- What are colloidal particles?
- Name 3 important heavy metal water pollutants and one metalloid.
- What is an organometallic compound?
- Cite an example in which bacteria act to produce toxic water pollutant species
containing a heavy metal. - What is an inorganic water pollutant that is involved with metal extraction?
- What is a health condition caused by nitrite ion? Under what circumstances may
nitrate ion cause the same problem? - Name a mineral source and an atmospheric source of strong acid in water.
- Are inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium toxic to organisms in water? If
not, why are they regarded as water pollutants? - Explain why both highly degradable organic compounds and ones that are not
degraded well at all are undesirable water pollutants. - Aside from obvious esthetic problems, why is sewage a pollutant that requires
treatment? - What change in the chemical structure of the surfactants in sewage made them much
more environmentally friendly? - What are 5 different classes of pesticides?
- What is the least biodegradable class of insecticides? What do these kinds of
insecticides do in the environment? - What was a major advantage of organophosphate insecticides? What was a
disadvantage of some of them, such as parathion? - What is an important characteristic of the mode of action of carbofuran?
- Name three insecticides derived from plants. Why would plants make insecticides?
- What is the connection between herbicidal glyphosate and modern genetically
modified plants? - What purpose is served by dioxin? How has it become an environmental problem?
- What are PCBs? What is a major case of water pollution by PCBs in the United
States? - What do radioactive materials produce and how is it harmful?
- Why are^90 Sr,^137 Cs,^131 I particularly dangerous to animals.
- What was the last big uncontrolled release of radioactivity to the environment?
192 Green Chemistry, 2nd ed