River Contaminants A Practical Look at Solubility

River Contaminants A Practical Look at Solubility So Far: - Math of Solubility - Making Saturated Solutions - Determining Saturated Unsaturated Super Saturated - % Saturation

River Contaminants A Practical Look at Solubility Classes of Contamination: - Heavy Metals - pH of water (Acids/Bases in the water - Gases What they are How we measure them

Heavy Metals - Densities greater than 4.0. (4X the Density of water) - elements between copper and bismuth on the periodic table copper bismuthperiodic tablecopper bismuthperiodic table - trace amounts of some heavy metals are needed, but excessive levels can be toxic to the organism

Heavy Metals Hg - mercury, Pb - lead and Cd - cadmium have NO known vital or beneficial effect on organisms, and their accumulation over time in the bodies of mammals can cause serious illness. mercurylead cadmiummammalsmercurylead cadmiummammals

Mercury

Mercury - manufacture of industrial chemicals -electrical and electronic applications -some thermometers thermometers -Metal refining -Wood Preservative (Lumber Industry) -CFL lightbulbs

Mercury More and More Hg in the Efnvironment More and More Hg making its way into the food chain

Mercury Mercury in fish - stored in the muscle tissues of fish, - fish-tissue concentrations increase over time. -can be particularly toxic to unborn or young children, - women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant within the next one or two years, as well as young children avoid eating more than 6 ounces (one average meal) of fish per week - In the United States the FDA has an action level for methyl mercury in commercial marine and freshwater fish that is 1.0 parts per million (ppm)

Mercury Toxic Effects; Exposure to any form of mercury on a repeated basis, or even from a single, very high exposure can lead to the disease of chronic mercury poisoning. There are three main symptoms: - 1.Gum problems: The gums become soft and spongy, the teeth get loose, sores may develop, and there may be increased saliva.

Mercury Toxic Effects; 2.Mood and mental changes. - 1.Gum problems: The gums become soft and spongy, the teeth get loose, sores may develop, and there may be increased saliva. - Hallucinations, memory loss and inability to concentrate can occur - Wide swings of mood, becoming irritable, frightened, depressed or excited very quickly for no apparent reason.

Mercury Toxic Effects; 3.Nervous system. The earliest and most frequent symptom is a fine tremor (shaking) of the hand. A tremor may also occur in the tongue and eyelids. 2.Mood and mental changes. - Hallucinations, memory loss and inability to concentrate can occur - Wide swings of mood, becoming irritable, frightened, depressed or excited very quickly for no apparent reason.

Cadmium Cadmium is produced mainly as a byproduct from mining, smelting, and refining sulfide ores of zinc, and to a lesser degree, lead and copper. This element and solutions of its compounds are extremely toxic even in low concentrations, and will bioaccumulate in organisms toxicbioaccumulate toxicbioaccumulate Ingestion of any significant amount of cadmium causes immediate poisoning and damage to the liver and the kidneys. liver Cadmium poisoning is the cause of the itai-itai disease, which literally means "pain pain" in Japanese itai-itai diseaseJapaneseitai-itai diseaseJapanese

Itai - Itai Disease Toyama Prefecture. Japan Due to the cadmium poisoning, the fish in the river started to die. The rice absorbed the cadmium. The cadmium accumulated in the people eating contaminated rice. Bioaccumulation Concentration of the toxin in increased as it travels up the foodchain

CadmiumFacts. The average soil in the US contains cadmium compounds 250 ppb (Parts per billion) Hazardous waste soils have concentrations as high as 4 ppm, water as high as 6 ppm In the US the average person consumes 30 micrograms of Cadmium per day but only absorbs 1-3 micrograms. Smokers double this intake due to the Cd in the tobacco Minimum drinking water safety standards allow 50 ppb

Lead & Arsenic

Acids and Bases Acids and Bases are two classes of chemicals that are highly reactive Common Acids Common Bases HClHydrochloric HNO 3 Nitric Acid H(CH 3 COO) Acetic Acid NaOH Sodium Hydroxide KOH Potassium Hydroxide LiOH Lithium Hydrroxide

Acids and Bases Acidity of a water sample is measured in pH Power of Hydrogen Scale goes from Acidic Basic EPA Drinking Water Requirements pH between

Acids and Bases Acidity of a water sample is measured in pH EPA Drinking Water Requirements pH between Fish Tolerate pH between 5 - 9

Dissolved Oxygen

Gases Even compounds that we consider essential to life can become a toxin Oxygen can be found in water at saturations as high as 160% If Oxygen saturation in the water becomes too low the organisms suffocate (DO < 60%) If the oxygen saturation is too high, again the substance becomes fatal (DO> 125%) Too high and air bubbles form in the blood stream, blocking blood vessels