Environmental Chemistry Terms
Chemistry – the study of matter and how it changes.
Nutrients – molecules or elements required by an organism
Molecules – two or more elements boded together
Elements – a pure substance made of one type of particle
Organic Molecules – carbon-based molecules (often can biodegrade and are ‘natural’)
Inorganic Molecules – not carbon-based (often metals)
Carbohydrates – organic molecules used as energy sources in nutrition.
Proteins – organic molecules used for structure and repair.
Lipids – organic molecules used as energy storage.
Vitamins – organic molecules used in enzyme function
Minerals – inorganic molecules that make enzymes among other functions
Enzymes – natural chemicals that speed up the metabolic reaction
Metabolism – the bodies processing and using of food.
Macro – large [as in macromolecule (large molecule) or macromineral (large mineral)]
Micro – small

Nitrogen – elemental nutrient. In plants used for
Potassium – elemental nutrient. In plants used for
Phosphorus – elemental nutrient. In plants used for
Fertilizer – chemicals and nutrients added to soil to enhance plant growth.
Pesticides – Chemicals used to kill of unwanted organisms
Herbicides – chemicals used to specifically eradicate unwanted plants
Insecticides – chemicals used to specifically eradicate unwanted insects
Fungicides – chemicals used to specifically eradicate unwanted fungae
Ppm / ppb – parts per million / billion – amount of a chemical found in an ecosystem.
Equivalent to 1mg / 1000L
DDT – specific example of a pesticide having drastic affects on the environment.
Biological Magnification or Biomagnification – the increase of concentration of
a chemical as it moves through a food chain.
Food Chain – a pathway showing “what eats what” and the direction of energy flow.
Pesticide Resistance – the ability of pests to resist chemicals over time.
Organic Agriculture – growing crops or maintaining livestock without the use of
chemicals.

Acids – chemicals with a pH lower than 7 and produce hydrogen ions
Base – chemicals with a pH higher than 7 and produce hydroxide ions.
Neutral pH – exactly 7 on the pH scale pH Scale – measuring scale that determines chemicals as acidic or basic
Indicators – tools used to highlight pH indicators – indicators determining acids and bases
Litmus – plant compounds used in acid/base indicating (blue means base)
Acid Precipitation – when sulfate, nitrate and carbonate molecules combine with water in
the atmosphere and fall as precipitation with a lower pH than normal
precipitation.
Neutralization – combining acids and bases and gaining a pH of 7.
Catalyst – Molecules used to speed up chemical reactions
Oxidation – when oxygen combines with of chemicals to produce other molecules
Catalytic Converter – mechanisms in vehicles to reduce pollution
Scrubbers – in factory stacks used to clean pollutants
Sorbent – substances that absorb or capture oxides.