Chemicals in the Environment
What are the 3 minerals in a bag of fertilizer?
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
What is the pH range for acids? bases?
Acids = pH<7
Bases = pH>7
Should dissolved oxygen in water be high or low to support life?
High!
This is the method used to test the toxicity of a substance. It measures how much of a substance is required to kill 50% of the test population.
LD50 (lethal dose)
These chemicals are released in the air and can react to form acid rain.
NO2, SO2, and CO2
Plants require nitrogen as a nutrient, but they cannot absorb it in certain forms. Bacteria attach to the roots and solve this issue using...
Nitrogen fixation
The colour of the litmus paper in a base.
Blue
What is the name for an insect that is sensitive to changes in pH in the water?
Bioindicator
Chemical concentrations in the environment (air or water) are monitored using this measurement.
ppm, ppb, or ppt, etc.
When pollutants are released into the air, and begin to move it is known as...
Dispersion
If a chemical does not break down in the body, it is passed on to organisms at higher levels on the food chain. What is the effect on concentration, and what is this term called?
It increases in concentration. This is called biomagnification.
What is the name of the reaction that happens when acids and bases are combined? What are its products?
Neutralization. Water & Salt.
What is the name for a process in which fertilizer run-off causes algae blooms in freshwater systems, resulting in dead zones?
Eutrophication
When nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide combine with water, they form acid rain. This results in the chemicals returning to Earth. This is known as...
Deposition
These compounds break down in the atmosphere and cause thinning of the ozone layer by reacting with ozone and chlorine.
CFCs
The breakdown of food starts in the mouths of animals. This type of breakdown is known as...
Mechanical Digestion
A technology used by industry to remove SO2 gases from their emissions.
A scrubber
Acid rain falls in a lake and decreases the pH. This would be used to return the pH of the lake to neutral.
Neutralization using a base.
This is the strategy of using plants to absorb contaminants from the soil.
phytoremediation
This compound is released during hydrocarbon combustion reactions, where there are low levels of oxygen. It binds to hemoglobin quickly and results in oxygen not being transferred in the bloodstream.
Carbon monoxide (known as the silent killer)
What is the name for the breakdown of organic waste molecules by bacteria or fungi?
biodegradation
What are the two main chemical compounds that contribute to both acid rain, and smog?
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
Following water treatment of sewage it is released back into the environment. The term for this fluid is...
An effluent.
This is used to line sanitary landfill sites in order to prevent leachate from entering the groundwater.
Clay
These are the building blocks for life.
Nucleic acids (A, T, G, C)