Jalcst-8549

From Environmental Technology

PHS 101 Env. Tech.; Homework #02 Craig Etherton

Endocrine Disrupter http://www.greenfacts.org/endocrine-disruptors/endocrine-disrupter.htm Endocrine Disrupter (EDC) refers to a chemicals, either natural and man-made, which can interfere with the endocrine system, its hormones or where the hormones act. In many cases, it is not yet clear exactly how an Endocrine Disrupters acts, even in some cases where a link has been shown between Endocrine Disrupter exposure and an adverse effect. More...

Ecotoxicology Ecotoxicology.Org Ecotoxicology.org is your source for information on environmental toxicology and risk assessment. www.ecotoxicology.org/ - 23k - Feb 1, 2006 - Cached - Similar pages

Ecological Risk Assessment http://www.aehs.com/journals/humanandecojournal/ Human and Ecological Risk Assessment is the first journal devoted to providing a framework for professionals researching and assessing developments in both human and ecological risk assessments. The journal was created to enhance the communication and cooperation of professionals working on human risk assessment with those in the ecological risk assessment domain. Given the rapid development in these respective disciplines and their unique potential interrelatedness, efforts to directly enhance technical information transfer will markedly benefit each field. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment is a bimonthly, international, peer-reviewed publication.

Bioaccumulation http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/102/2bioma95.html There are two basic terms we are discussing here. Bioaccumulation refers to how pollutants enter a food chain; biomagnification refers to the tendency of pollutants to concentrate as they move from one trophic level to the next. Here are some definitions of these terms:

Bioaccumulation: increase in concentration of a pollutant from the environment to the first organism in a food chain Biomagnification: increase in concentration of a pollutant from one link in a food chain to another

Emerging Disease http://www.fas.org/promed/ The name "ProMED", and the logo of a horizontally split globe with the banner of "Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases" inserted, are copyrighted by the Federation of American Scientists for use in activities associated with emerging infectious diseases. Permissions for use of the name in conjunction with the global reporting system known as ProMED-mail were granted to SatelLife in August 1996, and to the International Society for Infectious Diseases in November 1999.)

Pollution http://www.lbl.gov/Education/ELSI/pollution-main.html When people think about air pollution, they usually think about smog, acid rain, CFC's, and other forms of outdoor air pollution. But did you know that air pollution also can exist inside homes and other buildings? It can, and every year, the health of many people is affected by chemical substances present in the air within buildings.

A great deal of research on pollution is being conducted at laboratories and universities. The goals of the research are to find solutions and to educate the public about the problem. Two places where this type of work is being done are LBNL and the University of California, Berkeley.

biological amplification http://www.nbtc.cornell.edu/mainstreetscience/grab_and_go/fishyfoodchainpg.htm Main idea: Pollutants can be transferred through food chains eventually ending up in the food that people eat. At each level of the food chain, the concentration of chemical pollutants gets higher. (Scientists call this biological amplification.) Youth will simulate the transfer of chemicals through a food chain and discuss the impacts on the health of organisms.

Carcinogen http://www.scorecard.org/health-effects/explanation.tcl?short_hazard_name=cancer CARCINOGENS Hundreds of chemicals are capable of inducing cancer in humans or animals after prolonged or excessive exposure. There are many well-known examples of chemicals that can cause cancer in humans. The fumes of the metals cadmium, nickel, and chromium are known to cause lung cancer. Vinyl chloride causes liver sarcomas. Exposure to arsenic increases the risk of skin and lung cancer. Leukemia can result from chemically induced changes in bone marrow from exposure to benzene and cyclophosphamide, among other toxicants. Other chemicals, including benzo[a]pyrene and ethylene dibromide, are considered by authoritative scientific organizations to be probably carcinogenic in humans because they are potent carcinogens in animals. Chemically-induced cancer generally develops many years after exposure to a toxic agent. A latency period of as much as thirty years has been observed between exposure to asbestos, for example, and incidence of lung cancer.

Enviromental stressor http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/ccma_stressors.html

Stressors CCMA's research addresses five major environmental stressors. These are: Pollution, Land and Resource Use, Invasive Species, Climate Change, and Extreme Events.

red tides

http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/whathabs/whathabs.html Occasionally, the algae grow very fast or "bloom" and accumulate into dense, visible patches near the surface of the water. "Red Tide" is a common name for such a phenomenon where certain phytoplankton species contain reddish pigments and "bloom" such that the water appears to be colored red. The term "red tide" is thus a misnomer because they are not associated with tides; they are usually not harmful; and those species that are harmful may never reach the densities required to discolor the water.