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Chapter 17
Environmental
Biotechnology
People need a good environment to
be healthy and happy.
The average person in the U.S.
creates 4.3 pounds of solid waste
trash and about 100 gallons of
wastewater each day.
In a year, this totals 1,570 pounds of
solid waste trash and 36,000 gallons
of water.
Wastes require proper disposal to
prevent pollution.
Water must be reconditioned for
repeated use.
Environmental quality is the
general condition of the natural
resources and other factors where
we go about life.
Everything we do affects the
environment somehow.
Organisms require four
conditions to live, and
otherwise carry out life
functions.
The for conditions are:
food
water
shelter
space
Environmental
biotechnology is the use
of living organisms or
their products to
manage the
environment.
Crop residue is the
leaves, stems, and other
plant materials that
remain on a field after a
crop is harvested.
Energy transfer is the
exchange of energy by
organisms at different
levels in the environment.
All energy comes from the
Sun.
The food chain is the
feeding sequence in which
organisms get their food.
A food web is a graphical
way of showing how food
chains are interconnected.
Species diversity is
variation in the
genetic makeup within
and between species.
Bioremediation is using biological processes to
solve environmental problems.
A hydrocarbon is any substance that contains only
carbon and hydrogen.
Ex: petroleum and coal
Biodegradation is the process of bacteria, fungi,and other
organisms breaking material into other substances.
Carrion is the flesh of a dead animal.
Solid waste is garbage, refuse, sludge, and other discarded
material.
Solid waste management deals with the collection and
disposal of solid waste materials.
Recycling is reusing the material in a product or the
product itself.
A landfill is an excavated area of land for the permanent
disposal of wastes.
Landfills are typically constructed in soils with a high
clay content. Clay slows down the movement of liquids
from the landfill. These liquids are known as leachate.
Plastic liners are sometimes used to prevent leachate
from soaking through the soil.
Hazardous materials should not be lent to landfills.
Incineration is using high temperatures to destroy
waste materials.
Hazardous wastes are handled differently from
typical solid wastes. A hazardous waste is a solid
or liquid that poses danger to human health of
the environment.
A few examples are unused paint, pesticides,
batteries, household bleach, nail polish remover,
and many petroleum products.
Heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and
cadmium are included.
Some are toxic and others are flammable,
reactive, or corrosive.
Those that cause cancer are known as
carcinogens.
Biological seeding is used to assure the
presence of the appropriate microbes. It
involves placing the required bacteria with
the waste.
Wastewater is used water.
It often contains suspended or dissolved
materials.
Domestic wastewater (sewage) is form
the daily living activities of people.
These need to be removed before the
water can be released into a reused.
Biogeochemical processes are the processes by
which microbes transfer nutrients from living
forms to physical forms and back to living
forms.
Three important Biogeochemical cycles in
wastewater are:
* nitrogen cycle
* phosphorus cycle
* sulfur cycle
Composting is promoting the biological
decomposition of organic materials.
Lawn clippings, leaves, and twigs are
commonly at homes. Food scrapes,
paper, and other readily biodegradable
wastes may also be composted.
Most composting uses aerobic bacteria.
The ideal temperature for composting is
95-140 F.
The best range of moisture is 40-50%
water.
A pH of 5.0-8.5 is satisfactory.
Home composting is useful in disposing of
yard wastes and some house-hold wastes.