CHE 468

Environmental Engineering Technology

UNIT 1: Lecture 1 & 2

Dr. Benjamin Afotey

afotey_benjamin@hotmail.com // 0249312880

UNIT 1:

INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION & ENGINEERING

What is Environmental Engineering?

Entails designing new methods of production and new methods of

pollution control in order to protect the environment from human
development.

Definitions and Types of Pollutants

Pollution is a synonym for contamination. Therefore, pollutants are

things that contaminate the air, water and land in some manner. Any
solid, liquid or gas that is present in the environment (air, water, land) in
concentrations that causes some deleterious effect is considered a
pollutant.
Air pollution is the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of any one or
more substances or pollutants in quantities which are or may be
harmful to human health or welfare, animal or plant life or property or
unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property, including
outdoor recreation.

INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION &

ENGINEERING
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) have been established
for six criteria air pollutants:
five primary (meaning emitted directly from the source)

particulate matter (PM),

sulfur dioxide(SO2),
nitrogen dioxide(NO2),
Carbon monoxide (CO),
and particulate lead(Pb)

one secondary pollutant (because it is formed in the lower atmosphere by

chemical reactions among primary pollutants).
ozone (O3).

Another class of compounds Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)- though not a

criteria pollutant, is recognized as a major primary pollutant because of its large
emissions and its importance in the reactions that form the ground level ozone.

INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION &

ENGINEERING

Overview of Pollution Issues

Smog and Acid Precipitation
Ozone Depletion
Global Warming
End-of-Pipe Treatment and Pollution Prevention

Environmental Legislative and Regulations

A number of legislative efforts to control the introduction
of pollutants into the environment include:
Clean Air Act ,CAA
Air Pollution Control Act, APCA
Motor Vehicle Air pollution Control Act, MVAPCA
National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA
Clean Air Act Amendment, CAAA
Clean Water Act, CWA
National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, NPDES
Safe Drinking Water Act, SDWA

Environmental Legislative and Regulations

The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA
required by the CAAA of 1970 to establish NAAQS;
both primary standards (to protect public health)
and stricter secondary standards (to protect public welfare).

The CAAA of 1970 also required the various states to submit

State Implementation Plans (SIP) for attaining and
maintaining the national primary standards.

Tough standards were also to be written by EPA for certain

new industrial plants, such as the power plants, and were to
be implemented and enforced.
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Environmental Legislative and Regulations:

NAAQS

Environmental Legislative and Regulations: Selected Examples of

New Source Performance Standards (NSPS)

National Emissions Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs)

Causes, Sources and Effects of Major Pollutants

A cause: is fundamental, that is, a cause explains why or how a
pollutant is formed.
A source: is locational; that is a source identifies what type of process,
industry, or device discharges a particular pollutant.
Focus is mainly on control of stationary sources, not that pollution from
vehicular source is less important
Air pollution problem from mobile sources is growing more severe each
year.
In various countries around the world, motor vehicles account for some 10-60% of
total air pollution emissions.
design of vehicle pollution control equipment is a specialized field and is limited
essentially to the vehicle manufacturing companies.

Causes, Sources and Effects of Major Pollutants

Particulate Matter, PM:

is very-small diameter solids or liquids that remain suspended in exhaust gases and
can be discharged into the atmosphere.
They are caused by one of the three fundamental processes.

Material-handling, such as crushing or grinding ores or loading dry materials in bulk can result
in the creation of fine dusts.
Combustion processes can emit small particles of noncombustible ash or incomplete burned
soot.
Particles can also be formed by gas conversion reactions in the atmosphere between
certain pollutant gases that were emitted previously.

Major sources of particles include industrial processes, coal and oil

burning electric power plants, residential fuel combustion and highway
vehicles.
Particulate effects include reductions in visibility such as smog or haze,
soiling of buildings and other materials, corrosive and erosive damage of
materials and alteration of local weather. Also particulates can damage
human and animal health and retard plant growth.
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Chinas Air Pollution Problem

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Causes, Sources and Effects of Major Pollutants

Sulfur oxides (SOx) are caused by burning sulfur or any material containing sulfur.

The main source is fossil-fuel combustion for electric power generation, although
certain industrial processes such as petroleum refining and nonferrous metal
smelting can be important sources in specific locations
SO2 and SO3 can form acids when they hydrolyze with water, and the acids can
then have detrimental effects on the environment. In addition, SO2 has been
associated with human health problems, damage to plants and animals, smog
and haze through the formation of acid mists, and corrosion of materials.
At concentrations above 1 ppm, some bronchoconstriction occurs; above 10
ppm, eye, nose, and throat irritation is observed. SO2 also stimulates mucus
secretion, a characteristic of chronic bronchitis (Goldsmith 1968).

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Causes, Sources and Effects of Major Pollutants

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are formed whenever any fuel is burned in air. At high
temperature, N2 and O2 in the air combined to form NO and NO2.
Organically bound nitrogen atoms present in some fuels can contribute
substantially to NOx emissions. Total U.S. emissions of NOx are almost equally
distributed between mobile sources and stationary combustion sources.
Nitrogen oxides contribute to smog, are injurious to plants and animals, and
can affect human health. NOx contributes to acidic deposition. Furthermore,
NOx reacts with reactive VOCs in the presence of sunlight to form
photochemical oxidants.
The effects of NO2 on people include nose and eye irritation, pulmonary edema
(swelling), bronchitis, and pneumonia. Long-term exposure to NO2
concentrations below this range can contribute to pulmonary fibrosis and
emphysema (Stokinger and Coffin 1968).
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Causes, Sources and Effects of Major Pollutants

Photochemical Oxidants and VOCs

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Photochemical oxidants are caused by complex network of chemical reactions that occur
in the ambient atmosphere. These reactions involve VOCs and NOx and are initiated by
absorbing ultraviolet energy from sunlight. One of the main product of this reaction is
ozone, which is a very reactive oxidizing gas.
VOCs and NOx are both emitted in large quantities by motor vehicles and because of the
importance of sunlight, photochemical oxidants are usually more prevalent in large, sunny
urban areas with heavy traffic.
Other major sources of VOCs are industrial processes like petrochemical processing,
surface coating, printing, and other large operations involving organic solvents.
Ozone and other oxidants are severe eye, nose, and throat irritants; eye irritation occurs at
100 ppb, and severe coughing occurs at 2.0 ppm. Although the NAAQS for ozone is based
on a J-hour maxi- mum, Lippmann (1989) points out that reductions in lung functions can
occur in as little as five minutes of exposure to concentrations in the range of 20 to 150
ppb. Furthermore, these acute (short-term) effects worsen as the dose (concentration x
exposure time) increases.
Lippmann (1989) also raises the concern of chronic (long-term) effects. For example,
people exposed to seasonally elevated concentrations of ozone for years may experience
irreversible, accelerated lung aging.
Other effects of oxidants include severe cracking of synthetic rubber and deterioration of
textiles, paints, and other materials. Oxidants cause extensive damage to plants, including
leaf discoloration and cell collapse (Brandt and Heck 1968), with effects starting at
concentrations as low as 50 ppb.

Trends in U.S annual emission rates for SOx, PM, VOCs and
NOx

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P
HbCO
210 CO
HbO2
PO2
where PCO , PO2 partial pressures of CO and O2 respectively

Causes, Sources and Effects of Major Pollutants

Carbon monoxide (CO) is caused by the incomplete combustion of any carbonaceous
fuel. Power plants and other large furnaces are usually designed and operated carefully
enough to ensure nearly complete combustion and do not emit much CO.

The major source is the transportation sector. However, residential heating accounts for a
significant fraction of total national CO emissions as do certain industrial processes.
Carbon monoxide can have significant effects on human health. CO reacts with the
hemoglobin in blood to prevent oxygen transfer. Depending on the concentration of CO
and the time of exposure, effects on humans range from slight headaches to nausea to
death.

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Trends in U.S annual emission rates for CO and

Lead

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 EXAMPLE 1-1
Estimate the percentage of HbCO in the blood of a traffic officer exposed to
40ppm CO for several hours. Assume the HbCO content reaches 60% of its
equilibrium saturation value.

SOLUTION 1-1
Air is approximately 20.9% oxygen, so at saturation
HbCO
40
210
0.04
HbO2
0.209 1000000
At 60% saturatio n
HbCO
0.60 0.04 0.024
HbO2
Fraction of HbCO in the blood :
HbCO HbO2 1.0
HbCO
1.0
0.024
HbCO 0.0234 and percent HbCOactual 2.3%
HbCO

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Research Studies of the effects of air pollutants on

human health
Sample PM Health Studies: Increased Mortality
A review of 57 studies in 37 cities worldwide found a causal relationship
between fine particle exposure and cardiopulmonary mortality (Journal of the
Air & Waste Management Association, 2001)
A 16-year study by Harvard University researchers found that fine particulate
pollution can shorten life spans by 2 years.
In this study of 8111 residents of 6 US cities, particulate pollution was
strongly associated with excess deaths from lung cancer and heart
disease, even when other lifestyle risks such as cigarette smoking were
factored out.

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Research Studies of the effects of air pollutants on

human health
Sample PM Health Studies: Heart Attacks, Bronchitis, Asthma,
Cancer

A study of 772 heart patients, conducted by the Beth Israel Deaconess

Medical Center in Boston, found that the risk of heart attack rose 40%
on days when particulate levels were higher (reported 2001).
By comparison, the increased risk from smoking is 500%.

A Loma Linda University study of 6340 Seventh Day Adventists living

throughout California found that residents living in areas which
exceeded federal standards for particulate matter on 42 or more days
per year had:
a 33% greater bronchitis risk
a 74% greater asthma risk
a 37% higher risk of developing some form of cancer (women)
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Research Studies of the effects of air pollutants on

human health
Sample Carbon Monoxide Health Studies: Heart Birth
Defects

Researchers at UCLA reported that the risk of heart birth defects

was 2-3 times greater when levels of carbon monoxide or ozone
were high during the second month of pregnancy - when the
heart forms. (American Journal of Epidemiology)
The study included more than 9300 babies born between 1987
and 1993 in 4 Los Angeles area counties.
The study matched heart birth defects with air-pollution data
gathered by 30 monitoring stations.

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Research Studies of the effects of air pollutants on

human health
Sample Ozone Health Studies: Increased Asthma Attacks
Researchers from NYU and Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut found that children
with asthma were 40% more likely to suffer asthma attacks on days with high
ozone levels (reported by the American Lung Association, 1997)
Children attending summer asthma camp were studied for 3 years
On the highest pollution day, when ozone levels reached 160 ppb averaged over one hour,
children with asthma were 40% more likely to suffer increased symptoms compared to days with
average ozone levels of 84 ppb.

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Research Studies of the effects of air pollutants on

human health
Sample Ozone Health Studies: Increased Asthma Onset
A 2002 study in the medical journal Lancet links ozone smog to
increases in asthma cases.
3535 children in Southern California were tracked for 5 years.

Children who played 3 or more outdoor sports in smoggy areas were more
than 3 times as likely to develop asthma.
Scientists had long thought that air pollution only worsens asthma - this
study found that it can also contribute to onset of asthma.

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Research Studies of the effects of air pollutants on

human health
Sample Ozone Health Studies: Increased ER Visits

A study of 25 hospitals in Montreal, Canada, found that in summer

1993, an increase in maximum ozone levels of 36 parts per billion (ppb)
averaged over one hour was associated with a 21% increase over the
average number of daily ER visits for people ages 64 and older
(reported by the American Lung Association in February 1997)

A study conducted by Harvard School of Public Health found that

ozone exposure was linked with up to 15,000 hospital admissions and
50,000 emergency room visits for respiratory conditions in 13 US cities
during 1993-94 (reported by the American Lung Association, 1996).
On average, up to 10% of asthma admissions during the ozone season
were attributed to elevated ozone levels.

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Research Studies of the effects of air pollutants on

human health
The Global Picture
Air pollution in the developing world is responsible for at least 50
million cases of chronic cough in children under age 14.
Respiratory disease is now the leading cause of death in children
worldwide. (Air & Waste Management Association Environmental
Manager, February 2000)
At least 220 million people in cities of the developing world lack
clean drinking water, 420 million do not have access to the
simplest latrines, 600 million do not have adequate shelter, and
1.1 billion choke on unhealthy levels of air pollution.
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Thank You
For any concerns, please contact
elearning@knust.edu.gh,
elearningknust@gmail.com // 0322 191132