WASTE

Q1) What is waste?

A1) Waste is any material that is no longer useful and is discarded .According to EPA 1990 waste is
defined as -Any substance which constitutes a scrap material or an effluent or other unwanted surplus
substance arising from the operation of any process .Any substance or article which requires to be
disposed of as being broken, worn out, contaminated or otherwise spoiled.

Q2) Name some sources of waste?

A2) They are

Household/Domestic waste- include leftover food, waste paper, plastic bags, metal cans, glass
pieces, discarded clothes, discarded batteries, medicines, chemicals, sewage from toilets etc.

Municipal waste- includes garbage, waste coming from domestic, restaurants, public places,
street sweeping, ashes from demolition and construction

Industrial waste- in the form of ashes, toxic waste, fuel giving out harmful gases, liquid effluents
and toxic waste released into water bodies.

Q3) Distinguish between degradable and bio degradable waste

Q4) Name the agricultural wastes.

A4) Agricultural waste- is produced by intensive agriculture and crop production which also includes
wood waste, molasses, pesticides, fertilizers etc. Types of Agricultural waste

Plant and animal waste- crop residue from seed, bagasse, molasses which are left over after
harvest, animal excreta or waste produced in animals

Fertilizers and pesticides added to the soil to increase the fertility of the soil are washed away
as surface runoffs causing biomagnification by increasing the concentration of toxic substances
along the food chain. Pesticides and insecticides which are sprayed on plants are also carried
 along with wind, seeps into the soil contaminates ground water and also washed away into the
water bodies causing Eutrophication.

Q5) What is bio magnification?

A5) Bio magnification is the increase in toxic concentration of a substance in a food chain.

Q6) Name some sources of our exposure to cosmic rays

A6) They are

Electromagnetic radiations entering the earths atmosphere from outer space which bathes the
human body in cosmic rays

Poor ventilated houses with drought proofed windows increases radioactive gas Radon formed
by decay of radium in many sorts of rocks and building materials

Radiations coming from X-rays, industrial nuclear techniques luminous dial in watches of radium
or tritium, television sets etc

Radiations from radioactive fallouts during nuclear testing and discharges from nuclear
installations.

Q7) What are hazardous materials?

A7) Hazardous waste is highly flammable, corrosive, reactive, toxic and reacts with water.
Chemicals are hazardous if they cause health problems.

Q8) What is E waste?

A8) Wastes generated when old computers are discarded together with keyboard, monitor CPU.

Q9) What is pollution and pollutants?

A9) Pollution is any change or addition in the environment which results into the deterioration or
contamination with substances which make it harmful for organisms. Pollutants- are substances
released into the environment naturally or by human activities which disturbs the balance and causes
pollution .Air, water and soil pollution are main type of pollution which harms the environment

Q10) What are the impacts of waste accumulation?

A10) Spoilage of landscape and health hazard

Breeds pest and spread disease- as most of the waste is dumped on vacant land which gets piled
and spoils the beauty and becomes a breeding ground for rodents and other insects and a
medium to spread disease.
 Roads are encroached- as domestic waste is often dumped on roadsides along with the debris
coming from construction sites and this results into narrowing of the roads.

Attract birds and animals which perish by consuming toxic garbage and plastic bags while
searching for food

Q11) What are the effects of soot, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide?

A11) Industrial fumes carry both solid and gaseous pollutants. Soot is fine carbon particle
along with other metabolic particles and hydrocarbons which gets deposited on the leaf surface
and block the stomata. They also form the nuclei on which water droplets condense causing
smoke haze and fog.

Sulphur dioxide - is a gaseous pollutant dissolves in the moisture to form acid solutions which
kills plants and damages monuments, increases the soil acidity and leaches the soil of its
nutrients.

Hydrogen sulphide is present in gases which are formed during putrefaction of animal and
vegetable substances containing sulphur. It is also present in gases coming from petroleum
refineries and volcanoes with a smell of rotten egg .H2S takes up iron from the blood to form
iron sulphide , if inhaled in small doses causes nausea, headache and unconsciousness.

Q12) What are the effects of exhaust fumes from Automobiles?

A12) Exhaust fumes- contain soot from diesel vehicles, hydrocarbons, SO2, CO, oxides of nitrogen.

Carbon monoxide formed due to incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons, is odourless

and cannot be detected .CO combines with haemoglobin from blood and cuts down the supply
of oxygen hence there could be death due to Asphyxiation

Lead- is added to petrol to make car engines run better , which passes out of exhaust system into
air , breathing this air for a prolonged period causes brain damage.

Q13) What is petrochemical smog?

A13) Nitrogen dioxide given out from the automobiles, is broken down by sunlight into chemicals
Ozone & Nascent oxygen, which react with hydrocarbons and NO2 to form toxic Peroxyacetyl
Nitrate[ PAN].This phenomenon is called Synerism Smog is heterogeneous mixture of fog, dust,
smoke and SO2Petrochemical Smog is a heterogeneous mixture of fog, dust, smoke,
peroxyacetyl nitrate[PAN], ozone and nascent oxygen.

Q14) What is water pollution?

A14) Water pollution is any undesirable change in the quality of water which makes it unfit for human
consumption.
Q15) What is called as eutrophication?

A15) It is a process of depletion of oxygen from water bodies occurring naturally or due to human
activities. The process of eutrophication takes place due to introduction of nutrients and chemicals
through discharge of domestic sewage , industrial effluents fertilizers. algae and phytoplankton use
carbon di oxide , inorganic nitrogen, and phosphates from the water as food. They serve as food for
zooplankton , which are eaten by small fish. When nutrients increase in water due to waste
accumulation the growth of phytoplankton and algae increases .Consequently the penetration of
oxygen ,light and heat into the waterbody is reduced. This causes death of most of the micro organisms
draining water of oxygen. The decay of domestic waste also reduces oxygen in the water.

Q16) What are the effects of oilspills?

A16) They are

Oxygen depletion due to algal growth as petroleum is an organic product.

Oxygen and sunlight penetration is blocked.

Feathers stick to each other leading to difficulty in flight,

.Death of fish in sea.

Q17) What is thermal pollution?

A17) When warm water enters rivers or streams, it reduces dissolved oxygen from waterbodies and
this warm water comes from the discharge of nuclear power plants or factory cooling systems.
The rise in temperature of water deprives the aquatic life of oxygen which leads to the death of
fish species like salmon & trout.

Q18) What are the effects of water pollution?

A18) They are

Presence of acids/ alkalis destroy microorganisms in water which hinder self purification

Affects fishes and aquatic life

Toxic material from water enter the food chain causing health hazard

Polluted water spreads epidemics like Cholera, Tuberculosis, Jaundice, Typhoid & Diarrhoea.

Polluted water for irrigation damages crops and decrease the productivity.

Polluted water affects the productivity of soil and destroy microorganisms from the soil.

Water contaminated with salts increase the salinity of soil.

 Sea water contaminated by oil slicks results into death of sea organisms.

Q 19) What are the characteristics of good quality water?

A19) Safe/ Portable water should be free from-

Disease causing micro-organisms /pathogens.

Harmful chemicals

Unpleasant taste

Q20) What is bacteriology?

A20) The study of Bacteriology states the role of water in transmission of typhoid and other intestinal
bacterial diseases.

Q21) What is epidemiology?

A21) Epidemiology- is the science which deals with preventive and social medicine involving study of
the frequency, distribution and cause of a disease.

Q22) What are the effects of waste on cows?

A22) They are

Domestic animals cows& buffaloes feeding on contaminated food suffer from arsenic & lead
poisoning

Air pollutants cause respiratory disorders in all types of animals.

Garbage dumped with plastic bags along with vegetables & fruits is often eaten up by cows &
buffaloes.

Fluorides in water causes weight lose and lowers fertility in animals reducing milk production.

Q23) What are the effects of radiation on life?

A23) They are

The radiations from radioactive substances are highly energetic& harmful to living organisms,
pollutes air, water & soil.

Destroys living tissues & blood cells

Affect cell membrane & functioning of cell enzymes.

Mutation to genes leading to cancer leukaemia

 Creates a danger to the foetus in the pregnant mother, by changing the genes which can cause
functional abnormalities in the progeny.