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brittiany
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endocrine distruptors
At low doses it affects animals by mimicking estrogen and feminized males.
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enviromental health
assesses environmental factors that influence human health and quality of life.
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infectious disease
considered environmental health hazards, impossible for us to avoid risk from biological agents completely, we can take steps to reduc the liklihood of infection
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toxicology
science that examines the impacts of poisonous substances on humans and other organisms.
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toxicant
a poison or toxic agent
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environmental toxicology
deals with toxic substances that come from or are discharged into our environment
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carcinogens
chemicals or types of radiation that cause cancer
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mutagens
chemicals that cause mutations in DNA of organisms
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teratogens
chemicals that cause harm to the unborn
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neurotoxins
chemical toxin that assults the nervous system, heavy metals, lead, mercury, cadmium
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allergins
overact the immune system causing an immune response that is not necessary
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endocrine disruptors
toxins that interfere with the endocrine system or hormone system
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bioaccumulation
methyl mercury, may be stored in muscle tissue when these toxins are built up in animals it's bioaccumulation
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biomagnification
when toxins are eatin down the food chain (ex: water has a toxin, zooplantin live on water, fish eat zooplantin, bird eats fish, bird gets low concentration of the toxin
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epidemiological studies
large scale comparisons among groups of people usualy comparing people who are exposed to a toxin and those who are not
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dose-responce curve
data on a graph with dose on the x-axis and response on the y-axis the it's the resulting curve
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acute exposure
high exposure for short periods of time
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chronic exposure
low amounts over a long amount of time
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synergistic effects
interactive impacts that are more than or different from the simple sum of their constituent effects
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risk assessment
the quantitative measurement of risk and the comparison of risks involved in different activities or substances
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weather
atmospheric conditions over short periods of time typically days or hours
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Climate
pattern of atmospheric conditions found across large geographic regions over long periods of time
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temerature inversion/thermal inversion
departure from the north temperature profile
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Hurricanes
form when wnds rush into areas of low pressure where warm moisture-laiden air over tropical oceans
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air pollutants
people have done a significant amount of air pollutants, from wood fires, power plants
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primary pollutant
soot, carbon monoxide, are pollutants emitted into the troposhphere in a form that is directly harmful
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Secondary pollutant
harmful substances produced when primary pollutants interact or react with constitents of the atmosphere
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clean air act
1963 emended in 1970 and 1990 legislations funds research into pollution controll, sets standards for air quality, imposes limits, enables people to sue those who violate conditions
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carbon monoxide
colorless, odorless, vehicles are main contributers
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sulfur dioxide
colorless but has a strong odor, mainly from combustion of coal for electricity
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Nitrogen Dioxide
reddish foul smelling gas that contributes to smog and acidic decomposition, when atmospheric nitrogen reacts with high temperatures
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Trophopheric ozone
colorless gas is secondary pollutant caused by sunlight, heat, nitrogen oxides, and volatile carbon containing chemicals
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particulate matter
composed of solid or liquid particles small enough to be suspended in the atmosphere and able to damage respiratory tissues when enhaled
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scrubbers
chemically or physically remove airborn pollutants before they are emitted
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toxic air pollutants
chemicals known to cause serious health or envoronmental problems
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industrial smog/ grey air smog
when coal or oil is burned
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photochemical smog/brown air smog
light-driven chemical reactions of primary pollutants and normal atmospheric compounds that produce a mix of over 100 chemicals
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choloroflurocarbons
human made compounds
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acidic deposition
deposition of acidic or acid-forming pollutant from the atmosphere onto Earth's surface
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atmospheric deposition
more broadly to wet or dry depostion on land of wide variety of pollutants including mercury nitrates organchlorines and others
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fossil fuels
highly combustable substances formed from the remains of organisms from past peological ages
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aerobic
a tree that falls and decays as a roting log undergos
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anerobic
decomposed with little or no oxygen scuh as lakes swamps and oceans
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EROI
energy returned on investment =energy returned+energy invested
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natural gas
consists mainly of methane and typically includes varying amounts of other volatille hydrocarbons
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crude oil/ pertroleum
sludge like material, tends to form under pressure conditions
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reserves to production ratio R/P
by dividing the amount remaining by the annual rate of producion
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Hubbert's peak
peak of production of oil in 1974
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peak oil
predicting the actual day of peak in oil production is difficult we will not know for certain we will not know if we have reached it until a few years after it has passed
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cogneration
improves efficiency of power plants in which excess heat produced during electricity generation is captured and used to heat workplaces and homes and to produce other kinds of power
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nuclear energy
energy that holds together protons and neutrons within the nucleus of an atom
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nuclear fission
the release of nuclear energy in power plants
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biomass
organic material that makes up living organisms
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biomass energy
energy from tres, charcoal from burned wood, cattle manure
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biopower
biomass energy materials are burned to create biopower
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biofuels
biomass energy sources are converted into biofuels
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hydroelectric power
kinetic energy of moving water to generate electricity
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passive solar
building are built in materials meant to maximize absorbtion of sunlight
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active solar
energy collection makes use of technology to focus or store solar energy
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photoviltaic cells (PV)
convert sunlight into electrical energy
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Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC)
is a way to use the absorbed solar radiation from the oceans
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