L1 - Intro to Pollution

Question 1

What is pollution?

Answer 1

Physical impurity or contamination of harmful or poisonous substances

Question 2

Give examples of pollution disasters

Answer 2

Exxon Valdez oil spill (1989)

Question 3

Give examples of pollutants

Answer 3

Mercury
Asbestos
Pesticides
Sewage
Solvents

Question 4

Give 4 examples of very problematic types of pollutants

Answer 4

Polymers - eg lignin
Toxic organics - cyanides, phenol
Highly toxic organics - methylmercury silver
Not soluble - oil

Question 5

When do pollutants become pollution?

Answer 5

When they enter the environment they’re not normally found in

Question 6

What 5 environments can be polluted?

Answer 6

Marine - sea
Terrestrial - soil
Fresh water - rivers and lakes
Atmosphere 
Extraterrestrial - space

Question 7

What are the 3 main ways pollution gets into the environment?

Answer 7

Deliberate release
Natural release
Accidental release

Question 8

What are examples of deliberate release?

Answer 8

Industrial discharge, tipping, litter

Question 9

What are examples of Natural release?

Answer 9

Oils seepages, erosion

Question 10

What are examples of accidental release?

Answer 10

Tanker accidents, explosions, gas leaks

Question 11

What is the increase in CO2 in this age?

Answer 11

1000-1750 it was 280 ppm
2015 it is 399 ppm
CO2 increasing at 0.5% per year

Question 12

What are the UK’s CO2 emissions and how has it increased?

Answer 12

2% of global CO2
Peaked at 831m tonnes in 2004.
2011 was 22% lower

Question 13

What is categorised as a serious incident?

Answer 13

Major, serious, persistent or extensive impacts. E.g 100 dead adult coarse fish

Question 14

What is categorised as a significant incident?

Answer 14

Significant impact on environ, people, and property. E.g damage to protected wildlife site

Question 15

How have UK pollution incidents changed since 2000?

Answer 15

Reduced 50%

Question 16

What are the main types of pollution incidents in the UK in 2012?

Answer 16

28% Waste management facilities
16% agriculture
13% sewage and water

Question 17

How did UK waste generation decrease?

Answer 17

11.3 percent between 2004 and 2008

Question 18

What sectors in the UK produce most of the waste?

Answer 18

Retail and wholesale - 19%
Power and utilities - 12%
Metal manufacture - 9%
Food, drink, tobacco - 10%

Question 19

What 2 countries are good at bad with waste?

Answer 19

Latvia almost all waste to landfill

Sweden all recycled

Question 20

How much of the UK is contaminated?

Answer 20

33500 confirmed

Question 21

What are arguments for treatment of pollution?

Answer 21

Ecological - destruction of habitat, loss of diversity and extinctions
Human - Health, welfare and economics

Question 22

What are arguments against treatment of pollution?

Answer 22

• Not destruction but creation of new environment

- Extinction leads to niches for evolution to fill

Question 23

What are the broad types of treatment of contamination and example

Answer 23

Physical - containment
Chemical - neutralise acid
Biological - Sewage treatment

Question 24

What are the four main types of physic-chemical treatment?

Answer 24

Containment
Solidification
Minimisation
Destruction

Question 25

What are the two ways physic-chemical treatment is carried out?

Answer 25

In situ - treat where it is | Ex situ - remove to another site

Question 26

What are the features of physical containment? And example

Answer 26

Movement prevented by barriers Applied to all types of pollution Control of water and gases is difficult E.g. storage of nuclear waste

Question 27

How can physical containment treat liquid pollution?

Answer 27

Leachate collection - pipes laid through collect methane and gases generated by degradation

Question 28

What is the landfill tax?

Answer 28

£80 per tonne

Question 29

What are some inactive pollutants?

Answer 29

Brick, clay, soil, gravel

Question 30

What are some active pollutants?

Answer 30

Wood, piping, plastics

Question 31

What is an in situ method of containment?

Answer 31

Impermeable or reaction barriers - concrete of steel pilings around contamination

Question 32

Give an example of a reaction barrier?

Answer 32

Zeolite treatment wall used to treat radioactive groundwater (strontium-90)

Question 33

What is hydrological containment?

Answer 33

Modifies the flow of groundwater at a site

Question 34

What is solidification/stabilisation?

Answer 34

Pollutant converted into a more stable form by adding binding agents e.g asphalt to prevent migration off site

Question 35

What is extraction?

Answer 35

Use a solvent like water, chemicals or gases to treat volatile chemicals e.g petrol. (may only move pollutant)

Question 36

What is soil venting?

Answer 36

Pumps of blowers induce flow of air through boreholes sunk in contaminated soil - volatile organic compounds then diffuse into airstream to be captured

Question 37

What is thermal desorption?

Answer 37

Contamination heated to drive off organic contaminants

Question 38

What is soil washing?

Answer 38

Liquid solvent (usually water) used to extract contaminant

Question 39

What is destruction?

Answer 39

Incineration - can just move pollutant from solid to gas

Question 40

What are the problems with physic-chemical treatments?

Answer 40

Containment is putting off problem Often invasive or damage site further Often costly