science-environmental chem

• Inorganic


  Substance that don't contain carbon
• organic


  Substance that contains carbon and hydrogen
• Most common elements in living things

  • Carbon
  • Oxygen
  • Hydrogen
• Complex molecules


  • Sugar
  • Starch
  • Fat
  • Wax
• How plants obtain nutrients

  1. Obtain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen from air and water

  2. Obtain nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sulfur from soil
• These nutrients are essential for plant growth
• Carbohydrates


  Organic compounds that are the body's main energy source
• Foods high in carbohydrates

  • Pasta
  • Rice
  • Potatoes
  • Fruit
  • Bread
• Proteins


  Made of units called amino acids, used by organisms for growth and repair of cells
• Foods high in protein

  • Meat
  • Fish
  • Eggs
  • Dairy products
• Lipids


  Organic compounds soluble in fat not water, main function is storing energy
• Foods high in lipids

  • Corn
  • Peanuts
  • Nuts
• Harmful chemicals


  • Can become concentrated in soil or lake bottoms
  • Can accumulate in plants through uptake of water and nutrients
  • Some may remain in the environment for long periods
• Biomagnification


  Increase of a chemical or element as it moves up the food chain
• Mercury entering the food chain


  1. Mercury falls into fresh or saltwater

  2. Algae absorb the mercury

  3. Algae eaten by insects

  4. Insects eaten by fish

  5. Fish now has lots of mercury
• The individual algae isn't affected by mercury because it takes in very little
• Human-released chemicals


  • From growing crops
  • Treating wastewater
  • Solid waste
  • Driving vehicles
• Some chemicals can't break down
• Pesticides


  • Herbicides (kill/control weeds)
  • Insecticides (kill/control insects)
  • Fungicides (kill fungi)
• Some pests are resistant to pesticides
• Some pests are not selective - they kill both pest and non-pest organisms (e.g. armyworm)
• Some pests stay in the environment for a long time (e.g. DDT)
• Fukushima Daiichi Accident


  Following a major earthquake on March 11, 2011, a tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three nuclear reactors, causing a nuclear accident
• Ongoing task after the accident

  Prevent release of radioactive materials, particularly in contaminated water
• Fish caught off the coast of Fukushima have been found to contain 10 times the allowed level of radioactive cesium
• Substrate


  The material on which an organism moves or lives
• Organisms attached to their substrate

  • Sea anemone attaches itself to rocks in intertidal zones, where the water is very turbulent
  • It obtains its nutrients by capturing food with its tentacles
• Organisms obtaining nutrients from their substrate

  • Bread mould breaks down the molecules of its substrate, the bread, to obtain nutrients
• Substrates

  • Some organisms are able to live on surprising substrates
• Substrate

  • Snow high in the mountains in early summer that is red and smells like watermelons
• Algae

  Single-cell algae that colour the snow
• Algae on snow

  • Manage to survive on a substrate that is near freezing, poor in nutrients, and often acidic
• Water quality categories

  • Human drinking water
  • Recreation
  • Livestock drinking water
  • Irrigation
  • Protection of aquatic life
• Water quality is determined according to what the water is used for
• Both provincial and federal governments set guidelines for water quality in five categories
• Biological indicators of water quality

  • Fish
  • Plants
  • Worms
  • Insects
  • Plankton
  • Protozoa
  • Bacteria
  • Viruses
• Scientists use organisms that live in water to help determine water quality
• Chemical indicators of water quality

  • Dissolved oxygen
  • Nitrogen
  • Phosphorus
  • Heavy metals
  • Salts
  • Pesticides
• Water in the environment can contain many different organic and inorganic compounds
• The following are most commonly monitored as indicators of water quality