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Module 1: Environmental Literacy: Environmental Issues, Risk, Exposure, and Regulations

Module 1: Environmental Literacy: Environmental Issues, Risk, Exposure, and Regulations. David Shonnard Department of Chemical Engineering Michigan Technological University. Module 1: Presentation Outline. Educational goals and topics covered in the module

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Module 1: Environmental Literacy: Environmental Issues, Risk, Exposure, and Regulations

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  1. Module 1: Environmental Literacy:Environmental Issues, Risk, Exposure, and Regulations David Shonnard Department of Chemical Engineering Michigan Technological University

  2. Module 1: Presentation Outline • Educational goals and topics covered in the module • Potential uses of the module in chemical engineering courses • Review of environmental impacts - Chapter 1 • Environmental and health risk assessment - Ch. 2 • Exposure calculations - Chapter 6 • Environmental regulations of interest to chemical engineers - Chapter 3

  3. Module 1: Educational goals and topics Students will: • be introduced to major environmental issues related to chemical processing • become familiar with the fundamentals of risk assessment • be introduced to the major environmental regulations of interest to the chemical industry and the chemical engineer • become aware of the major pathways and routes of exposure to industrial chemicals

  4. Module 1: Potential uses of the module in chemical engineering courses • Design course: Introduce environmental literacy and regulations before assigning projects • Freshman Engineering: Introduction to issues regarding environment / society / industry

  5. Module 1: Scope of environmental impacts (Ch 1) Materials Materials Materials Materials Life- Cycle Stages Energy Energy Energy Energy Raw Materials Extraction Chemical Processing Product Manufacturing Use, Reuse, Disposal Pollution Control Pollution Control Wastes Wastes Wastes Wastes Midpoints Human health and ecosystem damage global warming ozone depletion smog formation acidifi- cation ecological harm Endpoint

  6. Module 1: U.S. Energy Flows, 1997 Annual Energy Review 1997, U.S. DOE, Energy Information Administration, Washington, DC, DOE/EIA-0384(97)

  7. climate change; sea level change human mortality or life adjustments Module 1: Global warming and related impacts Materials Energy Cause and Effect Chain Products Chemical Processing greenhouse gas emissions CO2, CH4, N2O Contribution to global Warming; Phipps, NPPC, http://www.snre.umich.edu/nppc/ Climate Change 1995, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, WMO and UNEP, Cambridge University Press, 1996.

  8. ozone layer loss increase in uv Module 1: Stratospheric ozone and related impacts Cause and Effect Chain Materials Energy Products Chemical Processing ozone depleting substances CFCs, HCFCs human mortality or life adjustments ecosystem damage Toxics Release Inventory Data

  9. photochemical oxidation reactions Module 1: Smog formation and related impacts Cause and Effect Chain Materials Energy Products Chemical Processing human/ecological damage from O3 and other oxidants NOx and volatile organic substances 1 - Chemical & Allied Processing 2 - Petroleum & Related Industries NOx VOCs NOx 1997 Miscellaneous 3 - Metals Processing, 4 - Other Industrial Processes 5 - Solvent Utilization, 6 - Storage & Transportation 7 - Waste Disposal & Recycling Transportation Industrial Processes VOCs 1997 Fuel Combustion National Air Quality and Emissions Trends Report, 1997, U.S. EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, http://www.epa.gov/oar/aqtrnd97/chapter2.pdf

  10. Acidification rxns. & acid deposition Module 1: Acid rain / Acid deposition Cause and Effect Chain Materials Energy Products Chemical Processing human/ecological damage from H+ and heavy metals SO2 and NOx emission to air SO2 1997 Miscellaneous 1 - Chemical & Allied Processing 2 - Petroleum & Related Industries 3 - Metals Processing 4 - Other Industrial Processes 5 - Solvent Utilization 6 - Storage & Transportation 7 - Waste Disposal & Recycling Transportation Industrial Processes Fuel Combustion National Air Quality and Emissions Trends Report, 1997, U.S. EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, http://www.epa.gov/oar/aqtrnd97/chapter2.pdf

  11. Module 1: Human health toxicity Materials Energy Products Chemical Processing Transport, fate, exposure pathways & routes Human health damage; carcino- genic & non... Toxic releases to air, water, and soil EPCRA Toxic Waste RCRA Hazardous Waste Allen and Rosselot, 1997

  12. Module 1: Risk assessment: important questions (Ch 2) • What are the risks associated with a chemical, manufacturing process, or use of a product? • How is risk quantified by professional risk assessors? • Is risk assessment used by government agencies to regulate industry? (Yes!)

  13. Module 1: Risk assessment: introductory concepts Steps in risk assessment • Hazard assessment • Exposure assessment • Dose/response relationships • Risk characterization Risk = F(exposure x hazard) Modules 1,2 Modules 1,2 Chapters 5,6 Chapters 2,5

  14. Module 1: Hazard assessment Indicators of chemical toxicology Carcinogenic effects - Slope Factor (SF), Weight of Evidence (WOE) classification Noncarcinogenic effects - No Observable Adverse Effects Level (NOAEL), Reference Dose (RfD), Reference Concentration (RfC), Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL), Threshold Limit Value (TLV) Sources of Data for Health Effects 1. The Material Safety Data Sheet - MSDS 2. NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (www.cdc.gov/niosh.npg/gpdstart.html) 3. Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) (http://www.epa.gov/ngispgm3/iris/index.html) 4. National Library of Medicine (ToxNet) (http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/sis1) 5. Casarett and Doull’s “Toxicology, the Basic Science of Poisons”, Macmillan 6. Patty’s Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, John Wiley & Sons

  15. Module 1: Exposure assessment (Ch 6) • Occupational Exposure- exposure to people in the workplace • Community Exposure- exposure outside the workplace Different modeling approaches and assumptions Exposure Assessment Methodology - Community Exposure 1. Identify all waste stream components and concentrations 2. Estimate release rates to the air, water, and soil 3. Choose proper exposure pathways (through environment) and routes (into humans) 4. Determine exposure concentrations at the point of exposure to humans using measurements or an environmental fate and transport model

  16. Module 1: Exposure assessment - cont. Multiple pathways are possible Exposure Routes 1. Inhalation 2. Ingestion 3. Dermal (skin)

  17. Module 1: Exposure assessment - H2S release example x = 300 m Atmospheric dispersion Model, Ca H = 0 m Q = 0.025 kg/s H2S Rural release, daytime neutral atmosphere, x<500m, vx=4 m/s sysz = 0.01082 x1.78 Rural release, nighttime stable atmosphere, x<500m , vx=2.5 m/s sysz = 0.0049 x1.66

  18. Module 1: Dose/Response How large a dose causes what kind of effect? Effective Dose (reversible) Toxic Dose (irreversible) Lethal Dose Crowl and Louvar, Chemical Process Safety: Fundamentals with Applications, Prentice Hall, 1990

  19. Module 1: Risk Characterization Carcinogenic Risk Example (inhalation route) Exposure Dose (mg/kg/d) Result: # excess cancers per 106 cases in the population; 10-4 to 10-6 acceptable Dose - Response Relationship, Slope Factor (mg/kg/d)-1 Exposure Factors CR = contact rate (m3 air breathed / day) EF = exposure frequency (days / yr) ED = exposure duration (yr) BW = body weight (kg) AT = averaging time (days) - 25,550 days for carcinogenic risk

  20. Module 1: Environmental regulations:the regulatory process (Ch 3) Environmental Laws • Clean Air Act of 1970 Rule Making • publish proposed regulations in the Federal Register • receive public comment on proposed regulations • publish regulations in the Federal Register Administrative Agencies • US Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Regulations • National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

  21. Module 1: Environmental regulations:changes over time Major Laws/Amendments Environmental Regulations Bishop, “Pollution Prevention: Fundamentals and Practice”, McGraw-Hill, 2000

  22. The 9 essential environmental regulations:the manufacture of chemicals

  23. The 9 essential environmental regulations :discharges to air, water, and soil

  24. The 9 essential environmental regulations :clean-up, disclosure, and pollution prevention

  25. Module 1: Recap • Educational goals and topics covered in the module • Potential uses of the module in chemical engineering courses • Review of environmental impacts - Chapter 1 • Environmental and health risk assessment - Ch. 2 • Exposure calculations - Chapter 6 • Environmental regulations of interest to chemical engineers - Chapter 3

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