Types of Pollution - AP Environmental Science

The EPA has established air quality standards for six primary air pollutants, which they refer to as criteria air pollutants. These pollutants are: carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, lead, and ozone.

At mining sites, debris and byproducts from the mining often pile up near the site. When it rains, this material is washed into the nearest watershed; after this, it shows up in lakes, rivers, in animals, and in the groundwater.

Acid mine drainage occurs when water seeps through a mine or a mine’s waste pile and results in a solution of sulfuric acid. Water is used to process ore and it can become contaminated with sulfuric acid, mercury and arsenic. The contaminated water can damage ecosystems and is particularly harmful to aquatic life. Some acid drainage can occur naturally when water interacts with rock but the degree of contamination is significantly different.

A secondary pollutant is the product of a primary pollutant already present in the atmosphere that has reacted with another substance in the open air. "Ozone" is a secondary pollutant because it is a product of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (i.e. primary pollutants) that have reacted with one another in sunlight. "Carbon monoxide" from an automobile or "sulfur dioxide" from burning coal are primary pollutants, because they are released into the air by combustion, not by interacting with other molecules in the atmosphere.

Point-source pollution is defined as pollutants that are derived from a specific source, such as a discharge pipe, ditch, canal, or smokestack. Pollutants sourced from a textile mill, paper mill, or oil refinery would fit this definition because the pollutants are originating from a specific source. Cigarette butts differ from the other possible answers because there is no specific point-source for their disposal. Millions of cigarette butts are discarded on beaches and waterways by millions of different people, and since there is no single point source for the pollution, this would be considered non-point source pollution.

This situation is known as temperature inversion. Temperature inversion occurs in two primary ways: radiation temperature inversion and subsidence temperature inversion.

Air pollutants from power plants/other industrial plants, as well as car emissions, cause acid rain and surface water acidification. Though water pollution is of concern, it is important ot note that air pollutants impact water as well as the air.

Light pollution is a major issue for navigating turtles - females and hatchlings. Noise pollution has a large impact on some marine life, but more so for whales and other animals who use sound as communication. In relation to the circumstances in he question, light pollution is the most appropriate answer.

CWA (Clean Water Act) serves more to regulate water pollution, while FIFRA (Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act) serves as the primary federal regulation of commercial pesticides. ESA (Endangered Species Act) targets the sale and transport of endangered species and governs their classification. Regardless, none of these laws address financial liability for environmental cleanup.

While RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) does govern the disposal of solid and hazardous waste, this legislation mostly establishes standards for disposal, classification of hazardous wastes and fines for failed compliance. CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act) is the legislation that enforces financial liability for environmental cleanup. This legislation establishes a Superfund, which allocates federal tax dollars to clean up sites that are heavily polluted and hazardous to public health. However, the EPA does not like cleaning up other people's messes on their dime, so CERCLA is essential in holding potentially responsible parties financially responsible for the cost of cleanup.

CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act) establishes the superfund for environmental cleanup and holds potentially liable parties financially responsible for the cost of cleanup. However, it does not specifically enforce "cradle to grave" regulations and permitting for the transportation and disposal of hazardous waste.

The Clean Air Act is more directed towards establishing healthy attainment levels of airborne pollutants, while the CWA (Clean Water Act) governs point-source discharge of pollutants into waterways and the ESA (Endangered Species Act) classifies species as endangered and limits their sale, transport or destruction of critical habitat. Regardless, none of these laws establish or enforce the transport and disposal of hazardous waste.

RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) is the legislation that establishes standards for transportation and long-term storage and disposal of hazardous and solid waste (i.e. "cradle to grave"). Permits for Treatment Storage and Disposal Facilities are issued based upon standards and regulations established through RCRA.

ESA (Endangered Species Act) bans the sale and transport of endangered species and protects critical habitat but does not specifically focus on water pollution or permitting. RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) addresses the permitting of waste storage and transport, while CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act) establishes a superfund for polluted sites and holds polluting parties accountable. Regardless, neither of those two laws directly address the issue of point-source discharging into waterways. NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) requires federal agencies to prepare Environmental Assessments and Impact Statements for federally-funded projects, but does not address the private sector.

The Clean Water Act (CWA) allows the EPA to regulate point-source discharge of pollutants into U.S. waterways and all "navigable waters." This piece of legislation also introduced the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (BPDES), which is responsible for point-source discharge permits. Any company operating in the United States that commits point-source discharge is held by these regulations outlined by the Clean Water Act.

A leachate is a liquid that, in the course of passing through matter, extracts component of the material through which it has passed. In the case of sanitary landfills – where waste is isolated from the environment until it is deemed safe – the main concern is the safety of the leachate in terms of composition and permeability. The leachate could potential carry and spread the very compounds in the landfill waste that have deemed it unsafe, such as toxic wastes and metals. However the temperature of the leachate is very rarely a concern.

Water can be polluted and unusable due to the presence of toxic chemicals, sediments, nutrient pollution, diseases and/or pathogens, as well as thermal pollution.

Three Mile Island and Chernobyl were sites of devastating nuclear disasters caused by reactor meltdowns. Bhopal was the site of a terrible gas leak when water entered an industrial tank of methyl isocyanate (MIC). Minamata was plagued by severe mercury poisoning caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from the a chemical factory. However Love Canal was a site used to bury 22,000 tons of toxic waste. The site was later sold to the a school board, and even long after purchasing, attempts at construction allowed previously trapped chemicals to seep out. The resulting breaches combined with particularly heavy rainstorms released and spread the chemical waste, leading to a public health emergency and serious evaluation of urban planning procedures.

It is common to find some amount of fertilizers and pesticides in runoff water. It is difficult to determine the source of this pollution. Runoff may travel over many plots of lands including farms, golf courses, home gardens, etc. So there may even be multiple sources.

Point source pollution can be traced to a specific source. Factory waste is a good example. Nonpoint source pollution cannot be traced to a single source. Agricultural runoff and storm sewers are good examples.

A secondary pollutant is any kind of pollutant that is not directly emitted form a pollution source. In this case, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitric oxide are all emitted from the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal. Tropospheric ozone is formed in the reaction between volatile organic compounds and nitrous oxides and is a component in photochemical smog.

You may have associated "caltrates" with calcium, which is a heavy metal pollutant and is not water soluble. Nitrates and phosphates are not inherently toxic, however, when present in large quantities, can throw off the balance of an ecosystem to disastrous consequences.

The correct response is chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). These chemical compounds are known to deplete ozone from the atmosphere. During the 1960s and 1970s, refrigerators were manufactured with CFCs. This is what created the whole in the ozone which we have all heard about. The Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of CFCs and this is greatly improved the quality of ozone in the atmosphere.