APES Vocab Chapter 16, 17, 18, 19

Waste

material outputs from a system that are not useful or consumed

Municipal solid waste (MSW)

refuse collected by municipalities from households, small businesses, and institutions

Waste stream

the flow of solid waste that is recycled, incinerated, placed in a solid waste landfill, or disposed of in another way

Source reduction

an approach to waste management that seeks to cut waste by reducing the use of potential waste materials in the early stages of design and manufacture

Closed-loop recycling

recycling a product into the same product

Open-loop recycling

Recycling one product into a different product

Composting

Creation of organic matter (humus) by decomposition under controlled conditions to produce an organic-rich material that enhances soil structure, cation exchange capacity, and fertility.

Leachate

Liquid that contains elevated levels of pollutants as a result of having passed through municipal solid waste (MSW) or contaminated soil

Sanitary landfill

An engineering ground facility designed to hold municipal solid waste (MSW) with as little contamination of the surrounding environment as possible

Incineration

the process of burning waste materials to reduce volume and mass, sometimes to generate electricity or heat

Ash

the residual nonorganic material that does not combust during incineration

Bottom ash

residue collected at the bottom of the combustion chamber in a furnace

Fly ash

the residue collected from the chimney or exhaust pipe of a furnace

Waste-to-energy

a system in which heat generated by incineration is used as an energy source rather than released into the atmosphere

Hazardous waste

Liquid, solid, gaseous, or sludge waste material that is harmful to humans or ecosystems

Superfund act

The common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); a 1980 US federal act that imposes a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries, funds the cleanup of abandoned and non-operating hazardous waste sites, and authorizes the federal government to respond directly to the release or threatened release of substances that may pose a threat to human health or that of the environment.

Brownfields

Contaminated industrial or commercial sites that may require environmental cleanup before they can be redeveloped or expanded

Life-cycle analysis

a systems tool that looks at the materials sed and released throughout the lifetime of a product- from the procurement of raw materials through their manufacture, use, and disposal. (Cradle-to-grave analysis)

Integrated waste management

An approach to waste disposal that employs several waste reduction, management, and disposal strategies in order to reduce the environmental impact of municipal solid waste (MSW)

Infectious disease

A disease caused by a pathogen

Acute disease

a disease that rapidly impairs the functioning of an organism

Chronic disease

a disease that slowly impairs the functioning of an organism

Epidemic

a situation in which a pathogen causes a rapid increase in disease

Pandemic

an epidemic that occurs over a large geographic region

Plague

an infectious disease caused by a bacterium that is carried by fleas

Malaria

an infectious disease caused by one of several species of protists in the genus Plasmodium

Tuberculosis

a highly contagious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis that primarily infects the lungs

Emergent infectious disease

an infectious disease that has not been previously described or has not been common for at least 20 years

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)

an infectious disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Ebola hemorrhagic fever

an infectious disease with high death rates, caused by the Ebola virus

Mad cow disease

a disease in which prions mutate into deadly pathogens and slowly damage a cow's nervous system

Prion

a small, beneficial protein that occasionally mutates into a pathogen

Swine flu

A type of flu caused by the H1N1 virus

Bird flu

A type of flu caused by the H1N1 virus

Sever acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

a type of flu caused by a coronavirus

West Nile virus

A virus that lives in hundreds of species of birds and is transmitted among birds by mosquitoes

Carcinogen

a chemical that causes cancer

Mutagen

a type of carcinogen that causes damage to the genetic material of a cell

Teratogen

A chemical that interferes with the normal development of embryos or fetuses

Allergen

A CHEmical that causes allergic reactions

Endocrine disruptor

a chemical that interferes with the normal functioning of hormones in an animal's body

Dose-response study

A study that exposes organisms to different amounts of a chemical and then observes a variety of possible responses, including mortality or changes in behavior or reproduction

Acute study

an experiment that exposes organisms to an environmental hazard for a short duration

Chronic study

An experiment that exposes organisms to an environmental hazard for a long duration

LD50

the lethal dose of a chemical that kills 50 percent of the individuals in a dose-response study

Sublethal effect

The effect of an environmental hazard that is not lethal, but which may impair an organism's behavior, physiology, or reproduction

ED50

the effective dose of a chemical that causes 50 percent of the individuals in a dose-response study to display a harmful, but nonlethal, effect

Retrospective study

a study that monitors people who have been exposed to an environmental hazard at some time in the past

Prospective study

a study that monitors people who might become exposed to harmful chemicals in the future

Synergistic interaction

a situation in which two risks together cause more harm than expected based on the separate effects on each risk alone

route of exposure

the way in which an individual might come into contact with an environmental hazard

solubility

how well a chemical dissolves in a liquid

Bioaccumulation

an increased concentration of a chemical within an organism over time

Biomagnification

the increase in chemical concentration in animal tissues as the chemical moves up the food chain

Persistence

the length of time a chemical remains in the environment