Env. Sc. Chapter 12.1 Reading Assignment
Name ____________________________
1. The large metropolitan city known as the most dangerously polluted in the world for children is ____________
_____________.
2. From previous study, we have learned that our air is about 78% _____________; about 21% ____________.
3. When harmful substances build up in the air to unhealthy levels, the result is air ______________.
4. Most air pollution is the result of _______________ ________________, but natural sources such as
_______________ can pollute by adding ___________, sulfur dioxide, dust, ___________ and spores.
5. A pollutant that is put directly into the air by human activity is called a ______________ pollutant. List 5:
_____________ __________________ _________________ _____________________ ___________________
6. Secondary pollutants form when primary pollutants react with other primary pollutants or with naturally occurring
substances such as ___________ ___________. List one: _____________
7. How is ground-level ozone formed? __________________________________________________________
8. From Figure 1 on page 325, what causes most of the carbon monoxide pollution? _____________________
(page 326) Complete the following chart:
POLLUTANT
Description
Carbon Monoxide
Odorless, colorless,
poisonous gas produces by
incomplete burning of fossil
fuels.
When burning temps exceed
538 degrees C, nitrogen and
oxygen combine forming
nitrogen oxides
Primary Sources
Sulfur dioxide
Volatile Organic
Compounds
Burning fossil fuels
Tiny particles of liquid or
solid matter
Effects
Make the body vulnerable to
respiratory infections, lung
disease, and cancer. Causes
the brownish haze seen over
cities and acid precipitation.
Mixes with water vapor and
forms sulfuric acid (acid
rain); Secondary pollutants
result when SO2 reacts with
plants and lungs of animals
Contribute to smog; cause
cancer; harms plants
Can form clouds that reduce
visibility and cause
respiratory problems.
Linked to cancer; corrodes
metals; erodes metals,
buildings, and sculptures.
9. List the 3 major sources of primary air pollutants: _________ ____________; power _____________; and
____________ ___________
10. Carbon monoxide somes primarily from ___________ and industrial processes.
11. _____________ are also the major source of nitrogen oxides. Coal-burning power plants are produce much nitrogen
oxides.
12. ______________ ___________ gases are formed when coal and oil that contain sulfur are burned.
13. Particluate matter can pollute air; it is divided into fine and ___________ particles. Fine particluates are primarily
from fuels burned by ______________ and coal-burning ____________ ____________.
14. Coarse particulates come from __________ plants, __________ operations, incinerators, wood-burning
________________________, fields, and roads.
15. T/F Air pollution is a new phenomenon.
16. A Roman writer complained about foul air in Rome; and in 1273, King Edward I of England threatened to kill anyone
who burned dirty coal called ______-coral.
17. About ___ -_________ of all air pollution comes from gasoline burned by vehicles.
18. Most of that air pollution comes from cars with only ONE occupant – not from busses, vans, and trucks.
19. In 1970 and 1990, legislation known as the _________ ___________ ________ made the Environmental Protection
Agency responsible for regulating vehicle emissions in the U. S.
20. The EPA required gradual elimination of _________ in gasoline; and required ________________ converters to be
installed in autos to clean exhaust gases.
21. Cars and trucks today burn fuel _______% more efficiently; and vehicles emit ________ % fewer emissions of
pollutants than they did 30 years ago. So WHY do we have so much air pollution from vehicles?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
(page 328) 22. What are ZEV’s?__________________________ What powers
ZEV’s?________________________________ How do hybrid cars differ from ZEV’s?_________________
_______________________________________________________
23. Another type of ZEV that is promising is powered by a methanol __________ ___________. These cars make only
water and oxygen as their by-products.
24. From Figure 3: Three rare (and expensive!) metals in a catalytic converter convert HC, CO, and NOx into
______________, _________ ___________, and _____________.
25. The interior of cars may have plastics that give off a VOC known as ______________ _____________.
26. Manufacturing steel sends thousands of metric tons of ____________ ___________ into the air each year.
27. VOC’s escape into the air every time we fill the __________ ____________. What has been done in the past 10
years to limit this problem? ________________________________________________
28. Car exhaust is the major source of nitrogen ________, carbon ____________, and ________________.
29. Each car releases an average of ____ tons of carbon dioxide every year.
Chapter 12.1 (cont’d) Reading Assignment
Name _______________________________________
(page 329) 30. Many industries burn fuels to produce _______________, releasing ____________ ___________ and
_______________ oxides into the air. Power plants emit at least _______-________________ of all sulfur dioxide and
more than on-third of all nitrogen oxides that pollute the air.
31. List 5 industries that release VOC’s into the atmosphere: _______________________________;
_____________________________________; ________________________________________________;
_____________________________________; _________________________________________________
32. The Clean Air Act requires many industries to use ________________ or other pollution-control devises to remove
some of the more harmful substances.
33. From Figure 5, scrubbers work by ___________________________________________________, which removes
many pollutants. (PLEASE know how this process works)
34. Electrostatic precipitators are machines used in _____________ factories and in _________-burning plants to remove
dust particles from smokestacks. The electrostatic precipitator gives a charge to dust particles, causing them to stick to
one another and to the sides of the chamber. The cleaned gas is then released, and the dust particles fall to the bottom and
are collected. (PLEASE know how this process works)
35. From the ECOFACT Figure 4: What are 2 ways that birds can be harmed by heavy metal pollutants? 1)_________
______________________________ 2) _________________________________
(page 330) 36. Pollution that hangs over urban areas and reduces visibility is called ___________. From Figure 6, tell
how smog forms: ___________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
37. A Temperature Inversion occurs when ______________________________________________________________.
38. In normal situations, _________air is near the Earth and it rises. As it rises, it cools, and pollutants escape. In the
inversion, cool air moves onto the Earth’s surface, pushing up the polluted warm air, and trapping it under cooler air high
in the atmosphere.
Look over the questions on page 330 – be sure you can answer them!
Section 2: Air, Noise, and Light Pollution
1. Air pollution is very hard on _________ people and very __________ people.
2. Respiratory illnesses that are caused or worsened by air pollution cost ___________ of dollars per year in health costs.
3. Short term effects of air pollution on people’s health include _______________, _____________, irritation to the eyes,
nose, and throat, _____________ in the chest; ______________; and upper respiratory infections (URI’s) – such as
bronchitis and pneumonia.
4. Long-term effects of air pollution on health include _______________, lung ___________, and ___________ disease.
(page 332) 5. Air inside homes can sometimes be more polluted than air outside. This can be true because of chemicals
used to make ____________, building materials, ____________, and _________________.
6. Buildings that have very poor air quality are said to have _________-building ________________.
7. Sick-building syndrome is most common in hot climates when homes are tightly sealed to keep out the ___________.
8. Ventilation (mixing outdoor air with indoor air is necessary for good ____________ _________________.
9. REPRODUCE FIGURE 9 ON PAGE 333. List all the chemicals that can pollute our homes.
10. From Connection to Chemistry on page 332: What are some of the uses of formaldehyde: _____________
_____________________ ______________ in plywood, particle board, furniture, and carpet; foam _________________,
gas stoves, tobacco smoke, and _____-cleaned clothing.
11. List 3 health effects of formaldehyde: ____________________ _________________________________________
_________________________
12. From the CASE STUDY of the health effects of Ground-Level Ozone: The ozone layer at the top of the stratosphere
is a great protector for the Earth: It absorbs much of the UV radiation. But at the surface of the Earth, man-made ozone
is a dangerous pollutant. Ground level ozone forms when ____________ (use the abbreviation for the term), react with
nitrogen oxides in the presence of heat and sunlight. The VOC’s and NOx emissions are mostly from motor __________,
power ____________, _____________ vapors, and ______________ solvents.
13. Ground-level ozone chiefly damages the ___________; aggravating asthma, inflaming the lining of the lungs, and
decreasing _________ function.
14. People most harmed by ground-level ozone are ___________, adults who work ___________; ___________ people,
and people with respiratory________________.
(page 334) 15. Radon is a ____________, ______________, and odorless gas produced by the natural decay of the
radioactive element _______________.
16. Since uranium naturally occurs in the Earth, radon gas can enter houses, offices, and school by seeping through
________ and ___________ in foundations of buildings.
17. When people breathe in radon gas or dust particles, radon destroys the _____________ ______________ in the cells
that line the air passages, leading to ________________: especially in people who _____________.
18. The second-leading cause of lung cancer (after smoking, of course) is ______________.
19. ___________ is a mineral with long, thin fibers that was previously used in insulation and as a fire retardant. Its use
was banned in the early 1970’s when it was determined to cause asbestosis, a severe lung damage creating breathing
difficulty and heart failure.
NOISE FAILURE
20. Unwanted sound is _________ _____________.
21. Noise pollution is annoying, and it ____________ our _____________.
22. The intensity (loudness) of sound is measured in usits called _____________. Hearing loss in the U.S. has doubled in
the last 30 years. About 12% of all teens have ____________ ____________. An 80 year old man living in Africa and
better hearing that most Americans at age _____!
23. From Table 2: What is the intensity in decibels of a whisper:______dB; Normal Conversation ____ dB; a
lawnmover: ____dB; A jet engine: _____dB. Each increase in 10 dB means the loudness is 10 times greater: Thus,
normal conversation (60 dB) is 1000 times louder than a whisper (30 dB).
24. Europe regulates MP3 players to 100dB. The U.S. does not. Do you think laws should be passed to prevent hearing
damage for excessively loud noise?_________________
25. Sustained noise levels (8 hours or more) should not exceed ________ dB.
LIGHT POLLUTION: Page 335: Our text says that light pollution does not present a direct hazard to human health; but
we do not sleep as soundly in semi-dark as in complete darkness.
26. Light pollution in urban areas diminishes our view of the _________ ______.
27. The most important environmental concern of lighting is energy _________.
28. Energy is wasted when light is directed _____________, and lost to space.
29. List 3 wasteful uses of light: __________________________________ __________________________________
_____________________________________
30. List 2 possible solutions to limit light pollution and energy waste: _____________________________________
_________________________________________________