While we will be focusing primarily on US water and air issues, it is worthwhile to first think about what is going on in the world. How do our problems compare to the issues other countries face?

One place to get that information is from the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) project of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)
http://www.unep.org/Geo/index.htm
My lecture was from the GEO3 Overview

UNEP launched the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) Project in 1995. It has two components:

A global environmental assessment process, the GEO Process, that is cross-sectoral and participatory. It incorporates regional views and perceptions, and builds consensus on priority issues and actions through dialogue among policy-makers and scientists at regional and global levels.

GEO outputs, in printed and electronic formats, including the GEO Report series. This series makes periodic reviews of the state of the world's environment, and provides guidance for decision-making processes such as the formulation of environmental policies, action planning and resource allocation. Other outputs include technical reports, a Web site and a publication for young people.

What is the GEO project?
Who organizes it, what is it's purpose?
What are the basic trends in the world that affect the environment?
For each of the designated regions list the major environmental threats.
Make sure you know where these areas are - what countries are we talking about?

What problems are designated as global environmental issues?

Vulnerable groups
Vulnerable places
Environmental Change
Assessing and measuring vulnerability

Land
Freshwater
Forests and Biodiversity
Coastal and Marine Areas
Atmosphere

Ex: Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean

There has been immense change in both human and environmental conditions over the past 30 years. In an unprecedented period of population increase, the environment has been heavily drawn upon to meet a multiplicity of human needs. In many areas, the state of the environment is much more fragile and degraded than it was in 1972. The result is that the world can now be categorized by four major divides:
·The Environmental Divide - characterized by a stable or improved environment in some regions, for example Europe and North America, and a degraded environment in the other regions, mostly the developing countries;
·The Policy Divide - characterized by two distinct dimensions involving policy development and implementation with some regions having strength in both and others still struggling in both areas;
·The Vulnerability Gap - which is widening within society, between countries and across regions with the disadvantaged more at risk to environmental change and disasters; and
·The Lifestyle Divide - partly a result of growing poverty and of affluence. One side of the lifestyle divide is characterized by excesses of consumption by the minority one-fifth of the world population, which is responsible for close to 90 per cent of total personal consumption; the other side by extreme poverty where 1.2 billion live on less than US$1 per day.

The four gaps are a serious threat to sustainable development.

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We have been talking about world problems. How many times was the word pollution mentioned?

It is typically a word associated with water and air, less with land resources.
What is pollution? Contamination?
Is all pollution anthropogenic?

EPA Terminology Reference System
http://www.epa.gov/trs/
A very good reference for most environmental terms

A chemical or biological substance in a form that can be incorporated into, onto, or be ingested by aquatic organisms, consumers of aquatic organisms, or users of the aquatic environment. EPA/OW/Office of Science and Technology :

A contaminant in a concentration or amount that adversely alters the physical, chemical, or biological properties of the environment. The term includes pathogens, toxic metals, carcinogens, oxygen-demanding materials, and all other harmful substances. With reference to nonpoint sources, the term is sometimes used to apply to contaminants released in low concentrations from many activities that collectively degrade water quality. As defined in the federal Clean Water Act, pollutant means dredged spoil; solid waste; incinerator residue; sewage; garbage; sewage sludge; munitions; chemical wastes; biological materials; radioactive materials; heat; wrecked or discarded equipment; rock; sand; cellar dirt; and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water. EPA/Office of Research and Development :

Any introduced gas, liquid or solid that makes a resource unfit for a specific purpose. State of Texas : Local Government Guide to the TNRCC

Any substance introduced into the environment that adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. EPA/Great Lakes National Program Office :

Any substance, usually a residue of human activity, which has an undesirable effect upon the environment.(Source: LANDY) European Environment Agency (EEA), European Topic Centre on Catalogue of Data Sources (ETC/CDS) :

Dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal and agricultural waste discharged into water. It does not mean (1) sewage from vessels or (2) water, gas or other material which is injected into a well to facilitate production of oil or gas, or water derived in association with oil or gas production and disposed of in a well, if the well, used either to facilitate production or for disposal purposes, is approved by authority of the State in which the well is located, and if such State determines that such injection or disposal will not result in degradation of ground or surface water resources. EPA/OW/Office of Science and Technology : Toxic Pollutants

Dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water. (CWA Section 502(6)). EPA/Office of Water : Protocol for Developing Sediment Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL): Glossary

Generally, any substance introduced into the environment that adversely affects the usefulness of a resource or the health of humans, animals, or ecosystems.. EPA/OA/Office of Communications, Education, and Media Relations :

Shall include, but not be limited to, any element, substance, compound, or mixture, including disease-causing agents, which after release into the environment and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will or may reasonably be anticipated to cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical deformations, in such organisms or their offspring; except that the term ''pollutant or contaminant'' shall not include petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof which is not otherwise specifically listed or designated as a hazardous substance under subparagraphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (14) and shall not include natural gas, liquefied natural gas, or synthetic gas of pipeline quality (or mixtures of natural gas and such synthetic gas). CERCLA

Strictly, too much of any substance in the wrong place or at the wrong time is a pollutant. More specifically, atmospheric pollution may be defined as the presence of substances in the atmosphere, resulting from man-made activities or from natural processes that cause adverse effects to human health, property, and the environment. EPA/Office of Policy :

Soil and air pollutants today are typically measured in very small amounts
ppm parts per million 10-6
ppb part per billion 10-9
ppt parts per trillion 10-15

Table 1.1 text

What is a contaminant?

Any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water

Any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter that has an adverse effect on air, water, or soil. EPA/OA/Office of Communications, Education, and Media Relations :

Anything found in water (including microorganisms, minerals, chemicals, radionuclides, etc.) which may be harmful to human health. EPA/OW/Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water :

Shall include, but not be limited to, any element, substance, compound, or mixture, including disease-causing agents, which after release into the environment and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will or may reasonably be anticipated to cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical deformations, in such organisms or their offspring; except that the term ''pollutant or contaminant'' shall not include petroleum, including crude oil or any fraction thereof which is not otherwise specifically listed or designated as a hazardous substance under subparagraphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (14) and shall not include natural gas, liquefied natural gas, or synthetic gas of pipeline quality (or mixtures of natural gas and such synthetic gas). CERCLA

Other terms we need to know
SOC - synthetic organic chemical
VOC - volatile organic chemical
Synergistic - a state in which the combined effect of two or more substances is greater than the sum of the separate effects
Point source
Nonpoint source

Categories of contaminants

Hill
Chemical categories
Organic chemicals contains a carbon atom, usually a carbon ring
some natural, others synthesized (SOCs)
Inorganic chemicals
Organometallics mix if inorganic and organics, usually contain a metal

Pollutant categories
Organics
Inorganics
Acid substances which can lower pH
Physical pollutants sediment, temperature
Radiological
Biological

EPA Categorization of Pollutants (for information purposes)

Agricultural Chemicals
Air Pollutants	Aerosols, Asbestos, Carbon Monoxide, Criteria Air Pollutants, Ground Level Ozone, Lead, Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Particulate Matter (PM), Propellants, Sulfur Oxides (SOx), Radon, Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs), Refrigerants, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
Biological Contaminants
Carcinogens
Chemicals	Chlorinated Solvents, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Ether, Ethylbenzene, Furans, Halons, Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), Methyl-T-Butyl-Ether (MTBE), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Perchloroethylene (PCE), Phthalates, Radioactive Substances, Radionuclides, Styrene, Sulfur Oxides (SOx), Trichloroethylene (TCE), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Benzene, Methyl Bromide, Toluene, Methyl Chloride, Organic Cyanides, Dioxins, Heavy Metals, Inorganic Cyanides, Endocrine Disruptors, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs), Particulate Matter (PM), Dichloroethylene (DCE), Ketones
Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS)
Organisms	Coliform, Cryptosporidium, Viruses, Pfiesteria
Ozone
Radiation	Radionuclides, Radon
Soil Contaminants	Acetone, Arsenic, Barium, Benzene, Cadmium, Chloroform, Cyanide, Lead, Mercury, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Toluene, Trichloroethylene (TCE), Tetrachloroethylene
Toxic Substances	Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic Pollutants (PBTs), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), Toxicological Profiles
Water Pollutants	Contaminated Sediment, Disinfection Byproducts, Dredged Material, Microbial Pathogens

NATURAL FACTORS REGULATING WATER QUALITY

What is in water? groundwater? How does it get there?

Discharge is the first factor that controls water chemistry, mainly through dilution. Discharge is also closely related to the transport of suspended sediment in rivers. Without continuous discharge measurement, fluxes (transport) of sediment and chemicals in rivers cannot be calculated. The water chemistry in areas of sedimentary rocks depends on carbonate and/or evaporite deposits. Where these are absent, waters are very dilute.

The rate of chemical and biological processes in surface waters, especially oxygen level, photosynthesis and algal production, are strongly influenced by temperature. Temperature is also an important variable for aquatic biota, particularly for fish.

Above from The Atlas of World Water Quality, UNEP - GEMS program

Can water be unsafe from natural causes from any of the following:
Inorganics?
Organics?
Bacteria?
Oil?

When evaluating a water quality problem consider the following questions
What is the likely source of the contaminant?
How is transported in water, soil, air?

Water Cycle
Precipitation
Runoff (diffuse) eventually becoming concentrated (gullies, streams)
Infiltration

The balance between runoff and infiltration is governed by:
Slope
Geologic materials (soils, rock type)
Condition of the soil
Roughness
Land cover
Intensity of rain
Antecedent conditions

Runoff and infiltration can be collected by underground drainages
Sewers
Tile lines
These dump directly into streams

Evaporation
Some contaminants are volatile meaning they have a gas phase. Others absorb to small atmospheric particles like soot, ash, aerosols. These are then delivered with the rainfall.

The rain can be altered by contaminants, particularly acid which can lower pH.

Contaminants can be soluble or adsorbed onto sediment, organic matter. This affects how they move, where they end up, how to treat the problem.

Why does pollution occur?

Conservation of energy law
Conservation of mass law

Box 1.4

Assignment: Group A
Answer either Question 3 or Question 4 in Hill, pg 19-20

Due 1/20