Introduction to Environmental

Science
AED 1262

ENVIRONMENTAL
POLLUTION
INTRODUCTION
“A community which takes satan rather than Allah as its patron and
assault nature to the extend of altering Allah's creation, will face
obvious and tangible loss and its ultimate abode will be (an
environmental) hell from which it will find no escape.”
(Al-Quran, 4:117-119)

WHAT IS POLLUTION ?
 The word comes from Latin word ”POLLUTUS’ which means
MADE FOUL, UNCLEAN or DIRTY
 Anything added to air, water, soil, or food that threatens
the health, survival capability, or activities of living things.
 Material that causes pollution is called pollutants
Definition from EQA (Act 127)

Any direct or indirect alteration of the physical, thermal,

chemical or biological properties of any part of the environment
by discharging, emitting or depositing environmentally
hazardous substances, pollutants or wastes, so as to
affect any beneficial use adversely , to cause a condition that
is hazardous or potentially hazardous to public health,
safety or welfare, or to animals, birds, wildlife, fish or
aquatic life, or to plants or to cause contravention of any
condition, limitation or restriction to which a license under this
Act is subject.
 WATER POLLUTION
DEFINITION

“Any physical, biological or chemical change in

water quality that adversely affects living organisms
or makes water unsuitable for desired uses”
(Saigo, Cunningham, Environmental science, Mc Graw- Hill)
WATER POLLUTION IS MAINLY CAUSED BY:

 Domestic waste
 Agriculture waste
 Industrial waste
 Marine pollution – oil spill
TYPES OF WATER POLLUTANTS

 Acids
 Toxic matter
 Agricultural chemical
 Pathogens
 Organic matter
 Salt
 Sediment
SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION

1. POINT SOURCES OF WATER

POLLUTION
 Discharge of pollution from
specific locations

 Identifiable because it comes

from specific locations

 Can be monitored / regulated

 E.g. Industrial discharge

(wastewater, chemicals,
factories) and sewage
treatment plants that emit
fluids of varying quality
directly into water supply.
2. NON – POINT SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION
 Cannot be traced into any one point of discharge.
 Very hard to monitor
 Eg. Agriculture runoff ( chemicals, pesticides,
sediments) urban runoff, roadway runoff.
RESULT FROM HUMAN ACTIVITIES THAT CAUSED
WATER POLLUTION
Results by product of economic and social activities
(producing crops, comfortable homes , providing energy,
manufacturing products) that give impacts to aquatic
ecosystem.
 Sediments – from agriculture, mining, forests cutting &
construction sites.
 Nutrient oversupply (Eutrophication), the growth of
unwanted weeds- from sewage treatment plants, fertilizer
runoff, domestic runoff.
 Toxic chemicals in water body – leaching from lawns,
gardens & agriculture fields.
EFFECTS OF WATER POLLUTION TO THE ENVIRONMENT

 Human health – poisoning from drinking water of untreated

sewage, poisonous food animals where they accumulate toxin
from environment and human consume these food.

 Unbalanced river / lake ecosystems that can no longer

support full biological diversity.

 Deforestation from acid rain

 Eutrophication
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL

3. Point sources solution

Divert effluent from the waste streams and treat or

filter it before it enters the environment.
e.g. septic tank, primary & secondary sewage
treatment
1. Non point sources solution
 Euthrophication
- Harvesting excessive plant growth;
unwanted weeds can be eliminated by chemical
treatments.

 Sediments
- Construction and mining sites- sediment traps,
destabilize the exposed area with grass immediately
- Preserving wetlands

 Urban runoff
- Encourage to recycle waste oil and to minimize use of
fertilizers and pesticides.
- Regular street sweeping - reduce contaminants

 Agriculture
- Applying precisely determined amounts of fertilizers
- Use slow-release fertilizers
- Plant buffer zones of permanent vegetation between
cultivated field and nearby surface water
AIR RESOURCES
 Air is one of the major environmental elements
that is crucial to life on Earth. Air exists
everywhere on the surface of the Earth and clean
air represents a basic need that allows humans
and all organisms to breathe.

 Air is made up of a mixture of gases, namely

78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other gases
(carbon dioxide, argon and others). Clean air is
odourless, colourless and non-toxic.
AIR POLLUTION
DEFINITION

Substances which, when

presents in the atmosphere
can adversely affect the
health of humans, animals
and plants or microbial life,
damage materials or
interfere with the enjoyment
of life and the use of
property.

The air pollution have been predicted in the Quran:

“Watch for the day when the sky will bring forth visible smoke that will engulf.”
WHAT IS AIR POLLUTANTS?
Chemical or physical changes brought about by either natural
processes or human activities, resulting in air quality degradation.

MAJOR AIR POLLUTANTS

 Total suspended particulate/ suspended particulate matter
 Sulphur oxides (SOx)
 Carbon monoxides (CO)
 Hydrocarbons (HC)
 Photochemical oxidants (Ox)

SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION

 Natural sources
 Human-caused air pollution
NATURAL SOURCE OF AIR
POLLUTION

 Volcanoes erupt ash, acid mists,

hydrogen sulfide and other toxic
gases
 Decaying vegetation releases
reactive sulfur compounds
 Forest fire creates cloud of smoke
into the air
 Trees/ bushes emit volatile organic
compounds which cause blue haze
 Bacterial metabolism of decaying
vegetation in swamp area.
HUMAN-CAUSED AIR
POLLUTION

 Primary pollutants – those

released directly from the
source into the air in a
harmful form (particulates,
CO, Nox, Sox and lead).
 Secondary pollutants –
modified to a hazardous
form after they enter the
air or formed by chemical
reactions as components of
the air mix and interact
(ozone, photochemical
oxidants, sulfuric and nitric
acids).
 Fugitive emissions –
emission that does not go
through a smokestack.
E.g. dust from soil erosion,
building constructions and
rock crushing.
Effects and Causes of Air
Pollution

Polluted air can cause health

problems and damage to the
environment such as:

 Health problems affecting all

living things
 Acid rain
 Greenhouse effect
 Thinning of the ozone layer in
the stratosphere
 Global warming
 Haze
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
Transportation
 Hydrocarbon control
 Emission control devices
 Raise parking fees

Industrial process
 Using particular removal such as bag filter and electronic precipitator

Stationary fuel combustion

 Oil companies are required to offer alternative fuels, such as methanol
or ethanol, hydrogen or compressed natural gas.
Measures Taken by the Government in Handling
Issues and Challenges Concerning Air Quality
Management

 Airborne surveillance programme to monitor and detect

sources of air pollution like open burning, smoke and gas
emissions from factories;

 Area Watch and Sanction Inspection (AWASI) programme

to conduct patrolling and observation of excessive black
smoke emission from exhausts of vehicles;

 Control of Black Smoke Emission from Diesel and Petrol

Vehicles

 Campaign carried out along highways and main roads

throughout the country

http://www.nre.gov.my/opencms/opencms/NRE/EN/Knowledge/Resources/airresources.html
 In mid-August 2005 several
locations in mainland Malaysia
declared air quality emergencies
as smoke from burning in
Indonesia wafted across the
Strait of Malacca and blanketed
the country with haze.

This image, created using data

collected by the Ozone
Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on
NASA’s Aura satellite, shows the
density of the smoke on August
10, 2005. Red-colored areas
show where smoke was
thickest.
The DOE carried out National Haze Action Plan

 National Haze Action Plan is a guideline formulated and used by the federal
government since 1999 to handle the haze problem.

 For example, when the air pollution index (API) indicates an unhealthy level
(101-200) for more than 72 hours, the DOE will prohibit all open burning,
the Health Department will issue a statement to the public to take
precautions to safeguard their health, and the Department of Meteorology
will conduct cloud-seeding operations.

 When the API reading reaches 300, the Central Committee for Management
and Disaster Relief is galvanised into action and the State and National
Safety Operations Room remains open 24 hours a day.

 The Ministry of Education will order schools to be closed when the API
reading reaches 400.

 A haze emergency will be declared by the Prime Minister when API reading
exceeds 500.
NOISE
The Industrial Revolution, the growth
of cities, and the demand for
transportation made the world even
noisier. With the modern world so
dependent on and enchanted with
noise-producing and noise-related
systems the ambient noise level is
rapidly accelerating. This growth in
noise has led to research examining
the impact of noise on the lives and
activities of reasonable people. The
result suggests noise is hazardous
to good mental and physical
health.
NOISE POLLUTION
WHAT IS NOISE POLLUTION?
Sounds that are often annoys us,
unpleasant or unwanted.
How Noise Pollution is
Measured
 Noise and sound are measured in decibels.

 A decibel number of 65, for example, would cause distraction and

is considered “intrusive.” This is about the level of your average,
everyday traffic.

 80 decibels is considered annoying and is approximately the

loudness of an alarm clock. Neither one of these is dangerous to
your hearing, but can impair your ability to sleep.

 A decibel level of around 88 would occur in city traffic or in

industrial work. Individuals exposed to this noise level for a
lengthy period of time may experience actual hearing damage.

 Once the decibel level goes above 80, prolonged exposure such as
eight hours or more may cause increased tension, fatigue,
changes in breathing, blood circulation and of course, loss of
hearing.

 Sound at the level of 135 decibels is beyond annoying and

intrusive, it becomes simply painful and can damage your hearing.
SOURCES
1. Transport noise
Road noise comes from cars, buses, lorries, van &
motorbike.

2. Social noise
Neighborhood noise- Amplified music, dogs, domestic
activities, car repairs.

3. Industrial noise
From factory or by building works. - much more
problem to people working in a factory, will suffer
permanent hearing damage and report annoyance from
general public.
NOISE POLLUTION SOLUTION

Transport noise

 Sound reflector wall that are :

a) High concrete wall or
b) Louvered wall to be built between residential area and
highway road as a reflector.
 Bumper as to avoid racing along special road or residential area.
 Planting zone as a barrier between spaces

Social noise -neighborhood

 Layout housing arrangement for car parking spaces, resident
have to few minutes walk away from residential area.
 Landscape design such as planting, fountain to avoid hearing
noise from road
 Double glazing and better insulated walls to reduce noise
Industrial noise

 Zoning and planning layout by following the guidelines

of government
 Finding a new technology on machine by engineers to
avoid noise pollution.

Precision Machinery Enclosure

Low Decibel Room

(Below 40dBA)

High noise machinery enclosure (From130dBA,

reduced to Below 80dBA)
THE END