1.

EMISSION HAZARDS

Emissions rising in the atmosphere and which are major causes of atmospheric
pollution are:
1. Carbon monoxide (from incomplete combustion of fuels),
2. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide (from industrial and vehicular exhaust),
3. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs, refrigerant discharges),
4. Mercury emissions (from industries, fluorescent lamps and the burning of coal),
5. Carbon dioxide (fossil fuel burning and greenhouse gas),
6. Methane gas (cow farming, landfill emissions and natural sources, greenhouse gas),
7. Volatile organic compounds (from fuel vapours, solvent, paint, etc),
8. Particulate Matter
9. Ozone (which is bad at low altitudes and does not survive to replenish the high
altitude ozone layer which protects us from UV light)

Sulphur dioxide (SO2)

SO2 pollution, which takes a major toll on public health, includes contributing to the
formation of small acidic particulates that can penetrate into human lungs and be
absorbed by the bloodstream. SO2 also causes acid rain, which damages crops, forests,
and soils, and acidifies lakes and streams.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
Oxides of nitrogen or NOx, is the generic term for a group of highly reactive gases, all
of which contain nitrogen and oxygen in varying amounts. Many of the nitrogen
oxides are colourless and odourless. However, one common pollutant, nitrogen
dioxide (NO2) along with particles in the air can often be seen as a reddish-brown
layer over many urban areas. Nitrogen oxides form when fuel is burned at high
temperatures, as in a combustion process. The primary manmade sources of NOx are
motor vehicles, electric utilities, and other industrial, commercial, and residential
sources that burn fuels. NOx can also be formed naturally. NOx pollution causes
ground level ozone, or smog, which can burn lung tissue, exacerbate asthma, and
make people more susceptible to chronic respiratory diseases.
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless, poisonous gas produced by the
incomplete burning of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels. The main source of carbon
monoxide in our air is vehicle emissions.

Particulate matter
Particulate matter is the term for solid or liquid particles. Some particles are large or
dark enough to be seen as soot or smoke, but most are fine particulate matter. Fine
particulate matter is composed of very small objects found in the air, including dust,
dirt, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.
Particulate matter can travel deep into the lungs where it can aggravate asthma,
chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and other lung conditions. Our respiratory system
filters out larger particles, but smaller particles get trapped in the lungs, while the
smallest are so tiny they pass through the lungs into the blood stream. Particles may
trigger or cause significant health problems, such as:

 Coughing and difficult or painful breathing

 Haze obstructing visibility
 Aggravated asthma, bronchitis, emphysema
 Decreased lung function
 Weakening of the heart, heart attacks
 Premature death

Hydrocarbons (HC)

Hydrocarbons are chemical compounds that contain hydrogen and carbon. Most motor
vehicles and engines are powered by hydrocarbon-based fuels such as gasoline and
diesel. Hydrocarbon pollution results when unburned or partially burned fuel is
emitted from the engine as exhaust, and also when fuel evaporates directly into the
atmosphere. Hydrocarbons include many toxic compounds that cause cancer and other
adverse health effects. Hydrocarbons also react with nitrogen oxides in the presence of
sunlight to form ozone. Hydrocarbons, which may take the form of gases, tiny
particles, or droplets, come from a great variety of industrial and natural processes. In
typical urban areas, a very significant fraction comes from cars, buses, trucks, and non
road mobile sources such as construction vehicles and boats.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Volatile organic compounds are emitted from a variety of sources, including motor
vehicles, chemical plants, refineries, factories, consumer and commercial products,
and other industrial sources. Volatile organic compounds also are emitted by natural
sources such as vegetation. Hydrocarbons (HC) are a large subset of VOC, and to
reduce mobile source VOC levels there are maximum emissions limits for
hydrocarbon as well as particulate matter.

Ozone
Ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog, is formed by complex chemical
reactions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and NOx in the presence of heat and
sunlight. Ozone forms readily in the lower atmosphere, usually during hot summer
weather.

Greenhouse Gases
Some greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, while others result from
human activities. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and water vapour. Certain human activities add to the
levels of most of these naturally occurring gases:
o Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon Dioxide is released to the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels (oil,
natural gas, and coal), and wood and wood products are burned.
o Methane (CH4)
Methane is emitted during the production and transport of coal, natural gas, and oil
o Nitrous oxide (N2O)
Nitrous Oxide is produced during agricultural and industrial activities, as well as
during combustion of solid waste and fossil fuels.

Mercury

Emissions of mercury, a toxic heavy metal causes brain damage and heart problems.
Just 1/70th of a teaspoon of mercury deposited on a 25-acre lake can make the fish
unsafe to eat. A typical uncontrolled coal plants emits approximately 170 pounds of
mercury each year. Activated carbon injection technology can reduce mercury
emissions by up to 90 percent when combined with bag houses.
Other harmful pollutants emitted include approximately lead, cadmium, other toxic
heavy metals, and trace amounts of uranium. Bag houses can reduce heavy metal
emissions by up to 90 percent.

Emission pollutants are substances that adversely affect the environment by

interfering with climate, the physiology of plants, animal species, entire ecosystems,
as well as with human property in the form of agricultural crops or man-made
structures. We list climate at the top of the list to reflect the fact that global climate
change has been recognized as one of the most important environmental challenges to
be faced by humanity in the 21st century. In this context certain climate forcing
agents—the most important one being carbon dioxide—which otherwise cause no
harm to living organisms, should be added to the list of “classic” pollutants, along
with such compounds as oxides of nitrogen or sulphur. On the other hand, climate
research has linked certain compounds long recognized as air pollutants (for instance
black carbon) to the warming of climate, thus providing one more reason for their
control.

These pollutants can originate from natural or anthropogenic (man-made) sources, or

both. Examples of natural sources of pollution include volcanic eruptions or wind
erosion. Emissions from internal combustion engines are an exemplary source of
anthropogenic pollution. Some sources of pollution, such as forest fires, can be related
to both natural phenomena and human activities.

Atmospheric reactions can transform primary pollutants into different chemical

species. These reactions can produce both harmless compounds and secondary air
pollutants that may be more harmful than their precursors.

The world’s most important air pollutants, their sources, and known or suspected
environmental effects are listed in the following table
 Major emissions, their sources and environmental effects

Pollutant Natural Source Anthropogenic Source Environmental Effect

Nitrogen Lightning, soil High temperature fuel Primary pollutants that produce
oxides bacteria combustion—motor photochemical smog, acid rain,
(NO+NO2) vehicles, industrial, and and nitrate particulates.
utility Destruction of stratospheric ozone.
Human health impact.
Particulate Forest fires, wind Combustion of bio fuels Reduced atmospheric visibility.
Matter erosion, volcanic such as wood, and fossil Human health impact. Black
eruption fuels such as coal or carbon particulates contribute to
diesel global warming.

Sulphur Volcanic eruptions Coal combustion, ore Acid rain. Human health impact.
dioxide and decay smelters, petroleum
refineries, diesel engines
burning high-sulphur
fuels

Ozone Lightning, Secondary pollutant Damage to plants, crops, and man-

photochemical produced in made products. Human health
reactions in the photochemical smog impact.
troposphere

Carbon Unnoticeable Rich & stoichiometric Human health impact

Monoxide combustion, mainly from
motor vehicles

Carbon Animal respiration, Fossil fuel and wood Most common greenhouse gas
dioxide decay, release from combustion
oceans

Non-methane Biological processes Incomplete combustion, Primary pollutants that produce

hydrocarbon solvent utilization photochemical smog
(VOC)

Methane Anaerobic decay, Natural gas leak and Greenhouse gas

cud-chewing combustion
animals, oil wells

Chlorofluoro- None Solvents, aerosol Destruction of stratospheric ozone

carbons propellants, refrigerants
(CFC)
 TO REMEMBER
a. SO2 and NOx emissions react in the atmosphere to form compounds
that harm lakes and streams (acidification). This makes the fishes and
other aquatic species difficult to survive, grow and reproduce.

b. Acid deposition harms forests and trees. It can harm forest ecosystems
by directly damaging plant tissues. Leaching of nutrients is also a
major damage to the plants which decreases their tolerances to
extreme temperature. Acid rain also combines with other pollutants
such as ozone to weaken trees and make them vulnerable to threats
such as pests, which cause mortality. Chemistry of forest soils, leaching
of nutrients from soils, elevating levels of aluminium in soil water
impairs ability of trees to use soil nutrients and are directly toxic to
roots.

c. Nitrogen deposition contributes to impaired coastal water quality.

Large amounts of nitrogen in estuaries and coastal waters has
significant ecological impacts that includes massive die-offs of
estuarine and marine plants and animals, loss of biological diversity
,degradation of essential coastal ecosystem habitat such as sea grass
beds and contributes to harmful algal blooms that kill millions of fishes
and are toxic to humans as well.

d. Fine particles scatter light, impair visibility and increase regional haze.

e. Acid deposition and particles damage materials and cultural resources.

Structures made of limestone and marble are sensitive to acid
deposition. Acid particles and deposition increase rate of weathering
and results in aesthetic and structural damage.
 2. BATTERY HAZARD

The increasing global demand for batteries is largely due to the rapid increase across
all segments spanning from households to large industrial enterprises in portable
power-consuming products such as cellular phones and video cameras, toys and laptop
computers. They are also a major source of backup power for activities that require an
uninterruptible supply of power. Each year consumers dispose of billions of batteries,
all containing toxic or corrosive materials. Some batteries contain toxic metals such as
cadmium and mercury, lead and lithium, which become hazardous waste and pose
threats to health and the environment if improperly disposed. Manufacturers and
retailers are working continuously to reduce the environmental impact of batteries by
producing designs that are more recyclable and contain fewer toxic materials.
Batteries are mainly categorized as primary (one time use batteries) and secondary
(can be recharged and used again). Most of them contain cadmium, lead, mercury,
copper, zinc, manganese, lithium, or potassium, which are all hazardous to the
environment and also to human health.

Thus, disposal of batteries has come to occupy an extremely significant position in the
eyes of battery manufacturers and recycling organizations. Unfortunately, one widely
used method is to send them to landfills, although this is definitely not an environment
friendly option.

Harmful Effects

For humans, both lead and cadmium can be taken only by ingestion or inhalation.
Mercury another harmful metal can even be absorbed through the skin, although this
metal's use in batteries has declined greatly due to laws and regulations that have been
put in place to reduce its content.

These harmful substances permeate into the soil, groundwater and surface water
through landfills and also release toxins into the air when they are burnt in municipal
waste combustors. Moreover, cadmium is easily taken up by plant roots and
accumulates in fruits, vegetables and grass. The impure water and plants in turn are
consumed by animals and human beings, who then fall prey to a host of ill-effects.
Studies indicate that nausea, excessive salivation, abdominal pain, liver and kidney
damage, skin irritation, headaches, asthma, nervousness, decreased IQ in children and
sometimes even cancer can result from exposure to such metals for a sufficient period
of time.

In addition, potassium, if it leaks, can cause severe chemical burns thereby affecting
the eyes and skin. Landfills also generate methane gas leading to the ‘greenhouse
effect’ and global climatic changes.

The global environmental impact of batteries is assessed in terms of four main

indicators. These indicators further distinguish the impact of disposable and
rechargeable batteries.

Consumption of Natural Resources

Production, transportation and distribution of batteries consume natural resources,

thereby contributing to an accelerating depletion of natural resources. Rechargeable
batteries consume less non renewable natural resources than disposable batteries
because fewer rechargeable batteries are needed to provide the same amount of
energy.

Climate Change and Global Warming

The increase in the average temperature of the Earth's surface is caused by an

increasing greenhouse gas effect. The manufacture and transportation of batteries
emits exhaust and other pollutants into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the
greenhouse effect. Per unit of energy delivered, rechargeable batteries contribute less
to global warming than disposable batteries. This is because less greenhouse gas
emissions are associated with the manufacture and transportation of rechargeable
batteries.

Photochemical Smog Pollution and Air Acidification

Exhaust pollutants undergo photochemical reactions which produce toxic chemicals

including ozone, other harmful gases and particulate substances. The thermal
inversions associated with large cities can lead to a dangerous build up of
photochemical smog, which is known to cause human deaths. Air acidification is the
accumulation of acidic substances in atmospheric particles. These particles, deposited
by rain, have an impact on soil and ecosystems. Rechargeable batteries contribute less
to these atmospheric effects than disposable batteries because they contribute less to
air pollution.

Eco toxicity and Water Pollution

Potential toxic risks are associated with emission of battery chemicals into aquatic
ecosystems. Improper or careless handling of waste batteries can result in release of
corrosive liquids and dissolved metals that are toxic to plants and animals. Improper
disposal of batteries in landfill sites can result in the release of toxic substances into
groundwater and the environment.

Recycling

About 90 percent of lead-acid batteries are now recycled. Reclamation companies

send crushed batteries to facilities for reprocessing and manufacture into new
products. Nonautomotive lead-based batteries, which are accepted by many
automotive companies and waste agencies, are subject to the same recycling
processes. Several reclamation companies in the U.S. now process all types of dry-cell
batteries, both disposable and rechargeable, including alkaline and carbon-zinc,
mercuric oxide and silver oxide, zinc-air and lithium.

Recycling - A Good Option?

Recycling batteries is a much better option than dumping them in landfills. Some
advantages that recycling offers include:

 Saves natural resources and energy

 Reduces pollution and need for landfill

 Generates income

 Lessens the amount of regulations as it no more falls under the category of

hazardous waste

 Reduces imports
Many organizations have been set up and laws have been passed to promote proper
disposal and recycling of batteries in order to provide a safer environment.
Developing nations typically pay less attention to this mounting environmental
problem as they feel that other issues such as poverty and population explosion are
much weighty of a problem and funds tend to appease these problems first.

Solutions

Some steps that can be taken to reduce or minimize the damage caused to the
environment due to improper battery disposal include the following:

 Recycling of used batteries

 Using rechargeable batteries more than primary batteries

 Making collection of batteries from the source easier and cost effective

 Providing appropriate remuneration to consumers for selling the used batteries

 Formulation and implementation of more stringent laws regarding battery

disposal

 Buying batteries containing less mercury, lead and cadmium

 Providing complete information to customers at the time of purchase about the

battery suitability, safety and ways of disposal.

 More R&D in alternative energy storage devices like fuel cells, which are also
less hazardous to the environment.

 Looking at renewable sources of energy like solar, wind, water.

Conclusion

With the ever-growing usage of batteries in today’s times, their disposal issues have
come to occupy the centre stage due to their deteriorating effects on human health and
environment. Much attention needs to be paid to solve this problem especially by
developing countries so that a cleaner, greener and healthy world is what we and our
future generations get to live in!
 3. NUCLEAR HAZARD

The environmental impact of nuclear power results from the nuclear fuel cycle,
operation, and the effects of nuclear accidents. The routine health risks
and greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear fission power are small relative to those
associated with coal, but there are "catastrophic risks", such as the possibility of over-
heated fuel releasing massive quantities of fission products to the environment.

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear fission is the splitting of the nucleus of the atom; the resulting energy can be
used for a variety of purposes. The first controlled fission of an atom was carried out
in Germany in 1938. However, the United States was the first country to develop an
atomic bomb, which was subsequently dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. The world's first electricity-generating reactor was constructed in the
United States in 1951 and the Soviet Union built its first reactor in 1954.

Although nuclear power is being used today as a reliable source of electricity, several
serious accidents have caused worldwide concern about the safety and disposal of
radioactive wastes. A number of nuclear explosions have already been made during
recent past in different parts of the world. Irrespective of judgments about the ethics of
this practice, these tests occurred, injecting substantial amounts of radioactivity into
the environment. Nuclear explosions are very rapid and based on a rough estimate, in
an explosion about 50 per cent of the energy goes to the blast, 33 per cent as heat and
the rest 17 per cent or so to radioactivity. The radioactive dust that falls to the earth
after atomic explosion is called radioactive fallout. The estimated percept dose to
world population from fallout of past nuclear explosions is 10 microsievert per year.

Biological effects of radiations

Radioactive substances are among the most toxic substances known. Radium is
25,000 times more lethal than arsenic. The cell, which is the fundamental unit of life,
is the primary site of radiation damage. If too many cells are damaged, the symptoms
show up in the growing tissues as in the case of loss of hair, ulceration of the mouth,
the reddening and haemorrhaging of the skin and lowering of the blood count. If these
symptoms grow more severe, death will result.

(i) Somatic effects

These are the direct results of action of radiation on the body cell and tissues. Uranium
mineworkers, painters of radium dials and Radiologists suffer most. These effects may
be immediate or delayed. More evidence of degree and kind of damage from radiation
came from studies of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima survivors. If one survives the phase
of radiation illness in the 50 to 500 rad. range, the other illness one is likely to become
a victim are-cardiovascular disorder, cataract, leukaemia, sterility, premature ageing
and shortenings of life span. All these are somatic effects.

(ii) Genetic effects

There is another more serious type of effect of ionizing radiations, known as genetic
effect. This arises from the damage to the sex cells. If a sex cell is damaged and if that
sex cell is one of the pair that goes into the production of a fertilized ovum, it will give
rise to an offspring with various kinds of major or minor physical defects.

Radioactive gases and effluents

Most commercial nuclear power plants release gaseous and liquid radiological
effluents into the environment as a by product of the Chemical Volume Control
System, which are monitored in the US by the EPA and the NRC. Civilians living
within 50 miles (80 km) of a nuclear power plant typically receive about 0.1 μSv per
year. For comparison, the average person living at or above sea level receives at least
260 μSv from cosmic radiation.

The total amount of radioactivity released through this method depends on the power
plant, the regulatory requirements, and the plant's performance. Atmospheric
dispersion models combined with pathway models are employed to accurately
approximate the dose to a member of the public from the effluents emitted. Effluent
monitoring is conducted continuously at the plant.
Radioactive Wastes from Nuclear Power Plants

The hazards of radioactive materials stem from their basic characteristic that radiation
cannot be detected by sense organs except in massive doses. Further, there is no way
of destroying radioactivity. The radioactive waste from nuclear plants may be in form
of gases, liquids or solids.

There is no suitable and cheap method of storing the radioactive waste. At any time,
radioactivity is likely to escape from the waste in water bodies, concrete cases and salt
formations in high mountains. The nuclear waste is thus likely to get leached into the
biosphere. Among the long-lived fission products the most hazardous are Strontium-
90 (half life 28.9y) and caesium- 137 (half life 30.2y). The gaseous fission product
iodine-131 (half life 8.1 days) is of hazardous nature in the event of its leakage during
reactor operation.

The highly toxic alpha-active element plutonium (half life 24,100y) is another reactor
product that has to be taken care of. All these elements enter the human system and
get deposited in various parts of the body causing cell damage. Some of the radio
nuclides in these effluents have long half-lives. Sr-90 is produced in larger amounts
than others. Radionuclide’s have become distributed throughout the environment and
are transmitted to man via the food chain. When taken in by man, some radio nuclides
become concentrated in specific organs where they become injurious to health.

Waste streams

Nuclear power has at least four waste streams that may harm the environment:-

 They create spent nuclear fuel at the reactor site (including plutonium waste)
 They produce tailings at uranium mines and mills
 During operation they can release small amounts of radioactive isotopes
 During accidents they can release large quantities of dangerous radioactive
materials
Waste Heat

As with some thermal power stations, nuclear plants exchange 60 to 70% of their
thermal energy by cycling with a body of water or by evaporating water through a
cooling tower. This thermal efficiency is somewhat lower than that of coal fired power
plants, thus creating more waste heat.

The cooling options are typically once-through cooling with river or sea water, pond
cooling, or cooling towers. Many plants have an artificial lake like the Shearon Harris
Nuclear Power Plant or the South Texas Nuclear Generating Station. The
environmental effects on the artificial lakes are often weighted in arguments against
construction of new plants, and during droughts have drawn media attention.
The Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station is credited with helping the
conservation status of the American Crocodile, largely an effect of the waste heat
produced.

It is possible to use waste heat in cogeneration applications such as district heating.

The principles of cogeneration and district heating with nuclear power are the same as
any other form of thermal power production. However, district heating with nuclear
power plants is less common than with other modes of waste heat generation: because
of either siting regulations and/or the NIMBY effect, nuclear stations are generally not
built in densely populated areas. Waste heat is more commonly used in industrial
applications.

During Europe's 2003 and 2006 heat waves, French, Spanish and German utilities had
to secure exemptions from regulations in order to discharge overheated water into the
environment. Some nuclear reactors shut down

Reactor Accidents (Chernobyl Accident)

A reactor is one in which fission of atomic fuel occurs. The power plants are designed
in a way that there is no leakage of radioactive materials in any form. However, no
nuclear plant is contamination proof. During recent years nuclear power programmes
have been beset with problems. The radiological impact from the routine operation of
nuclear power stations (NPS) is negligible, but concern remains about the
consequences of potential accidents. The concerns have increased manifold after the
accident at Unit-4 of the Chernobyl NPS is USSR on 26th April, 1986.

The accident occurred during a low power engineering experiment, when safety
systems were bypassed. Radioactive gases and dust particles were environmentally
released, causing radioactive contamination all around the world in varying intensity.
It is estimated that about 7,000 kilograms of highly radioactive material containing
iodine-131, strontium-90 and caesium-137 and plutonium as well as other nuclides
with a total activity of 50-100 million curies were released in the explosion. The
radioactive dust got dispersed over vast areas in Europe, affecting (in addition to
USSR), France and even parts of UK. Dose values as high as 760 microsievert per
year, has been reported for some European countries following the accident. In the
weeks following the accident, fresh vegetables in many parts of Europe showed levels
of radioactivity much above the permissible levels.

Cattle grazing on contaminated grass were soon producing milk with significant
radioactivity. Large populations in the area around the reactor were evacuated. The
soil samples from the farmland in the area show radioactivity 170 times the value
regarded as tolerable. Some forecasts suggest that the radioactive fallout from
Chernobyl could cause as many as 40,000 deaths from cancer world-wide, mainly in
Europe.

The dominant source of lead in air is petrol, although significant contributions arise
from metal works, coal combustion and waste incineration. Lead is emitted in the
form of fume of dust and is a cumulative poison acting on the nervous system. The
degree and the kind of damage from nuclear accidents vary with the kind of radiation,
the amount of radiation, the duration of exposure, and the types of cells irradiated.
Radiation can also cause mutations, which are changes in the genetic makeup of the
cells. Mutations can occur in the ovaries or the testes leading to the formation of
mutated eggs or sperms, which in turn can lead to abnormal offspring. Mutations can
also occur in the tissues of the body and may manifest themselves as abnormal tissue
growths known as cancer. Two common cancers that are linked to increased radiation
exposure are leukaemia and breast cancer.
Greenhouse gas emissions

Nuclear power plant operation emits no or negligible amounts of carbon dioxide.

However, all other stages of the nuclear fuel chain — mining, milling, transport, fuel
fabrication, enrichment, reactor construction, decommissioning and waste
management — use fossil fuels and hence emit carbon dioxide.

Decommissioning

Both nuclear reactors and uranium enrichment facilities must be carefully

decommissioned using processes that are occupationally dangerous, and hazardous to
the natural environment, expensive, and time-intensive.

Aquatic Lives
Nuclear power plants use large quantities of water for steam production and for
cooling, affecting fish and other aquatic life. Likewise, heavy metals and salts can
build up in the water used in the nuclear power plant systems. When water is
discharged from the power plant, these pollutants can negatively affect water quality
and aquatic life.

Note: The sievert is the International System of Units (SI) derived unit of equivalent radiation
dose, effective dose, and committed dose.
 1 Sv = 1 J/kg
 1 microsievert (1 μSv = 0.000001 Sv)