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Environmental Health Midterm

Terms in this set (112)

Emission Inventory
Compilation of pollutant emissions
Point sources: Large stationary sources
Nonpoint sources: Smaller stationary sources
Mobile Sources: On road and Nonroad
Biogenic sources: Natural Sources

Most accurate data from from sources with monitors in the stacks

Defined Geographic Boundary
state
county
city
census
tract
etc.
Epidemiological Triad
host, environment, agent
Host Factors that Affect Health
Genetic
Immune Status
Personality
Environmental Factors
Biological
Chemical
Physical
Social
Media
Air
Water
Soil
Food
Other
Systems
Lungs
Skin
GI Tract
Other
Measurement and Control Strategies
Individual
Local
Regional
Distant
Control Philosophies
Proactive
Reactive
Control Strategies
Isolation
Substitution
Shielding
Other - treatment, dispersion, reduce, reuse, recycle
Case Study: Minamata
Fishing village in Japan had mercury dumped into Minamata Bay that caused neurological issues across the blood-brain barrier in children
- people eating the fish from the bay were affected
- children were born with neurological issues
- lethargy, curled hands and muscles contracting
- cats around the area had neurological issues as well
Case Study: Kepone
Company: Allied Chemicals
Location: Hopewell, Virginia (chemical capital of the south)
- pesticide (Kepone) dumped into James River --> affected wildlife in the river and the water supply
- pure kepone
- neurological issues in ex-workers
- kepone particles in their brain
- memory loss, suicidal, violent
- men are sterile
- workers bring in kepone from work on their clothes and pass it onto their children --> children have kepone in their bodies
- supervisors said kepone was harmless, even though they knew that it is harmful to their health
- kepone found in the air around the plant as well
Case Study: Phosvel
Company: Velsicol
Location: Houston, TX
- nerve damage caused by the pesticide, paralysis
- phosvel was everywhere in the work area
- export only, too hazardous to use on insect in the US
- dogs around the facility had neurological issues
- heavy doses kill nerve cells --> permanent damage
- doctor working on behalf of the company mis-diagnosed the workers
Factors affecting Air Pollution Concentration
- Relative humidity
- Intensity and Duration of sunlight
- Presence of inversion
- Wind direction and speed
- Rainfall: wash out air and clean it
- Narrow valleys
- Buildings
Inversion
Air temperature increases with height for some distance above the ground, as opposed to the normal decrease in temperature with height. This traps smog closer to the ground. Characterized as cooler air over warm air over cool air.
People Susceptible to Air Pollution
Infants
Elderly
Pre-existing Respiratory and Cardiac Disease
Cigarette Smokers
High risk occupations
People of low socioeconomic status
Air Pollution: Sulfur Dioxide
Sources: smelters, sulfur fuel combustion, petroleum refining
Health effects: respiratory and eye irritation
Secondary: acid rain, vegetative damage
Broncho-constriction
Aggravates bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma
Air Pollution: Particulates
Very large (primary) - microns
Small (secondary) - automobile exhaust
Inhale greater than 10 microns --> gets trapped in airways
Smaller sizes get deeper into the lungs
Air Pollution: Carbon Monoxide
Anemia
Respiratory Failure
Common indoor pollutant
Air Pollution: Lead
Affects multiple organs
Blood lead levels have reduced over the last few years --> down to 5
Goes to blood through air and diet --> bone/soft tissue/excreted through urine
Blood --> excreted within 36 days
Soft tissue --> excreted within 43 days (bile, sweat, nails)
Bone --> half-life - 10,000 days (long term exposure)
Neurological issues that affect children under 6

Sources: lead mining and smelting, battery production, aviation gasoline, ammunition manufacturing
Air Pollution: Ozone
Most commonly violated
Necessary for O3 formation: NOx, VOC, Sunlight
Sunlight + NO --> NO2
Sunlight + O --> O2 --> O3 --> NO2
Hydrocarbon + free radical hydrocarbon + O2 --> NO2
Health effects: eye irritation, coughing

Gas that absorbs ultraviolet solar radiation, found in the stratosphere.
Three oxygen molecules
Concentration of ozone in the air is affected by the intensity and duration of sunlight

Three kinds of ozone:
Natural
Transport (comes with the wind from fires/big cities)
Homegrown (VOC and NOx emission, local industry, businesses, etc.)

EPA Standard: 70 ppb
Season: March to October
Air Pollution: Asbestos
Fire proof, resist destruction
Two types: sepentine (chrysotile), amphibole (more hazardous, chunky)
Used in cement products, floor tiles, fire proofing
Get trapped in lung and GI tract (disintegrate macrophages into iron)
Two types of exposure: direct or indirect
Two types of people can be exposed: asbestos workers and residents
Asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma (unique)
Asbestos: Duluth, Minnesota
Mining material contaminates with asbestos, right along side Lake Superior. They were worried it will seep into the drinking water. When waves are high, asbestos particles are kicked into the air.
Cigarette Smoke and Asbestos
Mortality ratio increases 50x if you are a smoker that is exposed to asbestos.
1952: London Smog
A gaseous atmospheric mixture of fog, soot, ash, sulfuric acid, and sulfur dioxide as a result of coal usage to heat homes and burned for cooking.
1948: Donora, Pennsylvania
October 1948 air pollution event killed (6days) at least 20 and hospitalized close to half of the town. Public outcry helped set in motion early air pollution regulations.
Global Affects of Air Pollution
Acid Rain
Depletion of Ozone Layer
CO2 Release
1987: Montreal Protocol
a group of nations met in Canada and agreed to take steps to fight against Ozone Depletion-CFC's banned
Man-made Sources of Air Pollution
Industrial processes
Fuel combustion
Burning of solid wastes
Transportation
Fires related to human activity
Other use of chemical agents
Principle Determinants of Health Worldwide
Population
Poverty
Pollution
Natural (Biogenic and Geogenic) Sources of Pollution
Dust from Earth's surface
Volcanic Eruptions (SO2, PM)
Forest fires (VOC, NOx, PM)
Vegetation (volatile organic compounds)
Lightning
Shift in Air Pollution
Before:
Particulates
Reducing forms of air pollution
Few sources Primarily localized
Use of control devices helped fix them

Now:
Smaller particulates
Oxidizing forms of air pollution
Many more sources --> constantly moving around
Regional need both technical and social fixes
Environmental Risk Transition
Changes in environmental risks that happen as a consequence of economic development in the less developed regions of the world
Criteria Air Pollutants
Air Pollutants that the EPA has regulated by first developing health based criteria as the basis for setting permissible levels
Particulate Matter
Sulfur Dioxide
Carbon Monoxide
Nitrogen Oxides
Ozone
Lead
Stationary Sources of Air Pollution
Power plants
Steel mills
Battery manufacturers
Refineries
Fiberglass manufacturing
Small industries
Fires
Stationary Source of Air Pollution Controls: Technology
Bag houses
Electrostatic Precipitators
Cyclones
Wet scrubbers
Stationary Source of Air Pollution Controls: Fuel
Low sulfur fuel
Geothermal/hydrothermal
Sustainable sources (Solar, Wind, Nuclear)
Stationary Source of Air Pollution Controls: Process
higher temperatures
use of catalysts
inspection and maintenance
change products
modification
Stationary Source of Air Pollution Controls: Location
downwind from inhabited areas
distance from residential areas and schools
Stationary Source of Air Pollution Controls: Emissions
Height of stacks
Air pollution control devices
Gravitational Devices
help large particles settle out so they don't go into the environment

advantages: low pressure loss and simple design+maintenance

disadvantages: requires lots of space, low collection efficiency
Cyclone
particles come in and rotate at high speeds and fall out the bottom, gasses leave from the top, takes out intermediate sized particles

Advantages: handles large particles, simple, and not affected by temp

Disadvantages: doesn't collect small particles, use in conjunction with other devices
Bag House
Air comes in, goes through filters/bags, and comes out and collected into cars

Advantages: collects medium sized/dry particles

Disadvantages: must cool gases before going into bag or they will burn, sensitive to humidity, chemical attacks
Electrostatic Precipitator
collects fine particles, particles in the air are charged and attracted to plates, plates shake periodically and particles fall out

Advantages: small particles/removing dust, operate at high temp

Disadvantages: use a lot of electricity, high temp, expensive, some use water
Wet Scrubber
Remove both gases and particulates

Advantages: used with other devices, cool and clean at high temp

Disadvantages: need to dump somewhere, needs to be cooled, can rusts out, reduce plume rise
Afterburner
Chamber within a cremator where unburned combustible materials from the primary chamber are conveyed to facilitate additional combustion. Sometimes referred to as a secondary burner.

Advantages: high efficiency removal, toxic materials to non toxic gases/wastes, small space, simple

Disadvantages: remove only combustibles, high costs, fire hazard
Catalytic Converters
Used in a car to convert toxins such as CO, NO, NO2 and hydrocarbons to harmless gases, like nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

Advantages: similar to afterburner, reduced temp and fire hazard

Disadvantages: high cost, poisoning, reactivation
Stationary and Multiple Stationary (Area) Sources of Air Pollution
areas with lots of plants/refineries produce plumes that go into neighboring areas and catch fires/other environmental and human concerns
Mobile Sources of Air Pollution
cities combine together and are more susceptible to mobile and stationary sources of air pollution

Onroad: Anything that drives on the road --> fuel
Nonroad: aircraft, marine vessels, railroads, etc.

Data generated by putting info into a computer model --> based on makeup and miles traveled

Data quality based on the type of mobile source
2000: Leveling Atlanta
A lot of construction removed a lot of the soil that is needed to absorb water

Flooding increased
Soil instability
Runoffs
Ground level ozone during the Olympics increased to a unhealthy level at night
Strategies for Reducing Air Pollution by Motor Vehicles
Vapor recovery systems

Alternative transport:
Public transportation
Encouraging carpooling
Zero emission vehicles
Bike lanes

Inspection and maintenance requirements

Fuel:
Pricing
Oxygenated fuels
Low vapor pressure
Electric

Vehicle:
Inspection/maintenance
Hybrids
Battery recharging
HOV lanes
Vapor Recovery Systems
An enclosed system of piping, vessels, and hoses arranged to collect volatile hydrocarbon vapors, condensing them into a liquid or completely incinerating them so no emissions pollute the air.
Mid-America Regional Council Air Quality Program (MARC - Air Quality Forum)
- Discussions on vapor recovery system (rejected - "not useful in KC"), highway plan (wider hwy behind I-435 - rejected), exit on I-70
- Federally designated Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO)
- Three goals in Air Quality Planning: transportation (mobile sources of emission), regional cooperation, public engagement/education
Determinants of Disease
Lack of Access to Care
Environment
Genetic
Behavior/Lifestyle
KCMO Health Department
Four divisions:
Admin
Environment
Maternal child/family health
Communicable disease and emergency
KCMO Health Department: Environmental Health Services
Air Quality Program
Inspections:
Food
Swimming Pool/Spa
Lodging
Childcare
Enforcements:
Smoking
Noise
Lead Poisoning Prevention Program
KCMO Health Department: Air Quality Program
Contaminants and Air Pollutants: open burning
Inspections
Complaints: asbestos, lead, odor control, etc.
According to "Factors that Affect Health" which factor has the greatest impact on the population?
Socioeconomic Factors
In which area does EH predominantly operate?
Changing the context
Carrying Capacity
Largest number of individuals of a population that a environment can support without deterioration
Air Pollution: Nitrogen Oxides
(NOx) Major source is auto exhaust. Primary and secondary effects include acidification of lakes, respiratory irritation, lung damage, increased airway resistance, leads to smog and ozone. Reduced using catalytic converters.
It can kill macrophages
Sources: motor vehicle exhaust, heat and power generation, fertilizer manufacturer
precursor to O3 and PM2.5
Appx 25% comes from fossil fuels

Irritation of eyes and throat
Sillo-Filler's Disease: high exposure to NO2 in job
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
Clean Air Act (CAA) created the NAAQS, which set primary standards for criteria air pollutants: Particulates, SO2, CO, NOX, Ozone, lead.
It is reviewed every 5 years and costs are not taken into consideration when the primary standards (protect health) are set.
Secondary standards (protect welfare) consider costs.
Causes of Air Pollution in Kansas City
Inversion
Flint Hills burning off during the Spring --> smoke transported to KC area
Smoke from various other areas
Point Sources of Emissions
Large sources with permits
Ie: refineries, cement kilns, landfills, electric generating units, etc.
Submit annual emissions inventory form
Nonpoint Sources of Emission
smaller stationary sources
ie dry cleaners, solvent cleaning, households, etc.
Data calculated based on surrogate information - based on populations (not accurate)

Most NOx and PM10 emission in Kansas comes from nonpoint sources
Most SO2 emission in Kansas comes from point sources
Monitoring Air Quality
How:
Fixed sites
Trailers
PM filter monitors on roofs and platforms
Different spatial domains

Where:
Generally population based
Many locations and many monitors
A location with meteorological instruments

What:
Ozone
Nitrogen oxides
Sulfur dioxides
PM10
PM2.5 and speciation
CO
etc.
Why do we need to monitor air quality?
Compliance with air quality standards
Evaluate trends
Determine health-risks
Establish baseline concentrations
Provide data to public
Publish data nationally
Fine Particulate Matter
Sources: 2* reaction in air with NH4, nitrates, sulfates, direct emission from combustion
Health effects: respiratory system, eye irritation, toxic
What happens with NAAQS standards are not met?
- Non-attainment designation
- State Implementation Plan (SIP) preparation: enhanced emission inventory, photochemical modeling, planning, geographic-specific ruling
- transportation conformation analysis
- loss of highway funding
- economic development curtailed
- people breathing bad air
History of Ozone in Kansas City
- started as a non-attainment area (not maintaining O3 standards set by EPA)
- 1993: redesignated as maintenance area in 1992
Air Pollution Attainment Approval Process
1) Standards of the area is assess/New standard is created
2) State submits a recommended boundary
3) EPA approves the boundary
4) Area designated as non-attainment
5) Agencies/stakeholders work together to create a state implementation plan (SIP)
6) SIP submitted to EPA
7) EPA approves SIP for attainement
8) Maintenance Plan takes effect (continues for 20 years)
Conformity
Projected emissions provided by the transportation plan/transportation implementation plan, must conform to the State Implementation Plan standards -- only for on-road mobile sources
Pre-cursor to modern environmental framework
Common law/private landowner laws: case law or judge made laws

US Conservation:
Development
Conservation
Protection of public interest
1950s: DDT and Pesticides
industry spread misinformation about their pesticide products -- officials accepted without question
1969: Cayuhoga River
River so polluted that it "caught fire" in 1969. The event helped to spur the environmental movement in the US. Catalyst for the Clean Water Act.
1976: Love Canal
Canal with lots of toxic chemicals dumped, buried, and then sold to the Board of Education for $1. They built a school next to it, and it became a residential area until residents started complaining about foul orders. In 1976, the Calspan Corporation found toxic chemical residues in the air and sump pumps of many homes at the southern end of the canal. They also found high levels of PCBs in the storm sewer system. But the city did not follow Calspan's mitigation recommendations.

In March of 1978, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) found an increase in reproductive problems among women and high levels of chemical contaminants in soil and air.
1978: Clean Water Act
Federal Law setting a national goal of making all natural surface water fit for fishing and swimming by 1983, banned polluted discharge into surface water and required the metals be removed from waste. It became illegal to dump discharge pollutants into "navigable" waters, unless you have a permit.
1974: Safe Drinking Water Act
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is allowed to set the standards for drinking water quality and oversees all of the states, localities, and water suppliers who implement these standards. They focus on the protection of both above ground and underground drinking water sources.
Three goals:
Health-based standards for drinking water
Public water system regulation and oversight
Underground injection control
1970: Clean Air Act
In reaction to Rachel Carson in her 1962 in Silent Spring, It led to the reduction of smog and air pollution in general. The legislation forced the country to enforce clean air standards to improve health and showed that American was moving towards certain environmentalist measures.
Established NAAQS and NESHAPS.
Limit vehicle emissions and acid rain.

Required EPA to develop and enforce regulations to protect the public from airborne contaminants; forced states to follow and make sure the laws for followed in relation to the EPA. States allowed to decide officials for enforcement.
1980: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
Provides a Federal "Superfund" to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous-waste sites as well as accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants and contaminants into the environment
National Contingency Plan
National Priorities Plan
1969: National Environmental Policy Act
A law passed requiring agencies to issue an environmental impact statement, to be reviewed under NEPA, before undertaking any major action affecting the environment.
1973: Endangered Species Act
Identifies threatened and endangered species in the US, and puts their protection ahead of economic considerations
Creates framework to halt and reverse trend of
species extinction resulting from unbridled
economic growth and development
1970: Environmental Protection Agency
Congress passes laws, but it's the Executive branch that
enforces them --> EPA

Environmental Protection Agency:
Makes ('promulgates') rules that fill in gaps left by
Congress.
Monitors/Investigates environmental issues.

Types of Enforcement:
Fines
Criminal Penalties
Injunctions
How do we know if we are being exposed to a health hazard and how would we scientifically address it?
- Monitor your own air/Community monitoring
- Address the source it may be coming from
- Bring attention to what is going on to officials
Secondary Air Pollutants
produced as a result of reactions that primary air pollutants undergo (include photochemical pollutants O3, PAN and NO2, and acids such as H2SO4 and HNO3)
limits set by NAAQS are set to protect damage to buildings, vegetation, and animals
Air Pollution: Acid Rain
Rain containing acids that form in the atmosphere when industrial gas emissions (especially sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) combine with water.
Revisions to NAAQS for Ozone
Change standards for ground level ozone from 75 ppb --> 70 ppb
Ozone Depletion
Most of ozone is in stratosphere, although we usually talk about it in the troposphere

In stratosphere, ozone helps block UV rays from sun
UV radiation increases as ozone is reduced

Ozone levels have been decreasing over Antarctica
Usually: 300 Dobson units
Now: low as 100 Dobson units
Area is now very large
Got particularly large in the early 2000s
Global Warming
stratosphere cools down and troposphere heats up
Ozone Depletion: Chlorofluorocarbons
used to be in spray cans

CFCs rise into the stratosphere through normal wind/movement of air and can last a long time in the stratosphere
Destroys ozone by CHC losing a Cl --> attacks molecule
Ozone depleting substances: ODP value tells how much it can deplete ozone --> AtL: average life

CFC levels in atmosphere has been increasing until it plateaued when they started putting regulations on it

Cold air catalyzes the reaction of ozone breakdown --> higher UV radiation in higher latitudes

Significant regulation in the 70s
Health Effects of Ozone Depletion
Immune suppression
Vitamin D production stimulated
Melanoma
Carcinomas
Cataracts
1992: Copenhagen Amendments
Strengthening of Montreal Protocol to stop all CFC production by 1995. The ozone hole had moved /expanded to densely populated areas, so they had to put a stop to it, more people were getting cancer. Very impactful in reducing CFC
UV Monitoring
Skin cancer surveillance
Registry collect melanoma data
Does not collect data for other types of skin cancers, although they may be caused by UV as well
Leading cause of cancer in our population
Air Quality Index
AQI, an indicator for reporting daily air quality to the public, AQI scale runs from 0-500, Less than 100 is good, Greater than 100 is considered unhealthy
Common Law in Environmental Health: Nuisance
an owner or occupier of land unreasonably uses that land in a way that substantially interferes with the rights of others in the area
Common Law in Environmental Health: Trespass
An unlawful intrusion that interferes with one's person or property.
Common Law in Environmental Health: Medical Monitoring
Compensation for costs of future medical examinations and testing for the early detection and diagnosis of diseases known or believed to be caused by toxic exposure, but which may not manifest themselves until after a long latency period
Common Law in Environmental Health: Negligence
Conduct that falls below the standard established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm.
Common Law in Environmental Health: Strict Liability
Absolute legal responsibility for an injury that can be imposed on the wrongdoer without proof of carelessness or fault.
Common Law in Environmental Health: Products Liability
The theory holding manufacturers and sellers liable for defective products when the defects make the products unreasonably dangerous.
Common Law in Environmental Health: Tort Law
A civil wrong, other than a breach of contract, committed against a person or property (real or personal) for which a court provides a remedy in the form of an action for damages
Climate Change
Temperatures have been going up
Greenhouse gases trap heat at the surface of the planet
Causes: Intense hurricanes, droughts, storms

US contributes largest portion of greenhouse gases
Water vapor (natural)
CO2
Methane
NO
CFC
Urban Heat Island
In large cities, expanses of paved surfaces, particularly asphalt, absorbs heat during day and radiates heat at night. Sparse vegetation and paved surfaces increase rain runoff, furthering reducing cooling effects. Temperatures in the cities are usually 3-5 degrees hotter than surrounding country side.
1986: Lake Nyos
This crater lake lies in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, located about 200 miles northwest of Yaoundé. A pocket of magma lies beneath the lake and leaks carbon dioxide into the water, changing it into carbonic acid. Bottom layer of the lake was turned over, erupting CO2 into the air. It is one of only three known exploding lakes to be saturated with carbon dioxide in this way. Suffocated and killed 1900 people.
Climate Change: Greenhouse Gases
Most significant: H2O, CO2, O3, methane (CH4), CFCs. Trap outgoing infrared energy (heat) causing earth to warm.

Released with deforestation, agricultural practices, fossil-fuel burning.

Emission of particulate matter from agricultural burning, cultivation, fossil-fuel burning
Climate Change: Anthropogenic CO2
Human generated carbon from combustion of fossil fuels and deforestation
Residuals Management
Smaller solids are collected throughout the treatment process (i.e. grit chambers, settling tanks, centrifuges of semisolid waste), treated and rendered inert before sending to landfill.
Oxygen Sag Curve
Created by a breakdown of degradable wastes by bacteria depletes dissolved oxygen; Reduces or eliminates populations of organisms with high oxygen requirements until stream is cleansed of wastes (can also be done for thermal pollution). The presence of sewage reduces the oxygen content of the water and increases the biochemical oxygen demand. This is due to the action of saprotrophic organisms that decompose the organic matter in the sewage and in the process use up the available oxygen.
Activated Sludge
Sludge particles produced in raw or settled wastewater (primary effluent) by the growth of organisms (including zoogleal bacteria) in aeration tanks in the presence of dissolved oxygen. the term "activated" comes from the fact that the particles are teeming with bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. Activated sludge is different from primary sludge in that the sludge particles contain many living organisms which can feed on the incoming wastewater.
Trickling Filter
A treatment process in which wastewater trickling over media enables the formation of slime or biomass, which contain organisms that feed upon and remove wastes from the water being treated.
Combined Sewers
Sewage systems designed to carry both municipal wastewater and stormwater. They go to treatment facilities during dry periods and directly to rivers or streams during wet periods.
- common in older parts of town
- waste runoff can contaminate the rivers/surface waters when the sewers drain or there is a lot of water
- can cause serious water pollution problems during combined sewer overflow (CSO) events when wet weather flows exceed the sewage treatment plant capacity
Septic Tank
a tank, typically underground, in which sewage is collected and allowed to decompose through bacterial activity before draining by means of a leaching field
Lagoon
a body of water established for anaerobic decomposition of organic waste
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