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1、Introduction to Pollution and Monitoring ...
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1.Provide a comprehensive全面 definition of pollution. What is the difference between pollution and contamination?(污染的定义)(总结)
(1)Definition(pollution)
\"Harmful effects of a nature that endangers human health, impairs living resources or interferes with amenities or other legitimate uses of the environment, whether or not they are potential hazards, through the direct or indirect introduction of substances or energy into the environment by humans.\"
(2)Difference
Pollutant vs. Contaminant
Pollutant is a harmful or poisonous substance that pollutes something.
(自身的有害物质)Contaminant is a foreign substance or impurity that contaminates something.
(被外来污染)
Pollutants always create harmful effects.Contaminants do not always create harmful effects.
Pollutants can be either foreign substances or a component of the original substance that has exceeded the harmless level.Contaminants usually refer to foreign matter that are introduced from the outside.
CONCLUDE:
①Contamination is simply the presence of a substance where it should not be or at concentrations above background.;Pollution is contamination that results in or can result in adverse biological effects to resident communities.污染仅仅是一种物质的存在,而这种物质本不应该存在或其浓度高于本背景;污染是对居民社区造成或可能造成不利生物影响的污染。
②All pollutants are contaminants,but not all contaminants are pollutants.
③Widely, “contamination” should be used when a substance is present above background levels, but with no evidence of harm.And,That same substance will only be considered to be“pollution” if it is present at a high enough concentration to cause damage to or endanger an ecosystem, amenity or human health广泛地说,当一种物质的含量高于本底水平,但没有证据表明其有害时,应使用“污染”一词。而且,同一种物质只有在浓度高到足以对生态系统、舒适环境或人类健康造成损害或危害时才会被视为“污染”
2.Explain the difference between primary and secondary pollutants, giving examples of each. Give an example of pollutants that produce indirect harmful effects.
(1)Primary pollutants directly exert their harmful effects in the form in which they are released into the environment.(直接影响)
E.g.: Heavy metals (e.g. Cd, Cr, Pb) and Metalloids (e.g. As, Hg, Sb);Pesticides;Fine particles 细颗粒物(e.g. PM2.5); Harmful gases
(2)Secondary pollutants are not released directly into the environment, but are produced by chemical, biochemical or photochemical transformations of the often less harmful precursors initially released into the environment. The secondary pollutants produced often then exert more harm than the parent compounds.(二次污染物更毒)
E.g.:Acid rain ; Tropospheric ozone ;Photochemical smog (NOx and VOCs reacting with sunlight); Methyl Mercury 甲基汞(from biological transformation of Hg)
(3)Indirect pollutants: Some pollutants also produce indirect harmful effects through their influence on key processes:
E.g.:Stratospheric ozone destruction平流层臭氧破坏 (from CFCs degradation producing Cl); Eutrophication富营养化 (from excessive N and P);Anthropogenic greenhouse effects人为温室效应 (from excessive carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide)
3.What is the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) and what information is contained within?国家污染物清单
(1)The NPI provides the community, industry and government with free information about substance emissions in Australia
(This substance list has been determined by consideration of the potential impacts of substances on both human and environmental health using three criteria【Environmental effects、Human health effects、Exposure】to determine a risk score for each hazardous substance)
(2)The site contains:?Fact sheets on each of these priority substances(e.g. total phosphorus);Information on emissions by location, company and substance;The NPI contains data on 93 priority substances which are commonly emitted into the environment.
4. Discuss the statement “dilution is the solution to pollution”, including the major problems of relying upon environmental dispersal and dilution of toxic substances.稀释治污
(1)This may indeed be a simple and cost-effective short-term solution. However, there are several problems with this approach that does not consider the long-term fate of contaminants in the environment.
Many contaminants are persistent in the environment. (Metals which cannot be naturally degraded;Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which are very poorly degraded.) So, while they may be initially diluted by simple dispersal they are NOT actually removed from the environment.
(2)Problems:
①Persistent contaminants can be transported very long distances, especially by atmospheric and hydrological (水文大气)processes.
②Many contaminants re-concentrate in particular sites/organisms – e.g. biomagnification
③Some contaminants are transformed into more harmful secondary pollutants in the environment
④Locations can become dangerously contaminated before sufficient dilution takes place?