Abstract: Environmental Laws and Regulations Environmental Impact Assessment Pollution Prevention in Chemical Manufacturing Standards Air Pollution Noise Pollution Wastewater Treatment Removing Specific Water Contaminants Groundwater and Surface Water Pollution Solid Waste Hazardous Waste

Abstract: Trace metals introduced to the environment from fuel combustion, incineration, and industrial emission sources are causing increasing concern to air pollution researchers Several metals in urban air, including lead and vanadium, are associated with particles in the predominantly submicrometer diameter range thereby presenting an inhalation threat There is also growing evidence that some metals emitted from stationary sources are concentrated in submicrometer sized particles which may pass through emission control devices This report summarizes the concentration and size of trace metals in urban air, the concentration ranges found in selected fuels and emission sources, and describes the areas where further studies are needed

Abstract: A review and analysis is made of the interactions between air pollutants and plant parasites and disease vectors. In addition to chronicling the known interactions between pollutants and specific vectors, the author also points out areas where more research is needed.

Abstract: Summary Data are presented on the incidence of tumors found in 2121 fish examined from the Fox River watershed (4.38%) as compared to 4639 fish examined in Canada (1.03%). The water systems were compared as to pollution potentials, and the Fox River was found to be a highly polluted system. Among the pollutants found were mercury, lead, arsenic, toluene, crude oil, gasoline, benzanthracene, chlorinated hydrocarbons, phosphates, sulfates, and coliform bacteria. Factors such as dissolved oxygen content, temperature, and nutritional variation were considered similar in both water systems. It is concluded that these pollutants were responsible for the greater frequency of tumors. No attempts were made to determine the effects of pollution on the long-term human users of the water or to determine the virus contents of the water system under study. Plans are now being made to study the waters for fish viruses and, incidently, those enteric viruses that one might expect in a river system that is termed “a floating sewer.”

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter describes lichen deserts and their causes, effect of sulfur dioxide (SO2) on growth and metabolism, and several other environmental factors. The size and shape of lichen deserts—elongated downwind and often extending for many miles beyond the built-up area—clearly point to some airborne influence. The size and shape of an area affected by pollution can be discovered rapidly (and cheaply) by mapping indicator species. By using different species and varying the substratum, it is possible to determine a boundary at almost any distance from a conurbation. There are several effects of SO2 on growth and metabolism, which includes growth, physiological and biochemical, other pollutants, and their resistance to pollution. When SO2 levels are high, pollution does tend to be a master factor incapable of modification. Further, there is evidence that any map showing the distribution of lichens also contains information on regional levels of air pollution.

Abstract: Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) was measured in 21 men exercising while exposed to four O3 concentrations (0.0, 0.08, 0.10, and 0.12 ppm). A lognormal multiple linear regression model was fitted to their mean FEV1 measurements to predict FEV1 percent decrease as a function of O3 concentration and exposure duration. The exercise level used was probably comparable to heavy manual labor. The longest O3 exposure studied was 6 h. Extrapolating cautiously to an 8-h workday of heavy manual labor, the model predicts that O3 concentrations of 0.08, 0.10, and 0.12 ppm would decrease FEV1 by 9, 15, and 20 percent, respectively.

Abstract: Oceanic oil pollution has become a major environmental issue. This review attempts to assess the extent of this pollution problem and its impact on the marine environment. The complex nature of petroleum is discussed to the extent that it pertains to its effects and its fate in the sea. The roles of physical, chemical, and biochemical processes in the elimination of polluting oil from the marine environment are described. The pathways and products of the microbial degradation of various petroleum components are summarized and the possibility of oil removal by stimulated biodegradation is discussed in the context of other pollution abatement and prevention techniques. The emphasis of the review is on biological effects and on biodegradation, but these subjects are presented in the perspective of the marine oil pollution problem as a whole.

Abstract: SMOKE and sulphur dioxide levels are measured by the Warren Spring Laboratory at many sites in Great Britain1, but little information is collected in rural areas. Here we describe a method for estimating atmospheric pollution which can be applied in most areas where trees are found.

Abstract: INDUSTRIAL mercury discharges into natural waters have been effectively reduced during the past several years in the United States. In areas such as Mobile Bay, which previously received sufficient quantities of anthropogenic mercury effluents to require a ban on commercial fisheries, it is now critical to determine if the residual contaminated sediments are a reservoir of mercury compounds which could be detrimental to the fishery on a long term basis. It is well established that mercury accumulates in particulate material1,2 and may subsequently be transferred from sediment to fish3. Laboratory studies4 suggest that diagenetic processes in natural sediments can transform inorganic mercury to mono and dimethylmercury, increasing the pollution hazard. The methylated forms of mercury have been found to be more toxic to organisms than inorganic or phenyl mercury compounds5,6. Here we report the first published results on the concentration and distribution of methylmercury compounds in natural sediments from polluted and unpolluted coastal environments.

Abstract: Normal paraffin hydrocarbons are one of the major groups of compounds in crude oil and petroleum products. Since these compounds can be readily separated from aquatic organisms using solvent extraction and liquid-solid chromatography and identified by gas-liquid chromatography, the normal paraffins can serve as indicators of petroleum pollution in the aquatic environment. It is necessary, however, to differentiate between natural (or biogenic) hydrocarbons and those assimilated by the organisms from pollution sources by comparing the natural hydrocarbon content and pattern (n-C14 to n-C37) of organisms from areas of pollution with those of organisms from relatively “unpolluted” areas. The paper suggests techniques for obtaining and analyzing petroleum hydrocarbon data which can lead to a standard method for detecting and following the biological uptake of oil by living organisms from the aquatic environment.

Abstract: Sewage or other waste water is passed together with oxygen-containing gas upwardly through a turbulent mass of solid contact particles. The randomly moving contact particles such as coarse sand collide with the pollution solids and effect a fine dispersion of the oxygenating gas throughout the liquid suspension. The pollution solids are thus subjected to attrition by the turbulent mass of contact particles. The fine dispersion of oxygenating gas makes intimate contact with the suspended solids and dissolved solids of the sewage or waste water with the result that its oxygenation is accelerated.

Abstract: w T h e Jacobs-Hochheiser ( J H ) method is being used to determine integrated NO:! and N O levels (after oxidation of N O to NOz) in the 1-15 pphrn range in indoor and outdoor environments. Cnder controlled experimental conditions, the absorption of small quantities of NO2 in a series of bubblers containing 0.10 or 0.25N NaOH varied considerably resulting in poor reproducibility of da ta . However, the addition of u p to 0.100/0 by weight of sodium arsenite to the absorbing solutions greatly improved the collection efficiency, the reproducibility, and the accuracy of the da ta . NO interfered with the NO2 absorption process in , the presence of arsenite; a correction factor was determined which can be used when the NO concentration is known, A COz effect on the p H of the absorbing solutions was observed and taken into account in determining NO2 levels. Water vapor or CH4 had little or no effect on the NO2 collection and analysis process. T h e J H procedure, modified with sodium arsenite and corrected for S O . appears to yield accurate and reproducible integrated SO2 values.

Abstract: PRESTON et al.1 have recently examined the distribution of a number of heavy metals in British coastal waters. They have found that the average concentrations of these elements in waters and marine organisms were significantly higher in samples from the eastern Irish Sea than in those from other areas. Fish and shellfish from this region (particularly the Mersey Estuary and Lune Deep) have been observed to have the highest average contents of mercury of any from around the British Isles2. No data are available for the concentration of the element in the seawater of the Irish Sea, nor is anything known about whether significant mercury pollution arises from liquid wastes discharged into the sea from the populous, highly industrialized areas of Lancashire. Trade effluents from the many chemical and industrial plants (including three chlorine-alkali works) would probably be the principal sources of mercury, but the input from sewage, which may contain a significant concentration of mercury (2–150 p.p.m. on the dry weight)3,4, would also be important, as the total daily discharge of (mainly untreated) sewage to the area amounts to about 0.7 × 106 m3 (ref. 3). We describe here the distribution pattern of dissolved mercury in the Irish Sea, and have demonstrated that significant pollution occurs in the eastern coastal strip.

Abstract: In Volum� 22 of this series Berry & Lehman (1) presented a critical and stimulating review of the aerochemistry of air pollution. Virtually all of the pollutants discussed there have their origins in combustion processes. We attempt here to supplement that review by examining recent literature on the chemical processes within combustion systems that give rise to those pollutants. The relative importance of the various sources of pollution can be gauged from the data for man-caused pollutant emissions presented in Table I. The

Abstract: Water pollution by mercury, cadmium, lead, and copper is currently recognized as a persistent and increasing environmental problem. Popular treatment of trace metal pollution problems, particularly mercury pollution, has raised the general awareness of such problems. There is still, however, relatively little information available on interactions of trace metals with microbiological populations at environmentally encountered levels. The present review is directed towards examining some trace metal effects on marine phytoplankton. The end in view is to provide a basic perspective on these trace metals as one group of materials with a potential to interfere with marine productivity.

Abstract: This review of the effects of atmospheric pollution on leaf surface microflora commences with a brief look at the various pollutants and their dynamics, deposition and behaviour on the leaf surface. The indirect and direct effects of pollution on the microflora are then discussed. Considerable attention is paid to sulphur dioxide, especially to its effects as a gaseous pollutant and in solution on the leaf surface where it exhibits selective toxicity to individual members of the microflora.

Abstract: w A technique is presented for dispatching fossil-fueled electric generators which results in a reduction in the ground level SO2 concentrations. The dispatching schedules and ground level SO2 concentrations are determined for a sample but realistic problem, and are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. The results of the sample problem clearly demonstrate the viability of dispatching generators using an environmental cost to ensure compliance with ambient air quality regulations. However, it is also pointed out that an accurate deterministic dispersion model must be used if useful results are to be obtained.

Abstract: CHESS, an acronym for the Community Health and Environmental Surveillance System, is a national program which relates community health to changing environmental quality. I t consists of a series of standardized epidemiologic studies designed to measure simultaneously environmental quality and sensitive health indicators in sets of communities representing exposure gradients to common air pollutants. The program is conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency in cooperation with local public health agencies, universities, and private research institutes. The purpose of the CHESS program is: 0 to evaluate existing environmental standards 0 to obtain health intelligence for new standards 0 to document health benefits of air pollution control

Abstract: The rise in concentration of atmospheric lead pollutants is causing increased concern among ecologists. An inventory of the sources of lead emission in the United States shows that 98% of the total emissions of lead result from the burning of leaded gasoline in internal combustion engines (Anonymous 1972).

Abstract: The distribution and abundance of macroinvertebrates were studied in the South Esk River, Tasmania; a river subject to cadmium and zinc pollution as a result of mining. The groups most intolerant of cadmium-zinc pollution were the Crustacea, Mollusca and Annelida. Highly tolerant groups included aquatic Hemiptera and Arachnida, and larvae of leptocerid trichopterans. A drop in both species diversity and abundance occurred after floods in winter and was probably due to pulses of cadmium and zinc down the river and also to increased molar action of the unstable substrate.

Abstract: Discharge of effluents from tin and wolfram mines has caused severe pollution of two creeks and lesser pollution of the South Esk River in North-East Tasmania. The principal pollutants are sulphuric acid, zinc, cadmium, copper, lead, iron and manganese in dissolved or particulate form or both. The creek waters are rendered unsuitable for domestic or agricultural use and all normal biota destroyed. In the South Esk River trout are absent from polluted reaches though abundant elsewhere. Flood-borne mine tailings, rich in particulate pollutants, have destroyed or degraded pastures along the South Esk River.