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AQA A-level Environmental Science > Properties Of Pollutants > Flashcards

Properties Of Pollutants Flashcards

1
Q

What do the properties of pollutant determine?

A
  • the length of time it may cause a problem
  • the level of harm it may cause
  • where and how far it might travel
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2
Q

What is it important to understand properties?

A

They can help to anticipate what might happen and even prevent them from

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3
Q

Explain state of matter as a pollutant property

A

Whether a pollutant is a solid, liquid or gas affects its ability to be dispersed by moving water or water

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4
Q

what are solid pollutants more likely to do?

A

Be deposited close to the source

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5
Q

What are gas pollutants more likely to do?

A

They are easily transported in the atmosphere- can go further than solids

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6
Q

What are the different forms of energy that pollutants can be?

A

Noise, Heat, Ionising radiation, light

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7
Q

What impact does the energy form have as a pollutant property?

A

It has a wide variation of impacts because of the way energy behaves

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8
Q

How can density be an important property of pollutants?

A

The density will effect dispersal

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9
Q

Why does the density of a pollutant affect its dispersal?

A

Denser materials require more kinetic energy to keep them suspended so are more likely to be deposited close to the source

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10
Q

Name a high density pollutant

A

Lead dust

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11
Q

What impact can the density of pollutants that are gases have?

A

Some gases are denser than air, this means they settle close to the round if there is insufficient wind

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12
Q

Example of an incident where there was a high density gas pollutant involved

A

Hydrogen cyanide was released in Bhopal, India in 1984
It remained very close to the source

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13
Q

What is persistence/ how is it a property of pollutants?

A

It is a measure of the length of time that a pollutant remains in the environment before it chemically breaks down (degrades)

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14
Q

How can the persistence be measured?

A

As the time it takes for half a pollutant to break down

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15
Q

The measurement of time for pollutant to degrade is also known as what?

A

The environmental half life

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16
Q

What is the measurement of the time taken for pollutants to degrade also known as?

A

The environmental half-life

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17
Q

Why is the environmental half-life not a precise measurement?

A

Because the rate of breakdown can be affected by environmental conditions
E.g. light, temp, oxygen levels, PH, presence of bacteria

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18
Q

Give 2 examples of high persistence pollutants

A

-CFCs
- organochlorine insecticides e.g. DDT

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19
Q

Give 2 examples of low persistence pollutants

A
  • sewage
  • Pyrethroid insecticides
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20
Q

How can the types of degradation be categorised?

A

By the features that cause the break down

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21
Q

What are the 3 types of degradation and what is each caused by ?

A

Biodegradation: caused by living organisms (usually bacteria)
Photodegradation: caused by light
Thermal degradation: caused by heat

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22
Q

What is the toxicity of a pollutant?

A

A measure of how poisonous a substances is to a living organism

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23
Q

How does the toxicity of pollutants cause harm usually?

A

By damage to proteins- especially the inhibition of enzyme action

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24
Q

Give 4 examples of toxic pollutants

A

-carbon monoxide
-lead
-acids
-cyanide

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25
Q

Explain why carbon monoxide is a toxic pollutant

A

It prevents blood from carrying oxygen (or CO2 to leave the body) by binding to Hb in red blood cells

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26
Q

Explain why lead is a toxic pollutant

A

It inhibits enzyme action in nerve cells

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27
Q

Explain Acids as toxic pollutants

A

They inhibit protein action by changing the molecular shape- e.g. active site of an enzyme

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28
Q

Explain why cyanide is a toxic pollutant

A

It inhibits enzymes involved in aerobic respiration

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29
Q

Specificity is a property of what property?

A

Toxicity

30
Q

Why is specificity used to describe toxic pollutants?

A

Because there are variations in toxicity to different groups of organism
(Specific toxins are more toxic to some groups than others)

31
Q

What does it mean if a pollutant is non-specific?

A

They have similar toxicities to all groups

32
Q

Example of a toxic pollutant that is also specific

A

Pyrethroid insecticides have a high toxicity to insects, but a low toxicity to mammals meaning it is relatively safe for them to be used by humans in areas where there is livestock
However they also have a high toxicity to fish so shouldn’t be used near rivers or fish farms

33
Q

Explain reactivity as a pollutant property

A

The reactivity can affect the severity of the pollution caused- either increasing or reducing problems caused by

34
Q

Name a pollutant with a low reactivity and what it does as a pollutant

A

CFCs have a low reactivity except in the presence of UV light
They are relatively stable in the troposphere but in the stratosphere they are broken down and thats where they release chlorine

35
Q

Name 3 pollutants with high reactivities and what they do as a pollutant

A

NOx, Ozone and Hydrocarbons
They react with each other to produce PANS which are more toxic

36
Q

What 2 things could a reactive pollutant do?

A
  • degrade rapidly e.g. sewage
  • react with other substances to create secondary pollutants e.g photochemical smog
37
Q

What is a primary pollutant?

A

One that is released by human activities

38
Q

What is a secondary pollutant?

A

One produced by chemical reactions between one or more primary pollutants and/or non-pollutants

39
Q

Explain adsorption as a property of pollutants

A

-some pollutants can stick to the surface of materials
- this can immobilise them so they cant cause pollution
- it is possible they can be released later and cause problems after a period of time
- there presence may then not be obvious

40
Q

What kind of material surfaces can pollutants get stuck to if they have adsorption as a property?

A

-soil particles
-aquatic sediments

41
Q

Example of Adsorption as a property being an issue

A

Lake sediments being disturbed by storms so releasing phosphates or PCBs as a result

42
Q

What does it mean if a pollutant is soluble in water?

A

-substances are more easily dispersed in water bodies
- this can reduce the concentration or mean they affect larger areas

43
Q

Name a pollutant that is water soluble

A

Nitrates

44
Q

What are lipids and what are they insoluble in?

A

-organic compounds that are fatty acids or derivatives of fatty acids
-they are insoluble in water

45
Q

What does it mean if a pollutant is lipid soluble?

A

-The substances can dissolve in lipids

46
Q

What can happen if a pollutant is lipid-soluble?

A
  • it could pass through the phospholipid cell membrane and be stored in oil or fat deposits in the cell
47
Q

Name 2 examples of lipid-soluble pollutants

A

-mercury
-DDT

48
Q

What is Bioaccumulation?

A

The process by which the amount of a substance within an organism increases
The original dose may have been too small to be toxic but they may build up to eventually reach toxic levels

49
Q

What kind of pollutants are often involved in Bioaccumulation and how?

A

The long-term ingestion of small doses of a liposoluble pollutant

50
Q

Why are liposoluble pollutants more likely to bio-accumulate than water soluble pollutants?

A

Liposoluble are more likely because they may be stored in lipids whereas water soluble ones tend to be excreted from the body more easily

51
Q

Explain how Biomagnification occurs

A

-substances that bioaccumulate may become more concentrated along the food chain
- they become progressively more concentrated into a smaller biomass with each trophic level
-organisms in later trophic levels tend to have longer lives so build up even higher concentrations from food intake

52
Q

What type of organisms are most susceptible to biomagnification and why?

A

-endotherms (warm-blooded)
-they have a higher food intake because they have higher metabolic rates, are more likely to ingest more pollutant

53
Q

What is synergism?

A

In pollution it involves two or more where their effects interact to create a different, usually more serious, effect

54
Q

Why is synergism different to a secondary pollutant?

A

The pollutants themselves don’t interact to produce a new pollutant, which is what happens in a secondary pollutant, the effects interact and cause a different effect

55
Q

Give an example of synergism in pollution

A

Ozone damages the leaf cuticle which means sulphur dioxide is able to cause more damage because there is more newly exposed living cells

56
Q

Explain mutagenic action as a property of pollutants

A

-some pollutants are mutagens
-mutagens are agents that cause chemical changes to DNA structure
-these changes are known as mutations

57
Q

How can mutagens chemically change DNA?

A

By damaging the chromosomes and rearranging the DNA structure

58
Q

Name 3 different impacts of mutagens

A

-gonadic effects
-somatic effects
-carcinogenic action

59
Q

Gonadic effects caused by mutagenic action impact what kind of cells in the body?

A

Cells in the ovaries or testes

60
Q

Somatic effects caused by mutagenic action impact which cells in the body?

A

General body cells

61
Q

What are the gonadic effects of mutagens?

A

-A mutation in an egg or sperm cell or in an embryo
- they may cause a birth abnormality in the offspring produced

62
Q

What are the somatic effects of mutagens?

A

-it may cause a body cell to act abnormally because the DNA is damaged
-this means DNA cant control normal cell function
-individual cells death isn’t a problem-replaced by healthy cell division
-serious effect is uncontrollable cell division that can cause a tumor- if the cells with DNA mutations aren’t killed

63
Q

Name 5 examples of mutagenic pollutants

A

-Ionising radiation
-UV light
-Chlorinated organic substances e.g. PCBs,dioxins
-Cadmium
-Asbestos

64
Q

What are carcinogens?

A

Mutagens that cause cancer

65
Q

How do carcinogens cause cancer?

A

-cell multiplication caused by a carcinogen produces a mass of tissue called a tumour
-the tumour may eventually cause health problems by preventing normal tissue function

66
Q

Explain teratogenic action as a property of pollutants

A

-teratogens cause birth abnormalities by preventing normal gene expression
-the birth abnormality cannot be inherited by future generations because the DNA structure is not effected

67
Q

Why is teratogenic action different to mutagenic?

A

It doesnt change the DNA structure but it does inhibit the function of proteins and enzymes DNA usually controls

68
Q

Name an example of a teratogenic pollutant

A

Mercury

69
Q

Explain mobility as a property of pollutants

A

The ability of a pollutant to more in the environment, but it depends on other properties like the state of matter,density and solubility in water

70
Q

What are more mobile pollutants likely to do?

A
  • travel greater distances
    -affect larger areas
    -dilution however may reduce the severity of the effect
71
Q

Explain the mobility of Lead dust

A

The high density of atmospheric lead dust causes most particles to be deposited close to the source

72
Q

Explain the mobility of CFCs

A

CFCs are chemically stable and have a low solubility in water
They remain in the atmosphere for a long time and disperse throughout the whole atmosphere

AQA A-level Environmental Science (45 decks)

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