Unit 7 APES

Acid Rain

Precipitation high in sulfuric acid and nitric acid from reactions between water vapor and sulfur and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere.

Anthropogenic

Derived from human activities.

Asbestos

A long, thin fibrous silicate mineral with insulating properties, which can cause cancer when inhaled.

Asphyxiant

A substance that can cause suffocation by displacing oxygen in the air, leading to oxygen deprivation.

Baghouse

Industrial air pollution control devices that use filter bags to capture particulate matter from exhaust gases before they are released into the atmosphere.

Catalytic converter

A device in a vehicle's exhaust system that helps reduce harmful emissions by converting toxic gases into less harmful substances.

Clean Air Act

A federal law in the United States that aims to control air pollution and improve air quality.

Combustion

A chemical reaction that occurs when a substance, usually a fuel, reacts rapidly with oxygen, releasing energy in the form of heat and light.

Electrostatic precipitator

A device used to remove particulate matter from industrial exhaust gases by using an electric charge to attract and collect the particles.

Hydrocarbons

Organic compounds made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms.

Industrial Smog

Smog dominated by sulfur dioxide and sulfate compounds.

Particulate Matter

Solid or liquid particles suspended in air.

Photochemical Smog

Smog that is dominated by oxidants such as ozone.

Primary Air Pollutant

A polluting compound that comes directly out of a smoke stack, exhaust pipe, or natural emission source.

Radon-222

A radioactive gas that occurs naturally from the decay of uranium in soil, rocks, and water.

Secondary Air Pollutant

A primary pollutant that has undergone transformation in the presence of sunlight, water, oxygen, or other compounds.

Sublimate

The process where a solid turns directly into a gas without first becoming a liquid.

Thermal/Temperature

The measure of average kinetic energy of a substance.

Inversion

A weather condition where the normal temperature pattern in the atmosphere is reversed, with warm air being trapped above cooler air near the surface.

Vapor recovery nozzle

A device used at gasoline stations to capture harmful gasoline vapors that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere during refueling.

Volatile Organic Compounds

A group of chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperature.

Wet Scrubber

An air pollution control device that uses liquid to remove pollutants from industrial exhaust gases.

Dry Scrubber

An air pollution control device that uses solid materials to remove pollutants from industrial exhaust streams without using any liquid.

The release of aluminum ions from soil

Acid deposition would most likely result in which of the following?

Lead

Implicated in human neurological damage

Asbestos

Composed of fibers known to cause lung disease

Formaldehyde

Emitted from most manufactured building materials and furniture

Lead

Found in old plumbing pipes and fixtures and some ceramic glazes

coal-burning power plants

The majority of atmospheric mercury is produced by

Carbon Monoxide

Has a stronger affinity for hemoglobin than oxygen has

Introduced regulatory measures to control the amount of lead in fuels

Which of the following best describes one way the Clean Air Act helped reduce air pollution?

Electrostatic precipitators

Particulates can be removed from smokestack emissions by which of the following methods?

Fuel Oil

Which of the following energy sources produces the most air pollutants when used during the generation of electricity?

motor-vehicle exhaust

Ground-level ozone in most major United States cities results primarily from

Photochemical smog formation in the troposphere

Which of the following environmental problems is most often linked to the combustion of fossil fuels?

NOx and UV light

In addition to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which of the following components must be present in the atmosphere to create photochemical smog?

Increased incidence of lung cancer

Which of the following is a human health impact associated with exposure to radon gas inside homes or other buildings?

Sulfur oxides . . acid deposition

Which of the following air pollutants is correctly paired with one of its major effects?

Limestone

The presence of which of the following in soil is most likely to neutralize acid rain?

An increase in pollutants trapped at Earth's surface, which increases the number of cases of human respiratory problems

Which of the following is a problem that is associated with a thermal inversion?