CEN – 105

INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

B. Prasad
Department of Chemical Engineering
Phone: 5323
E-mail: bashefch@iitr.ac.in
 CEN-105: Introduction to Environmental Studies
Credits: 3; L: 3; Marks: CWS=25%, MTE=25%, ETE=50%
S. No. Contents

1. Overview: Environment and Natural Processes; Development (Resource Utilization & Waste Generation);
Environmental issues; Concept of Sustainable Development; Issues affecting future development (population,
urbanization, health, water scarcity, energy, climate, toxic chemicals, finite resources etc.), Environmental Units

2. Air–Water interaction: (Liquid phase-gas phase equilibrium) Henry’s Law Constant

3. Water –Soil Interaction: Carbonate System (Alkalinity and buffering capacity); Major ions in water; Natural
Organic Matter (NOMs); Water quality parameters; Physical processes (Mass Balance): Spatio-temporal
variation in quality of river water, lake water, ground water; Water quality standards

4. Water treatment and wastewater treatment

5. Air resources: Atmosphere; Air pollutants; Emissions and control of air pollutants; Transport of air (global,
regional, local); Air stability; Plume shape; Air Pollution: Meteorology and dispersion modeling; Air quality
standards
6. Land pollution and solid waste management, Wetlands

7. Ecosystem: Structure and function; Energy flow in ecosystem; Material flow in ecosystem; Biodiversity and
ecosystem health; Bio-amplification and bio-magnification

8. Hazardous Waste: Definition; Classification; Storage and management; Site remediation; Environmental Risk:
perception, assessment, and management
 CEN-105, Introduction to Environmental Studies

Objective: To introduce fundamentals of environmental pollution and its control

S. No. Name of Books / Authors/ Publishers Year of

Publication
1. Davis M. L. and Cornwell D. A., “Introduction to 2008
Environmental Engineering”, McGraw Hill, New York 4/e

2. Masters G. M., “Introduction to Environmental Engineering 2007

and Science”, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi. 2/e

3. Peavy H. S., Rowe D.R. and Tchobanoglous G., 1986

“Environmental Engineering”, McGraw Hill, New York

4. Mines R.O. and Lackey L.W. “Introduction to Environmental 2009

Engineering”, Prentice Hall, New York

5. Mihelcic J. R. and Zimmerman J.B. “ Environmental 2010

Engineering; Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design” John
Wiley and Sons, Inc
 Environmental Challenges & Initiatives
• Intergovernmental Penal on Climate Change (IPCC), 1988
– 31st August 2016: 28 years
– UNEP and WMO of United Nations Organization
• Substantial changes are happening to our environment
Delhi-SPM, PM2.5, PM1.5, CNG, Diesel, Petrol; process industries: air and
water pollution
High level of CO2 in atmosphere as per WMO
Floods and droughts
Air, water and soil being affected
• 2007 Nobel Peace Prize: IPCC
R.K. Pachauri and Al Gore
• US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
• Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, New Delhi
• Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi
• State Pollution Control Boards/Committees
 Environmental Studies
• To logically understand is Science &
to channelize nature to improve standard of living is Engineering
• The motto is—'Replenish the earth and subdue it'
• Is there a barren desert—irrigate it; Water(S)- Canal, Tube well (E)
• Is there a mountain barrier—pierce it; Rocks(S)- Tunneling (E)
• Is there a rushing torrent—harness it; Water(S)- Electricity (E)
• Bridge the rivers; sail the seas; and many more– Boat vs Ship and Submarine
—Rossiter W. Raymond — 1913

Human (Our) actions have widespread impacts on our world and the other
organisms with which we share it.

Science & technology: explain how things work & reveal how we can make
our environment safer, more comfortable and more enduring.
 Environmental Studies
• Environmental Management: Prevention & Control
• Developers (Engineers) can prevent environmental
degradation by knowing the response of the environment
– Think globally act locally

• Environmental Scientists & Engineers can attempt to control

the environmental degradation

• A co-ordination between developmental projects , its

environmental impacts and remedy is possible only when we
are aware of our ENVIRONMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
& ENVIRONMNTAL PROCESSES
DEVELOPMENT & ITS UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
• What is Development?
– Resource utilization to provide facilities and services
• Unintended Consequences
– Resource depletion
– Pollution/Environmental degradation
• What are we giving back to surrounding?
– Air: Polluted
– Water: Polluted / contaminated
– Wastes: To pile up
 WILL WE DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE WAY?
• The triple bottom line: sustainable
solutions that meet
– Environmental goals- Air and Water
– Economic goals-Punjab Agriculture*
– Social goals- Cancer

• Requires that humans apply knowledge

from the sciences to
– Limit environmental impacts
– Maintain functioning of ecological
systems

* Chemical fertilizers, inseceticides, pesticides,

herbicides
Organic farming-Compost
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Agreed Definition:

Brundtland’s definition: “…meeting the needs of

the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.”

Need to balance three components: Economic,

Social and Environmental Aspects
 Sustainable Development
• How does environment respond to development?

• How can development be made environment

friendly?

• Answer is to understand/study the project,

environment, and environmental sciences,
and
To work towards Sustainable Development

11
 Sustainable Development
• Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WHO)

• Design of human and industrial systems (Engineering) to ensure that

humankind’s use of natural resources do not lead to diminished quality of
life due either to losses in future economic opportunities or to adverse
impacts on social conditions, human health, and the environment. (Michelcic
et al.,2003, “Sustainability Science and Engineering: Emergence of a new
Metadiscipline”. Environmental Science & Technology 37 (23): 5314-5324)

• Natural resources of the earth including air, water, land, flora and
fauna and especially representative samples of natural
ecosystems must be safeguarded for the benefit of present and
future generations through careful planning and management.

12
 What is Environment?
• Biotic & Abiotic Components
• Interactions/Processes
Atmosphere; – Air-water
Gas Phase
– Air-Soil
– Soil-Water
air
– Air-Water-Soil
– Interaction of life with air, water,
soil
• Structural & Functional Components
life of the Ecosystem
Biosphere
• Natural System connects and
supports all life on Earth by providing
water land
– Oxygen, Water, Food
Lithosphere – Services
Hydrosphere
Aqueous Phase Solid Phase • Elemental and chemical composition
of the earth together with energy
from the sun, constitutes all of the
raw material that support life.
13
 Five elements
1. Water, जल
2. Air, वायु
3. Earth, पृथ्वी
4. Space, आकाश
5. Fire, अग्नि
 Water
1. All the living systems need water and contain
water
2. Life on earth is due to water, 70% water cover
3. God of water, इन्द्र (Indra)
4. Ganga water, (Shelf life: long); BOD/COD
5. Water pollution
Vegetables, milk-CSE, New Delhi : Lindane, DDT etc.
Effluents from industries and agrichemicals (Punjab hub of cancer patients)
Ganga and Yamuna rivers- Cleaning of these rivers? Namami Ganga Project
Ground water, lakes, sea water is contaminated, treatment strategies
required.
 Air
1. Air needed by all the living systems
2. Without air no survival
3. God of air, वायु (Vayu), Prāna
4. Pranayam : oxygen transfer rate; Yoga Day June 21
5. 78.08% Nitrogen and 20.95% Oxygen + other gases
6. Combustion: CO2, NOx, SOx, SPM, PM10, PM2.5,
PM1.5, Hg, As, HCs, VOCs etc.
Paper industry: Dioxins 100 times lethal than cyanide
Carbon dioxide: 408 ppm (July 30, 2017)
280 ppm (1750)
Greenhouse gases: CO2(Global Warming- Major Contributor),
N2O, H2O, O3, CH4, CFCs
 Earth
1. We eat which is grown on earth
2. Photosynthesis process: biomass
3. Goddess of earth, पृथ्वी, Prithvi
4. Soil is getting contaminated
Pollution air/water
Lead in Maggi noodles ? MSG ? Taste enhancer
Lead pipes in water supply
Lead compound for plumbing
(2PbCO3·Pb(OH)2)
 Space
1. Solar energy
2. Photosynthesis process
3. Solar energy into biomass and other forms of
energy: hydro, coal, petroleum, wind etc.
4. God of space, आकाश, Aakash
5. O3 depletion: CFCs and space shuttles, rockets
etc. , UV radiations: human skin, cataract, plant
kingdom damages, buildings ?
6. Vitamin D3- Solar radiation required; big
problem now a days.
 Fire
1. Combustion
2. Carbon and Hydrogen
3. CI and SI engines, cooking, thermal power
plants: steam and gas turbines, blast furnaces
4. Goddess of fire, अग्नि , Agni
5. Because of fire air pollution
Every thing is getting into CO2 and H2O which are converted back by
photosynthesis process to complex biomass species and the process goes
on …..goes on…..
CO2 : 45 BT (2016) INDIA FUEL CONSUMPTION (2015-2016)
China, US, EU and India: Coal : 638 MT
58% of World Oil : 194 MT
Kyoto (1990) : 65% higher N Gas : 54 BSm3
Biomass: 350-400MT
Global Climate Change David D. Houghton 20
China
USA

India
 Carbon Dioxide Indicators of the Human Influence
on the Atmosphere During the
Industrial Era

(a) Global atmospheric concentrations

of three well mixed greenhouse gases
Methane

(b) Sulphate aerosols deposited

in Greenland ice

Nitrous oxide
Sulphur

Global Climate Change David D. Houghton 22

 Latin word (whiteness)

Received solar
Global Climate radiation/reflected, 1750
Change as
David base Radiative forcings, IPCC 2007.23
D. Houghton
 Environment
1.Atmosphere: layer of air that surrounds
our planet
2.Hydrosphere: liquid envelop that
surrounds our planet
3.Lithosphere: solid earth, including earth’s
crust and part of the upper mantle
4.Biosphere: living organisms that inhabit the
above spheres
 Environment
• Atmosphere…air to breathe
• Hydrosphere …water to drink Days w/o
• Lithosphere …food to eat water

• Biosphere …food to eat

Minutes Months w/o food

without air Resources: fossil fuels,
ores, uranium, thorium
India very rich in resources- including human
Environment
 Atmosphere
Age of earth : 4.6 Billion year
Oxygen : 0% 2 Billion years ago

Constant components (fix over time and location)

Nitrogen 78.08%
Oxygen 20.95%
Argon 0.93%
Neon, Helium, Krypton 0.0001%
 Atmosphere
Variable components (variable with time and
location)
Carbon dioxide 0.0408%
Water vapor 0-4%
Methane traces
Sulfur dioxide traces
Ozone traces
Nitrogen oxides traces

Others: dust, volcanic ash, snow and rain

Layers of the Earth's atmosphere
Atmospheric temperature: vertical structure
Vertical structure of atmospheric pressure
 Atmosphere zones
The zones are not sharply delineated
and their elevation varies with both
time of year and latitude
 Troposphere
1.Thickness from sea level: 18 km; Everest
8848 m
2.Pressure at top is 10% of atmosphere-76
mm of Hg
3.Air movement is vertical as well horizontal
4.Weather/clouds formation/rains
5.Air cools progressively with height
6.Temperature: -6.5 oC/km
 Stratosphere
1.This extends up to 50 km and comprises
of ozone
2.Ozone is 2-8 ppm
3.In the middle and upper stratosphere,
air temperature increases progressively
with height
4.Heated by ozone
5.Lower stratosphere is isothermal
(constant temperature with height)
 Mesosphere
1.Mesosphere is from 50 to 90 km
2.Temperature again decreases here
3.Intermediate zone between stratosphere
and thermosphere
4.Air cools progressively with elevation
 Ionosphere
1.Next is ionosphere or thermosphere
extending to 350 km
2. Oxygen is in ionic form heat is absorbed
3. Temperate rises again
 Outer limit of atmosphere
1. Difficult to define
2. At 32,000 km, the Earth’s gravitation pull equals
centrifugal force of the Earth’s rotation

Trishanku in Indian Mythology: Vishawamitra-

Vasistha
Satellites- India a leader in putting satellites in orbits
 Ozone measurement
Developed by G.M.B. Dobson, 1920s; Professor at Oxford University

All the ozone over a certain area is

compressed to oC and 1 atm and
forms a 3 mm thick slab corresponding
to 300 DU

1 DU = 0.01 mm thickness of ozone at oC and 1 atm (STP)

US sky : 300 DU
Minimum at Antarctica : ~100 DU
Dobson Ozone Spectrophotometer
Total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS)
Ozone holes: when concentration of ozone reduces more than 50%
Antarctica: 25 million km2 in 2001
Antarctic ozone

Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer

Movement of carbon between land, atmosphere, and oceans in billions of tons of carbon per
year. Global
Yellow numbers are natural fluxes, red
Climate Change
are human contributions in billions of tons of
David D. Houghton
carbon per year. White numbers indicate stored carbon.
 Hydrosphere
1. 70.8% earth’s surface is covered by water
2. 60-70% of living world
3. Physiological reactions in aqueous phase
4. Total quantum of water : 1.4 B km3
5. Salty sea water : 97.6%
6. Fresh water : 2.4%
7. Renewable in nature
8. Important food source
9. Easily polluted
10. Must be purified
11. Major industrial and agriculture input
 Distribution of fresh water
Location % of total
Snow, ice, glaciers 86.9
Accessible ground water 12.0
Lakes, reservoirs, ponds 0.37
Saline lakes 0.31
Soil moisture 0.19
Moisture in living organisms 0.19
Atmosphere 0.039
Wetlands 0.011
Rivers, streams, canals 0.0051
 Freshwater as a resource in India
Renewable through evaporation from
the seas and precipitation (solar powered)
Demands for freshwater include:
Agriculture & livestock (79.6%)
Power generation (13.6%)
Domestic(3.5%)
Industry (3.3%)
Demand increases with increasing population
Unequal distribution of freshwater
Interlinking of rivers: solution of water problem
Rain harvesting
Lithosphere
 Lithosphere
1.Land area: 26%
2.Supports all the living systems and provides
a wealth of raw materials which has made
the civilization to develop
 Lithosphere: India
2.4% of world’s land
15% of world’s population
Per capita land availability, ha
Russia 8.43
USA 7.39
Australia 6.60
China 0.98
India 0.37
 Lithosphere: India
Land use categories, Mha
Cultivable land 142 (46%)
Forest land 67 (22%)
Nonagricultural land 20 (6.5%)
Barren and pasture land 55 (17.8%)
Fallow land-PV 25 (8.0%)
Mineral exploration
Rich in coal, HCs, bauxite, copper, gold,
nickel, uranium, thorium etc.
 Lithosphere: India
Food resource
Self sufficient in agriculture produce
I in world in sugar production
I in milk production, 97 million tonnes
Live stock, 25% of world

Forest resource
21.68 % forest cover
reduction in global warming
According to RICHARD SMALLEY (NOBEL PRIZE in CHEMISTRY; 1996):

Humanity’s Top Ten Problems

1. ENERGY
2. WATER
3. FOOD
4. ENVIRONMENT
5. POVERTY
6. DISEASE
7. EDUCATION
8. DEMOCRACY
9. POPULATION
2011 7.0 Billion People
10. TERRORISM & WAR 2050 ~ 10 Billion People

52
1. Municipal Solid Waste – Electricity generation
2. Industrial Waste - Solid or Liquid- Biogas
3. Animal Dung - Biogas
4. Agricultural Waste - Electricity generation
5. E - Waste
Waste need to be disposed off and/or converted
into useful forms- Biogas, electricity or a product
with market value
Would be dealt with in detail subsequently
• More than 20 million computers are thrown out
every year world wide, very few are recycled.

• More than 200 million computers shall be obsolete

world wide within a next few years.

• Same is true for many other electronic goods. For

example, Cell phones are getting obsolete every
other month.
Problems with Electronic Industry

Designers are not responsible for end of life design

Product manufacturing does not consider the entire

life time of the product

Result is waste – economically inefficient,

environmentally harmful, socially irresponsible

UNSUSTAINABLE
What to do with such a huge amount of e-waste?
 CARBON CREDIT
A carbon credit is a generic term for any tradable certificate or
permit representing the right to emit one TONNE of carbon
dioxide or the mass of another greenhouse gas with a carbon
dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) equivalent to one tonne of carbon
dioxide.
Carbon dioxide 1
Methane 25
Nitrous oxide 298
Sulphur hexafluoride 22,800
Hydrofluorocarbon 14,800
23

CARBON FOOTPRINT
A carbon footprint is historically defined as the total set
of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, event,
organization, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent
 About 1.2% of total fossil-fuel based carbon
emission

Ref.: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/12/carbon-
footprint-internet
Each time a Google search is generated at the user’s
computer, the carbon dioxide footprint is 0.2 g of CO2
per search.
Greenhouse gases….
Global Warming….. Polar
Ice caps melt…. Sea level
rises….. Many islands and
countries shall get wiped
out…..
 Environmental Systems (Natural and Engineered)

Natural Systems: Very difficult to model & predict, rain forecast?

Pollutants in air, water?
Concern is with understanding and describing changes in constituent
concentrations and other quality parameters;
Measure given conditions and describe
anticipated changes in constituent(s)
(Output depends on prevailing conditions)
Describe
Engineered System: Easier to model & predict, IC engine?
Concern is with the selection of conditions required to effectively
accomplish specific changes in concentration
and quality parameters
Determine desired changes in constituent
and prescribe required conditions
(Conditions are modified to get desired output- Design
Experimental verification possible)
62
 Environmental Processes

Environmental processes of interest are of two categories:

1. Transformation Processes- Changes
 Environment is comprised of chemicals & transformation in them are described by
chemical reactions
 Reactions are physical, chemical and/or biological in nature.
 Three dominant characteristics of environmental processes are:
 The form and amount of energy available to make them occur
 The rate at which energy is used to effect change. Most of the environmental
reactions follow fist order kinetics
 A system of such spatial and physical characteristics that it allows reactants to
interact or “communicate” for purposes of reactions.
2. Transport Processes- Movements
Macroscale Transport (System Scale):
Movement of constituents in the bulk of a system & across its boundaries
Example: Waste liquid stream (Nalaha) getting into a river
Microscale Transport (Molecular Scale):
Small scale diffusion processes
Occur primarily at the interfaces
Transport from one phase to another is referred to as mass transfer
Example: Spillage of Petrol/Diesel
 Environmental Systems
(Measurement of Quantity and Concentration)
• Extensive Properties:
– Magnitude depends on the size of the system or on sample taken from
the system (e.g. mass, volume, heat capacity and calories).
– Quantity is an extensive property
• Intensive property:
– Magnitude does not depend on the size of a system or on sample
taken from it (e.g. temperature, density, specific heat etc.)
– Concentration is an intensive property
• Expression of concentration:
– mass fraction (0-1; % (per cent,100); ‰ (per mil,1000); ppm; ppb;ppt)
– volume fraction, mole fraction, mass per unit volume, moles per unit
volume (molar), moles per unit mass (molal), equivalents (normal)
– Partial Pressure: Species amount in air may be expressed as partial
pressure
– Px = -log [x]; [x] is molar concentration; pH, pOH, pCa++
64
 Environmental measurement
1. Ten gram of table salt (NaCl) in pure water is dissolved to make 1 L of
solution. Determine for Na+ : the mass fraction (%, ppm), mass
concentration, molarity, molality, normality, mole fraction in the solution.
(Na = 23; Cl = 35.5)
• Molecular weight of NaCl = 23 + 35.5 = 58.5
• 10 g NaCl = 10/58.5 = 0.17 mole; Na+= 0.17 mole x 23 g/mole = 3.91 g of Na+.
• Mass fraction = 3.9/10 =0.39 % = 0.0039*106 = 3900 ppm
• Mass concentration = 3.9 g/L = 3900 mg/L ( in aq. systems, mg/L = ppm)
• Molarity =0.17 mole/L or 0.17 M; Normality = 0.17 eq/L = 0.17 N
• Molality = 0.17 mole/ 0.99 kg = 0.172
• Mole fraction = 0.17/ (0.17 + (990/18) = 3.08 x 10-3
2. Mole fraction of aqueous glucose solution is 0.025. What is the molar &
mass concentration of glucose? (Assumption: density of the solution = 1)
Moles of glucose = 0.025 = 0.25 x 180 = 4.5 g
& moles of water = 0.975 = 0.75 x 18 = 17.55 g
molar concentration = (.025/ 17.55) x 1000 = 1.42 M
mass concentration = (4.5 g/17.55) x 1000 = 256.4 g/L
Biosphere: Ecology
 Ecology
• Study of interactions among organisms
and their environment.
Ernst Haeckel – coined term Ecology in
1866
Greek word οἶκος, "house"; λογία, study of

Ecology includes the study of interactions

that organisms have with each other,
other organisms, and with abiotic
components of their environment.
Organization Hierarchy
 Levels of Organization
 Species: Group of similar organisms that can breed
and produce fertile offspring
 Population: group of organisms, all of the same
species, which interbreed and live in the same area.
 Community: an assemblage of different
populations that live together
 Ecosystem: Collection of organisms that live in a
place with the nonliving environment
 Biome: Group of ecosystems with the same climate
and dominant communities
 Levels of Organization
• Ecologists study organisms
ranging from the various
levels of organization:
– Species/individuals
– Population
– Community
– Ecosystem
– Biome
– Biosphere
 Biome

Tropical rain forest Temperate grassland Temperate forest Tundra

Tropical dry forest Desert Northwestern Mountains and

coniferous forest ice caps
Tropical savanna Temperate woodland
and shrubland Boreal forest
(Taiga)
 Characteristics of ecosystems
Open Systems
•All ecosystems have a constant source of
energy ( sun)
• Cycles to reuse raw materials
Water, nitrogen, carbon, phosphorus cycles

An ecosystem comprises of the biotic or living

( viz. plants and animals) and the abiotic or
non-living components ( viz. air, water, minerals,
soil)
Main form of energy for autotrophs
• Sunlight/solar radiations
– The main source of energy for life on
earth
– Photosynthesis: plant leaf a chemical
reactor
– Inorganic compounds
– Chemosynthesis : opium, ginseng, garlic
(selenium)
 Autotrophs vs. Heterotrophs
• Autotrophs – make • Heterotrophs – get
their own food so their food from
they are called another source so
PRODUCERS they are called
CONSUMERS
 Types of Consumers
Herbivores- only eat plants Carnivores - only eat meat Omnivores
Eat plants and meat

wildbeast

Detritivores and
Decomposers
Feed on plant and
animal remains
 Decomposers /detritivores

Vultures vanished from India, Pakistan (DDT - cow/buffalos)

Polythene/plastics: no decomposition; banning of PB by States, Uttarakhand,

Choking of sewer lines; agriculture sector: moisture, nitrogen fixation, Spills of crude
in oceans.
 Energy flow through an ecosystem

• Energy flows through

an ecosystem in ONE
direction,
– Sun

– Autotrophs

– Heterotrophs

Synthetic fertilizers: N, P, K
Total Reflected = 30% called Albedo of earth
 Energy flow in ecosystems
Photosynthesis

6CO2 + 6H2O + energy → C6H12O6 + 6O2

Respiration
Stored energy is released in the reverse reaction

C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + energy

Released energy is available to drive other reactions, e.g. cell

metabolism and growth

I. C. engines/combustion processes same reaction

Difference: temperature
 Feeding relationships
• Food Chain – steps of • Food Web – network of
organisms transferring all the food chains in
energy by eating & being an ecosystem
eaten
 Ecological pyramids
 Trophic Level – each step in a food chain or food web
Energy Pyramid: Only 10% energy is
available at next higher level

Biomass Pyramid

Energy Pyramid
Number Pyramid
 Why are nutrients important ?
• Every living organism
needs nutrients to
build tissues and carry
out essential life
functions.
95% of our body is made of…

1) OXYGEN
2) CARBON
3) HYDROGEN
4) NITROGEN
 Availability of nutrients
• Growth of organisms consumes nutrients in a
fixed proportion. If a nutrient is in short supply, it
will limit organisms growth. It is called a limiting
nutrient and is in accordance of Leibig’s Law
• Example: When a limiting nutrient is dumped into
a lake or pond, an algal bloom occurs and this can
disrupt the ecosystem
 Matter movement through an ecosystem

• Unlike the one way flow of

energy, matter is recycled NUTRIENT CYCLES
within & between ecosystems
a) CARBON CYCLE
• Nutrients are passed between b) NITROGEN CYCLE
organisms & the environment c) PHOSPHORUS CYCLE
through biogeochemical cycles
• Biogeochemical Cycles
– Bio –life
– Geo – earth
– Chemi – chemical
 CARBON CYCLE
CO2
4 PROCESSES MOVE
CARBON THROUGH
ITS CYCLE:
1) Biological
2) Geochemical
3) Mixed biochemical
CO2
4) Human activity
GLOBAL CARBON BUDGET
(All values are in Billion Metric Tons Carbon)
 NITROGEN CYCLE
Nitrogen-containing nutrients in the biosphere include:
Ammonia (NH3), Nitrite (NO2-) and Nitrate (NO3-)

ORGANISMS NEED
NITROGEN TO
MAKE AMINO ACIDS
FOR BUILDING
PROTEINS!!!

Haber process: 1918 Nobel Prize N2+H2->NH3 (with metal catalyst)

 PHOSPHORUS CYCLE
PHOSPHORUS FORMS PART OF IMPORTANT LIFE-SUSTAINING
MOLECULES (ex. DNA & RNA)

Cold drinks; pH: 3 Phosphatic

phosphoric acid fertilizers
 ACCUMULATION OF POLLUTANTS IN
ENVIRONMENT

1.Conservative Pollutants: Do not degrade in

environment, e.g. Pesticides, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals (mercury,
copper, cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel,
zinc, tin etc. )
2. Nonconservative Pollutants: That degrade in
the environment, e.g. biodegradable
organics, human waste, animal waste
 ACCUMULATION OF POLLUTANTS
Bioaccumulation/Bioconcentration
increase in concentration of a pollutant
from the environment to the first
organism in a food chain: a pesticide in a crop

Biomagnification
increase in concentration of a
pollutant from one link in a
food chain to another: a pesticide in a crop chicken
Conditions:
 long life
 soluble in fats: animal life/human life human
 biologically active
 Conservative pollutants:
Biomagnification
• Biomagnification is the
bioaccumulation of a substance up
the food chain by transfer of
residues of the substance in smaller
organisms that are food for larger
organisms in the chain.
• Sequence of processes that results
in higher concentrations in
organisms at higher levels in the
food chain (at higher trophic levels).
• These processes result in an
organism having higher
concentration of a substance than is
present in the organism’s food.
 Biomagnification
Case study: Long Island Estuary, New York, USA
Levels of DDT, 1967 study, USEPA
water to zooplankton 800x

zooplankton to fish #1
31x

fish #1 to fish #2
1.7x

fish #2 to gull
4.8x

Overall
202,368x
 Biomagnification
When partitioning concentrates a chemical in one phase that is the food
for a higher phase, the chemical can further concentrate as we move up
the food chain.
The level at which a given substance is biomagnified depends on :
 The rate of uptake
 The mode of uptake (through the gills of a fish, ingested along with
food, contact with epidermis (skin) etc. …)
 How quickly the substance is eliminated from the organism,
transformation of the substance by metabolic processes, the lipid (fat)
content of the organism, the hydrophobicity of the substance etc.
 Bioconcentration / Bioaccumulation
• Bioconcentration of a substance is correlated to the octanol-water
partitioning coefficient (or Haunsch partitioning Coefficient) KOW of the
substance. The octanol/water partition coefficient (KOW) is defined as the
ratio of a chemical's concentration in the octanol phase to its
concentration in the aqueous phase of a two-phase octanol/water
system.
• KOW = Concentration in octanol phase / Concentration in aqueous phase.
Values of KOW can be considered to have some meaning in themselves,
since they represent the tendency of the chemical to partition itself
between an organic phase (e.g., a fish) and an aqueous phase.
• Chemicals with low KOW values (i.e., less than 10) may be considered
relatively hydrophilic; they tend to have high water solubilities, small
soil/sediment adsorption coefficients, and small bioconcentration factors
for aquatic life.
• Conversely, chemicals with high KOW values (i.e., greater than 104) are
very hydrophobic.
 Bioconcentration / Bioaccumulation
• Bioconcentration factor (BCF) is the concentration of a
particular chemical in a tissue per concentration of
chemical in water (reported as l/kg). This physical property
characterizes the accumulation of pollutants through
chemical partitioning from the aqueous phase into an
organic phase, such as fish.
• BCF = [Concentration of X in Organism, mg/kg ] /
[Concentration of X in Environment, mg/l]
• High potential BCF>1000; Moderate Potential
1000<BCF>250; Low potential 250<BCF.

BCF is also related to the Haunsch Partition Coefficient

by
log BCF = 0.79 x log KOW - 0.4
 Example
• Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) has a water to plankton partition
coefficient of 200,000; a plankton to smelt (fish) magnification
factor of 7.5; and a smelt to lake trout magification factor of 3.5.
If the concentration of HCB in the water is 1.0 ppt, will either
fish exceed the fish consumption standards: 5 ppm for general
consumption and 1 ppm for pregnant and nursing women
 Solution
Cplankton
K p/w 
Cwater
 5 L  ng   5 ng  mg
Cplankton   2 x 10 1    2 x 10   0.2
 kg  L   kg  kg
 mg 
Csmelt  7.5Cplankton   7.5 0.2
mg
 
  1.5
 kg  kg
 mg 
 3.5Csmelt   3.51.5
mg
Ctrout   5.25
 kg  kg
Interpretation
The lake trout exceed the general consumption standard and
both species exceed the standard for pregnant and nursing
women.
Both could easily argued on the basis of uncertainty
 PCB
• PCB (Polychlorinated Biphenyls): Insulating materials
in transformers: impair thyroid functions and
neurotoxins.
• General Electric Company, USA Released during 1947-
1977 in Hudson River, 300 km of Hudson River
polluted
• Concentrated in bottom sediments—Consumed by
riverbed microorganisms-eaten by fish 2 ppm conc.
• Contaminated sediments were removed, extensive
dredging & properly disposed off subsequently.
 DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane)
Half life 15 years
• Used for malaria control and to protect crops from insects
• Biomagnification, not very toxic to human but adverse
impact of egg hatching by birds.
• Banned in 1972 and many bird population have recovered.
• In India thousands of tons of DDT was used to control
malarial mosquitoes between 1995 and 1996.
• Large numbers of vultures dying and have high levels of DDT
in their carcasses.
• Vultures are at the same level of the food chain as humans
and serve as sentinels warning of greater pesticide hazards
through indirect effects unless there is a change in the
Indian government's pesticide policy.
• Birds provide a valuable service to growers and to the
public through controlling insects.
• In 1950 Chinese officials grew concerned that flocks of
birds were allegedly devouring large amounts of grain.
• Citizens killed over 800,000 sparrow birds. As a
consequence there were major outbreaks of insect
pests.
• Realizing their mistake the leaders changed course and
removed small birds from the list of scourges.
• It is difficult to know precisely how the killing of birds
by pesticides relates to pest insect populations.
However, the estimated bird losses due to pesticides 67
million per year, far exceeds the 800,000 bird deaths in
China that resulted in greater insect numbers.
 OBJECTIVE: HOW CAN WE PREVENT THE DISTURBANCE OF ECOSYSTEM
Environment
OR HOW WE CAN RESTORE OUR ECOSYSTEM

If gases concentration Increase by

If we cut lot of trees, What our activities , What happens to ou
happens to our Ecosystem ??? Ecosystem ???

If we add DDT or other

If we add large biodegradable
pesticides, What happens to
pollutants & Nutrients, What
food chain/food web of our
happens to our Ecosystem ???
Ecosystem ???

If we add heavy metals, What If we add large amount of

happens to our Ecosystem ??? garbage, What happens to our
Ecosystem ???