Pollution potentials

Fig. 21-4. Number of forecast days of high air pollution potential per 5 years (1960-1964), Source Adapted from Holzworth (2).

One of the most significant Indices of air pollution potential Is provided by statistics on motor vehicle use. On a global scale the number of vehicles continues to rise although the rate of growth has slowed In North America and Europe as a whole, where vehicle densities are the highest In the world. Since 1979, the most rapid growth has occurred In Asia and South America where vehicle ownership has more than doubled (11). In the developing countries, as well as many others, these vehicles are not equipped with emission control devices. 

Jury WA, Focht DD, Farmer WJ. 1987a. Evaluation of pesticide groundwater pollution potential from standard indices of soil-chemical adsorption and biodegradation. J Environ Qual 16 422-428. 

EPA. 1972. The pollution potential in pesticide manufacturing. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water Products. Pesticide Study Series 5. EPA540/11-72-06. 

Valente, T. Leal Gomes, C. 2009. Occurrence, properties and pollution potential of environmental minerals in acid mine drainage. Science of the Total Environment, 407, 1135-1152. 

The differences in the magnitudes of the parameters shown in Table 3.7 correspond well with the course of (anaerobic) microbial processes in the sewer deposits. Newly deposited sediments not only have the highest pollutant potential but also show the lowest critical shear stress for erosion. Such sediment types may exert the highest impacts on receiving waters from combined sewer overflows. 

In relation to the obvious environmental pollution potential of landfilling of MSW, few new landfills are now sited. Additionally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a report to Congress, projected that 40% and 82% of the current landfills in operation today will be closed by the year 1993 and 2013, respectively (11). Therefore, as the standard route of disposal shrinks, new avenues for disposal must be identified and quickly commercialized to meet the disposal demand. 

Wastewater effluents discharged to pubhcly owned treatment facilities are sometimes treated by physical or chemical systems to remove pollutants potentially hazardous to the POTW or which may be treated inadequately in the POTW. Such treatment methods are numerous, but they generally fall into one of three broad categories in accordance with their process objectives. These include pH control, removal of dissolved materials, and separation of phases. 

It is obvious that such an assessment is formidable, technically difficult, and extremely expensive. Since an environmental source assessment study is required to characterize the total pollution potential of all waste streams, the sampling program must be more extensive than those conducted for the acquisition of process or control engineering data. Assessment sampling is more complete in that all waste streams are sampled and no attempt is made to limit sampling to a preselected number of process streams. The sampling is also more comprehensive in that all substances of potential environmental concern must be detectable above some minimum level of concern. These requiements of completeness and comprehensiveness call for a strategy of approach in which the philosophy and structure ensure maximum utilization of available resources. 

The costs of incinerators and their pollution potential have made them far less popular in the United States than in many other parts of the world. (A form of incineration known as high temperature combustion remains a major method of waste disposal in Japan and some parts of Europe, however.) After World War II, construction of new incinerators decreased until the total number of plants in the United States fell to an all-time low of about 15 in I960. Then the number rose for two decades before declining once more to the current level of about II2 incinerators, as shown in the graph. A major factor in the latest shift away from incineration as a method of waste disposal was the 1970 Clean Air Act, which strictly limited the amount and... 

Quiroga J.M., D. Sales, and A. Gomez-Parra (1989). Experimental evaluation of pollution potential of anionic surfactants in the marine environment. Water Research 23 801-808. 

Holzworth, G. C. Mixing depths, wind speeds, and air pollution potential for selected localities in the U.S. Appl. Meteorol. 6 1039 (1967). 

Pollutant Potential perturbation Potential atmospheric interactions... 

Armed with the above information, it is possible to make a preliminary assessment of the pollution potential of specific coal seams and... 

The PreniAir catalyst-coated radiator assists in the destruction of airborne pollutants, potentially turning vehicles into net pollution absorbers. 

Velthoven, Observations of upper tropospheric sulfur dioxide- and acetone-pollution Potential implications for hydroxyl radical and aerosol formation, Geopkys. Res. Lett., 24,57-60, 1997. 

Thapinta, A., Hudak, P.F., 2003. Use of geographic information systems for assessing groundwater pollution potential by pesticides in central Thailand. Environ. Int. 29, 87-93. 

Trick, J. K., Williams, G. M., Noy, D. J., Moore, Y., and Reeder, S. (2000, April 6-7). Pollution potential of cemeteries Impact of the 19th century Carter Gate cemetery, Nottingham. Paper presented at the British Society of Soil Science/ Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health joint meeting on Soil, Environment and Health at the University of Birmingham Medical School, Birmingham, AL. 

Jalali, L., Anderson, J.P.E. (1976) Uptake of benomyl by the cultivated mushroom, Agricus bisporus. J. Agric. Food Chem. 24,431-432. Jury, W.A., Focht, D.D., Farmer, W.J. (1987b) Evaluation of pesticide groundwater pollution potential from standard indices of soil-chemical adsorption and biodegradation. J. Environ. Qual. 16(4), 422-428. 

Figure 2-17 Modifications on water piping to reduce pollution potentials. Courtesy of Jack M. Jarnagin.

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