EE-Unit-I Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse.UNEP defines Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as a tool used to identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of a project prior to decision-making. It aims to predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and design, find ways and means to reduce adverse impacts, shape projects to suit the local environment and present the predictions and options to decision-makers. By using EIA both environmental and economic benefits can be achieved, such as reduced cost and time of project implementation and design, avoided treatment/clean-up costs and impacts of laws and regulations.Although legislation and practice vary around the world, the fundamental components of an EIA would necessarily involve the following stages:

  1. Screening to determine which projects or developments require a full or partial impact assessment study;
  2. Scoping to identify which potential impacts are relevant to assess (based on legislative requirements, international conventions, expert knowledge and public involvement), to identify alternative solutions that avoid, mitigate or compensate adverse impacts on biodiversity (including the option of not proceeding with the development, finding alternative designs or sites which avoid the impacts, incorporating safeguards in the design of the project, or providing compensation for adverse impacts), and finally to derive terms of reference for the impact assessment;
  3. Assessment and evaluation of impacts and development of alternatives, to predict and identify the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, including the detailed elaboration of alternatives;
  4. Reporting the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or EIA report, including an environmental management plan (EMP), and a non-technical summary for the general audience.
  5. Review of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), based on the terms of reference (scoping) and public (including authority) participation.
  6. Decision-making on whether to approve the project or not, and under what conditions; and
  7. Monitoring, compliance, enforcement and environmental auditing. Monitor whether the predicted impacts and proposed mitigation measures occur as defined in the EMP. Verify the compliance of proponent with the EMP, to ensure that unpredicted impacts or failed mitigation measures are identified and addressed in a timely fashion.

EE-Unit-I Environmental Degradation

 

Environmental degradation is the disintegration of the earth or deterioration of the environment through consumption of assets, for example, air, water and soil; the destruction of environments and the eradication of wildlife. It is characterized as any change or aggravation to nature’s turf seen to be pernicious or undesirable. Ecological effect or degradation is created by the consolidation of an effectively substantial and expanding human populace, constantly expanding monetary development or per capita fortune and the application of asset exhausting and polluting technology. It occurs when earth’s natural resources are depleted and environment is compromised in the form of extinction of species, pollution in air, water and soil, and rapid growth in population.

Environmental degradation is one of the largest threats that are being looked at in the world today. The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction characterizes environmental degradation as the lessening of the limit of the earth to meet social and environmental destinations, and needs. Environmental degradation can happen in a number of ways. At the point when environments are wrecked or common assets are exhausted, the environment is considered to be corrupted and harmed. There are a number of different techniques that are being used to prevent this, including environmental resource protection and general protection efforts.

Environmental issues can be seen by long term ecological effects, some of which can demolish whole environments. An environment is a unique unit and incorporates all the living and non-living components that live inside it. Plants and creatures are evident parts of the environment, but it also includes the things on which they depend on, for example, streams, lakes, and soils.

Environmental surroundings get to be divided when technological advancement splits up areas of land. Some examples of this can include streets which may slice through woods or even trails which wind through prairies. While it may not sound all terrible on the surface, there are bad results. The biggest of these results are felt by particular animal and plant groups, the vast majority of which are specific for their bio-region or need a large area in order to make sure that their genetic lines are kept intact.

Causes of Environmental Degradation

Some environmental life species require substantial areas to help provide food, living space, and other different assets. These creatures are called area specific. At the point when the biome is divided, the vast patches of living space don’t exist anymore. It gets to be more troublesome for the wildlife to get the assets they need in order to survive. The environment goes on, even though the animals and plant life are not there to help sustain it properly.

1. Land Disturbance: A more basic cause of environmental degradation is land damage. Numerous weedy plant species, for example, garlic mustard, are both foreign and obtrusive. A rupture in the environmental surroundings provides for them a chance to start growing and spreading. These plants can assume control over nature, eliminating the local greenery. The result is territory with a solitary predominant plant which doesn’t give satisfactory food assets to all the environmental life. Whole environments can be destroyed because of these invasive species.

2. Pollution: Pollution, in whatever form, whether it is air, water, land or noise is harmful for the environment. Air pollution pollutes the air that we breathe which causes health issues. Water pollution degrades the quality of water that we use for drinking purposes. Land pollution results in degradation of earth’s surface as a result of human activities. Noise pollution can cause irreparable damage to our ears when exposed to continuous large sounds like honking of vehicles on a busy road or machines producing large noise in a factory or a mill.

3. Overpopulation: Rapid population growth puts strain on natural resources which results in degradation of our environment. Mortality rate has gone down due to better medical facilities which has resulted in increased lifespan. More population simple means more demand for food, clothes and shelter. You need more space to grow food and provide homes to millions of people. This results in deforestation which is another factor of environmental degradation.

4. Landfills: Landfills pollute the environment and destroy the beauty of the city. Landfills come within the city due the large amount of waste that gets generated by households, industries, factories and hospitals. Landfills pose a great risk to the health of the environment and the people who live there. Landfills produce foul smell when burned and cause huge environmental degradation.

5. Deforestation: Deforestation is the cutting down of trees to make way for more homes and industries. Rapid growth in population and urban sprawl are two of the major causes of deforestation. Apart from that, use of forest land for agriculture, animal grazing, harvest for fuel wood and logging are some of the other causes of deforestation. Deforestation contributes to global warming as decreased forest size puts carbon back into the environment.

6: Natural Causes: Things like avalanches, quakes, tidal waves, storms, and wildfires can totally crush nearby animal and plant groups to the point where they can no longer survive in those areas. This can either come to fruition through physical demolition as the result of a specific disaster, or by the long term degradation of assets by the presentation of an obtrusive foreign species to the environment. The latter frequently happens after tidal waves, when reptiles and bugs are washed ashore.

Of course, humans aren’t totally to blame for this whole thing. Earth itself causes ecological issues, as well. While environmental degradation is most normally connected with the things that people do, the truth of the matter is that the environment is always changing. With or without the effect of human exercises, a few biological systems degrade to the point where they can’t help the life that is supposed to live there.

Effects of Environmental Degradation

1. Impact on Human Health: Human health might be at the receiving end as a result of the environmental degradation. Areas exposed to toxic air pollutantscan cause respiratory problems like pneumonia and asthma. Millions of people are known to have died of due to indirect effects of air pollution.

2. Loss of Biodiversity: Biodiversity is important for maintaining balance of the ecosystem in the form of combating pollution, restoring nutrients, protecting water sources and stabilizing climate. Deforestation, global warming, overpopulation and pollution are few of the major causes for loss of biodiversity.

3. Ozone Layer Depletion: Ozone layer is responsible for protecting earth from harmful ultraviolet rays. The presence of chlorofluorocarbons, hydro chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere is causing the ozone layer to deplete. As it will deplete, it will emit harmful radiations back to the earth.

4. Loss for Tourism Industry: The deterioration of environment can be a huge setback for tourism industry that rely on tourists for their daily livelihood. Environmental damage in the form of loss of green cover, loss of biodiversity, huge landfills, increased air and water pollution can be a big turn off for most of the tourists.

5. Economic Impact: The huge cost that a country may have to borne due to environmental degradation can have big economic impact in terms of restoration of green cover, cleaning up of landfills and protection of endangered species. The economic impact can also be in terms of  loss of tourism industry.

As you can see, there are a lot of things that can have an effect on the environment. If we are not careful, we can contribute to the environmental degradation that is occurring all around the world. We can, however, take action to stop it and take care of the world that we live in by providing environmental education to the people which will help them pick familiarity with their surroundings that will enable to take care of environmental concerns thus making it more useful and protected for our children and other future generations.

EE-Unit-I Environment Segments

Environment is divided in following segments:

1. Lithosphere

2. Hydrosphere

3. Atmosphere

4. Biosphere

(i) Lithosphere: Lithosphere is related with edaphic factor. The solid component of earth is known as lithosphere. Lithosphere means the mantle of rocks constituting the earth’s crust.

It includes the soil, which covers the rock crust.

Soil plays an important role as it provides food for man and animals.

Soil is usually defined as “any part of earth’s crust in which plants root.”

Muddy bottoms of ponds, ravines or glacial deposits, porous rock surface, bottoms of lakes peat etc., all are thus soil.

A typical productive soil contains approximately 95 per cent inorganic matter and 5 per cent organic matter. Organic matter in the soil provides food for microorganism. This matter includes amino sugars, organic sulphur, organic phosphate, and polysaccharides.

Soil contains silicate minerals, which includes nearly 74 per cent Silicon and Oxygen, common elements in the soil are 46.4 per cent Oxygen, Silicon 27.7 per cent, Aluminium 8.1 per cent, Iron 5.6 per cent, Calcium 3.6 per cent, Sodium 2.8 per cent, Potassium 2.6 per cent, Magnesium 2.1 per cent. In some soils, manganese oxide and titanium oxide are also available.

(ii) Hydrosphere: This includes all the surface and ground water resources such as oceans, seas, rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, glaciers, polar ice caps, ground water and water locked in rock and crevices and minerals laying deep below the earth’s crust.

1. Earth is called blue planet because 80 per cent of its surface is covered by water (97 per cent of the earth’s water resources is locked up in the oceans and seas, 2.4 per cent is trapped is giant glaciers and polar ice caps.)

2. Water is universal solvent.

3. Water is also the main medium by which chemical constituents are transported from one part of an ecosystem to others.

4. Water has high specific heat, latent heat and relatively high freezing point.

5. Surface water contains a lot of organic matter and mineral nutrients, which feed large bacteria population and algae.

(iii) Atmosphere: The gaseous envelope surrounding the earth is composed of an entire mass of air containing N2, 02, H20, C02 and inert gases is known as atmosphere.

1. Soil contains silicate minerals, which includes nearly 74 per cent Silicon.

2. The atmosphere is a reservoir of several elements essential to life and serves many purposes and functions.

3. The atmosphere is mobile, elastic, compressible and expansible.

4. Atmosphere serves many purposes and functions.

5. It absorbs most of the harmful radiations.

6. It maintains the heat balance of the earth.

7. Different cycles those are present in the atmosphere in the form of water cycle, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen cycle etc. related to the movement of matter been an organism and its environment.

8. Atmosphere can be divided into several layers on the basic of temperature variations. They are troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere.

(iv) Biosphere: The biosphere is the part of the earth in which life exists.

1. Biosphere is biological envelope that surrounds the globe, containing and able to support.

2. It penetrates into and is dependent on the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. This denotes the relating of living organism and their interactions with the environment. The biosphere is a relatively thin and incomplete envelope covering most of the world.

The basic approach to the study of man-environment relationship and the core of the environment is ecological analysis of spatial attributes of inter-relationship between technologically advanced man and natural environment of the earth in terms of ecosystem.

Actinium

Actinium is a silvery radioactive metallic element. Actinium glows in the dark due to its intense radioactivity with a blue light.

Actinium was discovered in 1899 by André-Louis Debierne, a French chemist, who separated it from pitchblende. Friedrich Otto Giesel independently discovered actinium in 1902. The chemical behavior of actinium is similar to that of the rare earth lanthanum.

The word actinium comes from the Greek aktis, aktinos, meaning beam or ray.

Applications

It is about 150 times as radioactive as radium, making it valuable as a neutron source. Otherwise it has no significant industrial applications.

Actinium-225 is used in medicine to produce Bi-213 in a reusable generator or can be used alone as an agent for radio-immunotherapy.

Actinium in the environment

It is found only in traces in uranium ores as 227-Ac, an α and β emitter with a half-life of 21.773 years. One ton of uranium ore contains about a tenth of a gram of actinium. Actinium is found in trace amounts in uranium ore, but more commonly is made in milligram amounts by the neutron irradiation of 226-Ra in a nuclear reactor. Actinium metal has been prepared by the reduction of actinium fluoride with lithium vapor at about 1100 to 1300-degrees C.

Naturally occurring actinium is composed of 1 radioactive isotope; with 227-Ac being the most abundant (100% natural abundance). 27 radioisotopes have been characterized with the most stable being 227-Ac with a half-life of 21.773 years, 225-Ac with a half-life of 10 days, and 226-Ac with a half-life of 29.37 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-life’s that are less than 10 hours and the majority of these have half life’s that are less than 1 minute. This element also has 2 meta states.

Purified actinium-227 comes into equilibrium with its decay products at the end of 185 days, and then decays according to its 21.773-year half-life.

The isotopes of actinium range in atomic weight from 206 amu (206-actinium) to 234 amu (234-actinium).

Health effects of actinium

Actinium-227 is extremely radioactive, and in terms of its potential for radiation induced health effects, actinium-227 is about as dangerous as plutonium. Ingesting even small amounts of actinium-227 would represent a serious health hazard.

The greatest threat of radioactivity to life as we know it is damage to the gene pool, the genetic make-up of all living species. Genetic damage from radiation exposure is cumulative over lifetimes and generations.

Even low-dose exposures are carcinogenic after extended exposure. The current generation, the one in uterus, and all that follow may suffer cancers, immune system damage, leukemia, miscarriages, stillbirths, deformities, and fertility problems. While many of these health problems are on the rise, individuals cannot prove either increase in “background” radiation or specific exposure as the cause. Only epidemiological evidence is scientifically acceptable to impute cause. Perhaps the most extreme outcome over time would be simply the wholesale cessation of the ability to reproduce. Radiation is a known cause of sterility.

Environmental effects of actinium

The development of nuclear technology has been accompanied by gross as well as minute releases of radioactivity into the atmosphere, the soil, the oceans, seas, and water table, showing up worldwide in animal, vegetable, and inert matter. Radiation crosses species and concentrates through the food chain, subjecting other animals and humans to its damaging effects.

Actinium-227 is extremely radioactive. Radioactivity damages the gene pool not only of humans, but of all living creatures, causing cancers, immune system damage, leukemia, miscarriages, stillbirths, deformities, and fertility problems. Furthermore, genetic damage from radiation exposure is cumulative over lifetimes and generations.

Radium

Radium is silvery, lustrous, soft, intensely radioactive. It readily oxidizes on exposure to air, turning from almost pure white to black. Radium is luminescent, corrodes in water to form radium hydroxide. Although is the heaviest member of the alkaline-earth group it is the most volatile.

Applications

Radium is used in luminous paint (in the form of radium bromide). Radium and beryllium were once used as a portable source of neutrons. Radium is used in medicine to produce radon gas, used for cancer treatment. At the beginning of the 19th century radium was used as additive in products like toothpaste, hair creams and even food items.

Radium in the environment

It has been estimated that each square kilometer of the earth surface (to a depth of 40 cm) contains 1 gram of radium. Early in the twentieth century radium was extracted from uranium ores for use in luminous dials and medical treatment. The amount of radium in uranium ores varies between 150 and 350 mg/ton. The most in contained in the ores of Zaire and Canada.

Health effects of radium

Radium is naturally present in the environment in very small amounts. Because of that we are always exposed to radium and to small amounts of radiation that it releases into the environment.

Radium levels in the environment have greatly increased as a result of human activity. Humans release radium into the environment by burning coal and other fuels. Radium levels in drinking water may be high when it is extracted from deep wells that are located near radioactive waste disposal sites.

Currently there is no information available on the amounts of radium in air and soil.

There is no evidence that exposure to naturally present levels of radium has harmful effects on human health. However, exposure to higher levels of radium may result in health effects, such as teeth fracture, anaemia and cataract. When the exposure lasts for a long period of time radium may even cause cancer and the exposure can eventually lead to death. These effects may take years to develop. They are usually caused by gamma radiation of radium, which is able to travel fairly long distances through air. Therefore contact with radium is not necessary, for radium to cause health effects.

Environmental effects of radium

Radium is constantly produced by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium. Radium is present at very low levels in rocks and soil and strongly attaches to those materials. It is also found in air. High concentrations of radium exist in water on some locations.

Uranium mining results in higher levels of radium in water near uranium mines. Plants absorb radium from the soil. Animals that eat these plants will accumulate radium.

Finally, radium may concentrate in fish and other aquatic organisms and bio magnify up the food chain.

Francium

Francium is extremely rare. Because of this its chemical and physical properties are not known. It has been studied by radiochemical techniques, which show that its most stable state is the ion Fr+. Francium is the least electronegative of all the known elements.

Applications

No use has been found for what little francium can be produced.

Francium in the environment

Francium occurs naturally to a very limited extent in uranium minerals. Nevertheless it has been estimated that there might be from 340 to 550 grams of francium in the earth’s crust at any one time. Francium is the second rarest element in the crust, after astatine.

Health effects of francium

As it is so unstable, any amount formed would decompose to other elements so quickly that there’s no reason to study its effects on human health.

Environmental effects of francium

Due to its extremely short half-life, there’s no reason for considering the effects of francium in the environment.

Radon

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the Surgeon General’s Office have estimated that as many as 20,000 lung cancer deaths are caused each year by radon. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Radon-induced lung cancer costs the United States over $2 billion dollars per year in both direct and indirect health care costs. (Based on National Cancer Institute statistics of 14,400 annual radon lung cancer deaths – Oster, Colditz & Kelley, 1984)

According to the US EPA, nearly 1 in 3 homes checked in seven states and on three Indian lands had screening levels over 4 pCi/L, the EPA’s recommended action level for radon exposure.

The alpha radiation emitted by radon is the same alpha radiation emitted by other alpha generating radiation sources such as plutonium.

A family whose home has radon levels of 4 pCi/l is exposed to approximately 35 times as much radiation as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would allow if that family was standing next to the fence of a radioactive waste site. (25 mrem limit, 800 mrem exposure)

An elementary school student that spends 8 hours per day and 180 days per year in a classroom with 4 pCi/l of radon will receive nearly 10 times as much radiation as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows at the edge of a nuclear power plant.(25 mrem limit, 200 mrem exposure)

Most U.S. EPA lifetime safety standards for carcinogens are established based on a 1 in 100,000 risk of death. Most scientists agree that the risk of death for radon at 4 pCi/l is approximately 1 in 100. At the 4 pCi/l EPA action guideline level, radon carries approximately 1000 times the risk of death as any other EPA carcinogen. It is important to note that the action level is not a safe level, as there are no “safe” levels of radon gas.

What is radon?

A layman’s description

Radon is a cancer-causing radioactive gas. You cannot see, smell or taste radon, but it may be a problem in your home. The Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. If you smoke and your home has high radon levels, you’re at high risk for developing lung cancer. Some scientific studies of radon exposure indicate that children may be more sensitive to radon. This may be due to their higher respiration rate and their rapidly dividing cells, which may be more vulnerable to radiation damage.

A scientific description

PROPERTIES: Radon is a gaseous highly radioactive element discovered by English physicist Ernest Rutherford in 1899. The discovery is also credited to German physicist Friedrich Ernst Dorn in 1900. More specifically, Rutherford discovered radon’s alpha radiation and Dorn discovered that radium was releasing a gas.

Representation of rn-222 atomRadon is a colorless chemically-unreactive inert gas. The atomic radius is 1.34 angstroms and it is the heaviest known gas–radon is nine times denser than air. Because it is a single atom gas (unlike oxygen, O2, which is comprised of two atoms) it easily penetrates many common materials like paper, leather, low density plastic (like plastic bags, etc.) most paints, and building materials like gypsum board (sheetrock), concrete block, mortar, sheathing paper (tarpaper), wood paneling, and most insulations.

Radon is also fairly soluble in water and organic solvents. Although reaction with other compounds is comparatively rare, it is not completely inert and forms stable molecules with highly electronegative materials. Radon is considered a noble gas that occurs in several isotopic forms. Only two are found in significant concentrations in the human environment: radon-222, and radon-220. Radon-222 is a member of the radioactive decay chain of uranium-238. Radon-220 is formed in the decay chain of thorium-232. Radon-222 decays in a sequence of radionuclides called radon decay products, radon daughters, or radon progeny. It is radon-222 that most readily occurs in the environment. Atmospheric releases of radon-222 results in the formation of decay products that are radioisotopes of heavy metals (polonium, lead, bismuth) and rapidly attach to other airborne materials such as dust and other materials facilitating inhalation.

USE: Radon has been used in some spas for presumed medical effects. In addition, radon is used to initiate and influence chemical reactions and as a surface label in the study of surface reactions. It has been obtained by pumping the gases off of a solution of a radium salt, sparking the gas mixture to combine the hydrogen and oxygen, removing the water and carbon dioxide by adsorption, and freezing out the radon.

PRODUCTION: Radon is not produced as a commercial product. Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas and comes from the natural breakdown (radioactive decay) of uranium. It is usually found in igneous rock and soil, but in some cases, well water may also be a source of radon.

EXPOSURE: The primary routes of potential human exposure to radon are inhalation and ingestion. Radon in the ground, groundwater, or building materials enters working and living spaces and disintegrates into its decay products. Although high concentrations of radon in groundwater may contribute to radon exposure through ingestion, the inhalation of radon released from water is usually more important.

Animation of the various ways radon gas can infiltrate a structure - 79kRADON IN THE WORKPLACE In comparison with levels in outdoor air, humans in confined air spaces, particularly in underground work areas such as mines and buildings, are exposed to elevated concentrations of radon and its decay products. Exhalation of radon from ordinary rock and soils and from radon-rich water can cause significant radon concentrations in tunnels, power stations, caves, public baths, and spas. The average radon concentrations in houses are generally much lower than the average radon concentrations in underground ore mines.

Workers are exposed to radon in several occupations. In countries for which data were available, concentrations of radon decay products in underground mines are now typically less than 1000 Bq/m3 EEC Rn (approx. 28 pCi/l). Underground uranium miners are exposed to the highest levels of radon and its decay products. Other underground workers and certain mineral processing workers may also be exposed to significant levels.

Should you test for radon?

Testing is the only way to know your home’s radon levels. There are no immediate symptoms that will alert you to the presence of radon. It typically takes years of exposure before any problems surface.

The US EPA, Surgeon General, American Lung Association, American Medical Association, and National Safety Councilrecommend testing your home for radon because testing is the only way to know your home’s radon levels. There are no imediate symptoms that will alert you to the presence of radon. It typically takes years of exposure before any problems surface.

Astatine

Astatine is a highly radioactive element and it is the heaviest known halogen. Its chemical properties are believed to be similar to those of iodine. Is has been little researched because all its isotopes have short half lives. All that is known about the element has been estimated from knowing its position in the periodic table below iodine and by studying its chemistry in extreme diluted solutions.

Applications

Astatine is never encountered outside nuclear facilities or research laboratories.

Astatine in the environment

Total world production of astatine to date is estimated to be less than a millionth of a gram, and virtually all of this has now decayed away.

Health effects of astatine

The total amount of astatine in the earth’s crust at any particular time is less than 30 grams and only a few micrograms have ever been artificially produced. This, together with its short lifetime, leaves no reason for considering the effects of astatine on human health.

Astatine is studied in a few nuclear research laboratories where its high radioactivity requires special handling techniques and precautions.

Astatine is a halogen and possibly accumulates in the thyroid like iodine. From a chemical point of view, one can speculate that its toxicity would mimic that of iodine.

Environmental effects of astatine

Astatine does not occur to any significant extent in the biosphere and so normally never presents a risk.

Polonium

Polonium is a radioactive, extremely rare semi-metal. It is reactive, silvery-gray, it dissolves in dilute acids, but it is only slightly soluble in alkalis. it is fairly volatile: about half of a sample of it will evaporate within 3 days (unless it is kept in a sealed container).

Applications

Polonium was once used in textile mills (to eliminate static charges) and by the manufacturers of photographic plates (in brushes to remove the accumulated dust). It is used as a source of alfa-radiation for research and, alloyed with beryllium it can act as a portable source of neutrons, which normally only access to a nuclear reactor can provide.

Polonium in the environment

Polonium is a very rare element in nature. it is found in uranium ores, but none extract it form these ores. Polonium is produced in about 100 g/year by bombarding bismuth with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.

Health effects of polonium

Polonium is studied in a few nuclear research laboratories where its high radioactivity as an alpha-emitter requires special handling techniques and precautions.

Polonium -210 is the only component of cigarette smoke that has produced cancer by itself in laboratory animals by inhalation – tumors appeared already at a polonium level five times lower than those of a normal heavy smoker.

Lung cancer rates among men kept climbing from a rarity in 1930 (4/100,000 per year) to the No. 1 cancer killer in 1980 (72/100,000) in spite of an almost 20 percent reduction in smoking. But during the same period, the level of polonium -210 in American tobacco had tripled. This coincided with the increase in the use of phosphate fertilizers by tobacco growers – calcium phosphate ore accumulates uranium and slowly releases radon gas.

As radon decays, its electrically charged daughter products attach themselves to dust particles, which adhere to the sticky hairs on the underside of tobacco leaves. This leaves a deposit of radioactive polonium and lead on the leaves. Then, the intense localized heat in the burning tip of a cigarette volatilizes the radioactive metals. While cigarette filters can trap chemical carcinogens, they are ineffective against radioactive vapors.

The lungs of a chronic smoker end up with a radioactive lining in a concentration much higher than from residential radon. These particles emit radiation. Smoking two packs of cigarettes a day imparts a radiation dose by alpha particles of about 1,300 millirem per year. For comparison, the annual radiation dose to the average American from inhaled radon is 200 mrem. However, the radiation dose at the radon “action level” of 4 pCi/L is roughly equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes a day.

In addition, polunium-210 is soluble and is circulated through the body to every tissue and cell in levels much higher than from residential radon. The proof is that it can be found in the blood and urine of smokers. The circulating polonium -210 causes genetic damage and early death from diseases reminiscent of early radiological pioneers: liver and bladder cancer, stomach ulcer, leukemia, cirrhosis of liver, and cardiovascular diseases.

The Surgeon General C. Everett Koop stated that radioactivity, rather than tar, accounts for at least 90% of all smoking-related lung cancers. The Center for Disease Control concluded “Americans are exposed to far more radiation from tobacco smoke than from any other source.”

Cigarette smoking accounts for 30% of all cancer deaths. Only poor diet rivals tobacco smoke as a cause of cancer in the U.S., causing a comparable number of fatalities each year. However, the National Cancer Institute, with an annual budget of $500 million, has no active funding for research of radiation from smoking or residential radon as a cause of lung cancer, presumably, to protect the public from undue fears of radiation.

Environmental effects of polonium

The environmental and biochemical forces which may tend to reconcentrate these toxic materials in living cells are not well known. Although polonium occurs naturally, it has become much more available for entering into water, food, living cells and tissue since the mining boom which began shortly after the Second World War.

Bismuth

Bismuth is a white, crystalline, brittle metal with a pinkish tinge. Bismuth is the most diamagnetic of all metals, and the thermal conductivity is lower than any metal except mercury. It has a high electrical resistance, and has the highest Hall effect of any metal (that is, the greatest increase in electrical resistance when placed in a magnetic field). Bismuth is stable to oxygen and water but dissolves in concentrated nitric air. All bismuth salts form insoluble compounds when put into water.

Applications

Bismuth metal is used in the manufacture of low melting solders and fusible alloys as well as low toxicity bird shot and fishing sinkers. Certain bismuth compounds are also manufactured and used as pharmaceuticals. Industry makes use of bismuth compounds as catalysts in manifacturing acrylonitrile, the starting material for synthetic fibers and rubbers. Bismuth is sometimes used in the production of shot and shotguns.

Bismuth in the environment

The most important ores of bismuth are bismuthimite and bismite. Bismuth occurs naturally as the metal itself and is found as crystals in the sulphides ores of nickel, cobalt, silver and tin. Bismuth is mainly produced as a by-product from lead and copper smelting, especially in USA. The chief areas where it is mined are Bolivia, Peru’, Japan, Mexico and Canada, but only to the extent of 3.000 tonnes per year. There is no reliable estimate of how much bismuth is available to be mined, but it seems unlikely than there will ever be a shortage of this metal.

Health effects of bismuth

Bismuth and its salts can cause kidney damage, although the degree of such damage is usually mild. Large doses can be fatal. Industrially it is considered one of the less toxic of the heavy metals. Serious and sometimes fatal poisoning may occur from the injection of large doses into closed cavities and from extensive application to burns (in form of soluble bismuth compounds). It is stated that the administration of bismuth should be stopped when gingivitis appears, for otherwise serious ulceration stomatitis is likely to result. Other toxic results may develop, such as vague feeling of bodily discomfort, presence of albumin or other protein substance in the urine, diarrhea, skin reactions and sometimes serious exodermatitis.

Routes of entry: Inhalation, skin and ingestion.

Acute effects: Inhalation: POISON. May be a nuisance dust causing respiratory irritation. May cause foul breath, metallic taste and gingivitis. Ingestion: POISON. May cause nausea, loss of appetite and weight, malaise, albuminuria, diarrhea, skin reactions, stomatitis, headache, fever, sleeplessness, depression, rheumatic pain and a black line may form on gums in the mouth due to deposition of bismuth sulphide. Skin: May cause irritation. Eyes: May cause irritation.

Chronic effects: Inhalation: May affect the function of the liver and the kidneys.

Ingestion: May affect the function of the liver and the kidneys. May cause anemia, black line may form on gums and ulcerative stomatitis. Skin: May cause dermatitis. Eyes: No chronic health effects recorded.

Medical conditions generally aggravated by the exposure: Pre-existing skin and respiratory disorders.

Bismuth is not considered a human carcinogen.

Environmental effects of Bismuth

Bismuth metal is not considered toxic and poses minimum threat to the environment. Bismuth compounds generally have very low solubility but they should be handled with care, as there is only limited information on their effects and fate in the environment.