A presentation on IB Env. Sys. Soc. topic 1.5

1. 1.5. Humans and pollution
Miltiadis Kitsos
Platon school IB diploma
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTi7T7aHzUVt_GhXwuaJeUz-pfyxicvGM11h7vEUGV5iPd-EDUxKA

2. Significant ideas
• Pollution is a highly diverse phenomenon of human disturbance in
ecosystems.
• Pollution management strategies can be applied at different levels.
Knowledge and understanding
• Pollution is the addition of a substance or an agent to an environment
through human activity, at a rate greater than that at which it can be
rendered harmless by the environment, and which has an appreciable effect
on the organisms in the environment.
• Pollutants may be in the form of organic or inorganic substances, light,
sound or thermal energy, biological agents or invasive species, and may
derive from a wide range of human activities including the combustion of
fossil fuels.

3. Knowledge and understanding
• Pollution may be non-point or point source, persistent or biodegradable,
acute or chronic.
• Pollutants may be primary (active on emission) or secondary (arising from
primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical change).
• Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) exemplifies a conflict between the
utility of a “pollutant” and its effect on the environment.
Application and Skills.
• Construct systems diagrams to show the impact of pollutants.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of each of the three different levels of
intervention, with reference to figure 3.
• Evaluate the uses of DDT.

4. Pollution definition
Pollution is the addition of a substance or an agent to an environment by
human activity, at a rate greater than that at which it can be rendered
harmless by the environment, and which has an appreciable effect on the
organisms within it.
The system’s approach
EnvironmentSubstance
or agent
Neutralization
process
Harmless
agent

5. Air
pollution
http://pediaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Difference-Between-Pollutant-and-Contaminant-image-2.jpg

6. Light
pollution

7. The nature of pollutants
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ajay_Nagpure/publication/283644948/figure/fig3/AS:294339915464705@14471875120
98/Figure-4-Contribution-of-different-sectors-for-emissions-of-PM-10-SO-2-NO-x-CO.png

8. How much? When?
In general there is no definite
quantity, concentration or intensity
that would identify a source of
pollution.
An oil spill in Antarctica would have
a stronger impact on the Arctic ocean
due to the low decomposition rates
Read about the oil spills in Komi,
Russia here

9. How much does it cost?
Case study: Air pollution seems to be the deadliest form of pollution and the
fourth leading risk factor for premature deaths worldwide.
Those deaths cost the global economy about US$225 billion in lost labor
income in 2013.
A staggering US$ 1.6 trillion is the economic cost of the approximate 600 000
premature deaths and of the diseases caused by air pollution in the WHO
European Region in 2010.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/09/08/air-pollution-deaths-cost-global-economy-225-billion
http://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2015/04/air-pollution-
costs-european-economies-us$-1.6-trillion-a-year-in-diseases-and-deaths,-new-who-
study-says

10. How much does it cost?
https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/csz/news/800/2016/yearlycostof.jpg

11. How much does it cost?
The costs of pollution are widespread and difficult to quantify.
Pollution may affect:
• Human health and mortality rates
• Natural income and natural capital
• Some forms of pollution cannot be contained by national boundaries and
therefore can act either locally, regionally, or globally
https://saferenvironment.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/pollution.jpg?w=300&h=199

12. Construct systems diagrams to show the impact of pollutants

13. Construct systems diagrams to show the impact of
pollutants
Now its your turn, construct a
systems diagram to show the possible
impacts of pollution caused by a
local storage depot.
https://image.slidesharecdn.com/analysedecycledevie-lifecycleanalysis-100211130147-phpapp02/95/analyse-de-cycle-de-vie-
life-cycle-analysis-4-728.jpg?cb=1265893327

14. Point-source vs non point-source pollution
Point-source pollution refers to identifiable discrete sources of pollutants
that can be located on a singe point on the map.
• more easily managed.
• Easier to claim responsibility
• localized impact is also easier to manage.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/3f4ce9d5ed84980a08d3d5d3e8be35fb18661fa9/c=106-
0-1670-1176&r=x1767&c=2352x1764/local/-
/media/2016/04/16/USATODAY/USATODAY/635963970198345566-AP86010101488.jpghttps://aamboceanservice.blob.core.windows.net/oceanservice-prod/education/kits/pollution/media/pol03a_240.jpg

15. Point-source vs non point-source pollution
Non-Point source pollution refers to a network of pollutant resources
http://pest.ca.uky.edu/PSEP/images/point-nonpointpollution.jpg
• Less easily managed.
• More difficult to claim responsibility
• Non-localized impact is more difficult
easier to manage.
https://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/2/10/1297340671284/Carbon-graphic-001.jpg

16. Primary vs secondary pollutants
Pollutants may be primary (active on emission) or secondary (arising from
primary pollutants undergoing physical or chemical change).
Example: Primary pollutant
is the gas released from
burning fossil fuels (e.g.
SO2 , CO2).
Secondary: pollutants: where
the NOx from car exhausts
reacts with sunlight to form
tropospheric (ground
level) ozone

17. Acute vs. chronic effects of pollution
Acute effects of pollution result in a short period of time (hours) after
exposure to a pollution source.
http://www.abd.org.uk/images/graphs/asthma_trends.gif
https://d2gne97vdumgn3.cloudfront.net/api/file/HXkqnTz4RdehbjT9CN2E

18. Acute vs. chronic effects of pollution
Chronic effects of pollution result after a prolonged exposure to low levels of
a pollutant.
https://sausalitowaterfront.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/graph1.png

19. Persistent vs. biodegradable pollutants
• although ingested, cannot be digested/broken down by living organisms and so
are passed along food chains.
• resistant to environmental breakdown through biological, chemical, or
photolytic processes.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/ehp.0800047.t003.png
Biodegradable pollutants are ones that are not stored in biological matter or
passed along food chains e.g. Modern pesticides

20. DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-chloroethane)
A brief timeline
• Used extensively during the second world war to
fight malaria and typhus
• After the second world war was extensively used as an
insecticide
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/DDT_WWII_soldier.jpg
https://youtu.be/MMSEnIVFBQ0

21. DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane)
A brief timeline
• Extensive use for the eradication of malaria in the WHO framework
(1955)
• Extensive use in farming from 1950 - 1980
1.800.000
tones have
been produced
globally
4,000
tones
Annually
today
https://i2.wp.com/respectfulinsolence.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/02/maxresdefault.jpg?w=955&ssl=1
https://goo.gl/images/DLyc9G

22. DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane)
• 1962 Rachel Carlson publishes her book “Silent spring” claiming that
pesticides including have an effect on wildlife
• Although well received by the academic community, major DDT
manufacturers and suppliers, like Dupond and Velsicol threatened to
take legal action even before publication.
• However, this controversy has raised public awareness.
https://youtu.be/SeJNRaE11A0
https://goo.gl/images/MxaR3U

23. DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane)
• In the 1970s and 1980s, agricultural use
of DDT was banned in most develop
countries.
• DDT was first banned in Hungary (1968)
followed by Norway and Sweden(1970), USA in
1972, and the UK in 1984.
• The Stockholm Convention (2001) banned
several persistent organic pollutants , and
restricted the use of DDT to
• disease control.
• The Convention was signed by 98 countries.
• Still used in many countries as a vector
control.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2801202/

24. DDT Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification
Bioaccumulation is the retention or build-up
of non-biodegradable or slowly biodegradable
chemicals in the body.
Biomagnification: or biological
amplification is the process whereby
the concentration of a chemical increases at
each trophic level.
DDT tends to bioaccumulate in the fatty
tissue.
Its soil half-life can range from 22 days
to 30 years.
10 kg 1 mg 0.1 mg/kg
100 kg 1 mg 0.01 mg/kg
1000 kg 1 mg 0.001 mg/kg
10,000 kg 1 mg 0.0001 mg/kg
Look at this example:

25. Case study: The Bald eagle
The bald eagle (Haliaetus leucocephalus), once
common throughout most of North America, was
reduced to as few as 400 nesting pairs in the lower
48 United States by the 1960s.
The decline of the bald eagle was caused primarily
by habitat loss and widespread use of the pesticide
DDT.
Toxins accumulated in the fatty tissues of adult
eagles and caused the females to lay eggs with
shells too thin to survive.
Eggs were usually crashed by hutching mothers.
http://www.bagheera.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/bald_eagle_2011.jpg
https://goo.gl/images/uSVAfg

26. Effects of DDT on human health
The effects of DDT on human health are under dispute.
• increased incidence of asthma and/ or diabetes
• some people exposed to DDT had a higher risk of liver, breast, and/or pancreatic
cancer
• DDT exposure is a risk factor for early pregnancy loss, premature birth, and/or low
birth weight
• 2007 study found increased infertility among South African men from communities
where DDT is used to combat malaria.

27. Developing an argument: DDT and malaria
http://www.who.int/malaria/en/
https://141repellent.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/evolution-of-malaria-mortality1.jpg
• almost 1 million deaths.
• About 90 per cent of these deaths occur
in Africa.
• In 2006, only 13 countries were still
using DDT.

28. Pollution management
Human activity
produces
pollutant
Long-term
impacts on the
environment
Pollutant
released in the
environment
stages leading to the impact of pollutants on the environment.
? ? ?
Brainstorm on how we may reduce the impact of combustion engine emissions

29. Pollution management
Human activity
produces
pollutant
Long-term
impacts on the
environment
Pollutant
released in the
environment
?
Preventive face
•Limit the production of
the pollutant
• Change in human
activities
• Alternative lifestyles,
technologies
• Shifting to a new
EVS’s?
?

30. Pollution management
Human activity
produces
pollutant
Long-term
impacts on the
environment
Pollutant
released in the
environment
?
Preventive face
•Limit the production of
the pollutant
• Change in human
activities
• Alternative lifestyles,
technologies
• Shifting to a new
EVS’s?
More control over the
release of the
pollutant
•Legislation and
regulations over
emissions (Kyoto
protocol)
•developing/applying
technologies for
extracting pollutant
from emissions

31. Pollution management
Human activity
produces
pollutant
Long-term
impacts on the
environment
Pollutant
released in the
environment
Preventive face
•Limit the production of
the pollutant
• Change in human
activities
• Alternative lifestyles,
technologies
• Shifting to a new
EVS’s?
More control over the
release of the
pollutant
•Legislation and
regulations over
emissions (Kyoto
protocol)
•developing/applying
technologies for
extracting pollutant
from emissions
Damaged ecosystem
recovery
•removing pollutants
from ecosystem
•restoring lost or
depleted
•populations and
communities

32. Changing human activities
PROS
Prevention of pollution
Intrinsic value
Cost effective
COS
Alternative technologies are expensive
and in some cases dependent on local
conditions (think of wind or solar
energy and where they may be
applicable)
Some goods, like plastic, can be
recycled only under specific
conditions.

33. Case-study: e-waste
• Computer equipment contains many toxic substances (e.g., lead)
and is an effectively hazardous waste.
• Much e-waste ends up in the developing world, and there is
increasing concern about the pollution caused by hazardous
chemicals and heavy metals there.
https://media.wired.com/photos/5932304958b0d64bb35d0243/master/w_3000,c_limit/device-
recycling.jpg

34. Case-study: e-waste
• In 2009, discarded TVs, computers,
peripherals (including printers,
scanners, fax machines) mice,
keyboards, and cell phones totaled
about 2.37 million short tons.
• E-waste represents 2% of America's
trash in landfills, but it equals
70% of overall toxic waste.
• 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-
waste are disposed worldwide every
year.
https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/reuters-ewaste.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=2400

35. Case-study: e-waste
• in 2009, Dell became the first in
the industry to ban the export of
nonworking electronics and e-waste
to developing countries
http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/uscorp1/corp-comm/e-waste
http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c05322123
• HP provides recycling
services to all
commercial partners.

36. References
Andrew, Davis, et al. Pearson Baccaularete Environmental Systems And Socieities For The Ib Diploma.
Rutherford, Jill. Environmental Systems and Societies. Oxford University Press, 2015.