance are collinear in
each case. In the case of the bicycle, the useful work
Page 15
-------
output is the resulting energy of motion of the bicycle
and rider as a system in locomotion, and the work
input is the energy expended by the rider to achieve
the resulting energy of motion. Energy of motion is
called kinetic energy and is calculated using the
equation:
Resulting Kinetic Energy=
(1/2) (Mass of Bike and
Rider)(Velocity)
(3)
A rough estimate of the input work, if it is assumed
that the rider stands, pedals straight down, and uses
his or her entire weight on each downward stroke in
a stiff legged fashion, would be the change in potential
energy of the rider over the vertical fall of the pedal.
This approximation of the potential energy input
would be calculated using the equations.
Potential Energy Input Per Pedal
Stroke=(Weight of Rider)(Distance of
Pedal Fall)
(4)
Work lnput =
(Input Per Stroke)(2 Pedal Falls Per
Revolution)(Number of Revolutions)
(5)
^^•^•^•^^^•iM^^Hil^HHHHHB
Thus a very crude approximation of the rolling effi-
ciency of the bicycle can be calculated using the
relationship:
Efficiency=
(Resulting Kinetic Energy)/(Potential
Energy Input)
(6)
Page 16
-------
Another way to find the efficiency of a machine is to
find the ratio of the Actual Mechanical Advantage
(AMA) to the Ideal Mechanical Advantage (IMA).
EFFICIENCY = AMA/IMA
(7)
Activities
Where the AMA is the ratio of the output force of the
machine to the input force to the machine, and the
IMA is the ratio of the distance the input mechanism
of the machine moves to the distance the output
mechanism of the machine moves as the machine
operates.
AMA=(Force Output)/(Force Input)
IMA = (Input Distance)/(Output
Distance)
(8)
It should be remembered that the measurements that
are made to calculate the efficiency using this equa-
tion are static and will not include losses due to
frictional forces like rolling resistance and air resis-
tance.
QThe purpose of this activity is to measure the static
efficiency of a bicycle and to gain experience with the
concepts of Actual Mechanical Advantage, Ideal
Mechanicals Advantage, and efficiency.
EQUIPMENT:
o
o
o
Bicycle (any type)
Spring scale (large range like fish or bathroom
scale)
Meter stick
PROCEDURE:
Page 17
Attach spring scale between stationary object and
seat post on bicycle so that it can measure impelling
-------
force on the bike as a result of force applied to the
pedal. If a bathroom scale is used it should be
attached or held in place on the wall so that the front
tire of the bicycle will push against it as a force is
applied to the pedal. The reading taken here is the
force output by the bike.
Adjust the bicycle so that the pedals are in a horizontal
position which will give the maximum impelling force
for a given force applied to the pedal. Measure the
weight of the student that is going to stand on the
pedal. This weight will be the Input Force.
Have the student stand on the pedal and measure the
force the bike applies to the scale. This reading is the
Output Force or the impelling force on the bicycle.
Calculate the Actual Mechanical Advantage using
equation (8).
Take the bicycle and mark its original position on the
floor. Take the pedal and move it through one
complete revolution allowing the bicycle to move for-
ward and mark the final position of the bicycle on the
floor. Measure the distance the bicycle moved for one
complete revolution of the pedal. This distance is the
Output Distance of the bicycle.
Calculate the circumference of the circle through
which the pedal moves. Use:
Circumference =
(pi)(Diameter of Circle)
(9)
This circumference is the Input Distance.
Calculate the Ideal Mechanical Advantage using
equation (8) and the Static Efficiency of the bicycle
using equation (7).
(OPTIONAL) If your bicycle has multiple gears, try this
in different gears and compare your results.
Page 18
-------
LANDFILLS
Enviro-mints
Q Landfills are difficult to site due to the "not in my
backyard" syndrome, and the cost of conveniently
located land is often very high.
Q Landfills must be monitored for many years after
closure for leakage to groundwater; this is an expen-
sive maintenance requirement.
Q Current landfill design actually inhibits the natural
degradation of biodegradables due to the design
requirements, which route rainfall away from the fill
and inhibit oxygen inputs.
Q There are 203 billion used tires stored in piles
throughout the United States and 200 million more
are added yearly.
What You Can Do
Focus: Disposal
Q Buy beverages in recyclable containers.
Q Ask for recycled products at stores.
Q Separate your recyclable garbage (newspaper,
glass, paper, aluminum, and organic waste for com-
posting) and only send nonreusable materials to the
landfill.
Q Find out where in the community you can recycle
motor oil, tires, and batteries and take them there.
Q Notify the Post Office that you do not wish to receive
junk mail.
Q Study your community's waste disposal system.
Don't send hazardous substances to the landfill.
1. What are some of the disadvantages to the use of
landfills for waste disposal?
Page 19
-------
Background
2. What are some common terms associated with
landfills? Be able to draw a schematic of a modern
sanitary landfill.
Current landfill design actually inhibits the natural
degradation of biodegradables due to the design re-
quirements, which route rainfall away from the fill and
inhibit oxygen inputs. Additionally, the diverse mix-
ture of fill often causes degradables to be contami-
nated with products which are toxic or inhibiting to
beneficial bacterial decomposition. Studies have
shown that carrots, which have been landfilled for
over ten years are still recognizable; newspapers have
been preserved for even longer times.
barri«
Cross-section of a typical sanitary landfill.
Page 20
-------
Activities
INCREDIBLE EDIBLE CHEMICAL LANDFILL
Suggested Ingredients:
3 different flavors of jello
- pistachio pie filling
chocolate pudding
- butterscotch pudding
pineapple ice cream topping
(chunky)
creme de menthe ice cream
topping (syrup)
- licorice swizzles
root beer barrels
jelly/nougat candy
- iced blue lozenges
PROCEDURE:
1. Obtain a container to use as the mold, such as a
large Tupperware container.
2. Pour in a layer of jello and allow it to set. Remem-
ber, the first layer poured will be the top of the landfill,
but will have the rest of the layers on top of it in the
bowl.
3. Add root beer barrels, licorice swizzles, or any other
materials to the layer when it is partially jelled.
4. Pour successive layers and add barrels. Allow
mold to set.
Page 21
PRESENTATION:
After studying some of the issues involved in chemical
waste in the United States today, it should be inter-
esting to see what kinds of decisions we can make
regarding disposal and treatment. I have constructed
a model of a chemical landfill. Can you identify the
liner? Notice the leachate seeping out. Let's see if we
-------
can eliminate this waste before the end of the period.
I will now remove the liner so you may inspect the
contents. (Explain that all materials are edible and
list ingredients to the class.) Our edible landfill will
represent all the chemical waste in the USA today.
Proper treatment of the waste will be represented by
consumption of the jello mold. If each of us takes an
equal share of the jello mold and consumes it, there
will be none left at the end of the period. Whatever
material remains will continue to be a problem for
future generations.
Here are some examples of applications for real life,
using the model:
Mode!
Real World
• Incredible Edible Landfill
-mold
-root beer barrels
-jello
•iced blue lozenges
•liquidsformed
•eating the jello
•discarding the jello
• extra credit for eating
-chemical waste
-liner
•barrels of toxic waste
-chemical sludge
•aromatic, organic wastes
•leachate
•proper treatment
•illegal treatment
•incentive
Although the Incredible Edible Landfill is not aes-
thetic or appetizing, neither is the problem of chemi-
cal waste!
Adapted from:
The Incredible Edible Landfill by Rich Wagner,
Wissahickon Sr. High School, Ambler, PA
Page 22
CONSTRUCT A MINIATURE LANDFILL
BEGINNING WITH THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:
Q Litter items previously collected or pieces of fruit or
vegetables, such as slices of tomato or an apple core;
Q A small piece of plastic, such as a plastic fork, part
of a broken toy, or polystyrene foam;
-------
Q Pieces of paper, cloth, and aluminum foil;
Q A large container, such as a glass jar, or terrarium;
Q Soil; and
Q A large piece of immersible plastic.
Place 1/3 of the soil in the bottom of the container.
Cover the soil with the plastic, folding up the edges a
few inches all around. On top of the soil place the
pieces of trash, plastic, cloth, and foil. Alternate more
soil with the landfill items. Put the container in a
warm place, and keep the soil damp. On a weekly
basis, check on the condition of the items. Does the
fruit or vegetable look different than it did when you
buried it? Does the plastic look different? Some
things persist for a long time. Which items do you
think are more harmful to the environment? Why?
When you disassemble the landfill, look for leachate.
LIST SOLID WASTE ITEMS
WHICH ARE DEGRADABLE
Make charts which contrast degradation rates in a
sanitary landfill with "natural" decomposition rates.
One study which examined "old trash" at a sanitary
landfill is entitled "Rubbish!", by William L. Rathje,
The Atlantic Monthly, December 1989, pp. 99-109.
INTERVIEW YOUR LOCAL
WATERSHED REPRESENTATIVE
Discover when the landfill serving your community is
projected to be filled at current disposal rates. How
old will you be?
CALL THE LOCAL SANITARY ENGINEERS
Find out how many truckloads of solid waste are emp-
tied at the landfill every day. and how much weight/
volume each truck holds. Ask if any solid waste is
incinerated or otherwise disposed of in lieu of the
landfill.
NAME YOUR SOLID WASTE
Generate a list of synonyms for garbage, e.g., throw-
away, trash, waste. Define at what point one labels
something garbage.
Page 23
-------
SAY WHAT'S IMPORTANT
List on the board the things students think are
important in siting a landfill in their area. Landfills
must be sited according to local land-use plans and
state environmental protection laws and rules. Add to
the list the following considerations addressed in
these laws and rules:
a. Leachate ("garbage soup" which drains from the
bottom).
b. Groundwater and surface water protection.
c. Methane gas control.
d. Surface drainage control.
e, Floodplain and endangered species protection.
f. Access roads.
g. Visual screening of the site.
h. Fire prevention.
i. Litter control.
j. Vector and rodent control.
k. Site monitoring.
Divide students into groups and, using the same
county and/or city maps, have each group try to
determine the best landfill site. Ask them to list the
reasons they chose that site. Was consideration given
to the present location of your community-water sup-
ply, parks, prime farmland, schools, residences, and
business district? Have each group present its con-
clusions to the class. Are there objections to the sites
chosen?
Page 24
-------
WATER RESOURCES
"We have not inher-
ited the Earth from
our fathers, we are
borrowing it from
our children.
Old American Saying
Enviro-mints
Q We each need about 1 quart of water per day to
replace the water we lose naturally.
Q Big animals, like horses, need about 15 gallons of
water per day.
Q Our bodies are about two-thirds water.
Q It takes about 115 gallons of water to grow the wheat
for a loaf of bread.
Q It takes about 120 gallons of water to care for a
chicken to lay one egg.
Q It takes about 4,000 gallons of water to produce a
pound of beef.
Q Less than 1% of the water on Earth is in the form of
usable freshwater in lakes, streams, and under-
ground aquifers.
Q A drinking water system for a medium-sized city
adds up to construction costs of $100 million.
Q A small municipal sewage treatment plant can cost
between $15 and $20 million.
Q In the United States, groundwater is used for
agricultural purposes, like irrigation. Only 14% of
United States groundwater is used for drinking, but in
the Midwest groundwater is the most common source
of drinking water.
G In rural areas, groundwater provides 95% of drink-
ing water.
Q 20% of water supply systems have detectable levels
of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), although only
1% have levels of VOCs that exceed health standards.
Q Americans use about 90 billion gallons of ground-
water every day.
Page 25
-------
What You Can Do
Focus: Water
Conservation
Background
Activities
Page 26
Q Don't run the tap continuously while brushing
teeth, shaving, and doing dishes.
Q Install a water saver shower head.
Q Cut an inch or two off of the depth of your bath.
Q Take shorter showers.
Q Take three-step showers: (1) wet; (2) soap with
water off; (3) rinse.
1. How much water does your family use for bathing,
showering, and flushing the toilet?
2. How can the amount of water used be lessened?
When you conserve water you are also conserving
energy. Energy is required to deliver the water to your
residence and energy is used in the home to heat the
water for cooking and cleaning. Thus conserving
water helps to ease the impact on other environmental
problems by preventing pollution and lessening the
need to divert rivers and pump water from the ground.
One place in the home where simple steps can be
taken to lessen the water budget for the family is the
bathroom. It is estimated that 70% of the average
household water use flows through the bathroom.
Q The Bathtub - Measure your bathtub. (For this
example, we will assume the tub to be rectangular
with a flat bottom, although we know that is not really
the case.) Now, find the area of the tub by multiplying
the length by the width - your answer will be in square
inches. Now, multiply that figure by the number of
inches of water you put in the tub. That will give you
the total number of cubic inches of water used in a
bath. There are 231 cubic inches in a gallon.
For example, if your tub is 52 inches long and 18
inches wide, the area is 936 square inches. If you
usually put about a foot of water (12 inches) in the tub,
you use 11,232 cubic inches of water per bath, or 48.6
-------
gallons. If you were to use 10 inches of water instead,
you would save over eight gallons of water. And if you
would only use 4 inches of water, you would save over
30 gallons of water.
How many baths are taken per week in your house?
How much water does your family use bathing? How
much can you save by using less water per bath?
Q The Shower - Spend some time and determine the
length of time the water is on when members of your
family shower. From that, determine the average
length of time spent in the shower.
Once you have found out how much time is spent in
the shower you need to know how much water is used.
One easy method is to take a one-gallon plastic milk
jug and cut the top out of it large enough to get your
shower head through it. Turn the shower on, adjust
it to a normal flow, and time how long it takes to fill
the jug. [You can find out where the full or one-gallon
mark on the jug is by looking at a full milk jug.]
If the jug fills up in 20 seconds, your shower runs at
the rate of three gallons of water per minute (20
seconds is 20/60 of a minute, or 1/3 min. -3x1 =
3 gallons). If it takes 30 seconds, then your shower
runs at the rate of 2 gallons per minute (30/60 =
1/2 min. 2x1=2 gallons).
When you find how many gallons per minute your
shower uses, you can multiply the gallons per minute
times the number of minutes to determine the gallons
of water per shower.
Q The Toilet Measure the size of the storage tank
in the back of the toilet, much the same as you did for
your bath tub, and determine its capacity. Then,
estimate the number of times that it is flushed each
day to determine usage (put up tally sheets).
Determine how much water you will save per week.
Determine how much water you will save per month.
Determine how much water you will save per year.
If you were to combine the most conservative ap-
proaches on the above, how much water would you
p 27 save altogether in a day, a week, a month, a year?
-------
SOURCE REDUCTION
"The goal of life is
living in agreement
with nature."
Zeno 335-263 B.C.
What You Can Do
Enviro-mints
Q By being a conscientious consumer, the amount of
trash each person generates can be lessened.
Q Every Sunday, the United States wastes nearly 90%
of the recyclable newspapers. This wastes about
500,000 trees.
Q The Center for the Biology of Natural Systems
reported that 84% of the household trash stream is
recyclable. The disposal rate for incineration is only
70%.
Q Americans throw away more trash than any other
nation. An average per capita comparison looks like:
U.S.
Japan
Norway
4lbs./day
2.5lbs./day
l.7lbs./day
Focus
Q Approximately 158 million tons of municipal solid
waste were discarded in 1986.
Q Practice refusing unnecessary packaging at the
lunchroom, the store, the fast food restaurant.
Q In the classroom, practice conserving paper by
using both sides, by using smaller sizes.
Q Bring your own shopping bags to the store.
Q Develop recommendations for reducing or eliminat-
ing the use of certain types of materials consumed on
a daily basis in your school lunchroom.
Background
Page 28
What are ways you can help reduce waste?
By being a conscientious consumer, the amount of
trash each person generates can be lessened.
By letting manufacturers and retailers know that
excessive packaging is not responsible packaging,
-------
and by "voting with one's pocketbook" by not buying
excessively packaged products, one can reduce some
of one's own trash generation. Examples include:
Not placing all produce in individual plastic bags, when shopping;
Bringing one's own bags to the store;
Refusing bags for easily carried objects when purchased;
Using one bag instead of two;
Choosing comparable items based on packaging amounts, and on the
recyclability of the containers (i.e., buying a liquid product in a glass
bottle instead of a plastic bottle or soft drinks in cans instead of plastic bottles;
Reusing "disposable" items, especially plastics, many times before recycling/disposing;
Staying alert to other creative uses for previously discarded items.
Activities
Q Explore and discuss solutions for reducing the
amount and kinds of waste that we generate. Possi-
bilities include: making different buying choices;
reusing materials, banning or taxing certain dispos-
ables such as plastics, beverage containers, and
hard-to-recycle products; promoting the use or dis-
use of certain packaging materials; increasing dis-
posal fees for garbage; mounting a letter writing
campaign to a particular business or industry that
promotes or fails to promote pollution prevention
actions; developing home or neighborhood recycling
programs; writing the editor or congressman sup-
porting a uniform refillable container law.
Q Become an environmental reporter for a day or a
week. Accompany your parents to a grocery store or
visit a retail store of your choice. Report on the types
of product packaging available, particularly those
that you and your family purchase. Are the materials
reusable, recyclable, made from recycled components
and labeled as such, in large or small containers?
From what are the packaging materials made? What
does the store package your purchase in? Weigh or
measure the volume of nonreusable packaging which
enters your home over a week.
Page 29
-------
Q Conduct your personal "pre-cycling" effort for one
week. First, before you purchase or "consume" an
item, trace the pathway of the item's container, pack-
age, or other aspects. Then, examine your consumer
options, be selective toward packaging, avoid dispos-
ables, buy in bulk, reuse, repair, or recycle. Report to
the class on the results of your efforts.
Q Practice refusing unnecessary packaging at the
lunchroom, the store, the fast food restaurant. Car-
rying a string bag or plastic bag with you when you
shop will make it easier to refuse unnecessary bags.
Q For one week in the classroom, practice conserving
paper by using both sides, by using smaller sizes.
Every time a conservation step is taken, take the
equivalent paper which would have been used and
add it to a neat stack. How big is the stack at the end
of the week? How many trees could you and your class
save yearly by continuing this practice? (HINT: One
ton of paper is equivalent to 17 trees.)
Q Pick a landscaped area around your school or
home. Ask the person in charge what pesticides are
used on the area. Find out what chemicals are in the
pesticides. Visit the landscaped area when it is
raining. Find out where the water running off the area
goes. Could the runoff contain traces of pesticides?
Discuss strategies which could eliminate or lessen
this problem.
Q If you have a garden at home or school, try keeping
it pest-free without pesticides. Wearing gloves, pick
off with your hands larger pests like caterpillars and
Japanese beetles. Hose the plants with water to wash
off pests. Do not harm ladybugs, praying mantises,
spiders, toads, and birds, which control insect pests.
Page 30
-------
ACID RAIN
"Come forth into the
light of things, let
nature be your
teacher."
William Wordsworth
Enviro-mints
Q Acid rain (or snow) results from the interactions of
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides with sunlight and
water vapor in the upper atmosphere to form acidic
compounds that fall to the earth. Sulfur dioxide is
emitted from coal-burning power plants. Nitrogen
oxides are primarily emitted from motor vehicles and
coal-burning power plants.
Q Over 80% of sulfur dioxide emissions in the United
States originate in the 31 states east of or bordering
the Mississippi River.
Q Acid deposition may increase the acidity of water
and soil, reducing their abilities to sustain life.
G Estimated damage to building materials in 17
northeastern and midwestern states may be as high
as $6 billion.
Q Today, 2/3 of all United States SO2 emissions come
from electric power plants, with coal-fired plants ac-
counting for 95% of the total.
What You Can Do
Focus: pH
Q Cut down on your energy consumption by using it
more efficiently.
Q Buy a car that gets better gas mileage.
Q Use public transportation.
Q Urge public officials to promote public transporta-
tion, biking, walking and to develop the infrastruc-
ture to support them.
1. What is acid rain and where does it come from?
2. What effects does acid rain have on the Earth's
ecosystem?
Page 31
-------
Background
Acid deposition is a serious environmental concern in
many parts of the country. The process of acid
deposition begins with emissions of sulfur dioxide
(primarily from coal-burning power plants) and nitro-
gen oxides (primarily from motor vehicles and coal-
burning power plants.) These pollutants interact with
sunlight and water vapor in the upper atmosphere to
form acidic compounds. During a storm, these com-
pounds fall to earth as acid rain or snow; the com-
pounds also may join dust or other dry airborne
particles and fall as "dry deposition."
Over 80% of sulfur dioxide emissions in the United
States originate in the 31 states east of or bordering
the Mississippi River. Most emissions come from the
states in or adjacent to the Ohio River Valley. Prevail-
ing winds transport emissions hundreds of miles to
the northeast, across state and national borders. Acid
rain is now recognized as a serious long-term air
pollution problem for many industrialized nations.
The extent of damage caused by acid rain depends on
the total acidity deposited in a particular area and the
sensitivity of the area receiving it. Areas with acid-
neutralizing compounds in the soil, for example, can
experience years of acid deposition without problems.
Such soils are common in much of the United States.
But the thin soils of the mountainous and glaciated
northeast have very little acid-buffering capacity,
making them vulnerable to damage from acid rain.
Surface waters, soils, and bedrock that have a rela-
tively low buffering capacity are unable to neutralize
the acid effectively. Under such conditions, the depo-
sition may increase the acidity of water, reducing
much or all of its ability to sustain aquatic life. Forests
and agriculture maybe vulnerable because acid depo-
sition can leach nutrients from the ground, kill nitro-
gen-fixing microorganisms that nourish plants, and
release toxic metals.
Page 32
-------
Activities
Q Measuring pH Collect samples of tap water,
drinking water, lake water and stream water in clean
jars. Use indicator paper and the color scale to
approximate the pH of each sample. Compare the pH
of these samples to pH you measure from samples of
lemon juice, vinegar, distilled water, baking soda
solution, and diluted household ammonia.
From the above exercise, can you determine if the
water in your local lakes and streams is threatened by
acid rain? Call your local U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture Soil Conservation Office and ask them for the
acidity of the soil in your area. How does this compare
to your pH readings? A rainwater pH below 5.6 is
considered acid rain.
Q Using regular pH paper readings (every few drops)
determine how many drops of acidic solution (vinegar
or lemon juice) it takes to bring the pH of the distilled
water below 6. Then, determine how many additional
drops it takes to bring the pH below 5. Ask the
students how many additional drops it will take to
bring the pH below 4. Stir well as you add the drops.
Begin with plenty of space in the container above the
water level for adding the vinegar or lemon juice.
Explain to the student the ten-fold increase in acidity
associated with a change in pH of 1.
Q What is part per thousand/parts per million/parts
per billion/parts per trillion?
In each of four 1,000 milliliter (ml) beakers place 999
ml of water. To the first beaker add 20 drops (1 ml) of
a fluid you want to consider the contaminant (food
coloring works nicely). This solution will have a
concentration of about 1 part per thousand.
Next, take 20 drops of this solution and add it to the
second beaker. The original concentration is now
diluted 1,000 fold, and the concentration of the
contaminant is now 1 part per million.
Page 33
-------
Adding 20 drops of this second solution to the third
beaker results in a concentration of 1 part per billion.
Repeating this procedure for the fourth beaker results
in a 1 part per trillion concentration.
Have the students make observations of the succes-
sive dilutions as to whether the contaminant can be
observed. Explain to the students that many pollut-
ants are not considered safe to drink at concentra-
tions as low as a few parts per billion, and that the goal
for contaminants that have a cancer causing potential
is zero concentration.
Repeat this exercise using a contaminant with an
odor, like ammonia or vinegar. Ask the students if
they can still smell the contaminant at low concentra-
tions.
Page 34
-------
COMPOSTING
What You Can Do
Focus: Compost
Background
Enviro-mints
Q Compostables generally are non-animal source
yard waste and kitchen wastes.
Q On an individual family basis, composting can save
on yard maintenance costs as well as provide savings
in taxes and trash pickup costs.
Q The essential components of a successful compost
pile are: air supply, sufficient moisture, and a mix-
ture of yard and kitchen wastes that provide the
nutrients needed by the beneficial bacteria.
Q Yard waste alone is poor in phosphorus, potas-
sium, and trace minerals, while kitchen waste alone
is poor in nitrogen. A combination is best.
Q Americans landfill about 24 million tons of grass
clippings and leaves annually.
Q Encourage city-wide composting.
Q Start a compost pile at home or at school.
Q Save kitchen scraps for composting.
1. What are some examples of compostables?
2. How much can composting reduce the amount of
our household waste stream that must be landfilled?
3. What are the major requirements of a "healthy"
compost pile?
Compost is typically made from readily-available yard
waste and kitchen wastes. On an individual family
basis, composting can save on yard maintenance
costs as well as provide savings in taxes and trash
pickup costs.
Page 35
-------
The end product of composting is a very rich topsoil-
like substance, high in minerals and organic matter.
Natural fertilizers and other soil enhancers can be
"manufactured" on the spot.
Creating a composting structure is very simple. An
ideal, but not critical size, is 4' x 4' x 4'. Approximately
one cubic yard of compost is needed to generate ideal
decomposition temperatures (104-170 degrees F).
Since air aids the bacteria in decomposing the waste
a tightly-packed pile is to be avoided. Open wall
supports, such as chicken wire or fencing facilitates
air exchange.
Readily compostable wastes include all yard wastes
(i.e., grass clippings, hedge/tree trimmings, weeds)
with the exception of thick tree branches, trunks, and
all food wastes with the exception of animal products
(although egg shells are fine to include). It is best to
exclude animal products, including bones, grease,
meat wastes, manure, and dairy products, to avoid
problems with vermin such as rats and mice. A
"vegetarian" compost heap is very trouble-free.
A viable compost pile is started by mixing equal parts
yard and kitchen wastes. First, layer the base with
yard waste, e.g., thin sticks, leaves, and grass clip-
pings; sprinkle with a thin layer of dirt to introduce the
bacterial "workers" and add kitchen wastes, such as
vegetable and fruit parings. Rotten produce is fine to
add as well, since it is already beginning the decom-
position process and has been inoculated with "willing
workers." Cover this food waste layer with a few more
leaves and clippings, and lightly sprinkle with water.
Heaps should be kept lightly moistened, not satu-
rated, in order to keep the bacteria slightly wet, but
not separated from an air supply.
Continue the layering as wastes are generated, and
occasionally turn the whole pile to better aerate the
heap and to see the manufacturing of the top soil. Any
part of the pile which is black, friable, and smells like
soil is immediately usable as a soil additive. If the
heap begins to smell rank, it is likely due to excess
moisture and can be easily dried out by spreading the
pile out in the sun for a few days or by turning it.
Page 36
-------
Activities
To avoid air flow problems due to compaction, the pile
should not exceed about 4' in height. However, due
to the on-going decomposition, the pile always will be
shrinking, so that the maximum height actually takes
quite a while to achieve.
In summary, the essential components of a success-
ful compost pile are: air supply, sufficient moisture,
and a mixture of yard and kitchen waste that provide
the nutrients needed by the bacteria. Yard waste only
is poor in phosphorus, potassium, and trace miner-
als, while kitchen waste alone is poor in nitrogen.
Q Construct a small compost pile in a terrarium or old
aquarium. Materials needed include the following:
A variety of organic waste materials sawdust, hair, wood,
food, scraps, leaves, g rass and ash; avoid the use of meat,
fat, or oils, and manure;
Lawn fertilizercontaining nitrogen, but not herbicidesor
insectide. A ratio of 25-30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen is
ideal (this addition will speed upthe process);
Soil: 1-2dozenearthworms(also will speed up the process);
Usea small spade or largespoonforturning and aerating
the pile.
Layer the pile as instructed above, adding the fertil-
izer to the layers of waste. Turn the pile weekly, taking
the opportunity to remove certain waste items and
noting their state of decomposition. Place removed
waste items in small baggies (freeze, if possible) and
compare the items over many weeks or months.
Record what you smell and see when working with the
compost pile. Record temperatures on the bottom,
middle and top of the pile. Where is the pile warmest?
Coolest? Why?
Q Draw a schematic of a compost heap, including the
layering and the air/water flows. List the require-
ments for "happy microbes" which do the work.
Include a list of inputs (i.e., leaves, food waste) and
outputs (i.e., soil enhancers, soil).
Page 37
-------
EARTH DAY
Earth
Day
1990
xvEPA
"The great end of life
is not knowledge
but action."
Thomas Henry Huxley
What You Can Do
Environ-mints
a By the late 1960s:
o The air in many cities was considered unhealthy.
° Lake Erie was on its death bed.
oThe Cuyahoga River erupted in flames.
o Pesticides like DDT were taking their toll on
wildlife.
o Only 1% of the population thought that environ-
mental protection was worthwhile.
Q Since 1970:
o By 1971, 25% of the population thought that
environmental protection was important.
° Today, closer to 2/3 of the population thinks
that environmental protection standards "can't
be too high."
0 Lead levels in urban air dropped 87% between
1977 and 1986.
° Sulfur dioxide levels have been reduced 37%
and particulates are lower by 23%.
0 Lead use in gasoline has dropped 95%.
Q One tree can filter up to 60 pounds of pollutants
from the air each year.
Q Every year, about 3,000 facilities manage 275
million metric tons of hazardous wastes in the United
States.
Q We are spending roughly $85 billion a year - $340
per capita - on pollution controls and still fall short of
our goals of clean air and water.
Q Get involved in a local environmental group or bring
the environment up as a topic for consideration in the
organizations where you are already involved.
Q Celebrate Earth Day 1990 on April 22 and all other
days of the year.
Page 38
-------
Focus: Earth
Background
G Take part in your community's recycling programs.
Q Consume with preservation of the Earth in mind.
G Plant a tree.
G Conserve water and energy.
Q Identify and handle household hazardous wastes
responsibly.
1. What is Earth Day?
2. What were the main environmental issues facing
us on the original Earth Day?
3. What progress have we made since the original
Earth Day?
4. What environmental challenges do we face on
Earth Day 1990?
5. Who are the people protecting the environment?
Although concern for the environment can be traced
to decades ago, general public awareness and large
scale correction of pollution/environmental prob-
lems has greatly increased over the last few decades.
Q In the late 1960s, only 1% of the public thought that
protecting the environment was important.
Q In mid-1971, similar White House polls showed
that a quarter (one-fourth) of the public thought that
protection of the environment was important.
Seventeen years later, in 1988:
Q Fifty-eight percent of the public thinks the United
States spends too little on the environment (6% think
we spend too much).
Page 39
-------
Earth Day
April 22, 1970
Page 40
Q Fifty-nine percent of the public thinks there is too
little environmental regulation (7% think there is too
much).
Q The New York Times / CBS poll, July 1988, reported
that 65% of the American public believed that envi-
ronmental protection standards "cannot be too high"
and that environmental improvement should be made
"regardless of costs." Twenty-two percent disagreed.
(In 1981, the corresponding percentages were 45 and
42%, respectively.)
These various polls indicate that the general public
has become more and more aware of the countless
and related environmental issues. Although a num-
ber of events and activities of numerous organizations
contributed to the increased environmental aware-
ness, Earth Day, April 22, 1970, certainly needs to be
given a great deal of credit for increasing the visibility
of the environmental issues.
Earth Day was the largest organized demonstration in
human history. An estimated 25 million Americans
took part to demonstrate their concern about water
and air pollution and to encourage the little known
concept of ecology. Demonstrations were held in large
cities; thousands of schools and colleges held special
"teach-ins" on the environment; the media brought
environmental programs into virtually every home;
and members of the United States Congress took the
day off to participate in Earth Day programs in their
districts.
What were Americans concerned about; what envi-
ronmental issues did they (we) want to be addressed
and solved? The air in many industrial cities was
routinely blackened by industrial pollution. Lakes
and streams suffered so heavily from pollution that
aquatic life could no longer be supported. Pesticides,
like DDT, threatened wildlife populations.
How Far Have We Come?
Since the original Earth Day, much progress has been
achieved in addressing the environmental issues that
-------
concerned us in the late 1960s/early 1970s. More
and more people became actively involved in address-
ing the issues, correcting the problems and keeping
the public informed.
Q Two major laws were passed to address two of the
biggest issues that concerned Americans on Earth
Day the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
Q The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was
created in December 1970 to enforce these and other
environmental laws.
Q Such urban air pollutants as lead, sulfur dioxide,
ozone (ground-level), and carbon monoxide have been
significantly reduced in the last 10-15 years. Pro-
grams were established to reduce carbon monoxide
emissions from mobile sources (cars), to reduce lead
in gasoline, to use of pollution controls to reduce
smokestack release of sulfur dioxide, and to reduce
the release of chemicals (volatile organic compounds-
VOCs) that lead to the formation of ozone. They have
all resulted in improved air quality.
Q Dramatic improvements have been made in treat-
ing the wastewater (bathroom, kitchen, washing
machines) generated by residents and public/com-
mercial establishments. Treatment plants have been
constructed with a large amount of federal, state and
local money. Numerous agencies have been involved
in making sure the projects would treat the wastewa-
ter adequately before the water is released back into
the nation's waters streams, rivers, lakes, and
oceans. Thousands of companies have designed,
constructed, and operated these treatment plants.
Q Use of many pesticides has been canceled or
restricted. The risks of tens of thousands of pesticide
products are being reevaluated. Populations of bald
eagles, peregrine falcons, and brown pelicans have
increased as a result of EPA's ban on DDT.
Q Many untreated hazardous wastes are now being
banned from land disposal. Cleanup actions are
underway at more than 1000 potentially hazardous
sites.
Page 41
-------
Where Do We Go From Here?
Although much has been accomplished since the
original Earth Day, continued attention must be given
to maintaining the progress already achieved and to
address environmental issues that have been publicly
recognized relatively recently. Some of the environ-
mental challenges that we face during the 20th anni-
versary of Earth Day - April 22, 1990, are:
Greenhouse gases heating upthe atmosphere
Effects of the depletion of the ozone layer
Deforestation
Groundwater pollution
Nonpoint source pollution
Ever increasing solid waste quantities to manage
Continued management of hazardous waste sites
Protection of wetlands
Continued improvements to air and surface water quality
Over the last several years, a change has begun to take
place in the way environmental issues are addressed.
Around the time of the original Earth Day, the empha-
sis was on controlling pollution once created, or once
it was released into the environment. Now, the
emphasis in addressing environmental issues is on
preventing the pollution from occurring. Pollution
prevention is the theme recognized by the EPA for
Earth Day 1990.
Page 42
-------
Activities
Q Discuss with the class how far we have come since
Earth Day 1970 and how far we still have to go.
Q Include people who have professions associated
with environmental protection in your career day.
Q Visit a wastewater treatment plant, EPA, recycling
center, water treatment plant. What environmental
issues are they most concerned about? What can they
do to help protect the environment? What do they
plan to do on Earth Day 1990?
Q Have students prepare a theme about protecting
the environment and/or an environmental career.
Page 43
-------
Crossword
Environment Crossword Puzzle
"Crossword" means that the words
cross each other.
Some words go ''across"
Some words go "down"
T
H
LIKE
S
What is the missing word in each
sentence below?
Find the number of each word in
the puzzle.
The FIRST letter of that word goes
in the box with the number.
Across words
"Every litter bit __ I ___ "
Trash tossed away where it doesn't
belong is called ___ 3 ____
The _____ 8 _____ is what
every living thing needs for life.
(Already filled in)
__ 9_ _ are good to use for cleaning.
Save them.
____ 13 ___ needs to help keep
the environment clean.
Each living thing must have
__ 14_ _ to survive.
Dirty water from factories can kill
_ 16. _.
People, animals, and __ IS __ live
on earth.
When you run the shower too long,
When something like garbage or
dirty water is not nice to look at, it
is_ 23 _.
Emissions from __ 24 _ can make
the air dirty.
14
°G
L
3U
T
9
5
1
10
19
21
8E
2
N
n
16
24
V
17
3
I
R
22
7
0
13
3
N
M
12
18
4
E
N
5
T
Down words
When you leave a room, _ _?
_11_ the lights to save energy.
Paper is made from 4
The air and water now on 5
have always been here; no new
supplies come from space.
The environments of many wild
6 have been hurt by man.
Loud 1 bothers people and
hurts their ears.
Don't throw away good, used items
you no longer need. _ 10. _ them
_ _19 _ so others can use them.
Too many 12 __ have hurt the
environment.
Living things need fresh _15_ in
the environment.
Many birds eat 17
Save resources; don't be a _ 2Q _.
(Already filled in)
Solution to crossword puzzle on
page 46.
Page 44
-------
Word Search
Word Search
How many of the following words
can you find in this puzzle? Each
word may be spelled forwards,
backwards, downwards, or
diagonally. One word is spelled
diagonally backwards. Answers to
puzzle on last page.
environment
pollution
groundwater
runoff
recycle
smog
emissions
radon
lead
ozone
corrode
waste
hazardous
litter
incinerate
decompose
pesticide
water
toxic
dioxin
asbestos
discharge
standard
dump
chemicals
lab
air
earth
land
rain
dispose
health
acid
smoke
residue
risk
D E D I S
Y R A U T
S I ET A
N F FO N
R SU 0 D
OPH I A
L N I A R
SO U T D
E NMA R
C L X R A
HWMB L
B E I NQ
TA L ET
LY I AN
E L T L B
E R T E U
N Y E 0 Y
K E R A D
I G D J A
J H T R A
POSENDNA
L D I N A E M I
R E N I C N I D
U R NAAV H E
R AZ A H I HA
U I E C 0 RR 0
YMSPEOAR
E H P KP N 0 I
G S H E RMR I
V E I T R E T A
DJ 0 DT N QV
FZ AA UT OX
SAWS U E SA
C D E C OMPO
NEG ERTET
0 Y J U S T I N
Z M I C P E S T
0 N Y H OWA R
NCKDRECY
E E R R Y M AR
L N I S L I L
S S I 0 N S H
NBM EY H A
L E E OAN 0
R 0 LS KD S
D E B I T E L
L S L I C 0 K
T U L LO P S
H T L A E H T
WB F K R A A
UNI XO I D
I C G J N P I
N H C A R OS
S E H A N DC
SMO GT I H
A I NT H OA
I C I D E C R
DA DA I VG
C L E DOTE
C S I A KA R
Solution on page 46.
Page 45
-------
Answers
Answers to Crossword Puzzle
and Word Search
|v>V
2o7^r
o
\L
fU
[T
9R
f^
"A
1
_R_
T
G|L
'HlUlR
,OG
1
V
E
r^
Vv
A
Y
S
n
A
8E
S
2T
U
R
N
"5
T
,BF
T
2t|A|R
S
V
17l
N
S
E
C
T
S
6A
N
1
M
A
T
s
R
H
7N
0
I
S
"E
3L
I
N|M
V
^A T
"P
E
0
1UP
L
E
4T
R
E
E
S
\R_
T
N
Y
5E
A
R
T
H
0
R
N|E
L AlNlT S
R
D E D I $.
Y R A U T-
S I E T A
NF FOiM
R S U 0 D
0 P H I A
L H I A R
SOU TO,
E NMA R
C L X R A
HWMB L
BEING
T A ! L E T
:'1 AN
t;LB:
TED
E 0 Y:
LY
E L
E R
N Y
K E RAD
J H Tfl A
P:OSE;
L P I N
R,E N; I
MBNA
R A;Z A.
U 1 EC
YMSP
E,HVPK
G SH E
V E I T
D J 0 D
FZ A A
SAWS
CDE C
;N E G E
OiYJ U
Z;M i c
5N;YH
N C K D
E.: ERR
N i
CA
#:?•
•A.V.:H E
.H:4;H A
O B'R 0
E:0:A R
PN 6 I:
R M R I
RE T^A
T N Q V
U t 0 X
U ESA
OMPQ
R TE T
S T I N
:PE ST
OWA R
fl E C Y
Y M AR
I S L i L
iSJONilH
I\IB,M;E Y H A
L E E QAN 0
RQLSKD S
DEB I T£ L
L S L I Cg:^
T U L.UOPS
:M I LA E H T
W B F K R A A
y wj x:o i D
UCG J N P I
N H C A R 0 Si
S E H A N DC
SMOGT I,H,
A I N T H OA
I C I D EC Ft
D A D A I V^'
C L EDOTE
Cm I A KA R
Page 46
-------
RECYCLING
Enviro-mints
Q Recycling all the recyclables could eliminate from
58% to 65% of the solid waste stream. If all yard and
food wastes were composted, from 84% to 91% of the
total municipal solid waste stream could be elimi-
nated.
Q If an entire community recycled/composted just
75% of their typical trash contents, a landfill's life
expectancy could quadruple.
Q Aluminum requires significantly less energy (95%)
to recycle than to mine and produce.
Q 1 quart of oil can contaminate over a million gallons
of groundwater; dirty oil can be easily cleaned up and
reused.
Q Until both the technology to reclaim/reprocess a
material and a market for reclaiming that material
exist, a material cannot be considered recyclable.
What You Can Do
Focus: Recycle
Q Contact industries that produce or use glass, alu-
minum, and other materials. Encourage their partici-
pation in the development of recyclable and recycled
products.
Q Promote oil management and recycling through
your school's drivers education and auto shop
classes.
1. Why is it important to recycle?
2. What are the recyclable materials in your house-
hold trash?
Page 47
-------
Background
Definitions:
Recyclable Products Products capable of being re-
cycled.
Recycled Products - Products madejromreprocessed
materials into the same or other products.
Q Recycling all the recyclables could eliminate from
58% (without plastics recycling) to 65% (with plastics
recycling) of the solid waste stream.
Q If all yard and food wastes were composted, from
84% to 91% of the total municipal solid waste stream
could be eliminated.
Q If an entire community recycled/composted just
75% of their typical trash contents, a landfill's life ex-
pectancy could quadruple.
Q Recycling can benefit a community financially in
another way. Glass, aluminum, other metals, high-
quality white paper, newspaper, and, someday, plas-
tics, have re-sale value as raw manufacturing stock.
Therefore, in addition to landfill cost savings, income
to the community can be generated.
Q Until both the technology to reclaim and to reproc-
ess a material and a market for reclaiming that
material exist, a material cannot be considered recy-
clable.
Major Recyclable Categories:
Glass
Aluminum
Other Metals: Iron, steel, tin
Paper
Plastics
Compostables
Used Motor Oil
Page 48
-------
Glass
Q In 1985, beer and soda bottles comprised 60% of
all discarded metal, glass and plastic containers.
Q Glass must be sorted by color: amber, green, clear.
Q Only 8.5% of discarded glass is now recovered.
Q Recyclable products include all glass containers
such as bottles and jars. One pound of discarded
glass can be recycled into one pound of new glass
without any loss of materials.
Q Recycled glass products include new glass contain-
ers, fiberglass insulation, aggregate substitutes (fill),
foam insulation, and "glassphalt," a paving material.
Aluminum
Q Aluminum requires significantly less energy (95%)
to recycle than to mine and produce.
Q Today, 25% of discarded aluminum is recovered.
Q Recyclable aluminum products include cans and a
wide variety of other products, ranging from alumi-
num engine blocks to miscellaneous scrap.
Q Recycled aluminum products include much more
than just beverage cans. Virtually every product
made from aluminum contains at least some recycled
aluminum.
Other Metals
Q Consider these recycling rates for containers:
Page 49
Aluminum Steel
Cans (Tin Cans)
Nationally
All states wtth bottle bills
Oregon
40% 5%
70% Not Affected
95% 6%
-------
Today, less than 4% of discarded ferrous metals is
recovered.
Q Recyclable ferrous metal products include a wide
variety of scrap metal items, including steel cans,
automobiles (bodies, engine blocks), and major appli-
ances.
Q Recycled ferrous metal products encompass the
same wide range as do the recyclable products. For
example, the steel from used appliances can be
recycled into sheet steel, and engine blocks can be
recast into any number of items, including new en-
gines.
Paper
Q Recycling paper saves trees; 2,000 pounds of paper
equals 17 trees.
Q If everyone in the United States recycled 1/10 of
their newspapers each year, it would save 25 million
trees.
Q Today, on the average, about 22 percent of used
paper is recovered.
Q Recyclable paper products include newspaper,
office paper, computer paper, magazines, and card-
board.
Q Recycled paper products include gray cardboard,
high-grade office paper, xerographic and laser print-
ing paper, mixed paper, newsprint, photographic
paper, corrugated cardboard, gypsum, wallboard
liner, cellulose insulation, tissue products, and
"agropaper," a soil mulch.
Plastics
G The use of plastic beverage containers in the United
States has increased as follows:
Page 50
1967-15.0million
1982-8.5 billion
1985-12.5 billion
1990-20.0billion
-------
Activities
Q Today, approximately 1% of discarded plastics is
recovered.
Q Plastics can be sorted by type, ground, and reproc-
essed to produce "new" plastic products.
Q Recyclable plastics include discarded polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) bottles, high-density polyethyl-
ene (HDPE) milk and juice jugs, and polyvinyl chlo-
ride (PVC).
Q Recycled plastic products vary depending on the
type of plastic that is recycled. PET bottles are
recycled as: fiberfill for coats and sleeping bags, rigid
plastic foam insulation, woven or spun geotextiles/
geofabrics (used in erosion control), continuous fila-
ment yarns, carpeting, garbage bags, and garbage
cans. HDPE is made into: drain pipes, pallets,
playground equipment, plastic lumber, plant pots,
hoses, urethane foam insulation, and molded plastics
(e.g., shower stalls). PVC is recycled to make: molded
bathroom products, floor mats, automobile battery
casings, and tire traction mats.
Compostables
Q Yard wastes can be composted and sold as soil
enhancers or mulch.
Motor Oil
Q One quart of oil can contaminate over a million
gallons of groundwater; dirty oil can be easily cleaned
up and re-used.
Q Waste oil can be re-refined for use as a lubricant.
It may also be burned with adequate air pollution
controls.
Q Make Recycled Paper
Materials: newspaper, buckets or bowls, water, hand
beater, pieces of screen or felt.
Page 51
-------
First Day
For each piece of paper desired, tear or cut up a half
of a page of newspaper into small, 1/2 to 1 inch,
pieces. Fill buckets or bowls with one part paper
pieces and two parts water. Let the paper soak
overnight. It will be soft and ready to be "pulped" the
next morning. (Newspaper often requires more than
one night of soaking . . . add cornstarch the day of
activity - it smoothes it out a bit.)
Second Day
Use a hand beater to "pulp" the fibers in the paper.
Beat the mixture until it looks like mush.
Take a handful of pulp and place it on a piece of screen
or felt. Mold the pulp to the size of the sheet of paper
you wish to make. Press the pulp with your hands or
use a rolling pin to squeeze out the excess water.
(Placing plastic over the pulp before rolling will
prevent sticking.)
Let the paper dry one to two days, when it feels totally
dry, remove it from the screen or felt, and you have
recycled paper.
Q Give each student a small piece of clay with which
to make a bottle or other container. After students'
bottles are made, collect them and discuss how more
new bottles could be made. Solicit suggestions to use
the same clay again, mixing it and repeating the
activity. How would new bottles be made if the first
bottles were discarded? If possible, use several differ-
ent clay colors to demonstrate the importance of
separating glass colors before recycling.
Q Discuss the term "recycle." Reinforce the term
recycle by listening for or finding the small word
"cycle" in other words, and compare the term re-
cycle to other cycles students may know— seasons,
bicycle, etc.
Q Role-play the recyclable beverage container cycle by
assigning individuals to be consumers, grocery store
workers, bottling company workers, truck drivers.
Page 52
-------
Discuss how returnable or recyclable bottles and
cans go in a circle. Compare this to non-returnable,
non-recyclable items. Try this both with a deposit on
the containers and without.
Q From previously gathered bags of "trash" separate
reusable, recyclable, compostable and repairable
items from those that are not. Discuss how removal
of such items reduced the overall amount of "trash."
Have students create something useful and artistic
with those recovered items (e.g., musical instru-
ments, bird feeders, planters, doorstops, toys, crafts).
Q Develop a class questionnaire to determine the
attitudes of neighbors, friends, and family toward
solid waste management and recycling participation.
Solid waste is defined as the waste stream which is
not disposed of via the sewer.
G Visit a local paper, aluminum, metals, or glass
recycling business or composting facility in your
community. Ask the business or facility manager
about the success of its efforts, the pollution prob-
lems, the condition of available markets for recyclable
products, transportation costs. Ask what "wish list"
they have for the future.
G Contact local environmental groups active in sup-
port of recycling and source reduction. Invite some-
one from such a group to address your class and
discuss the issues and problems.
Q Promote oil management and recycling through
your school's drivers education and auto shop classes
by the following:
1. develop a school Incentive program for recycling;
2. design posters and logos for display in school;
3. Identify oil recycling outlets in your community; If none
exists, encourage likely recyclers (e.g., auto parts stores,
gasoline service stations, auto repair shops) to become
outlets.
Page 53
-------
State used-oil recycling contacts are:
IOWA
Mr. Stu Schmitz, Department of Natural Resources,
900 East Grand, Des Moines, IA 50319, (515) 281-8499.
KANSAS
Mr. Richard Flanary, Department of Health and
Environment, Bureau of Waste Management, Bldg. 730,
Forbes Field, Topeka, KS 66620, (913) 296-1609.
MISSOURI
Mr. Bruce Martin, Department of Natural
Resources, P. O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102,
(314)751-3176.
NEBRASKA
Mr. Dale Gubbels, Nebraska State Recycling
Association, P. O. Box 80729, Lincoln, NE 68501, (402) 475-3637.
G Investigate the United States' nationwide efforts to
recycle during World War II. What was recycled? Why
was recycling during the war so successful? How
was recycling promoted and encouraged? Why is it
harder to get people to recycle today? Interview
neighbors and relatives who were involved in the
recycling efforts in the 1940s.
Q Develop new ideas for dealing with the mounting
waste stream of plastics. Address solutions that
reduce our reliance on plastics and create recycling
opportunities for plastics. Consider the following:
Federal health laws prevent reprocessing plastic into
food containers; there are more than 100 different
kinds of plastics, some of which cannot be reproc-
essed together; contaminants can hinder reprocess-
ing; and since plastic is lightweight but bulky, it often
results in solid waste handling problems, including
collection, sorting, and transporting.
Q Examine the pros and cons of using returnable
beverage containers. What states have "bottle bills?"
Contact one or more of these states for information
Page 54
-------
about how the legislation was accomplished politi-
cally, how it has been implemented and what impacts
it has had on recycling, litter, jobs, public opinion and
energy use. Contact your state legislators, busi-
nesses, agencies and organizations and ask for their
viewpoints and reasons for supporting or opposing
beverage container deposit laws in your state. What
do you think about a state or federal bottle bill?
Q Discuss the problems that arise when the recycling
loop is not complete, i.e., recyclable materials do not
successfully return to the marketplace. Consumer
demand for products and packaging that promote
source reduction and recyclability depends on house-
hold consumer education, and marketplace initia-
tives, economic incentives or disincentive, and man-
datory requirements and restrictions. Choose one of
the four components of consumer demand and de-
velop a tool (e.g., an advertisement, rebate, or dis-
count, tax, package logo or label) to influence the
behavior of a key group (e.g., household buyer, and
industry or business, a community).
Page 55
-------
Environmental
IQ Quiz
Page 56
-------
ENVIRONMENTAL I.Q. QUIZ*
More than one answer may be correct for some questions.
1. The loss of ozone in the earth's atmosphere is causing the
atmosphere to become warmer. This warming trend occurs
because the loss of ozone allows more ultraviolet light to
enter the atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise and
creating what is called: (pick the best answer)
a. The Global Warming Trend
b. The Glass Ceiling Effect
c. The Air Bubble Encasement Theory
d. The Greenhouse Effect
e. The Thermal Blanket Effect
2. What two elements comprise most of our atmosphere?
a. hydrogen b. oxygen c. nitrogen d. carbon
3. Which of the following can be recycled?
a. glass b. aluminum c. plastic containers
d. rubber e. frozen concentrated juice cans
f. tuna cans
4. How many trees are saved by recycling one ton of paper?
a. 11 b. 15 c. 17 d. 25 e. 33
5. In 1782, when the bald eagle became our national symbol,
there were 25,000 to 75,000 eagles nesting in the lower 48
states. By the 1970's, the number had plummeted to about:
a. 1,000 b. 3,000 c. 5,000 d. 7,000
6. What pesticide, which was banned in the U.S. in 1972, but
is still used in third world countries, causes the egg
shells of eagles and other birds to be affected?
a. alcor b. DDT c. diazinon d. sevin
7. What chemicals emitted by industries, cause acid rain?
a. sulfur dioxide b. ozone c. carbon monoxide
d. dihydrogen oxide e. nitrogen oxide
*Sponsored by the Federal Womens' Program, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Kansas City, MO; and Women in Science and Engineering,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Kansas City, KS
Page 57
-------
8. Efforts in water pollution control in the 1970's focused
primarily on clean up of point sources such as pipes that
discharge pollutants from cities and industries. As these
point sources were cleaned up, it became apparent that
pollution related to man's use of the land also greatly
affected water quality. These diffuse sources of pollution
are called:
a. non-pipe sources
b. pointless pollution sources
c. chemical sources
d. ecosystem sources
e. nonpoint sources
9. Name the mammal that was virtually extinct in Missouri, but
has been making a comeback due to wildlife trade with the
state of Kentucky. (Hint: Missouri gives Kentucky 36 wild
turkeys for every 20 of these mammals, which Kentucky
purchases from a company in Louisiana).
a. river otter b. bobcat c. black bear
d. prairie chicken e. beaver
10. What chemical used to make apples grow bigger and firmer was
found to be carcinogenic and taken off the market in 1989?
a. chlordane b. sevin c. DDT d. alar
11. What are "prairie pigeons"?
a. whooping cranes b. black-footed ferrets
c. prairie dogs d. golden plovers
12. What was the "Duck Special"?
a. a special fall, hunter's dinner served at the Elms in
Excelsior Springs, Missouri
b. an old-time Northern and Western Railway train for Iowa
hunters
c. an early airplane used to sight waterfowl in western
Kansas
d. a canal built from the Erie Canal to Lake Erie in New
York to aid hunters in following migrating ducks
13. Name the only wetland area in Kansas or Missouri that has
been designated as an area of "international" importance by
world waterfowl conservationists.
a. Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri
b. Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri
c. Quivira Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas
d. Cheyenne Bottoms National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas
e. Missouri's bootheel region
Page 58
-------
14. The "passive peril" refers to the risk of cancer from:
15,
16,
17
18
a. non-smokers being around smokers
b. breathing ozone
c. acid rain
d. breathing excess carbon monoxide from car exhaust
Shortly after President George Bush took office in 1988, he
declared that he was pursuing a "no net loss" policy on this
resource. This policy refers to which resource:
a. endangered species
b. wild and scenic rivers
c. wetlands
d. redwood forests
Which of the following species are on the National List of
Endangered Species?
a. Bald eagle
b. Peregrine falcon
c. Whooping crane
d. California condor
e. Manatee
f. Brown Pelican
g. Jaguar
h. Kemp's ridley sea turtle
i. Gray wolf
j. Gray bat
k. Piping plover
What endangered plant, native to the tropical forests of
Madagascar, produces a drug that improves the chances of
survival from a form of leukemia?
a. teosinte (wild corn)
b. green pitcher plant
c. furbush lousewort
d. rosy periwinkle
Which of the following birds cannot be found in the wild in
either Kansas or Missouri during some part of the year?
(There are only two!)
Whooping Cranes
American Avocet
Wood Duck
Greater Yellowlegs
Snowy Egret
Red-winged Blackbirds
Killdeer
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
American White Pelican
Emu
Eastern Meadowlark
n. Sandhill Crane
o. Great Horned Owl
p. Bald Eagle
q. California Condor
r. Green Heron
s. Wild Turkey
t. Marsh Hawk
u. Louisiana Heron
v- Eastern Bluebird
w. Indigo Bunting
x. Cliff Swallow
y. Whistling Swan
z. Bufflehead
Page 59
-------
19. What is the fastest living creature on earth?
(Hint: This animal attains speeds of 200 miles
per hour and is endangered!)
a. peregrine falcon d. ocelot
b. cheetah e. puma
c. bald eagle
20. When Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, approximately
3 billion cubic yards of volcanic and landslide material
were deposited in a 17-mile avalanche flow in the upper
North Fork of the Toutle River, and another 50 million cubic
yards filled the upper four miles of the South Fork of the
Toutle. Between 150 to 200 million cubic yards filled the
river channels down the 70-mile course of the Toutle and
Cowlitz rivers and into the Columbia River. Because of the
problems this sediment caused, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers designed and began construction of a dam for
the primary purpose of:
a. retaining water b. retaining fish
c. retaining sediment d. preventing future flooding
21. Who wrote the bestseller River of Grass which championed
the saving of an important wetland in America?
a. Rachel Carson b. Marjory Stoneman Douglas
c. Joy Adamson d. Margaret Mead
22. About what wetland was the River of Grass written?
a. Everglades b. Okeefenokee Swamp
c. Chinguoteague, Island Virginia d. Delmarva Penninsula
e. Lake Ponchatrain, Louisiana
23. Which of the following is (are) not (a) pioneer(s) of the
conservationist/environmental movement?:
a. Aldo Leopold b. Rachel Carson c. Marjory Stoneman Douglas
d. Caldwell Taylor e. John Muir f. John James Audubon
g. Thurgood Marshall
24. To a conservation activist, what does the acronym HHW stand
for?
a. Household Hazardous Wastes b. Human Health Warning
c. Health Hazard Warning d. Hazardous Human Wastes
25. Earth Day was first celebrated on April 22nd of what year?
a. 1969 b. 1970 c. 1974 d. 1979
Page 60
-------
26. How many people participated in that first Earth Day
observance?
a. 250,000 b. 500,000 c. 750,000 d. 1,000,000
e. 2,000,000 f. 5,000,000 g. 10,000,000 h. 20,000,000
27. Which of the following laws were passed or agencies created
within two years of the first Earth Day celebration?
a. Clean Water Act b. Clean Air Act
c. Rivers and Harbors Act d. Environmental Education Act
e. Environmental Protection Agency f. Army Corps of Engineers
28. Which of the following were concerns which prompted the
first Earth Day?
a. smog b. raw sewage c. acid rain
d. automobile emissions e. toxic waste f. global warming
g. habitat destruction h. ozone depletion
i. industrial air pollution
29. Nonpoint source pollution to water comes from:
a. soil erosion from agricultural fields
b. fertilizers such as phosphorus and nitrogen
c. pesticides
d. land disturbing activities related to building
construction
e. stormwater runoff from streets
f. disposal of wastes
g. pipes discharging from cities
h. pipes discharging from industries
30. Concerns about continuing ozone depletion in the atmosphere
have led automobile makers to specifically redesign what part
of an automobile?
a. muffler b. engine c. exhaust system
d. carburetor e. air conditioner
31. According to the National Science Foundation in a 1989
study, what percentage of Earth's plants, animals, and
microbes are in danger of extinction?
a. 2% b. 5% c. 10% d. 15%
e. 20% f. 25% g. 30% h. 35%
32. The 1990's have been designated as "Decade of the
a. River b. Environment c. Wetlands
d. Clean Air e. Endangered Species f. Ecosystem
Page 61
-------
33. What is the name of the world's largest wetland?
35.
37,
38,
a. Antananarivo
d. Amazonia
b. Niihau
e. Pantanal
c. Kyushu
f. Komodo
34. Which of the following species of plants is not found
in lakes or wetlands in Kansas or Missouri?
a. American lotus b. coontail
e. water hyacinth f. algae
c. arrowhead
g. willow
d. elodea
h. duckweed
Which of the following species has not been successfully
restored in Missouri?
a. gray wolf
d. river otter
36. A watershed is:
b. ruffed grouse c.
e. wild turkey f.
giant Canada goose
white-tailed deer
a. A building to shelter a well
b. The land area from which water drains to a waterbody such
as a lake, stream, or wetland
c. The land area that contributes pollutants from land runoff
to a waterbody such as a lake, stream, or wetland
d. A hydrologic unit
e. A covered bridge over a river
Match the endangered species to a state in its regional
habitat in the United States. Use only one state for a
species. No state should be used more than one time.
a. Whooping Crane
b. Black Panther
c. Ocelot
d. Nene
e. Black-footed ferret
1. Nebraska
2. Wyoming
3. Hawaii
4. Texas
5. Florida
Match the endangered species with its historic range
(where it was originally found).
a. Nene
b. Giant Panda
c. Brown bear
d. Cheetah
e. African Elephant
f. Chimpanzee
g. Tiger
h. Eastern Cougar
i. Clouded Leopard
j. Chinchilla
1. West and Central Africa
2. Africa
3. Eastern North America
4. Tibet (China)
5. Bolivia
6. Southeast & South Central
Asia, Taiwan
7.. Hawaii
8. Temperate & Tropical Asia
9. Republic of China
10. Africa to India
Page 62
-------
39.
Match the species with the product that is made from it.
Note: Some of the animal species listed are endangered
because of over-hunting to obtain the product listed.
a. African elephant
b. Rhinoceros
c. Ocelots
d. Sperm whale
e. Ostrich
f. Green sea turtle
g. American alligator
1. fur
2. meat
3. skin
4. dagger handles & fever
reducing medicine
5. feathers
6. ivory
7. Ambergris for perfumes
40. Animals have always been an important part of our lives.
of our sayings compare people or things to animals. Match the
beginning of the saying with the animal that completes it.
Some
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g-
h.
i.
j-
Sly as a
Wise as an
Crazy as a
An
To soar like an
never forgets.
in the belfry-
"The fog comes in on little
feet"
Quiet as a .
Slow as a .
Stubborn as a
1. Owl
2. Turtle
3. Loon
4. Eagle
5. Elephant
6. Fox
7. Bats
8. Mule
9. Cat
10. Mouse
Recorder's Name:
Teacher's Name:
Class Name/Hour/Period:
Students' Grade Level:
School:
Address:
Telephone:
Page 63
-------
ENVIRONMENTAL I.Q. QUIZ
Entry No.
Answer Sheet
List your answer in the blank corresponding
to the question number.
l. 19:
2. 20.
3. 21.
4. 22.
5. 23.
6. 24.
7. 25.
8. 26.
9. 27.
10. 28.
11. 29.
12. 30.
13. 31.
14. 32.
15. 33.
16. 34.
17. 35.
18. 36.
Page 64
-------
ENVIRONMENTAL I.Q. QUIZ Entry No,
37. a 39. a
b b
c c
d d
e e
f
g
38. a 40. a
b b
c c
d d
e e
f f
g g
h h
i i
j j
Page 65
-------
Answers to Environmental I.Q. Quiz
April 1990
1. d 37. a 1
2. b, c b 5.
3. a, b, c, d, e, f c 4.
4. c d 1
5. b e 2
6. b
7. a, e 38. a 2
B. e b 9.
9. a c 4.
10. d d 10
11. d e 2.
12. b f 1
13. d g 8.
14. a hi
15. c i 6.
16. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k j 5.
17. d
18. k, g 39. a 6
19. a b 4.
20. c c 1
21. b d 1
22. a e 5.
23. d, g f 2
24. a g 1
25. b
26. h 40. a 6
27. a, b, d, e b 1.
28. a, b, d, i c 1
29. a, b, c, d, e, f d 5.
30. e e 4_
31. f f 2
32. C g 9
33. e h 10
34. e 12.
35. a j 8
36. b, c, d
Page 66
-------
Glossary
Page 67
-------
ENVIRONMENTAL GLOSSARY
Absorption -
1. Adhesion of molecules of gas, liquid, or dissolved solids to a surface.
2. An advanced method of treating wastes in which activated carbon removes organic matter from
wastewater.
3. The passage of one substance into or through another,e.g., an operation in which one or more soluble
components of a gas mixture are dissolved in a liquid.
Accelerator - In radiation science, a device that speeds up charged particles such as electrons or protons.
Acid Rain / Deposition- A complex chemical and atmospheric phenomenon that occurs when
emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds and other substances are transformed by chemical processes
in the atmosphere, often far from the original sources, and then deposited on earth in either a wet or dry
form. The wet forms, popularly called "acid rain," can fall as rain, snow, or fog. The dry forms are acidic
gases or particulates.
Acute Toxicity - The ability of a substance to cause poisonous effects resulting in severe biological harm
or death soon after a single exposure or dose. Also, any severe poisonous effect resulting from a single
short-term exposure to a toxic substance (See: Chronic Toxicity, Toxicity).
Adaptation - Changes in an organism's structure that help it adjust to its surroundings.
Adulterants - Chemical impurities or substances that by law do not belong in a food or in a pesticide.
Advanced Waste Water Treatment - Any treatment of sewage that goes beyond the secondary or
biological water treatment stage and includes the removal of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen
and a high percentage of suspended solids (See: Primary, Secondary Treatment).
Aeration - A process which promotes biological degradation of organic waste. The process may be
passive (as when waste is exposed to air) or active (as when a mixing or bubbling device introduces the
air).
Aerobic - Life or processes that require, or are not destroyed by, the presence of oxygen (See:
Anaerobic).
Aerosol - A suspension of liquid or solid particles in a gas.
Agricultural Pollution - The liquid and solid wastes from farming, including: runoff and leaching of
pesticides and fertilizers; erosion and dust from plowing; animal manure and carcasses; crop residues;
and debris.
Air Contaminant - Any paniculate matter, gas, or combination thereof, other than water vapor or
natural air (See: Air Pollutant).
Page 68
-------
Air Mass - A widespread body of air that gains certain meteorological or polluted characteristics, e.g.,
a heat inversion or smogginess while set in one location. The characteristics can change as it moves away.
Air Pollution - The presence of contaminant or pollutant substances in the air that do not disperse
properly and interfere with human health or welfare, or produce other harmful environmental effects.
Airborne Participates - Total suspended paniculate matter found in the atmosphere as solid particles
or liquid droplets. The chemical composition of particulates varies widely, depending on location and
time of year. Airborne particulates include windblown dust, emission from industrial processes, smoke
from the burning of wood and coal, and the exhaust of motor vehicles.
Algae - Simple rootless plants that grow in sunlit waters in relative proportion to the amounts of nutrients
available. They can affect water quality adversely by lowering the dissolved oxygen in the water. They
are food for fish and small aquatic animals.
Algal Blooms - Sudden spurts of algal growth, which can affect water quality adversely and indicate
potentially hazardous changes in local water chemistry.
Alpha Particle - A positively charged particle composed of two neutrons and two protons released by
some atoms undergoing radioactive decay. The particle is identical to the nucleus of a helium atom.
Ambient Air - Any unconfmed portion of the atmosphere: open air, surrounding air.
Anadromous - Fish that spend their adult life in the sea but swim upriver to fresh water spawning
grounds to reproduce.
Anaerobic - A life or process that occurs in, or is not destroyed by, the absence of oxygen.
Analytes - The chemicals for which a sample is analyzed.
Antagonism - The interaction of two chemicals having an opposing, or neutralizing, effect on each
other, or given some specific biological effect a chemical interaction that appears to have an opposing
or neutralizing effect over what might otherwise be expected.
Antarctic "Ozone Hole" Refers to the seasonal depletion of ozone in a large area over Antarctica.
Antibodies - Proteins produced in the body by immune system cells in response to antigens, and capable
of combining with antigens.
Antigen - A substance that causes production of antibodies when introduced into animal or human
tissue.
Aquifer - An underground geological formation, or group of formations, containing usable amounts of
groundwater that can supply wells and springs.
Asbestos - A mineral fiber that can pollute air or water and cause cancer or asbestosis when inhaled.
EPA has banned or severely restricted its use in manufacturing and construction.
Page 69
-------
Asbestosis - A disease associated with chronic exposure to .and inhalation of asbestos fibers. The disease
makes breathing progressively more difficult and can lead to death.
Ash - The mineral content of a product remaining after complete combustion.
Atmosphere -
1. A standard unit of pressure representing the pressure exerted by a 29.92-inch column of mercury at
sea level at 45 degrees latitude and equal to 1,000 grams per square centimeter.
2. The whole mass of air surrounding the earth, composed largely of oxygen and nitrogen.
Atomize - To divide a liquid into extremely minute particles, either by impact with a jet of stream or
compressed air, or by passage through some mechanical device.
Attenuation - The process by which a compound is reduced in concentration over time, through
adsorption, degradation, dilution, and/or transformation.
Attractant = A chemical or agent that lures insects or other pests by stimulating their sense of smell.
Attrition - Wearing or grinding down of a substance by friction. A contributing factor in air pollution,
as with dust.
Autotrophic - An organism that produces food from inorganic substances.
Background Level - In air pollution control, the concentration of air pollutants in a definite area during
a fixed time prior to the starting up or on the stoppage of a source of emission under control. In toxic
substances, monitoring, the average presence in the environment, originally referring to a naturally
occurring phenomena.
Bacteria - Microscopic living organism which can aid in pollution control by consuming or breaking
down organic matter in sewage, or by similarly acting on oil spills or other water pollutants. Bacteria
in soil, water or air can also cause human, animal and plant health problems. The singular form of bacteria
is bacterium.
Band Application - In pesticides, the spreading of chemicals over, or next to, each row of plants in a
field.
Basal Application - In pesticides, the application of a chemical on plant stems or tree trunks just above
the soil line.
Benthic Organism (Benthos) - A form of aquatic plant or animal life that is found on or near the bottom
of a stream, lake, or ocean.
Beryllium - An airborne metal that can be hazardous to human health when inhaled. It is discharged
by machine shops, ceramic and propellant plants, and foundries.
Beta Particle - An elementary particle emitted by radioactive decay that may cause skin bums. It is
halted by a thin sheet of paper.
Page 70
-------
Bioaccumulative - Substances that increase in concentration in living organisms (that are very slowly
metabolized or excreted) as they breathe contaminated air, drink contaminated water, or eat contami-
nated food (See: Biological Magnification).
Bioassay - Using living organisms to measure the effect of substance, factor, or condition by comparing
before and after data. Term is often used to mean cancer bioassays.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) - A measure of the amount of oxygen consumed in the biological
processes that break down organic matter in water. The greater the BOD, the greater the degree of
pollution.
Biodegradable- The ability to break down or decompose rapidly under natural conditions and processes.
Biological Control - In pest control, the use of animals and organisms that eat or otherwise kill or out-
compete pests.
Biological Magnification - Refers to the process whereby certain substances such as pesticides or heavy
metals move up the food chain, work their way into a river or lake and are eaten by aquatic organisms
such as fish, which in turn are eaten by large birds, animals, or humans. The substances become
concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they move up the chain (See: Bioaccumulative).
Biological Oxidation - The way bacteria and microorganisms feed on and decompose complex organic
materials. Used in self-purification of water bodies and in activated sludge wastewater treatment.
Biological Treatment - A treatment technology that uses bacteria to consume waste. This treatment
breaks down organic materials.
Biomass - All of the living material in a given area; often refers to vegetation. Also called "biota."
Biomonitoring -
1. The use of living organisms to test the suitability of effluents for discharge into receiving waters and
to test the quality of such waters downstream from the discharge.
2. Analysis of blood, urine, tissues, to measure chemical exposure in humans.
Biosphere - The portion of earth and its atmosphere that can support life.
Biotechnology - Techniques that use living organisms or parts of organisms to produce a variety of
products (from medicines to industrial enzymes) to improve plants or animals or to develop
microorganisms for specific uses such as removing toxics from bodies of water, or as pesticides.
Biotic Community - A naturally occurring assemblage of plants and animals that live in the same
environment and are mutually sustained and interdependent.
Black Lung - A disease of the lungs caused by habitual inhalation of coal dust.
Blackwater - Water that contains animal, human, or food wastes.
Page 71
-------
Bog - A type of wetland that accumulates appreciable peat deposits. Bogs depend primarily on
precipitation for their water source and are usually acidic and rich in plant residue with a conspicuous
mat of living green moss.
Boom-
1. A floating device used to contain oil on a body of water.
2. A piece of equipment used to apply pesticides from ground equipment such as a tractor or truck.
Botanical Pesticide - A pesticide whose active ingredient is a plant produced chemical such as nicotine
or strychnine.
Bottle Bill - Proposed or enacted legislation which requires a returnable deposit on beer or soda
containers and provides for retail store or other redemption centers. Such legislation is designed to
discourage use of throwaway containers.
Brackish Water - A mixture of fresh and salt water.
Broadcast Application - In pesticides, the spreading of chemicals over an entire area.
Bubble - A system under which existing emissions sources can propose alternate means to comply with
a set of emissions limitations. Under the bubble concept, sources can control more than required at one
emission point where control costs are relatively low in return for a comparable relaxation of controls
at a second emission point where costs are higher.
Buffer Strips - Strips of grass or other erosion-resisting vegetation between or below cultivated strips
or fields.
By-product - Material, other than the principal product, that is generated as a consequence of an
industrial process.
Cadmium (Cd) - A heavy metal element that accumulates in the environment.
Cap - A layer of clay, or other highly impermeable material, installed over the top of a closed landfill
to prevent entry of rainwater and minimize production of leachate.
Carbon Dioxide (C02) - A colorless, odorless, nonpoisonous gas, which results from fossil fuel
combustion and is normally a part of the ambient air.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) - A colorless, odorless, poisonous gas produced by incomplete fossil fuel
combustion.
Carrying Capacity -
1. In recreation management, the amount of use a recreation area can sustain without deteriorating its
quality.
2. In wildlife management, the maximum number of animals an area can support during a given period
of the year.
Page 72
-------
Catalytic Converter - An air pollution abatement device that removes pollutants from motor vehicle
exhaust, either by oxidizing them into carbon dioxide and water or reducing them to nitrogen and oxygen.
Catanadramous - Fish that swim downstream to spawn.
Caustic Soda - Sodium hydroxide, a strong alkaline substance used as the cleaning agent in some
detergents.
Cells -
1. In solid waste disposal, holes where waste is dumped, compacted, and covered with layers of dirt on
a daily basis.
2. The smallest structural part of living matter capable of functioning as an independent unit.
Cesium (Cs) - A silver-white, soft ductile element of the alkali metal group that is the most electroposi-
tive element known. Used especially in photoelectric cells.
Channelization - Straightening and deepening streams so water will move faster. A flood-reduction
or marsh-drainage tactic that can interfere with waste assimilation capacity and disturb fish and wildlife
habitats.
Characteristic - Any one of the four categories used in defining hazardous waste: ignitability,
corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity.
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) - A measure of the oxygen required to oxidize all compounds in
water, both organic and inorganic.
Chemical Treatment - Any one of a variety of technologies that use chemicals or a variety of chemical
processes to treat waste.
Chemosterilant - A chemical that controls pests by preventing reproduction.
Chilling Effect - The lowering of the Earth's temperature because of increased particles in the air
blocking the sun's rays (See: Greenhouse Effect).
Chlorinated Hydrocarbons - These include a class of persistent, broad-spectrum insecticides, that
linger in the environment and accumulate in the food chain. Among them are DDT, aldrin, dieldrin,
heptachlor, chlorodane, lindane, endrin, mirex, hexachloride, and toxaphene. Other examples include
TCE, used as an industrial solvent.
Chlorinated Solvent - An organic solvent containing chlorine atoms, e.g., methylene chloride and
1,1,1,- trichloromethane, which are used in aerosol spray containers and in traffic paint.
Chlorination - The application of chlorine to drinking water, sewage, or industrial waste to disinfect
or to oxidize undesirable compounds.
Page 73
-------
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - A family of inert, nontoxic and easily liquified chemicals used in
refrigeration, air conditioning, packaging, insulation, or as solvents and aerosol propellants. Because
CFCs are not destroyed in the lower atmosphere, they drift into the upper atmosphere where their chlorine
components destroy ozone.
Chlorosis - Discoloration of normally green plant parts that can be caused by disease, lack of nutrients,
or various air pollutants.
Chronic Toxicity - The capacity of a substance to cause long-term poisonous human health effects (See \
Acute Toxicity).
Clarification - Clearing action that occurs during wastewater treatment when solids settle out. This is
often aided by centrifugal action and chemically induced coagulation in wastewater.
Cloning - In biotechnology, obtaining a group of genetically identical cells from a single cell. This term
has assumed a more general meaning that includes making copies of a gene.
Close-Loop Recycling - Reclaiming or reusing wastewater for nonpotable purposes in an enclosed
process.
Coagulation - A clumping of particles in wastewater to settle out impurities. It is often induced by
chemicals such as lime, alum, and iron salts.
Coastal Zone - Lands and waters adjacent to the coast that exert an influence on the uses of the sea and
its ecology, or, inversely, whose uses and ecology are affected by the sea.
Combustion - Burning, or rapid oxidation, accompanied by release of energy in the form of heat and
light. A basic cause of air pollution.
Confined Aquifer - An aquifer in which groundwater is confined under pressure that is significantly
greater than atmospheric pressure.
Conservation - Avoiding waste of, and renewing when possible, human and natural resources. The
protection, improvement, and use of natural resources according to principles that will ensure their
highest economic or social benefits.
Contact Pesticide - A chemical that kills pests when it touches them rather than by being eaten (stomach
poison). Also, soil that contains the minute skeletons of certain algae that scratches and dehydrates waxy-
coated insects.
Contaminant - Any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter that has an
adverse effect on air, water, or soil.
Coolant - A liquid or gas used to reduce the heat generated by power production in nuclear reactors,
electric generators, various industrial and mechanical processes, and automobile engines.
Page 74
-------
Cooling Tower - A structure that helps remove heat from water used as a coolant, e.g., in electric power
generating plants.
Corrosion - The dissolving and wearing away of metal caused by a chemical reaction such as between
water and the pipes that the water contacts, chemicals touching a metal surface, or contact between two
metals.
Cover - Vegetation or other materials providing protection as ground cover.
Cultural Eutrophication - Increasing rate at which water bodies "die" by pollution from human
activities.
Curie - A quantitative measure of radioactivity equal to 3.7 x 1010 disintegrations per second.
DDT - The first chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide (chemical name: Dichloro-Diphsdyl-Trichlorom-
ethane). It has a half-life of 15 years and can collect in fatty tissues of certain animals. EPA banned
registration and interstate sale of DDT for virtually all but emergency uses in the United States in 1972
because of its persistence in the environment and accumulation in the food chain.
Dechlorination - Removal of chlorine from the substance by chemically replacing it with hydrogen or
hydroxide ions in order to detoxify the substances involved.
Dissolved Oxygen (DO) - The oxygen freely available in water. Dissolved oxygen is vital to fish and
other aquatic life and for the prevention of odors. Traditionally, the level of dissolved oxygen has been
accepted as the single most important indicator of a water body's ability to support desirable aquatic life.
Secondary and advanced waste treatment are generally designed to protect DO in waste-receiving
waters.
Dissolved Solids - Disintegrated organic and inorganic matter contained in water. Excessive amounts
make water unfit to drink or use in industrial processes.
Distillation - The act of purifying liquids through boiling, so that the stream condenses to a pure liquid
and the pollutants remain in a concentrated residue.
DNA - Deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule in which the genetic information for most living cells is
encoded.
DNA Hybridization - Use of a segment of DNA, called a DNA probe, to identify its complementary
DNA; used to detect specific genes. This process takes advantage of the ability of single strand of DNA
to combine with a complimentary strand.
Dose - The amount of a substance penetrating the exchange boundaries of an organism after contact.
Dose is calculated from the intake and absorption efficiency, and it usually is expressed as mass of a
substance absorbed into the body per unit body weight per unit time, e.g., mg/kg-day. Also, in radiology,
the quantity of energy or radiation absorbed.
Page 75
-------
Dredging - Removal of mud from the bottom of water bodies using a scooping machine. This disturbs
the ecosystem and causes silting that can kill aquatic life. Dredging of contaminated muds can expose
aquatic life to heavy metals and other toxics.
Dump - A site used to dispose of solid wastes without environmental controls.
Dust - Particles light enough to be suspended in air.
Dystrophic Lakes - Shallow bodies of water that contain much humus and or organic matter, that
contain many plants but few fish and are highly acidic.
Ecology - The relationship of living things to one another and their environment, or the study of such
relationships.
Ecosystem - The interacting system of a biological community and its nonliving environmental
surroundings.
Effluent = Wastewater - treated or untreated - that flows out of a treatment plant, sewer, or industrial
outfall. Generally refers to wastes discharged into surface waters.
Electrodialysis - A process that uses electrical current applied to permeable membranes to remove
minerals from water. Often used to desalinize salty or brackish water.
Emission - Pollution discharged into the atmosphere from smokestacks, other vents, and surface areas
of commercial or industrial facilities; from residential chimneys; and from motor vehicle, locomotive,
or aircraft exhausts.
Endangered Species - Animals, birds, fish, plants, or other living organisms threatened with extinction
by man-made or natural changes in the environment. Requirements for declaring a species endangered
are contained in the Endangered Species Act.
Enrichment = The addition of nutrients , e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon compounds, from sewage
effluent or agricultural runoff to surface water. This process greatly increases the growth potential for
algae and aquatic plants.
Environment - The sum of all external conditions affecting the life, development and survival of an
organism.
EPA - The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency; established in 1970 by Presidential Executive
Order, bringing together parts of various government agencies involved with the control of pollution.
Epidemiology - The study of diseases as they affect population, including the distribution of disease,
or other health-related states and events in human populations, the factors, e.g., age, sex, occupation,
economic status, that influence this distribution, and the application of this study to control health
problems.
Page 76
-------
Erosion - The wearing away of land surface by wind or water. Erosion occurs naturally from weather
or runoff but can be intensified by land-clearing practices related to farming, residential or industrial
development, road building, or timber-cutting.
Estuary - Regions of interaction between and near shore ocean waters, where tidal action and river flow
create a mixing of fresh and salt water. These areas may include bays, mouths of rivers, salt marshes,
and lagoons. These brackish water ecosystems shelter and feed marine life, birds, and wildlife (See
Wetlands).
Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) - A chemical used as an agricultural fumigant and in certain industrial
processes. Extremely toxic and found to be a carcinogen in laboratory animals, EDB has been banned
for most agricultural uses in the United States.
Eutrophic Lakes - Shallow, murky bodies of water that have excessive concentrations of plant nutrients
causing excessive algal production (See: dystrophic lakes).
Eutrophication - The slow aging process during which a lake, estuary, or bay evolves into a bog or
marsh and eventually disappears. During the later stages of eutrophication, the water body is choked by
abundant plant life as the result of increased amounts of nutritive compounds such as nitrogen and
phosphorus. Human activities can accelerate the process.
Evapotranspiration - The loss of water from the soil both by evaporation and by transpiration from the
plants growing in the soil.
Exposure -
1. The amount of radiation or pollutant present in an environment which represents a potential health
threat to the living organisms in that environment.
2. Contact of an organism with a chemical or physical agent. Exposure is quantified as the amount of
the agent available at the exchange boundaries of the organism, e.g., skin, lungs or gut, and available for
absorption.
Extremely Hazardous Substances - Any of 406 chemicals identified and listed by EPA on the basis
of toxicity. The list is subject to revision.
Fecal Coliform Bacteria - Bacteria found in the intestinal tracts of mammals. Their presence in water
or sludge is an indicator of pollution and possible contamination by pathogens.
Feedlot - A relatively small, confined area for the controlled feeding of animals that tends to concentrate
large amounts of animal wastes that cannot be absorbed by the soil and, hence, may be carried to nearby
streams or lakes by rainfall runoff.
Fen - A type of wetland that accumulates peat deposits. Fens are less acidic than bogs, deriving most
of their water from groundwater rich in calcium and magnesium. (See: Wetlands)
Fermentation - Chemical reactions accompanied by living microbes that are supplied with nutrients
and other critical conditions such as heat, pressure, and light that are specific to the reaction at hand.
Page 77
-------
Fertilizer - Materials such as nitrogen and phosphorus that provide nutrients for plants. Commercially
sold fertilizers may contain other chemicals or may be in the form of processed sewage sludge.
Flocculation - The process by which clumps of solids in water or sewage are made to increase in size
by biological or chemical action so that they can be separated from the water.
Flume - A natural or man-made channel that diverts water.
Fluorides - Gaseous, solid, or dissolved compounds containing fluorine that result from industrial
processes. Excessive amounts in food can lead to fluorosis.
Fluorocarbon (FCs) - Any of a number of organic compounds analogous to hydrocarbons in which one
or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by fluorine. Once used in the United States as a propellant in
aerosols, they are now primarily used in coolants and some industrial processes. FCs containing chlorine
are called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). They are believed to be modifying the ozone layer in the
stratosphere, thereby allowing more harmful solar radiation to reach the Earth's surface.
Fly Ash - Noncombustible residual particles from the combustion process, carried by flue gas.
Food Chain - A sequence of organisms, each of which uses the next, lower member of the sequence as
a food source.
Formaldehyde - A colorless, pungent, irritating gas, CH20, used chiefly as a disinfectant and preserva-
tive and in synthesizing other compounds and resins.
Formulation - The substance or mixing of substances which is comprised of all active and inert
ingredients in a pesticide.
Fresh Water - Water that generally contains less than 1,000 milligrams-per-liter of dissolved solids.
Fumigant - A pesticide that is vaporized to kill pests. Used in buildings and greenhouses.
Fungi - (Singular, Fungus) Molds, mildews, yeasts, mushrooms, and puffballs, a group of organisms
that lack chlorophyll, i.e., are not photosynthetic, and which are usually nonmobile, filamentous, and
multicellular. Some grow in the ground, others attach themselves to decaying trees and other plants,
getting their nutrition from decomposing organic matter. Some cause disease, others stabilize sewage
and break down solid wastes in composting.
Game Fish - Species like trout, salmon, or bass, caught for sport. Many of them show more sensitivity
to environmental change than "rough" fish.
Gamma Radiation - Gamma rays are true rays of energy in contrast to alpha and beta radiation. The
properties are similar to X-rays and other electromagnetic waves. They are the most penetrating waves
of radiant nuclear energy but can be blocked by dense materials such as lead.
Gene - A length of DNA that directs the synthesis of a protein.
Page 78
-------
Genetic Engineering - A process of inserting new genetic information into existing cells in order to
modify any organism for the purpose of changing one of its characteristics.
Germicide - Any compound that kills disease-causing microorganisms.
Gray Water - The term given to domestic wastewater composed of washwater from sinks, kitchen sinks,
bathroom sinks and tubs, and laundry tubs.
Greenhouse Effect - The warming of the Earth's atmosphere caused by a build-up of carbon dioxide
or other trace gases; it is believed by many scientists that this build-up allows light from the sun's rays
to heat the Earth but prevents a counterbalancing loss of heat.
Gross Alpha Particle Activity - Total activity due to emission of alpha particles. Used as a screening
measurement for radioactivity generally due to naturally-occurringradionuclides. Activity is commonly
measured in picocuries.
Gross Beta Particle Activity - Total activity due to emission of beta particles. Used as the screening
measurement for radioactivity from man-made radionuclides since the decay products of fission are beta
particle and gamma ray emitters. Activity is commonly measured in picocuries.
Ground Cover - Plants grown to keep soil from eroding.
Ground Water - The supply of fresh water found beneath the Earth's surface, usually in aquifers, which
is often used for supplying wells and springs. Because ground water is a major source of drinking water,
there is growing concern over areas where leaching agricultural or industrial pollutants or substances
from leaking underground storage tanks are contaminating ground water.
Habitat - The place where a population, e. g., human, animal, plant, microorganism, lives and its
surroundings, both living and nonliving.
Half-Life -
1. The time required for a pollutant to lose half its effect on the environment. For example, the half-life
of DDT in the environment is 15 years, of radium, 1,580 years.
2. The time required for half of the atoms of a radioactive element to undergo decay.
3. The time required for the elimination of one-half a total dose from the body.
Halogen - Any of a group of five chemically-related nonmetallic elements that includes bromine,
fluorine, chlorine, iodine, and astatine.
Halon - Bromine containing compounds with long atmospheric lifetimes whose breakdown in the
stratosphere cause depletion of ozone. Halons are used in fire fighting.
Hard Water - Alkaline water containing dissolved salts that interfere with some industrial processes
and prevent soap from lathering.
Page 79
-------
Hazardous Substance -
1. Any material that poses a threat to human health and/or the environment. Typical hazardous
substances are toxic, corrosive, ignitable, explosive, or chemically reactive.
2. Any substances designated by EPA to be reported if a designated quantity of the substance is spilled
in the waters of the United States or if otherwise emitted to the environment.
Hazardous Waste - By-products of society that can pose a substantial or potential hazard to human
health or the environment when improperly managed. Possesses at least one of four characteristics
(ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity), or appears on special EPA lists.
Heat Island Effect - A "dome" of elevated temperatures over an urban area caused by structural and
pavement heat fluxes, and pollutant emissions from the area below the dome.
Heavy Metals - Metallic elements with high atomic weights, e.g., mercury, chromium, cadmium,
arsenic, and lead. They can damage living things at low concentrations and tend to accumulate in the
food chain.
Heptachlor - An insecticide that was banned on some food products in 1975 and all of them in 1978.
It was allowed for use in seed treatment until 1983. More recently, it was found in milk and other dairy
products in Arkansas and Missouri as a result of illegally feeding treated seed to dairy cattle.
Herbicide - A chemical pesticide designed to control or destroy plants, weeds or grasses.
Heterotrophic Organisms - Consumers such as humans and animals, and decomposers - chiefly
bacteria and fungi that are dependent on organic matter for food.
Holding Pond - A pond or reservoir, usually made of earth, built to store polluted runoff.
Host
1. In genetics, the organism, typically a bacterium, into which a gene from another organism in
transplanted.
2. In medicine, an animal infected by or parasitized by another organism.
Humus - Decomposed organic material.
Hybri d - A cell or organism resulting from a cross between two unlike plant or animal cells or organisms.
Hybridoma - A hybrid cell that produces monoclonal antibodies in large quantities.
Hydrogen Sulfide (HS) - Gas emitted during organic decomposition. Also byproduct of oil refining
and burning. It smells like rotten eggs and, in heavy concentration, can cause illness.
Hydrogeology - The geology of ground water, with particular emphasis on the chemistry and movement
of water.
Hydrology - The science dealing with the properties, distribution, and circulation of water.
Page 80
-------
Ignitable - Capable of burning or causing a fire.
Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) - The maximum level to which a healthy
individual can be exposed to a chemical for 30 minutes and escape without suffering irreversible health
effects or impairing symptoms. Used as a "level of concern" (See: level of concern).
Impoundment - A body of water or sludge confined by a dam, dike, floodgate, or other barrier.
In Vitro -
1. "In glass:" a test-tube culture.
2. Any laboratory test using living cells taken from an organism.
In Vivo - In the living body of a plant or animal. In vivo tests are those laboratory experiments carried
out on whole animals or human volunteers.
Incineration -
1. Burning of certain types of solid, liquid or gaseous materials.
2. A treatment technology involving destruction of waste by controlled burning at high temperatures,
e.g., burning sludge to remove the water and reduce the remaining residues to a safe, nonburnable ash
which can be disposed of safely on land, in some waters or in underground locations.
Indicator - In biology, an organism, species, or community whose characteristics show the presence
of specific environmental conditions.
Insert Ingredient - Pesticide components such as solvents, carriers, and surfactants that are not active
against target pests. Not all inert ingredients are innocuous.
Infiltration -
1. The penetration of water through the ground surface into subsurface soil or the penetration of water
from the soil into sewer or other pipes through defective joints, connections, or manhole walls.
2. A land application technique where large volumes of waste water are applied to land, allowed to
penetrate the surface and percolate through the underlying soil (See: Percolation).
Inflow - Entry of extraneous rain water into a sewer system from sources other than infiltration, such
as basement drains, manholes, storm drains, and street washing.
Influent - Water, wastewater, or other liquid flowing into a reservoir, basin, or treatment plant.
Injection Well - A well into which fluids are injected for purposes such as waste disposal, improving
the recovery of crude oil, or solution mining.
Inoculum -
1. Bacterium placed in compost to start biological action.
2. A medium containing organisms which is introduced into cultures of living organisms.
Inorganic Chemicals - Chemical substances of mineral origin, not of basically carbon structure.
Page 81
-------
Insecticide - A pesticide compound specifically used to kill or control the growth of insects.
Inversion - An atmospheric condition caused by a layer of warm air preventing the rise of cooling air
trapped beneath it. This prevents the rise of pollutants that might otherwise be dispersed and can cause
an air pollution episode.
Ion - An electrically charged atom or group of atoms which can be drawn from waste water during the
electrodialysis process.
Ion Exchange Treatment - A common water softening method often found on a large scale at water
purification plants that remove some organics and radium by adding calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide
to increase the pH to a level where the metals will precipitate out.
Ionizing Radiation - Radiation that can remove electrons from atoms, i,e, alpha, beta, and gamma
radiation.
Irradiation - Exposure to radiation of wavelengths shorter than those of visible light (gamma, x-ray,
or ultraviolet) for medical purposes, the destruction of bacteria in milk or other foodstuffs, or for inducing
polymerization of monomers or vulcanization of rubber.
Irrigation - Technique for applying water or wastewater to land areas to supply the water and nutrients
needed for plants.
Isotope - A variation of an element that has the same atomic number but a different weight because of
its neutrons. Various isotopes of the same element may have different radioactive behaviors.
Lagoon -
1. A shallow pond where sunlight, bacterial action, and oxygen work to purify wastewater; also used
to store wastewaters or spent nuclear fuel rods.
2. Shallow body of water, often separated from the sea by coral reefs or sandbars.
Land Application - Discharge of wastewater onto the ground for treatment or reuse. (See: Irrigation)
Land Farming (of waste) - A disposal process in which hazardous waste deposited on or in the soil is
naturally degraded by microbes.
Landfills -
1. Sanitary landfills are land disposal sites for nonhazardous solid wastes at which the waste is spread
in layers, compacted to the smallest practical volume, and cover material applied at the end of each
operating day.
2. Secure chemical landfills are disposal sites for hazardous waste. They are selected and designed to
minimize the change of release of hazardous substances into the environment.
LCSO/Lethal Concentration - Median level concentration, a standard measure of toxicity. It tells how
much of a substance is needed to kill half of a group of experimental organisms at a specific time of
observation (See: LD50).
Page 82
-------
LF D - The highest concentration of a toxic substance at which none of the test organisms die.
LD SO/ Lethal Dose - The dose of a toxicant that will kill 50 percent of the test organisms within a
designated period of time. The lower the LD50, the more toxic the compound.
LD LO - The lowest concentration and dosage of a toxic substance which kills test organisms.
Leachate - A liquid that results from water collecting contaminants as it trickles through wastes,
agricultural pesticides or fertilizers. Leaching may occur in farming areas, feedlots, and landfills, and
may result in hazardous substances entering surface water, ground water, or soil.
Lead (Pb) - A heavy metal that is hazardous to health if breathed or swallowed. Its use in gasoline, paints,
and plumbing compounds has been sharply restricted or eliminated by federal laws and regulations.
(See: Heavy Metals)
Leaded Gasoline - Gasoline to which lead has been added to raise the octane level.
Level of Concern (LOG) - The concentration in air of an extremely hazardous substance above which
there may be serious immediate health effects to anyone exposed to it for short periods of time.
Limnology - The study of the physical, chemical, meteorological, and biological aspects of fresh water.
Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) - The concentration of a compound in air below which a flame will not
propagate if the mixture is ignited.
Lowest-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level (LOAEL)- In dose-response experiments, the experimental
exposure level representing the lowest level tested at which adverse effects were demonstrated.
Marsh - A type of wetland that does not accumulate appreciable peat deposits and is dominated by
herbaceous vegetation. Marshes may be either fresh or saltwater and tidal or nontidal. (See: Wetlands)
Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) - The maximum permissible level of contaminant in water
delivered to any user of a public water system. MCLs are enforceable standards.
Media - Specific environments—air, water, soil—which are the subject of regulatory concern and
activities.
Mercury (Hg) - A heavy metal that can accumulate in the environment and is highly toxic if breathed
or swallowed. (See: Heavy Metals)
Metabolite - Any substance produced in or by biological processes and derived from a pesticide.
Methane (CH 4) - A colorless, nonpoisonous, flammable gas created by anaerobic decomposition of
organic compounds.
Microbes - Microscopic organisms such as algae, animals, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, some
of which cause diseases. (See: Microorganism)
Page 83
-------
Microorganism - Living organisms so small that individually they can usually only be seen through a
microscope.
Mist - Liquid particle measuring 500 to 40 microns, that are formed by condensation of vapor. By
comparison, "frog" particles are smaller than 40 microns.
Monoclonal Antibodies - (Also called MABs and MCAs) Molecules of living organisms that
selectively find and attach to other molecules to which their structure conforms exactly. This could also
apply to equivalent activity by chemical molecules.
Muck Soils - Earth made from decaying plant materials.
Mulch - A layer of material (wood chips, straw, leaves) placed around plants to hold moisture, prevent
weed growth, protect the plants, and enrich the soil.
Mutagen - Any substance that can cause a change in genetic material.
Mutate - To bring about a change in the genetic constitution of a cell by altering its DNA. In turn,
"mutagenesis" is any process by which cells are mutated.
Natural Gas - A natural fuel containing primarily methane and ethane that occurs in certain geologic
formations.
Natural Selection - The process of survival of the fittest, by which organisms that adapt to their
environment survive and those that do not disappear.
Necrosis - Death of plant or animal cells. In plants, necrosis can discolor areas on the plant or kill it
entirely.
Nematocide - A chemical agent which is destructive to nematodes (round worms or threadworms).
Neutralization - Decreasing the acidity or alkalinity of a substance by adding to it alkaline or acidic
materials respectively.
Nitrate - A compound containing nitrogen which can exist in the atmosphere or as a dissolved gas in
water and which can have harmful effects on humans and animals. Nitrates in water can cause severe
illness in infants and cows.
Nitric Oxide (NO) - A gas formed by combustion under high temperature and high pressure in an
internal combustion engine. It changes into nitrogen dioxide in the ambient air and contributes to
photochemical smog.
Nitrification - The process whereby ammonia in wastewater is oxidized to nitrite and then to nitrate by
bacterial or chemical reactions.
Nitrilotriacetic Acid (NTA) - A compound being used to replace phosphates in detergents.
Page 84
-------
Nitrite -
1. An intermediate in the process of nitrification.
2. Nitrous oxide salts used in food preservation.
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) - The result of nitric oxide combining with oxygen in the atmosphere. A major
component of photochemical smog.
Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) - Product of combustion from transportation and stationary sources and a major
contributor to the formation of ozone in the troposphere and acid deposition.
No-Observed-Effect-Level - In dose-response experiments, the experimental exposure level represent-
ing the highest level tested at which no effects at all were demonstrated.
Non-ionizing Electromagnetic Radiation -
1. Radiation that does not change the structure of atoms but does heat tissue and may cause harmful
biological effects.
2. Microwaves, radio waves, and low frequency electromagnetic fields from high voltage transmission
lines.
Non-Observed-Adverse-Effect-Level (NOAEL) - In dose-response experiments, the experimental
exposure level representing the highest level tested at which no adverse effects were demonstrated.
Non-Point Source - Pollution sources which are diffuse and do not have a single point of origin or are
not introduced into a receiving stream from a specific outlet. The pollutants are generally carried off the
land by stormwater runoff. The commonly used categories for non-point sources are: agriculture,
forestry, urban, mining, construction, dams and channels, land disposal, and salt water intrusion.
Nuclear Winter - Prediction by some scientists that smoke and debris rising from massive fires resulting
from a nuclear war could enter the atmosphere and block out sunlight for weeks or months. The scientists
making this prediction project a cooling of the Earth's surface, and changes in climate which could, for
example, negatively effect world agriculture and weather patterns.
Nutrient - Any substance assimilated by living things that promotes growth. The term is generally
applied to nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewater, but is also applied to other essential and trace
elements.
Oligotrophic Lakes - Deep clear lakes with low nutrient supplies. They contain little organic matter
and have a high dissolved-oxygen level.
Opacity - The amount of light obscured by paniculate pollution in the air; clear window glass has a zero
opacity, a brick wall has 100 percent opacity. Opacity is used as an indicator of changes in performance
of paniculate matter pollution control systems.
Open Dump - An uncovered site used for disposal of waste without environmental controls .
(See:Dump)
Page 85
-------
Organic -
1. referring to or derived from living organisms.
2. In chemistry, any compound containing carbon.
Organic Chemicals/Compounds - Animal or plant-produced substances containing mainly carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen.
Organic Matter - Carbonaceous waste contained in plant or animal matter and originating from
domestic or industrial sources.
Organism - Any living thing.
Organophosphates - Pesticide chemicals that contain phosphorus; used to control insects. They are
short-lived, but some can be toxic when first applied.
Organotins - Chemical compounds used in anti-foulant paints to protect the hulls of boats and ships,
buoys, and dock pilings from marine organisms such as barnacles.
Osmosis - The tendency of a fluid to pass through a permeable membrane such as the wall of a living
cell into a less concentrated solution so as to equalize the concentrations on both sides of the membrane.
Overburden - The rock and soil cleared away before mining.
Oxidation -
1. The addition of oxygen which breaks down organic waste or chemicals such as cyanides, phenols,
and organic sulfur compounds in sewage by bacterial and chemical means.
2. Oxygen combining with other elements.
3. The process in chemistry whereby electrons are removed from a molecule.
Oxidation Pond - A man-made lake or body of waterin which waste is consumed by bacteria. Itisused
most frequently with other waste-treatment processes. An oxidation pond is basically the same as a
sewage lagoon.
Oxygenated Solvent - An organic solvent containing oxygen as part of the molecular structure.
Alcohols and ketones are oxygenated compounds often used as paint solvents.
Ozone (03) - Found in two layers of the atmosphere, the stratosphere and the troposphere. In the
stratosphere (the atmospheric layer beginning 7 to 10 miles above the earth's surface) ozone is a form
of oxygen found naturally which provides a protective layer shielding the earth from ultraviolet
radiation's harmful health effects on humans and the environment. In the troposphere (the layer
extending up 7 to 10 miles from the earth's surface), ozone is a chemical oxidant and major component
of photochemical smog. Ozone can seriously affect the human respiratory system and is one of the most
prevalent and widespread of all the criteria pollutants for which the Clean Air Act required EPA to set
standards. Ozone in the troposphere is produced through complex chemical reactions of nitrogen oxides,
which are among the primary pollutants emitted by combustion sources; hydrocarbons, released into the
atmosphere through the combustion, handling and processing of petroleum products; and sunlight.
Page 86
-------
Ozone Depletion - Destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer which shields the earth from ultraviolet
radiation harmful to biological life. This destruction of ozone is caused by the breakdown of certain
chlorine and/or bromine containing compounds (chlorofluorocarbons or halons) which break down
when they reach the stratosphere and catalytically destroy ozone molecules.
Pandemic - Widespread throughout an area, nation or the world.
Paraquat = A standard herbicide used to kill various types of crops, including marijuana.
Participate Loading - The mass of particulates per unit volume of air or water.
Particulates - Fine liquid or soil particles such as dust, smoke, mist, fumes, or smog, found in air or
emissions.
Pathogens - Microorganisms that can cause disease in other organisms or in humans, animals andplants.
They may be bacteria, viruses, or parasites and are found in sewage, in runoff from animal farms or rural
areas populated with domestic and/or wild animals, and in water used for swimming. Fish and shellfish
contaminated by pathogens, or the contaminated water itself, can cause serious illnesses.
PCBs - A group of toxic, persistent chemicals (polychlorinated biphenyls) used in transformers and
capacitors for insulating purposes and in gas pipeline systems as a lubricant. Further sale of new use was
banned by law in 1979.
Percolation - The movement of water downward and radially through the sub-surface soil layers,
usually continuing downward to the ground water.
Permeability - The rate at which liquids pass through soil or other materials in a specified direction.
Persistence - Refers to the length of time a compound, once introduced into the environment, stays there.
A compound may persist for less than a second or indefinitely.
Pest - An insect, rodent, nematode, fungus, weed or other form of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal
life or virus, bacterial or microorganism that is injurious to health or the environment.
Pesticide - Substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or
mitigating any pest. Also, any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator,
defoliant, or desiccant. Pesticides can accumulate in the food chain and/or contaminate the environment
if misused.
Pesticide Tolerance - The amount of pesticide residue allowed by law to remain in or on the harvested
crop. By using various safety factors, EPA sets these levels well below the point where the chemicals
might be harmful to consumers.
pH - A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a liquid or solid material.
Page 87
-------
Phenols - Organic compounds that are by-products of petroleum refining, tanning, and textile, dye, and
resin manufacturing. Low concentrations cause taste and odor problems in water; higher concentrations
can kill aquatic life and humans.
Pheromone - Hormonal chemical produced by female of a species to attract a mate.
Phosphorus (P) - An essential chemical food element that can contribute to the eutrophication of lakes
and other water bodies. Increased phosphorus levels result from discharge of phosphorus-containing
materials into surface waters.
Photochemical Smog - Air pollution caused by chemical reactions.
Photosynthesis - The manufacture by plants of carbohydrates and oxygen from carbon dioxide and
water in the presence of chlorophyll, using sunlight as an energy source.
Phytoplankton - That portion of the plankton community comprised of tiny plants, e.g., algae, diatoms.
Phytotoxic - Something that harms plants.
Picocurie (pCi) - Measurement of radioactivity. A picocurie is one million millionth, or a trillionth of
a curie, and represents about 2. 2 radioactive particle disintegrations per minute.
Picocuries Per Liter (pCi/L) - A unit of measure used for expressing levels of radon gas.
(See: Picocurie)
Plankton - Tiny plants and animals that live in water.
Plasmid - A circular piece of DNA that exists apart from the chromosome and replicates independently
of it. Bacterial plasmids carry information that renders the bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Plasmids are
often used in genetic engineering to carry desired genes into organisms.
Plastics - Non-metallic compounds that result from chemical reaction, and are molded or formed into
rigid or pliable construction materials or fabrics.
Plume -
1. A visible or measurable discharge of a contaminant from a given point of origin. Can be visible or
thermal in water, or visible in the air as, for example, a plume of smoke.
2. The area of measurable and potentially harmful radiation leaking from a damaged reactor.
3. The distance from a toxic release considered dangerous for those exposed to the leaking fumes.
Plutonium (Pu) - A radioactive metallic element similar chemically to uranium.
Point Source - A stationary location or fixed facility from which pollutants are discharged or emitted.
Also, any single identifiable source of pollution, e.g., a pipe, ditch, ship, ore pit, factory smokestack.
Page 88
-------
Pollen -
1. A fine dust produced by plants.
2. The fertilizing element of flowering plants.
3. A natural or background air pollutant.
Pollution - Generally, the presence of matter or energy whose nature, location or quantity produces
undesired environmental effects. Under the Clean Water Act, for example, the term is defined as the
man-made or man-induced alteration of the physical, biological, and radiological integrity of water.
Polyelectrolytes - Synthetic chemicals that help solids to clump during sewage treatment.
Polymer - Basic molecular ingredients in plastic.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) - A tough, environmentally indestructible plastic that releases hydrochloric
acid when burned.
Population - A group of interbreeding organisms of the same kind occupying a particular space.
Generally, the number of humans or other living creatures in a designated area.
Potable Water - Water that is safe for drinking and cooking.
PPM/PPB - Parts per million/parts per billion, a way of expressing tiny concentrations of pollutants in
air, water, soil, human tissue, food, or other products.
Precipitation - Removal of solids from liquid waste so that the hazardous solid portion can be disposed
of safely; removal of particles from airborne emissions.
Precursor - In photochemical terminology, a compound such as a volatile organic compound (VOC)
that 'precedes' an oxidant. Precursors react in sunlight to form ozone or other photochemical oxidants.
Pretreatment - Processes used to reduce, eliminate, or alter the nature of wastewater pollutants from
nondomestic sources before they are discharged into publicly owned treatment works.
Prevention - Measures taken to minimize the release of wastes to the environment.
Primary Drinking Water Regulation - Applies to public water systems and specifies a contaminant
level, which, in the judgment of the EPA Administrator, will have no adverse effect on human health.
Primary Waste Treatment - First steps in wastewater treatment; screens and sedimentation tanks are
used to remove most material that floats or will settle. Primary treatment results in the removal of about
30 percent of carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand from domestic sewage.
Proteins - Complex nitrogenous organic compounds of high molecular weight that contain amino acids
as their basic unit and are essential for growth and repair of animal tissue. Many proteins are enzymes.
Page 89
-------
Protoplast - A membrane bound cell from which the outer cell wall has been partially or completely
removed. The term often is applied to plant cells.
Public Water System - A system that provides piped water for human consumption to at least 15 service
connections or regularly serves 25 individuals.
Putrescible - Able to rot quickly enough to cause odors and attract flies.
Pyrolysis - Decomposition of a chemical by extreme heat.
Quantitation Limit - The lowest level at which a chemical may be accurately and reproducibly
quantitated. Usually equal to the detection limit multiplied by a factor of 3 to 5, but varies between
chemicals and between samples.
RAD (Radiation Absorbed Dose) - A unit of absorbed dose of radiation. One RAD of absorbed dose
is equal to .01 joules per kilogram.
Radiation - Any form of energy propagated as rays, waves, or streams of energy particles. The term
is frequently used in relation to the emission of rays from the nucleus of an atom.
Radiation Standards - Regulations that set maximum exposure limits for protection of the public from
radioactive materials.
Radiobiology - The study of radiation effects on living things.
Radionuclide - Radioactive element characterized according to its atomic mass and atomic number
which can be man-made or naturally occurring. Radioisotopes can have a long life as soil or water
pollutants, and are believed to have potentially mutagenic effects on the human body.
Radius of Vulnerable Zone - The maximum distance from the point of release of a hazardous substance
in which the airborne concentration could reach the level of concern under specified weather conditions.
Radon (Rn) - A colorless, naturally-occurring, radioactive, inert gaseous element formed by radioac-
tive decay of radium atoms in soil or rocks.
Radon Decay Products - A term used to refer collectively to the immediate products of the radon decay
chain. These include Po 218, Pb 214, Bi 214, and Po 214, which have an average combined half life of
about 30 minutes.
Raw Sewage - Untreated wastewater.
Recharge Area - A land area in which water reaches to the zone of saturation from surface infiltration,
e.g., an area where rainwater soaks through the earth to reach an aquifer.
Recombinant DNA (DNA) - The new DNA that is formed by combining pieces of DNA from different
organisms or cells.
Page 90
-------
Recommended Maximum Contaminant Level (RMCL) - The maximum level of contaminant in
drinking water at which no known or anticipated adverse affect on human health would occur, and which
includes an adequate margin of safety. Recommended levels are nonenforceable health goals.
(See: Maximum Contaminant Level)
Recycle/Reuse - The process of minimizing the generation of waste by recovering usable products that
might otherwise become waste. Examples are the recycling of aluminum cans, wastepaper, and bottles.
Red Tide - A proliferation of a marine plankton that is toxic and often fatal to fish. This natural
phenomenon may be stimulated by the addition of nutrients. A tide can be called red, green or brown,
depending on the coloration of the plankton.
Reference Dose (RfD) - Toxicity value used most often in evaluating noncarcinogenic effects resulting
from exposures at Superfund sites.
Registration - Formal listing with EPA of a new pesticide before it can be sold or distributed in intra-
or interstate commerce. The product must be registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act. EPA is responsible for registration (pre-market licensing) of pesticides on the basis
of data demonstrating that they will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on human health or the en-
vironment when used according to approved label directions.
REM (Roentgen Equivalent Man) - The unit of dose equivalent from ionizing radiation to the human
body, used to measure the amount of radiation to which a person or a part of a human has been exposed.
Reportable Quantity (RQ) - The quantity of a hazardous substance that triggers reports under
Superfund. If a substance is released in amounts exceeding its RQ, the release must be reported to the
National Response Center.
Resource - A person, thing, or action needed for living or to improve the quality of life.
Restriction Enzymes - Enzymes that recognize certain specific regions of a long DNA molecule and
then cut the DNA into smaller pieces.
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) - A molecule that carries the genetic message from DNA to a cell's protein
producing mechanisms; similar to, but chemically different from, DNA.
Ringlemann Chart - A series of shaded illustrations used to measure the opacity of air pollution
emissions. The chart ranges from light gray through black and is used to set and enforce emissions
standards.
Riparian Habitat - Areas adjacent to rivers and streams that have a high density, diversity, and
productivity of plant and animal species relative to nearby uplands.
River Basin - The land area drained by a river and its tributaries.
Rodenticide - A chemical or agent used to destroy rats or other rodent pests, or to prevent them from
damaging food and crops.
Page 91
-------
Rubbish - Solid waste, excluding food waste and ashes, from homes, institutions, and work-places.
Run-Off = That part of precipitation, snow melt, or irrigation water that runs off the land into streams
or other surfacewater. It can carry pollutants from the air and land into the receiving waters.
Salinity - The degree of salt in water.
Salt Water Intrusion - The invasion of fresh surface or ground water by salt water. If the salt water
comes from the ocean, it may be called sea water intrusion.
Salts - Minerals that water picks up as it passes through the air, over and under the ground, and as it is
used by households and industry.
Salvage - The utilization of waste materials.
Sanitary Sewer - Underground pipes that carry off only domestic or industrial waste, not storm water.
Reportable Quantity (RQ) - The quantity of a hazardous substance that triggers reports under
CERCLA. If a substance is released in amounts exceeding its RQ, the release must be reported to the
National Resource Center, the state, and community emergency coordinators for areas likely to be
affected.
Sanitation - Control of physical factors in the human environment that could harm development, health
or survival.
Saturated Zone - A subsurface area in which all pores and cracks are filled with water under pressure
equal to or greater than that of the atmosphere.
Scrubber - An air pollution device that uses a spray of water or reactant or a dry process to trap pollutants
in emissions.
Secondary Treatment - The second step in most publicly owned waste treatment systems in which
bacteria consume the organic parts of the waste. It is accomplished by bringing together waste, bacteria,
and oxygen in trickling filters or in the activated sludge process. This treatment removes floating and
settled solids and about 90 percent of the oxygen demanding substances and suspended solids.
Disinfection is the final stage of secondary treatment (See: Primary, Tertiary Treatment).
Sedimentation - Letting solids settle out of wastewater by gravity during wastewater treatment.
Sediments - Soil, sand, and minerals washed from land into water usually after rain. They pile up in
reservoirs, rivers and harbors, destroying fish-nesting areas and holes of water animals, and clouding the
water so that needed sunlight might not reach aquatic plants. Careless farming, mining, and building
activities will expose sediment materials, allowing them to be washed off the land after rainfalls.
Semi-Confined Aquifer - An aquifer that is partially confined by a soil layer (or layers) of low
permeability through which recharge and discharge can occur.
Page 92
-------
Senescence - Term for the aging process. Sometimes used to describe lakes or other bodies of water
in advanced stages of eutrophication.
Septic Tank - An underground storage tank for wastes from homes having no sewage line to a treatment
plant. The waste goes directly from the home to the tank, where the organic waste is decomposed by
bacteria and the sludge settles to the bottom. The effluent flows out of the tank into the ground through
drains; the sludge is pumped out periodically.
Sewage - The waste and wastewater produced by residential and commercial establishments and
discarded into sewers.
Sewer - A channel or conduit that carries wastewater and stormwater runoff from the source of a
treatment plant or receiving stream. Sanitary sewers carry household, industrial, and commercial waste.
Storm sewers carry runoff from rain or snow. Combined sewers are used for both purposes.
Silt - Fine particles of sand or rock that can be picked up by the air or water and deposited as sediment.
Sludge - A semi-solid residue from any of a number of air or water treatment processes. Sludge can be
a hazardous waste.
Slurry - A watery mixture of insoluble matter that results from some pollution control techniques.
Smelter - A facility that melts or fuses ore, often with an accompanying chemical change, to separate
the metal. Emissions are known to cause pollution. Smelting is the process involved.
Smog - Air pollution associated with oxidants. (See: Photochemical Smog)
Smoke - Particles suspended in air after incomplete combustion of materials.
Soft Water - Any water that is not "hard," i.e., does not contain a significant amount of dissolved
minerals such as salts containing calcium or magnesium.
Sole Source Aquifer - An aquifer that supplies 50 percent or more of the drinking water of an area.
Solid Waste - Nonliquid, nonsoluble materials ranging frommunicipal garbage to industrial wastes that
contain complex, and sometimes hazardous, substances. Solid wastes also include sewage sludge,
agricultural refuse, demolition wastes, and mining residues. Technically, solid waste also refers to
liquids and gases in containers.
Solvent - Substance (usually liquid) capable of dissolving or dispersing one or more other substances.
Soot - Carbon dust formed by incomplete combustion.
Sorption - The action of soaking up or attracting substances. A process used in many pollution control
systems.
Species - A reproductively isolated aggregate of interbreeding populations of organisms.
Page 93
-------
Spoil - Dirt or rock that has been removed from its original location, destroying the composition of the
soil in the process, as with strip mining or dredging.
Stabilization - Conversion of the active organic matter in sludge into inert, harmless material.
Stable Air - A mass of air that is not moving normally, so that it holds rather than disperses pollutants.
Stack - A chimney or smokestack; a vertical pipe that discharges used air.
Stack Effect - Used air, as in a chimney, that moves upward because it is warmer than the surrounding
atmosphere.
Stagnation - Lack of motion in a mass of air or water, which tends to hold pollutants.
Standards - Prescriptive norms which govern action and actual limits on the amount of pollutants or
emissions produced. EPA, under most of its responsibilities, establishes minimum standards. States are
allowed to be more strict.
Sterilization -
1. In pest control, the use of radiation and chemicals to damage body cells needed for reproduction.
2. The destruction of all living organisms in water or on the surface of various materials. In contrast,
disinfection is the destruction of most living organisms in water or on surfaces.
Storage - Temporary holding of waste pending treatment or disposal. Storage methods include
containers, tanks, waste piles, and surface impoundments.
Storm Sewer - A system of pipes (separate from sanitary sewers) that carry only water runoff from
building and land surfaces.
Stratification - Separating into layers.
Stratosphere - The portion of the atmosphere that is 10 to 25 miles above the Earth's surface.
Strip-Cropping - Growing crops in a systematic arrangement of strips or bands which serve as barriers
to wind and water erosion.
Strip-Mining - A process that uses machines to scrape soil or rock away from mineral deposits just under
the Earth's surface.
Sulfur Dioxide (S02) - A heavy, pungent, colorless, gaseous air pollutant formed primarily by the
combustion of fossil plants.
Surface Impoundment = Treatment, storage, or disposal of liquid hazardous wastes in ponds.
Page 94
-------
Surface Water - All water naturally open to the atmosphere (rivers, lakes, reservoirs, streams, impound-
ments, seas, estuaries) and all springs, wells or other collectors which are directly influenced by surface
water.
Surfactant - A surface-active agent used in detergents to cause lathering.
Suspended Solids - Small particles of solid pollutants that float on the surface of or are suspended in
sewage or other liquids. They resist removal by conventional means. (See: Total Suspended Solids)
Swamp - A type of wetland that is dominated by woody vegetation and does not accumulate appreciable
peat deposits. Swamps may be fresh or salt water and tidal or nontidal. (See: Wetlands)
Synergism - The cooperative interaction of two or more chemicals or other phenomena producing a
greater total effect than the sum of their individual effects.
Synthetic Organic Chemicals (SOCs) - Man-made organic chemicals. Some SOCs are volatile, others
tend to stay dissolved in water rather than evaporate out of it.
Systemic Pesticide - A chemical that is taken up from the ground or absorbed through the surface and
carried through the system of the organism being protected, making the organism toxic to pests.
Tailings - Residue of raw materials or waste separated out during the processing of crops or mineral ores.
Teratogen - Substance that causes malformation or serious deviation from normal development of
embryos and fetuses.
Terracing - Diking, build along the contour of sloping agricultural land, that holds runoff and sediment
to reduce erosion.
Tertiary Treatment - Advanced cleaning of wastewater that goes beyond the secondary or biological
stage. It removes nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen and most suspended solids.
Thermal Pollution - Discharge of heated water from industrial processes that can affect the life
processes of aquatic organisms.
Threshold Limit Value (TLV) - Represents the air concentrations of chemical substances to which it
is believed that workers may be daily exposed without adverse effect.
Tidal Marsh - Low, flat marshlands traversed by channels and tidal hollows and subject to tidal
inundation; normally, the only vegetation present are salt-tolerant bushes and grasses. (See: Wetlands)
Total Suspended Solids (TSS) - A measure of the suspended solids in wastewater, effluent, or water
bodies, determined by using tests for "total suspended non-filterable solids". (See: Suspended Solids)
Toxic - Harmful to living organisms.
Page 95
-------
Toxic Cloud - Airborne mass of gases, vapors, fumes, or aerosols containing toxic materials.
Toxic Pollutants - Materials contaminating the environment that cause death, disease, birth defects in
organisms that ingest or absorb them. The quantities and length of exposure necessary to cause these
effects can vary widely.
Toxic Substance - A chemical or mixture that may present an unreasonable risk of injury to health or
the environment.
Toxicant - A poisonous agent that kills or injures animal or plant life.
Toxicity • The degree of danger posed by a substance to animal or plant life. (See: Acute, Chronic
Toxicity)
Toxicology - The science and study of poisons control.
Transpiration - The process by which water vapor is lost to the atmosphere from living plants. The
term can also be applied to the quantity of water thus dissipated.
Trash-to-Energy Plan - A plan for putting waste back to work by burning trash to produce energy.
Trichloroethylene (TCE) - A stable, low boiling, colorless liquid, toxic by inhalation. TCE is used
as a solvent, metal degreasing agent, and in other industrial applications.
Trihalomethane (THM) - One of a family of organic compounds, named as derivatives of methane.
THMs are generally the by-product from chlorination of drinking water that contains an organic material.
Troposphere - The lower atmosphere, the portion of the atmosphere between seven and ten miles from
the Earth's surface where clouds are formed.
Tundra - A type of ecosystem dominated by lichens, mosses, grasses, and woody plants. Tundra is found
at high latitudes (arctic tundra) and high altitudes (alpine tundra). Arctic tundra is underlain by
permafrost and is usually very wet. (See: Wetlands)
Ultraviolet Rays - Radiation from the sun that can be useful or potentially harmful. UV rays from one
part of the spectrum enhance plant life and are useful in some medical and dental procedures; UV rays
from other parts of the spectrum to which humans are exposed, e.g., while getting a suntan, can cause
skin cancer or other tissue damage. The ozone layer in the atmosphere provides a protective shield ~
limits the amount of ultraviolet rays that reach the Earth's surface.
Unsaturated Zone - The area above the water table where the soil pores are not fully saturated, although
some water may be present.
Urban Runoff - Stormwater from city streets and adjacent domestic or commercial properties that may
carry pollutants of various kinds into the sewer systems and/or receiving waters.
Page 96
-------
Vaporization - The change of a substance from a liquid to a gas.
Vector -
1. An organism, often an insect or rodent, that carries disease.
2. An object that is used to transport genes into a host cell (vector can be plasmids, viruses, or other
bacteria). A gene is placed in the vector, the vector then "infects" the bacterium.
Vinyl Chloride - A chemical compound, used in producing some plastics, that is believed to be
carcinogenic.
Virus - The smallest form of microorganisms capable of causing disease.
Volatile - Description of any substance that evaporates readily.
Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) - Any compound containing carbon and hydrogen or containing
carbon and hydrogen in combination with any other element which has a vapor pressure of 1.5 pounds
per square inch absolute (77.6 mm. Hq) or greater under actual storage conditions.
Waste -
1. Unwanted materials left over from a manufacturing process.
2. Refuse from places of human or animal habitation.
Wastewater - The spent or used water from individual homes, a community, a farm, or an industry that
contains dissolved or suspended matter.
Water Pollution - The presence in water of enough harmful or objectionable material to damage the
water's quality.
Water Quality Criteria - Specific levels of water quality which, if reached, are expected to render a
body of water suitable for its designated use. The criteria are based on specific levels of pollutants that
would make the water harmful if used for drinking, swimming, farming, fish production, or industrial
processes.
Water Quality Standards - State-adoptedandEPA-approvedambientstandardsforwaterbodies. The
standards cover the use of the water body and the water quality criteria which must be met to protect the
designated use or uses.
Water Solubility - The maximum concentration of a chemical compound which can result when it is
dissolved in water. If a substance is water soluble, it can very readily disperse through the environment.
Water Table - The level of ground water.
Watershed - The land area that drains into a stream.
Well - A bored, drilled, or driven shaft, or a dug hole, whose depth is greater than the largest surface
dimension and whose purpose is to reach underground water supplies or oil, or to store or bury fluids
below ground.
Page 97
-------
Wetlands - An area that is regularly saturated by surface or ground water and subsequently is
characterized by a prevalence of vegetation that is adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Examples
include: swamps, bogs, fens, marshes, and estuaries.
Wildlife Refuge - An area as designated for the protection of wild animals, within which hunting and
fishing are either prohibited or strictly controlled.
Working Level (WL) - A unit of measure for documenting exposure to radon decay products. One
working level is equal to approximately 200 picocuries per liter.
Working Level Month (WLM) - A unit of measure used to determine cumulative exposure to radon.
Xenobiotic - Term for nonnaturally occurring man-made substances found in the environment, i.e.,
synthetic material solvents, plastics.
Zooplankton - Tiny aquatic animals eaten by fish.
ii ii [i
It it 'I
Page 98
-------
Notes
Page 99
-------
EPA Resources
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION 7
Office of Public Affairs
726 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, Kansas 66101
Region 7, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), is re-
sponsible for environmental ac-
tivities in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa
and Nebraska. EPA was estab-
lished as a regulatory agency un-
der a Presidential Executive Order
in 1970 to protect human health
and the environment. The Agency
enforces nine major environ-
mental laws passed by Congress to
protect air, water and soil from
contamination. The Agency is
also spearheading a global move-
ment for joint cooperation be-
tween all nations to protect and
preserve our earth's ecological
systems.
EPA is keenly aware of the impor-
tance of our nation's youth in de-
termining the futue of environ-
mental progress and has developed
a two-tier program to recognize
those young people who have been
involved in environmental proj-
ects. The ajinual President's Envi-
ronmental Youth Awards Program
(PEYA) is a non-competitive pro-
gram for students K-12. The
PEYA National Awards Competi-
tion is competitive and winners
receive a free trip to Washington,
D.C. to attend the awards cere-
mony.
Phone: (913) 551-7003
Toll-Free:
Kansas: 1-800-221-7749
Iowa, Missouri
and Nebraska: 1-800-223-0425
Educational Resources
Services
Speakers
Chipmunk Visits
Audiovisuals
Publications
Field Trip (tours)
Tech. Assist.
Classes/Programs
K-6
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
J
Junior
High
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
High
School
Q
Q
Q
Q
J
Q
College/
Civic
Q
Q
J
Q
J
Q
Categories
Air Pollution
Asbestos
Hazardous Waste
Pesticides
Radon
Recycling
Solid Waste
Water Pollution
Wetlands
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
J
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
J
Q
------- |