Major classes of environmental pollutants

1
Major classes of environmental pollutants

• Topic 5

2
Learning goals

• To learn major classes of environmental
  pollutants
• We will mostly focus on the pollutants, which
  will be discussed in this course

3
Classification of animals

• Animals are divided into
• those that belong to the Emperor,
• embalmed ones,
• those that are trained,
• suckling pigs,
• mermaids,
• fabulous ones,
• stray dogs,
• those included in the present classification,
• those that tremble as if they were mad,
• innumerable ones,
• those drawn with a very fine camelhair brush,
• others,
• those that have just broken a flower vase,
• those that from a long way off look like flies.
• J.L.Borges From Celestial Emporium of
  Benevolent Knowledge

4
Major classes of contaminants

• No universal classification
• Source (natural, synthetic)
• Target organ (neurotoxin, hepatotoxin,
  nephrotoxin, etc.)
• Physiological effects (carcinogen, teratogen,
  endocrine disruptor, etc.)
• Chemical nature (organic, inorganic)
• Toxicity (highly toxic, less toxic)
• Persistence in the biosphere (highly persistent,
  biodegradable)
• You name it!

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EPA classification of pollutants
http//www.epa.gov/ebtpages/pollutants.html

• Agricultural Chemicals
• Air Pollutants (Aerosols, Asbestos, Carbon
  Monoxide, etc.)
• Biological Contaminants
• Carcinogens
• Chemicals (Benzene, Chlorinated Solvents,
  Dioxins, Endocrine Disruptors, Heavy Metals,
  etc.)
• Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS)
• Microorganisms
• Coliform, Cryptosporidium, Pfiesteria, Viruses
• Multimedia Pollutants
• Ozone
• Radiation
• Soil Contaminants
• Toxic Substances (Persistent Bioaccumulative
  Toxic Pollutants (PBTs), Persistent Organic
  Pollutants (POPs), Toxicological Profiles )
• Water Pollutants

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Inorganic pollutants

• Heavy metals (trace metals) and metalloids
• Organometals
• Radionuclides

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Anthropogenic enrichment factors (AEF) for metals
in the biosphere
(All values in 106 kg per year)
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Organometals

• Tin
• Tributyltin (TBT)
• Lead
• Tetraalkyl lead
• Mercury
• Metylmercury,
• organomercury

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Radionuclides
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Organic pollutants

• Organochlorine pesticides (DDT, DDE, etc.)
• PAH
• PCB
• Dioxins
• Endocrine disruptors

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EPA's First 12 Priority PBT PollutantsFrom the
Canada-US Binational Toxics Strategy

• aldrin/dieldrin
• mercury and its compounds
• benzo(a)pyrene
• mirex
• chlordane
• octachlorostyrene

• DDT, DDP, DDE
• PCBs
• hexachlorobenzene
• dioxins and furans
• alkyl-lead
• toxaphene

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Take-home messages

• There is no general classification of
  environmental pollutants
• Would be the same as to find a classification for
  all known chemicals
• There are some working classifications which
  work well for a specific research or field of
  interest