Your Name __________________________________________________Period ______ Date ________
Environmental Science Chapter 19 Word Study – Waste
Directions: Study the following words by reading and rereading them each evening so you will be prepared for the word
study test each week. You may use one index card to write as many words and definitions on as possible to use for the
test. The card must written in ink, be in your handwriting, and have your name, your class period, and the chapter
recorded in the top, right corner with no obvious erasures or mark outs. ALL WORDS MUST BE NUMBERED. If all the
criteria are met, you may use your index card during the test. It will then be stapled to your test.
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solid waste – any discarded solid material from junk mail to coffee grounds to cars in the
form of garbage, refuse, or sludges
biodegradable – a material that can be broken down by biological processes/Examples
include plant and animal matter, newspapers, paper bags, cotton fibers, leather
plastic problems – made from petroleum or natural gas which consist mainly of carbon and
hydrogen formed in molecular chains that are artificial so microorganisms or
bacteria that breaks down materials in nature have not learned how to break down
this combination of compounds
municipal solid waste – waste produced by households and businesses which produce
enough waste to fill a convoy of garbage trucks that would stretch around the Earth
about six times (2008 information)
landfill – an area of land or an excavation where wastes are placed for permanent disposal
leachate – a liquid that has passed through solid waste and has extracted dissolved or
suspended materials from that waste, such as pesticides in the soil
incinerators –a container or processing plant for burning garbage on a large-scale
basis/Major problems include pollution from items such as cleansers, batteries, or
paints that should not be burned because of the toxins they emit
source reduction – any change in design, manufacture, purchase, or use of materials or
products to reduce their amount or toxicity before they become municipal solid
waste
recycling – the process of reusing materials or recovering valuable materials from waste or
scrap/paper, glass, aluminum, plastic, and many other materials can be recycled
compost – a mixture of decomposing organic matter such as manure and rotting plants,
that is used as fertilizer and soil conditioner
hazardous waste – waste that are thrown out that are a risk to the health of humans or
other living organisms
deep-well injection – waste that are pumped deep into the ground, where they are
absorbed into a dry layer of rock below the level of groundwater where they are
then covered with cement to prevent contamination of the groundwater
surface impoundment – a pond with a sealed bottom in which waste are pumped in,
accumulate, and settle to the bottom of the pond which allows the water to
evaporate so more waste can be pumped in/the waste that settles to the bottom
becomes solid or concentrated and is then put in barrels and buried in landfills
aquifer – a body of rock or sediment in the ground that stores and allows the flow of
groundwater
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act – an act passed by Congress in 1976 and
amended in 1984 which requires the producers of hazardous waste to keep records
of how their waste are handled from the time the waste are made until they are
placed in an approved disposal facility
Superfund Act – an act passed in 1980 which gave the E.P.A. the right to sue owners of
hazardous waste sites who had illegally dumped waste
PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) – a class of man-made compounds that were
manufactured and used extensively in electrical equipment such as transformers
and capacitors, paints, printing inks, paper, pesticides, hydraulic fluids, lubricants,
synthetic rubber, plasticizers, floor tile, brake linings, adhesives, carbon copy
paper, fluorescent light ballasts, and asphalt, to name a few. PCBs have been
demonstrated to cause cancer and other serious non-cancer health effects in
animals, including effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous
system, and endocrine system.