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Environmental Science
and Engineering
About the Author
Benny Joseph graduated in Civil Engineering from Regional
Engineering College, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. He obtained a
master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from College of
Engineering, Trivandrum, Kerala, and a PhD from Anna University,
Chennai. He has been teaching graduate and postgraduate courses
in various engineering colleges since 1990 and his subjects include
Environmental Engineering, Air and Noise Pollution, Environmental
Safety, Environmental Pollution, Environmental Impact Assessment,
Integrated Water Resources Management, and Environmental Science.
Currently he is working as Principal of Vimal Jyothi Engineering College, Kannur, Kerala.
He has more than 10 research papers in diverse fields to his credit.
Environmental Science
and Engineering
Benny Joseph
Principal
Vimal Jyothi Engineering College
Kannur, Kerala
McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited

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Environmental Science and Engineering
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Contents
Preface xv
Visual Walkthrough xvi
1. Introduction 1
1.1 General 1
1.2 Importance of Environmental Education 2
1.3 Environmental Engineering 4
1.4 Environmentalism 5
1.4.1 The Gaia Theory 5
1.5 Environmental Studies—The Subject and its Multidisciplinary Nature 6
1.6 Components of the Environment and their Interactions 7
1.7 Humans and the Biosphere 10
1.8 Impacts of Development on the Environment 11
1.8.1 Environmental Impacts of Urbanization 11
Review Questions 15
Objective-Type Questions 15
Short-Answer Questions 18
Descriptive Questions 19
Answers to Objective-Type Questions 20
2. Environment, Ecosystems and Biodiversity 21
2.1 Concept of an Ecosystem—Producers, Consumers and Decomposers 21
2.1.1 Ecosystem–Anthroposystem Comparison 24
2.2 Structure and Function of an Ecosystem 24
2.3 Energy Flow in the Ecosystem 25
2.4 Ecological Succession 26
2.5 Food Chains and Food Webs 27
2.6 Ecological Pyramids 28
2.7 Forest Ecosystems 28
viii Contents
2.7.1 Vertical Structure—Vegetation Layers 29

2.7.2 Horizontal Structure 29
2.7.3 Environmental Influences 30
2.7.4 Forest Ecosystem Processes 30
2.7.5 Biomass and Productivity 31
2.7.6 Functions of Forest Ecosystems 31
2.8 Grassland Ecosystems 31
2.9 Desert Ecosystems 32
2.10 Aquatic Ecosystems 33
2.10.1 Environmental Factors Affecting the Aquatic
Ecosystem Performance 33
2.11 Introduction to Biodiversity 34
2.12 Genetic Diversity 35
2.13 Species Diversity 35
2.14 Ecosystem Diversity 36
2.15 Biogeographical Classification of India 37
2.16 Value of Biodiversity 38
2.17 India as a Mega Diverse Nation 40
2.18 Hotspots of Biodiversity 41
2.18.1 Hotspots in India 43
2.19 Threats to Biodiversity 44
2.20 Endemic Species of India 45
2.21 Endangered Species of India 46
2.22 Conservation of Biodiversity 47
2.22.1 In-situ and Ex-situ Conservation 47
2.22.2 Preservation and Conservation 47
2.22.3 Project Tiger 47
2.22.4 Project Elephant 48
Review Questions 48
3. Environmental Pollution 56
3.1 Air Pollution 56
3.1.1 General 56
Contents ix
3.1.2 Sources of Air Pollution 57

3.1.3 Major Air Pollutants 57
3.1.4 Effect of Air Pollution on Animals, Plants and Property 59
3.1.5 Toxic Air Pollution 59
3.1.6 Primary and Secondary Air Pollutants 60
3.1.7 Smog 60
3.1.8 Photochemical Smog 60
3.1.9 Automobile and Air Pollution 60
3.1.10 Air Pollution Control Technologies 61
3.1.11 Catalytic Converter 64
3.2 Water Pollution 65
3.2.1 Major Forms of Water Pollution 65
3.2.2 Sources of Water Pollution 66
3.2.3 Point and Non-point Sources 66
3.2.4 Ground Water Pollution and its Control 66
3.2.5 Management of Municipal Sewage 66
3.3 Soil Pollution 78
3.3.1 Control of Soil Pollution 78
3.4 Marine Pollution 78
3.5 Noise Pollution 80
3.5.1 Sources of Noise 80
3.5.2 Measurement of Noise 80
3.5.3 Effects of Noise 80
3.5.4 Noise Pollution Control 81
3.6 Thermal Pollution 81
3.7 Nuclear Hazards and Accidents 82
3.7.1 Facts about Radiological Accidents 82
3.7.2 Ways to Minimize Radiation Exposure 83
3.8 Solid Waste Management 84
3.8.1 Solid (Non-hazardous) Waste 84
3.8.2 Refuse 84
3.8.3 Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) 85
3.8.4 Hazardous Waste 85
3.8.5 Illegal Dumping 85
3.8.6 MSW Management Practices 85
3.8.7 Source Reduction 89
x Contents
3.8.8 Recycling 93
3.8.9 Composting 93
3.8.10 Classification of Composting Based on Oxygen Use 93
3.8.11 Vermicomposting 94
3.8.12 Landfills 94
3.8.13 Combustion / Incineration 94
3.8.14 Prohibited Wastes 94
3.9 Role of an Individual in Prevention of Pollution 95
3.10 Disaster Management 99
3.10.1 Introduction 99
3.10.2 Types of Natural Calamities 99
3.10.3 Major and Minor Calamities 99
3.10.4 Impact of Calamities 100
3.10.5 Asian Disaster Preparedness Center [Program for Enhancement
of Emergency Response (PEER)] 100
Review Questions 103
4. Natural Resources 112
4.1 Forest Resources 112
4.1.1 Key Benefits of Intact Forests 114
4.1.2 Deforestation 114
4.1.3 Causes of Deforestation 115
4.1.4 Effects of Deforestation 115
4.1.5 Solutions to the Problems of Deforestation 116
4.2 Mining 117
4.3 DAMS 118
4.3.1 Dams and Civilization 118
4.3.2 Purposes of Dams 119
4.3.3 Benefits of Dams 119
4.3.4 Problems with Dams 119
4.3.5 Socio-economic Impacts of Dams 120
4.3.6 Controversy on Hydropower 120
4.3.7 Possible Solutions to Improve the Acceptability of Dam Projects 121
Contents xi
4.4 Water Resources 121

4.5 Drought 122
4.6 Conflicts Over Water 123
4.7 Mineral Resources of India 125
4.8 Food Resources 125
4.8.1 World Food Problems 125
4.8.2 Food Security 126
4.8.3 Adverse Effects of Modern Agriculture on Soil and
Water Resources 126
4.8.4 Problems with Fertilizers 127
4.8.5 Pesticides 128
4.8.6 Alternative Methods of Insect Control 129
4.9 Energy Resources 130
4.9.1 Types of Energy 131
4.9.2 Energy Characteristics 133
4.9.3 Energy and the Environment 133
4.9.4 Fuel Cell 133
4.9.5 Saving Energy 135
4.10 Land Resources 135
4.10.1 Land Degradation 136
4.10.2 Soil Erosion 137
4.10.3 Desertification 138
4.10.4 Landslides 138
4.11 Equitable Use of Resources for Sustainable Lifestyles 140
5. Social Issues and the Environment 151

5.1 From Unsustainable to Sustainable Development 151
5.1.1 Sustainability: Theory and Practice 152
5.2 Urban Problems Related to Energy 154
5.2.1 Urban Energy Crisis 154
5.2.2 Renewable Energy 155
xii Contents
5.3 Water conservation 156

5.3.1 Some Ancient Indian Methods of Water Conservation and Harvesting 156
5.3.2 Rainwater Harvesting 156
5.3.3 Reducing Water Demand in Agriculture 157
5.4 Watershed Management 158
5.5 Resettlement and Rehabilitation of People 159
5.6 Role of Non-Governmental Organizations 159
5.7 Environmental Ethics 161
5.8 Greenhouse Effect, Global Warming and Climate Change 164
5.8.1 Effects of Global Warming 166
5.8.2 Solutions for Global Warming 166
5.9 Acid Rain 168
5.9.1 Effects of Acid Rains 168
5.10 Ozone-Layer Depletion 169
5.10.1 Chlorofluorocarbons 171
5.10.2 Measuring Ozone Depletion 171
5.10.3 Impacts of Ozone Depletion 171
5.10.4 Steps to Protect the Ozone Layer 172
5.11 Nuclear Hazards and Accidents 172
5.12 Wasteland Reclamation 172
5.13 Consumerism and Waste Products 173
5.14 Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Acts in India 175
5.14.1 Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) 175
5.14.2 The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 175
5.14.3 The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 176
5.14.4 The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 176
5.14.5 The Wildlife Protection Act, 1971 176
5.14.6 The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 176
5.14.7 Constitutional Provisions 176
Contents xiii
6. Human Population and the Environment 182

6.1 Population Growth 182
6.1.1 Population Variations among Nations 184
6.1.2 Population Pyramids 185
6.1.3 Problems of Population Growth 186
6.2 Family Welfare Programmes 193
6.2.1 Evolution of Family Welfare Programme 194
6.3 Women and Child Welfare 200
6.3.1 Subjects Allocated to the Department 200
6.3.2 Child Development 201
6.4 Environment and Human Health 202
6.4.1 A History of Pandemics 203
6.5 Human Rights 204
6.5.1 Human Rights as Inspiration and Empowerment 205
6.5.2 Human Right Act, 1993 205
6.5.3 Amnesty International 211
6.6 Value Education 212
6.7 HIV/AIDS 213
6.7.1 Process of Infection 213
6.7.2 HIV Test 214
6.7.3 Transmission of HIV 215
6.7.4 Survival of HIV Outside the Body 216
6.7.5 HIV and AIDS in India 216
6.8 Role of Information Technology in Environment and Human Health 216
Appendix 1 International Conventions and Protocols 222
Appendix 2 Glossary 227
Index 244
Preface
Environmental issues are in the forefront of global development programs and are likely to
remain as the numero uno problem for our planet in the foreseeable future. As we resolve
some of the issues, the new ones crop up. Ozone hole is an issue which international
interventions could solve to considerable extent in the current decade. However, the
withdrawal of the United States from Paris Climate Agreement is a big setback to the
global efforts to contain climate change. Under these circumstances, it is imperative that all
graduates and engineers in particular, are equipped with the knowledge of environmental
issues and ways to solve the same. In the internationally accepted list of program outcomes
(POs)/attributes for a graduate engineer, knowledge of environment and sustainability
issues and the competency to conceive, design and implement solutions for the same are
essential.
This book is tailor-made to cater to the syllabus requirement of this course. The content
of the book is prepared for easy assimilation by students while encouraging learning beyond
classroom and syllabus.
I take this opportunity to thank the publisher and the entire editorial team in collating
the accurate user feedback and providing appropriate support in completing this book
within the time frame. I hope that the academic fraternity will extend patronage to it.
Benny Joseph
Visual Walkthrough
The readers can take a tour of this book through the visual walkthrough given below. It
highlights different elements present within the chapters and also gives a brief introduction
about them.
2 ENVIRONMENT,
ECOSYSTEMS AND
BIODIVERSITY
“The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.”

Barry Commoner
Learning Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Chapters are organized into multiple
learning objectives which help students On successful completion of this chapter, students will be able to:
 Explain the concept, structure and function of different ecosystems.
and instructors to indulge in planned  Illustrate the terms Food Chain, Food Web and Ecological Pyramid.
and focussed learning of concepts.  Discuss the significance, variations and value of biodiversity with examples.
 Describe the biodiversity of India with examples of endemic species and hotspots in
biodiversity.
 Identify and list the endangered species of India and the major threats to biodiversity.
2.1 CONCEPT OF AN ECOSYSTEM—PRODUCERS,

CONSUMERS AND DECOMPOSERS
Ecology is the study of the relationship between organisms and their environment.
An ecosystem is a biotic assemblage of plants, animals, and microbes, taken together with
their physico-chemical environment. In an ecosystem the biological cycling of materials
Visual Walkthrough xvii
Figures and tabLes

The figures illustrate the various concepts
discussed in the chapter. This makes the
learning process stimulating. Details pertaining
to different concepts have been presented in
tabular form at various places.
Social Issues and the Environment 157
Fig. 5.4 Typical Rainwater Harvesting Facility for a Building
Table 3.1 Potential Harmful Effects of Automobile Exhaust Pollutants
Pollutant Health effects Environmental effects
Carbon Monoxide Lethal at high doses. At low dose can impair Greenhouse gas contributing to
(CO) concentration and neuro-behavioural global warming.
function.
Increases the likelihood of exercise-related
heart pain in people with coronary heart
disease.
Nitrogen Oxides Cause asthma and possibly increase Acid rain.
(NOx) susceptability to infections. An ingredient for the formation
of photochemical fog.
Hydrocarbons (HC) Low molecular weight compounds cause An ingredient for the formation
eye irritation, coughing and drowsiness. of photochemical fog.
High molecular weight compounds can be
mutagenic or carcinogenic.
Benzene (C6H6) Classified as a human carcinogen by the Not known.
International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Ground-level ozone Irritates the eyes and air passages. Oxidants to plants, impairs
(O3) Increases the sensitivity of the airways to growth and maturation.
allergic triggers in people with asthma.
May increase susceptibility to infection
Lead (Pb) Impairs the normal intellectual development Ground water pollution and
and learning ability of children. particulates in air.
xviii Visual Walkthrough
case studies and burning tOpics

Latest case studies and burning topics are also
covered in book for better understanding of
different topics.
CASE Canada: Education, Migration, Divorce

STUDY Cause, Fall in Birth Rate
Canada’s birth rate fell to 10.5 births for every 1,000 people, down by 25% in the last decade of 20th
century. Women are having the same 1.5 babies that they’ve been having for the past 10 years but
there are fewer women in the fertile age group 25 to 30. Experts point to an array of factors, including
increasing education for women, the urbanization of society and the breakdown in family units. Where
a new generation was born every 20 years, it’s now closer to 30. When you increase the time between
generations, there will be fewer children. All agree that the fertility rate has seen a decline over the
last 40 years. One factor is higher education that has given women career opportunities that caused
women to delay pregnancies until their careers have been established. Education has also given women
better knowledge about birth control products. The move to urban living has an effect as agrarian
societies, babies are viewed as a source of future labour supply but in urban settings, children are
more likely to be economic drains on their parents. Urban parents rely on pension plans, rather than
their children. Many working class women are putting off children because they simply can’t afford
to support them. Family change, such as divorce, cohabitation and looseness of relationships, comes
with fewer children because there’s less security.
BURNING
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
TOPIC
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a process of evaluating the effects that a product has on the environment over
the entire period of its life, thereby increasing resource-use efficiency and decreasing liabilities. LCA has its
roots in the 1960s, when scientists concerned about the rapid depletion of fossil fuels developed it as an
approach to understanding the impacts of energy consumption. In the 1970s, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency refined this methodology. At present, the ISO 14040 and 14044 standards describe
the principles and guidelines for LCA.
LCA can be used to study the environmental impact of either a product or the function the product is
designed to perform. LCA is commonly referred to as a “cradle-to-grave” analysis. Thus, LCA studies
the environmental aspects and potential impacts throughout the product’s life, from raw materials
acquisition through production, use and disposal. The key elements of LCA are the following:
∑ Compiling an inventory of relevant inputs and outputs of a product system;
∑ Evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with those inputs and outputs;
∑ Interpreting the results of the inventory analysis and impact assessment phases in relation to
the objectives of the study.
LCA facilitates a comparison of environmental performances of various products and a single figure
is needed for this purpose. Although there are several methods, yet it is still a controversial issue
and no single widely accepted method exists. Three well-documented and used methods are The
Eco-Points method, The Environmental Priority System and the Eco-Indicator. Greenhouse potential, Air
acidification potential, Eutrophication potential, Human toxicity potential, and Air odor potential,
etc., are examples for Eco-Indicators. Nowadays there are a number of softwares available for LCA,
making the task simpler.
Visual Walkthrough xix
chapter-end exercise
Chapter-end exercises are constructed to
assess the student’s understanding of concepts
discussed in each chapter. These are formed
as objective-type questions, short-answer
questions and descriptive questions. Answer
to MCQs have been provided at the end of
each chapter.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Objective-Type Questions
1. Which of the following is an air pollutant?
(a) Nitrogen (b) Carbon monoxide
(c) Carbon dioxide (d) Oxygen
2. Which of the following statements about carbon monoxide is true?
(a) It is the result of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels.
(b)
(c)
(d) All of the above. Short-Answer Questions
3.
1. Define Ecology and Ecosystem.
(a)
2. Differentiate between biome and ecosystem.
(c) Ozone
3. List the major biomes of the world.
4. Smog is
4. Differentiate between food chain and food web.
(a)
(c) is colourless 5. Define biomagnification.
6. Why don’t water-soluble pollutants usually get biomagnified?
7.
8.
9.
Descriptive Questions
10. 1. Describe the history of population growth on earth mentioning the factors
contributing to it.
11.
2. Draw a typical population pyramid of a developing country and discuss how it is
12. Define biodiversity. likely to differ from that of a developed country.
13. Differentiate between 3. Explain the environmental problems posed by population explosion.
14. 4. Discuss the salient features of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by UN.
15. What is meant by the term 5. Explain the steps that are being taken in India to impart value education from
16. school days.
6. Discuss the process of HIV infection.
7. What are the modes of transmission of HIV and how can it be prevented?
8. What are the steps that have to be taken to control the AIDS epidemic in India?
9. Discuss the role of Information Technology in the protection of environment
and human health.
Answers to Objective-Type Questions

1. (c) 2. (b) 3. (b) 4. (b) 5. (b) 6. (d) 7. (a)
8. (b) 9. (d) 10. (c) 11. (d) 12. (b) 13. (b) 14. (a)
15. (d)
xx Visual Walkthrough
appendices
∑ Book-end appendix will give the reader

knowledge about major International
Environmental Conventions and Environ-
mental Protocols.
∑ Glossary of technical terms frequently used Appendix INTERNATIONAL
in environmental science has been included
at the end of book. This will help readers
improve their vocabulary on the subject.
1 CONVENTIONS
AND
PROTOCOLS
In order to deal with regional and global environmental changes, it is necessary to develop
new scientific and political mechanisms that could operate at the international level. An
international convention is intended to build an international consensus that a particular
ecological, wildlife or pollution problem exists. The convention is worded in general terms
to allow all countries to “sign on” recognizing that the problem exists and that there is
some need for concern and multinational action.
Once a convention has been established, countries can then begin to negotiate specific
control actions. The protocol mechanisms allow large problems to be broken down into more
achievable steps. The protocol mechanism allows for a wide range of actions to be agreed
upon the control of emissions, the control of production, trade in substances of
Appendix
2 GLOSSARY
the Vienna Convention which was the umbrella agreement
vention on Wetlands of International Importance especially
to
A
Abiotic: A non-living (physical or chemical) component of the environment.
Abatement: The reduction in degree or intensity of pollution.
Acid rain: Precipitation which has a pH of less than 5.6.
Acute toxicity: Any poisonous effect produced within a short period of time, resulting in
severe biological harm and often, death.
Adsorption: The adhesion of a substance to the surface of a solid or liquid. Adsorption
is often used to extract pollutants, by causing them to be attached to adsorbents such as
activated carbon or silica gel. Hydrophobic, or water-repulsing adsorbents, are used to
extract oil from waterways in oil spills.
Advanced wastewater treatment: The removal of any dissolved or suspended contaminants
beyond secondary treatment. Often, it is the removal of the nutrients—nitrogen and/or
phosphorus.
Aeration: The process by which air is circulated through, mixed with or dissolved in a
liquid or substance.
Aerobes: Organisms which require molecular oxygen as an electron acceptor for energy
production.
Agricultural pollution: The liquid and solid wastes from farming, including runoff from
pesticides, fertilizers, and feedlots; erosion and dust from plowing; animal manure and carcasses.
1 INTRODUCTION
“The earth provides enough to satisfy every person’s need but not every
person’s greed.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this chapter, students will be able to:
 Demonstrate an understanding of the significance of environmental education.
 Outline the Gaia theory in the context of environmentalism.
 Comprehend the multidisciplinary nature of the course Environmental Studies.
 Illustrate the components of the environment and its interactions.
 Outline the causes, effects and management options for various environmental
problems related to air, water and land.
1.1 GENERAL
Throughout history, humankind has adapted to the natural variations of the earth’s system
and its climate. However, in the last century, human population and consumption of
various natural resources have increased significantly and this essentially is the root cause
of all the environmental issues. Figure 1.1 shows some of the current impacts of human
activities on the environment.
2 Environmental Science and Engineering
Fig. 1.1 Impacts of Human Activities on the Environment
Environmental awareness among the public and policymakers has been growing since
the 1960s, when it became widely recognized that human activities were having harmful
and largescale effects on the environment.
1.2 IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Environment is the physical and biotic habitat that surrounds us. Environmental issues
affect, and are affected by, all our activities to varying degrees. The need to have a
working knowledge of environmental issues is not confined to environmental scientists,
engineers and policymakers. In our society, all the educated citizens need to have a
working understanding of the fundamental principles involved in environmentally
Introduction 3
responsible decision-making to protect planet earth. Figure 1.2 lists some of the functions
of environmental education.
Fig. 1.2 Functions of Environmental Education
The following are some of the guiding principles and features suggested for effective
environmental education.
Environmental Education
 Considers the environment in its totality, i.e., ecological, political, natural,
technological, sociological, aesthetic and built environments.
 Develops awareness of the importance, beauty and wonders that can be found in
these aspects of the environment.
 Explores not only the physical qualities of the human relationship with the
environment, but also the spiritual aspect of this relationship.
 Is a response to the challenge of moving towards an ecologically and socially
sustainable world.
 Is concerned with the interaction between the quality of the biophysical environment
and the socio-economic environment.
 Transcends the division of knowledge, skills and attitudes by seeking commitment
to action in an informed manner to realistic sustainability.
 Recognizes the value of local knowledge, practices and perceptions in enhancing
sustainability.
 Supports relevant education by focusing on learning local environments.

 Considers the global as well as the local environment. Since the world is a set of inter-
related systems, there is a need for a world perspective on environmental issues.
 Focuses on current and future perspectives on environmental conditions.
 Is interdisciplinary and can be taught through and used to enhance all subjects in
the curriculum.
 Emphasizes participation in preventing and solving environmental problems and
revokes the passive accumulation of information about the environment.
Environmental literacy is the capability for a contextual and detailed understanding of an
environmental problem in order to enable analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and ultimately sound
and informed decision-making at a citizen’s level.
1.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Environmental Engineering is one of the most complex and fastest growing disciplines
of Engineering. The scope of this field includes issues from public health protection to
aesthetics, and from impact on business development to the development of legislation,
standards, regulations, and guidelines, to their enforcement and environmental protection.
A challenging aspect of Environmental Engineering is the rapid changes in the field
due to the rate of knowledge increase in the fields of science, technology and health.
Figure 1.3 illustrates some of the core areas of Environmental Engineering.
Fig. 1.3 Some Core Areas of Environmental Engineering

Introduction 5
1.4 ENVIRONMENTALISM
Although it can be argued that environmental consciousness is ancient, and forms part of
many religions, it was not until the 1960s that environmentalism became an organized
force. The milestone marking the birth of the environmental movement was the publication
of the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962 in the USA. Silent Spring inspired a
new public awareness that human beings were harming the environment. Since the 1960s,
the movement has grown dramatically. In Silent Spring, Carson exposed the perils of the
indiscriminate use of pesticides, particularly DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane).
Fig. 1.4 Silent Spring by Rachel Carson – The book that marked the Birth of Environmental Movement
1.4.1 The Gaia Theory

Named after the Greek mother Earth goddess, Gaia, the theory was developed in the 1960s
by scientist Dr James Lovelock. This theory suggests a holistic view of the world, where all
life on earth interacts with the physical environment to form a complex system that can
be thought of as a single super organism. Thus, the earth acts as a superorganism with the
ability to regulate environmental conditions needed to sustain itself, as much as the human
body keeps its water content, temperature, and other conditions at a relatively constant
state to keep the body alive. Lovelock believed that the earth is a self-regulating system
and is able to keep its climate and chemical composition comfortable for living organisms.
In particular, it regulates the chemistry of the oceans, composition of the atmosphere and
the surface temperature. The film Avatar (2009) is an illustration of the Gaia theory where
a world (Pandora) functions like a single organism.
Fig. 1.5 Lovelock and the Gaia Theory
Fig. 1.6 Daisyworld Mathematical Model
1.5 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES—THE SUBJECT AND

ITS MULTIDISCIPLINARY NATURE
Environmental Studies is a distinct programme that gives the students an opportunity
to experience the interdisciplinary nature of the subject. Environmental Studies educate
students in the fundamentals of environmental and social sciences along with major
environmental issues.
An understanding of the working of the environment requires the knowledge from
wide-ranging fields. Table 1.1 shows a list of topics dealt commonly in air pollution and
Introduction 7
the related traditional fields of knowledge, illustrating the interdisciplinary nature of the
subject.
Table 1.1 Interdisciplinary Nature of the Subject—Air Pollution
Environmental issue/Topic Major subject/ Topic knowledge required

Nature and reactions of air pollutants Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Effects of air pollutants on human beings, animals, Zoology and Botany and various branches of life
plants and materials science, Physics, and Chemistry
Effect of climate on air pollution Meteorology, Thermodynamics, Geography,
Mathematical modelling, etc.
Air pollution control devices Physics, Chemistry and various branches of
Engineering
History of air pollution and air pollution episodes History
Economic impacts of air pollution Economics, Demography
Sociological impacts of air pollution Sociology
Alternative fuels Various branches of physical sciences
Conservation of resources and pollution control Various branches of physical and political sciences
Ozone hole and global warming Almost every branch of study has got something to
contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon.
1.6 COMPONENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND

THEIR INTERACTIONS
Chemicals on earth are distributed among four major environmental components or
conceptual spheres—atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. While such a
classification of nature is arbitrary, it helps in organizing and extending our knowledge of
distribution and flow of chemicals. A schematic representation of the four environmental
components and their interrelationships is shown in Fig. 1.7. The circles represent the
spheres and the curved arrows the flow pathways of the matter. In the diagram, circles
and curved arrows are used instead of boxes and straight line connections to emphasize
the close, dynamic, inseparable, organic coupling among the environmental components.
If one component or linkage changes, all other components respond. In this conceptual
frame, every sphere has a two-way linkage to every other sphere, including itself. The two-
way linkage signifies that the matter may flow from one component to another in both
directions. Some arrows show the transfer within a given component from one location
to another indicating movement of the substance from one physical location to another
without leaving the sphere. Since matter cannot be created or destroyed, the major objective
is to find the location and chemical form of the substance at any given time.
Fig. 1.7 Components of the Environment
Fig. 1.7(a) Atmosphere

Introduction 9
Fig. 1.7(b) Hydrosphere
Fig. 1.7(c) Lithosphere

Fig. 1.7(d) Biosphere
1.7 HUMANS AND THE BIOSPHERE

Humans are part of the biosphere, and human activities most closely resemble the functions
of the biosphere. Humans are responsible for the largescale redistribution of chemicals
on earth. Population explosion, coupled with increased per capita consumption of natural
resources, is the root cause of all the adverse human impacts on the biosphere.
The atmosphere and the hydrosphere are effective transporters of matter; and, as a
result, many of the anthropogenic chemicals are transferred to the land or the oceans
where they are subsequently incorporated in these long-term geochemical reservoirs.
Much of the environmental damage is done in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere
and biosphere during the transit from one long-term geochemical reservoir to another.
Introduction 11
1.8 IMPACTS OF DEVELOPMENT ON THE

ENVIRONMENT
Over the years, in the name of development, man has been unscrupulously exploiting the
environmental resources and which, in turn, has resulted in many adverse effects on air,
water and land. The extent of impact is so much that it even threatens the very existence
of life on earth.
1.8.1 Environmental Impacts of Urbanization

Table 1.2 shows a list of adverse effects of urbanization on the various environmental
components such as atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.
Table 1.2 Environmental Impacts of Urbanization
Environmental Population Urban component

component (numbers and density) Land use Transportation Services
Atmosphere Increased release Increased average Air pollution Particulate matter
of CO2, decreased temperature for from combustion and noxious fumes
O2 production, as most urbanized of fuel creation from incinerators,
plant colonies areas. of photo- landfills and
are destroyed by chemical smog. sewage treatment
spreading urban plants.
areas.
Hydrosphere Greater demand on More intense use of Rain and Leaching of
water resources (both hydrologic resources surface waters pollutants
surface and ground causing increased polluted with from landfills.
water). pollution. lead. Drainage Discharges from
patterns sewage outfalls
altered by pollution from
infrastructure. boats.
Lithosphere Increased Complete changes Disruption or Sanitary landfill of
transformation due to construction, disfigurement of urban wastes and
of uninhabited landscaping, etc. landscape, etc. installation/repairs
agricultural or of services disturb
unutilized land to landscape.
urban uses.
Causes, effects and management options for various environmental problems related to
air, water and land are listed in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3 Summary of Urban Environmental Issues and Options
Problem area Effects Causes Management options

Ambient air  Health problems  Industrialization  Fuel pricing
pollution  Economic costs from  Increase in motorized  Regulations, standards,
healthcare costs and fleet and congestion emissions charges
productivity losses  Use of highly polluting  Demand management
 Amenity losses fuels  Transport planning
(aesthetic, cultural, and  Energy pricing policies  Appropriate technology
recreational)  Topography and climate (clean fuels, air
pollution control
equipment, etc.)
Indoor air  Health problems  Use of low-quality fuels  Substitution of fuel and
pollution (chronic obstructed for cooking and heating equipment pricing
lung disease, acute (biomass and high  Fuel switching
respiratory infections, sulphur coal)  Building codes
low birth weights,  Poorly ventilated  Public education
cancer) dwellings and  Tax hazardous products
 Economic costs workplaces and processes
from healthcare and  Passive smoking
productivity losses  Cottage industry
activities
Surface water  Health problems  Pricing policies  Regulations, standards,
pollution  Economic costs  Poor regulations and/or licensing, charges
(additional treatment, enforcement  Improve monitoring
new sources of supply,  Municipal and and enforcement
health costs) industrial waste  Demand management
 Amenity losses disposal practices and wastewater reuse
 Urban runoff  Appropriate technology
 Irrigation practices  Land use controls
 Waste management
Groundwater  Reduced water quality  Pricing policies  Regulation, standards,
pollution from saline intrusion  Poor regulations and/or licensing charges
depletion  Health impacts enforcement  Waste management
 Economic costs  Unsustainable  Appropriate technology
extraction (rain water harvesting)
 Sanitation, municipal  Demand management
and industrial waste  Controls on land
disposal practices use and sources of
 Poor demand infiltration
management
(Contd.)
Introduction 13
Table 1.3 (Contd.)

Coastal/lake  Health effects due to  Unclear property rights  Regulations, standards,
pollution contaminated seafood  Poor regulations and/or licensing charges
and direct contact enforcement  Appropriate technology
 Loss of recreational  Municipal and  Coastal zone
resources and tourism industrial waste management and
revenues disposal practices preservation
 Damage to fisheries  Disposal of shipboard  Shipping facilities
 Amenity losses wastes  Waste management
 Eutrophication  Land use control
Degradation of  Declining agricultural  Changes in relative  Internalize ecological
land productivity value of land uses value in land prices
 Reduced renewable  Uncontrolled urban  Designate special areas
resource base growth for management
(deforestation, lost soil  Unclear property rights  Local participation
fertility)  Mining and quarrying  Clarify property rights
 Erosion and siltation activities  Economic resource
 Amenity losses  Land disposal of pricing
 Loss of natural habitat municipal and  Land use controls
and species industrial wastes
Loss of cultural  Loss of heritage  Lack of regulation and/  Internalize costs of
and historical  Loss of tourism or enforcement loss in redevelopment
property revenues  Air pollution planning
 Damage to culturally  Land subsidence and  Tax incentives for
values buildings, poor drainage preservation
monuments, natural  Zone and building codes
sites  Pollution control
Degradation of  Health hazards  Failure to anticipate  Public education
ecosystems  Resettlement costs effects in planning and  Internalize costs of
 Loss of habitat and development rural degradation
species  Pricing policies  Resource pricing
 Air, water, and land  Lack of rural political  Clarify property rights
pollution power
Municipal solid  Household costs related  Poor management  Private sector delivery
wastes to blocked drainage and (improper collection of collection and
flooding and disposal, little disposal
 Water pollution from resource recovery)  Waste minimization
leachates  Pricing (no cost recovery) (recycling, recovery,
 Air pollution from  Disposal impacts source reduction)
burning external to the  Regulations, standards,
 Amenity losses community licensing, charges
 Input pricing  Institutional
 Expanded coverage strengthening
(Contd.)
Table 1.3 (Contd.)

Hazardous wastes  Surface, ground, coastal  Inadequate regulations  Regulations, standards,
water contamination and/or enforcement licensing and standards
 Related health, economic  No incentives for  Improve monitoring
and resource impacts treatment and enforcement
 Accumulation of toxics in  Input pricing for waste-  Treatment and disposal
the food chain producing industries incentives
 Reduced property values  Low visibility,  Economic input pricing
nonlinear, long-term  Waste minimization
effects  Marginal cost pricing
 Dispersed small-scale  Special incentives for
and cottage industries small-scale generators
 Privatization of
treatment and disposal
operations
Natural and man-  Health effects (death,  Natural forces  Reduce constraints on
made hazards injuries)  Land market failures supply of usable land
 Economic costs (loss (lack of alternatives for  Appropriate incentives
of lives, property, squatters, artificially (prices, taxes, tenure,
infrastructure) constrained supply) housing finance)
 Land degradation  Land policies (no  Land use controls
(flooding, landslides, taxation, no/  Improve knowledge
earthquakes) unenforced protection about risks and
 Amenity losses of high risk lands) alternatives
 Poor construction
practices
Inadequate  Health impacts  Inappropriate technology  Gear sanitation options
sanitation (diarrhoeal diseases,  Pricing (no cost recovery) to willingness to pay
parasites, high infant  Poor management  Community approaches
mortality, malnutrition) (lack of operations  Cost recovery
 Related economic costs and maintenance,  Hygiene education
 Eutrophication uncoordinated
 Amenity losses investments)
 Inadequate hygiene
education
Inadequate  Health effects  Inadequate hygiene  Community
drainage  Property damage education management of
 Accidents  Increased urban maintenance
 Reduced urban runoff due to  Strategic investment in
productivity (shutdown impermeabilization and drainage
of business, transport upstream deforestation  Land use controls and
systems)  Occupation of low-lying market liberalization
lands  Solid waste
management
Introduction 15
Table 1.4 Pros and Cons of Biofuels
Biofuels
Pros Cons
Promoted as a planetfriendly, renewable source of Critics argue that biofuel production takes valuable
energy. agricultural land.
Substitute for coal and oil. Sugarcane cultivation encroaches on wildlife habitat,
degrades soil and causes pollution when fields are
burned.
Burn cleaner and produce less greenhouse gas than Causes destruction of rain forests.
fossil fuels.
Farmers can produce them domestically, reducing About 70% more energy is required to produce
dependence on foreign sources of oil. ethanol than the energy that actually is in ethanol.
Fig. 1.8 Composition and Examples of Biofuel
REVIEW QUESTIONS
Objective-Type Questions
1. Who is the author of the book ‘Silent Spring’?
(a) Robin Cook (b) Arthur Hailey
(c) Rachel Carson (d) Charles Darwin
2. DDT is
(a) not soluble in water
(b) more soluble in fat than water
(c) less soluble in fat than water
(d) not soluble in fat
3. Which of the following scientists rediscovered DDT in 1939?
(a) Paul Hermann Müller
(b) Madam Curie
(c) Rachel Carson
(d) Alexander Fleming
4. POPs is
(a) Persistent Oxidizing Pollutants
(b) Permanent Organic Pesticides
(c) Persistent Organic Pesticides
(d) Persistent Organic Pollutants
5. Who proposed the Gaia theory?
(a) Rachel Carson
(b) James Lovelock
(c) Charles Darwin
(d) William Golding
6. The objective of environmental education is
(a) to raise consciousness about environmental conditions
(b) to teach environmentally appropriate behaviour
(c) to create an environmental ethic that fosters awareness about the ecological
inter-dependence of economic, social and political factors in a human
community and the environment
(d) all of the above
7. Which of the following is not influenced by human activities?
(a) Depletion of ground water
(b) Destruction of mangroves and wetlands
(c) Increased extinction rates of species
(d) None of the above
Introduction 17
8. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was signed in

the year
(a) 1999 (b) 1998
(c) 2000 (d) 2001
9. Which of the following statements about environmental education is false?
(a) Environmental education is evolving to be education for sustainable and
ethical development both at local and global levels.
(b) Environmental education will prepare the next generation to plan appropriate
strategies for addressing developmental environmental issues.
(c) Environmental education does not advocate a particular viewpoint or course
of action.
(d) Environmental education is essential for the younger generation only.
10. Which of the following conceptual spheres of the environment is having the least
storage capacity for matter?
(a) Atmosphere (b) Lithosphere
(c) Hydrosphere (d) Biosphere
11. Which of the following components of the environment are effective transporters
of matter?
(a) Atmosphere and hydrosphere
(b) Atmosphere and lithosphere
(c) Hydrosphere and lithosphere
(d) Lithosphere and hydrosphere
12. Which of the following one is not related to the loss of productivity of croplands?
(a) Desertification
(b) Waterlogging
(c) Salt buildup in topsoil
(d) None of the above
13. Biosphere is
(a) the solid shell of inorganic materials on the surface of the earth
(b) the thin shell of organic matter on the surface of the earth comprising all the
living things
(c) the sphere which occupies the maximum volume of all the spheres
(d) all of the above
14. Which of the following is an example of impact of developmental activities on the

hydrosphere?
(a) Air pollution (b) Soil pollution
(c) Soil erosion (d) Water pollution
15. Global atmospheric temperatures are likely to be increased due to
(a) burning of fossil fuels (b) water pollution
(c) soil erosion (d) none of the above
16. Which of the following is a management option for air pollution?
(a) Regulations and standards (b) Emission charges
(c) Transport planning (d) All of the above
Short-Answer Questions
1. What are the factors that have led to the increased resource consumption on earth
in recent years?
2. Define the term “environment”.
3. What are the major objectives of environmental education?
4. Define environmental literacy.
5. List the instances pointing to the fact that humans have significantly affected the
earth’s natural systems.
6. What is the role of science and engineering in the protection of the environment?
7. Why is it beneficial to follow a student-centered and participatory process for
environmental education?
8. List the pesticides polluting the environment in your locality.
9. Why is the ban on DDT not imposed in certain parts of the world?
10. List the four conceptual spheres in the earth’s environment.
11. Differentiate between biosphere and lithosphere.
12. What are the impacts of urbanization on atmosphere?
13. Differentiate between conveyor and reservoir.
14. What are the impacts of urbanization on hydrosphere?
15. List the causes, effects and management options for the following environmental
issues.
∑ Air pollution
∑ Water pollution
Introduction 19
∑ Land degradation
∑ Loss of cultural and historical property
∑ Degradation of ecosystems
∑ Municipal solid waste management
∑ Hazardous waste management
∑ Inadequate drainage and sanitation
Descriptive Questions
1. Explain the importance of environmental education in the present-day context.
2. Explain the scope of environmental engineering.
3. ‘Knowledge about the environment is not an end, but rather a beginning.’ Explain.
4. List the types of environmental engineering taking place around your locality and
analyze its root causes.
5. Explain the scope of environmental engineering.
6. With the help of a neat sketch, explain the flow of matter among the various
components of the environment.
7. Explain the role of human beings in the grand-scale redistribution of chemicals on
earth.
8. List the major urban environmental issues in India.
9. Explain the components of environment and their major interactions.
10. Explain the impact of urbanization on the environment.
11. Explain the causes, effects and management options for the various urban
environmental issues.
12. What are the impacts of urbanization on the air quality in your locality?
13. What are the major obstacles in maintaining air quality in your locality?
14. Explain the impact of land use changes on the water quality of your nearest river.
15. If environmenal degradation is considered as a side-effect of development, express
your views on the current pattern of development activities in India.
16. ‘Biofuel is a cure worse than the disease.’ Comment on the statement.
17. Conduct a survey and find out how chemicals and various materials are distributed/
cycled in your campus.
Answers to Objective-Type Questions

1. (c) 2. (b) 3. (a) 4. (d) 5. (b) 6. (d) 7. (d)
8. (c) 9. (d) 10. (a) 11. (a) 12. (d) 13. (b) 14. (d)
15. (a) 16. (d)
2 ENVIRONMENT,
ECOSYSTEMS AND
BIODIVERSITY
“The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.”

Barry Commoner
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this chapter, students will be able to:
 Explain the concept, structure and function of different ecosystems.
 Illustrate the terms Food Chain, Food Web and Ecological Pyramid.
 Discuss the significance, variations and value of biodiversity with examples.
 Describe the biodiversity of India with examples of endemic species and hotspots in
biodiversity.
 Identify and list the endangered species of India and the major threats to biodiversity.
2.1 CONCEPT OF AN ECOSYSTEM—PRODUCERS,

CONSUMERS AND DECOMPOSERS
Ecology is the study of the relationship between organisms and their environment.
An ecosystem is a biotic assemblage of plants, animals, and microbes, taken together with
their physico-chemical environment. In an ecosystem the biological cycling of materials
is maintained by three groups, viz., producers, consumers, and decomposers/recyclers

(Fig. 2.1).
Fig. 2.1 Biological Cycling of Materials in an Ecosystem
Functionally, human activities that disturb the natural environment can also be
divided into three similar components (Fig. 2.2). An ecosystem relies on its decomposers
for a complete recycling of its elements, while the anthroposystem lacks such efficient
decomposers and recyclers. As such, manufactured materials that are no longer needed
and waste by-products of industrial activities are largely disposed into the physical
environment. Figures 2.3 and 2.4 illustrate the movement of chemicals and materials
through natural ecosystem and anthroposystem.
Fig. 2.2 Human Activities that Disturb the Natural Environment

Environment, Ecosystems and Biodiversity 23
Fig. 2.3 Movement of Chemicals and Materials through a Natural Ecosystem
Fig. 2.4 Movement of Chemical Materials through a System Resulting

from Human Activities (Anthroposystem)
2.1.1 Ecosystem–Anthroposystem Comparison

Table 2.1 gives a comparison of ecosystem and anthroposystem.
Table 2.1 Comparison of Ecosystem and Anthroposystem
Ecosystem Anthroposystem
Most of the materials are transferred from the producers to The flow from the producers to the recyclers is small or even
the recyclers, and only a small fraction is passed through the non-existent since it would be pointless to produce/ mobilize
consumers to the recyclers. materials and recycle them immediately without a consumer
in the loop.
The decomposers return most of the materials to the Much of the mobilized materials are transferred to the rest
producers for reuse. of the material environment, to the producer and to the
consumer.
Sustained development (ecosystem) is facilitated by a close There is usually a significant physical displacement between
physical proximity and functional matching between the the producer and the consumer.
producers and consumers.
2.2 STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF AN ECOSYSTEM

The structure of an ecosystem is the description of the organisms and physical features of
environment including the amount and distribution of nutrients in the ecosystem.
From the structure point of view, all ecosystems consist of the following basic
components:
Abiotic Components
Abiotic components of an ecosystem include basic inorganic elements and compounds, such
as soil, water, oxygen, calcium carbonates, phosphates and a variety of organic compounds.
Biotic Components
The biotic components include all living organisms present in the environmental system
which can be further classified into the following three types.
1. Producers (Autotrophic components)
2. Consumers
3. Decomposers
Function of all ecosystems are based on the following operations.
1. Reception of radiant energy of sun and manufacture of organic materials from
inorganic ones by producers.
2. Consumption of producers by consumers and further elaboration of consumed
materials.
Environment, Ecosystems and Biodiversity 25
3. Conversion of dead bodies of producers and consumers by decomposers into nutrients

which are suitable for reutilization by producers.
The structure and functional operations of an ecosystem is illustrated in Fig. 2.5.
Fig. 2.5 Structure and Functional Operations of an Ecosystem
2.3 ENERGY FLOW IN THE ECOSYSTEM

Figure 2.6 shows how both energy and inorganic nutrients flow through the ecosystem.
Energy “flows” through the ecosystem in the form of carbon-carbon bonds. When
respiration occurs, the carbon-carbon bonds are broken and the carbon is combined with
oxygen to form carbon dioxide. This process releases the energy, which is either used by
the organism (to move its muscles, digest food, excrete wastes, think, etc.) or the energy
may be lost as heat. The dotted arrows represent the movement of this energy. All energy
comes from the sun, and the ultimate fate of all energy in ecosystems is to be lost as heat.
Energy does not recycle.
The other components shown in the diagram are the inorganic nutrients. They are
inorganic because they do not contain carbon-carbon bonds. These inorganic nutrients
include the phosphorous in our teeth, bones, and cellular membranes; the nitrogen in our
amino acids (the building blocks of protein); and the iron in our blood. The movement
of the inorganic nutrients is represented by the open arrows. Note that the autotrophs
obtain these inorganic nutrients from the inorganic nutrient pool, which is usually the
Another random document with
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respect of each person so employed, must be entered immediately
on commencement of work in the process named.
Various methods of noting the state of health of the workers have
been adopted. Use of the words “Good,” “Very fair,” and “Fair,” is
common as indicating the state of general health, with special note in
addition, often in the form of a symbol, of the presence and character
of definite ill-effects. The object of the register, however, is to keep a
record intelligible not only to the Certifying Surgeon, Factory
Inspector, and occupier, but also to the workers. Entries, therefore,
on a uniform system are desirable, taking account of the two aspects
of the health of every lead-worker, which must be considered (a) that
indicative of specific effects from the occupation, and (b) that of
general health uninfluenced by the employment. With this in mind,
the following system of entry in the health register has been adopted:
The entries should be made upon a uniform system, as below, indicating
degrees of deviation from normal health, and distinguishing (by use of numerals)
those attributable (or possibly attributable, in whole or part) to work in lead, from
those not so attributable, for which latter letters should be used. The conclusion is
1 2
perhaps best expressed as a fraction , , and so on.
A C
The numerals should be taken to mean:
1. Passed without comment (no observed effect of lead).
2. Blue line (or indication thereof).
3. Marked (quasi-pathognomonic) anæmia, or other signs of impairment of
health. (Albuminuria, or slight deficiency in tone of the extensor
muscles of the forearm, would, and miscarriage, or other suspicious
history of illness between examinations, might, come under this head.)
4. Suspension or transfer, by reason of impairment of health from effects of
work in lead. (In such cases the surgeon would be prepared to
entertain an application for a certificate under the Workmen’s
Compensation Act.)
Except in the case of a worker whose exposure to lead is only recent, renal
disease should always be indicated by a numeral.
Letters should bear the following meaning:
a. No comment (i.e., fair general health).
b., c. Increasing degrees of impairment of general health. (Pregnancy, if
without suspension, should be entered as c.)
d. Suspension or transfer, for reasons other than impairment of health from
effects of work in lead.
x. Carelessness, or neglect of precautions, or unsuitability for work in lead.
(Suspensions for such reasons should be marked dx.)
Such entries of numerals and letters will in general suffice for the intended
purpose; but the surgeon may, of course, find it desirable to make other notes for
his own information, and it is within his discretion to supply further details to
occupiers or workers concerned.
REFERENCES.
[1], [2] S. King Alcock, B. M. Bond, A. Scott, and others, in discussion on
the Value of Systematic Examination of Workers in Dangerous Trades. Brit.
Med. Journ., vol. ii., pp. 741-749, 1902.
[3] King Alcock: The Early Diagnosis of Industrial Lead Poisoning. Paper
contributed to the Second International Congress for the Study of Industrial
Diseases held at Brussels, 1910.
CHAPTER XIV
PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST LEAD
POISONING—Continued
Overalls and Head Coverings.—Stress has been laid on the

wearing of overalls and head coverings in processes giving rise to
dust or to splashes of glaze or paint in special rules and regulations
in the past. With the improvement that has taken place in exhaust
ventilation, they have become less important. Indeed, the aim of all
manufacturers and ventilating engineers should be to render
processes so free of dust as to make them altogether unnecessary.
Increasing knowledge of the insidious manner in which lead dust can
arise has shown that from this point of view overalls of the cotton or
linen material ordinarily worn constitute a real source of danger.
Splashes of glaze dry on them, and at every movement involving
rubbing of the surface dust is generated. Some operations almost
oblige the worker to press the article worked upon against the chest,
so that chance of inhalation of dust from this source alone is
considerable. Taking them off creates dust, and after this is done a
reprehensible practice exists of either shaking or beating them
against a post. In large factories they are usually washed on the
premises, and the water in which this is done will become a solution
containing some lead in suspension. Hence, even when washed and
dried ready for wear, overalls may not be quite free of lead. Apart
from the general obligation recognized that an employer should
provide and maintain everything necessary to guard against danger
contracted in his factory, we think that the risk run by a worker in
taking the overall home and washing it there is negligible, and offers
advantages in the ultimate cleanliness of the overall over washing on
factory premises. Laundresses shaking overalls prior to washing
them have been known to contract plumbism.
Where work with the arms is incessant, as in the heading of yarn,
overalls are burdensome, and for this reason and the fact that with
efficient exhaust ventilation there should be practically no dangerous
dust, the regulations for the heading of yarn enjoin provision of them
only on written certificate of the Chief Inspector of Factories.
Protection for the clothing, however, where splashing is incidental
to the operations, cannot be dispensed with. Hence either the
overalls themselves or the front of them should be made of some
light ventilated waterproof material, or a waterproof apron worn over
overalls of the kind at present in use. Daily sponging would then take
the place of washing.
If lead dust be visible on the hair of workers, there must be a
defect in the conditions of work to be rectified by other means than
cumbering the head. In our opinion, head coverings ought never to
be necessary. We cannot think that an attack of plumbism can ever
be precipitated by the amount of lead dust inhaled on brushing the
hair.
A common provision in regulations for overalls is:
“Overalls shall be provided for all persons employed in lead processes, and shall
be washed or renewed every week.
“The occupier shall provide and maintain for the use of all persons employed in
lead processes—(a) A cloakroom or other suitable place in which such persons
can deposit clothing put off during working hours, and separate and suitable
arrangements for the storage of overalls required by regulation; (b) a dining-room,
unless all workers leave the factory during meal-hours.
“All persons employed in lead processes shall wear the overalls provided ... and
shall deposit such overalls and any clothing put off during working hours in the
places provided under the regulations. The overalls shall not be removed by
persons employed from the factory or workshop.”
General sense of propriety—and it is on this ground, and not from

danger attaching to non-observance, that we press it—suggests that
overalls should be kept apart from working clothes, and preferably
outside any room in which a lead process is carried on. So long as
actual contact between the two sets of garments is prohibited, we do
not see objection to the same cloakroom sufficing for both. The best
arrangement that we have seen is a room in which each worker has
two lockers—one for the storage of overalls, and the other for
clothing put off during working hours. This presupposes supervision
and effective discipline. We think that all reasonable need in the
provision to be made is met by numbered pegs on one side of the
room or wide passage for clothing, and on the other pegs
correspondingly numbered for the overalls. Means for heating and
drying the clothes should not be overlooked (see Fig. 8).
Fig. 8 shows a good arrangement in a white-lead factory, by which, as is best,

cloakroom, meal-room, and washing and bath accommodation, are all under
one roof. The men on entering hang up their clothes in the private clothes lobby,
and pass through the swinging doors to the lobby where the overalls are hung.
On leaving the factory and at midday they enter by the door leading into the
lobby for storing overalls, and from that pass to the lavatory and bathroom.
Having washed and put on their ordinary clothes, they enter the meal-room. The
building throughout is lined with white glazed bricks.
Fig. 8a.—Well Lighted Mess-Room in a Smelting Works.
Meal-Room Accommodation.—Wherever lead processes are

carried on the provision of a mess-room is called for in a part of the
factory remote from possible contamination from lead dust. This we
hold on general grounds of cleanliness and self-respect, and not
because we think the eating of meals in rooms where lead is used
would noticeably increase the number of cases. The more
conveniently situated in relation to the workrooms the mess-room is,
the more will it be used. Set out briefly, the requirements of a mess-
room are that it should be—
1. Well ventilated, warmed, and lighted.
2. Not less than 10 feet high, and with floor-space ample for each
person likely to occupy it at any one time.
3. Have walls the surface of which is smooth and impervious to a
height of at least 4 feet from the ground.
4. Have pigeon-holes or other arrangement in which each person
can deposit his food separate from that of others.
5. Have means of warming and cooking food.
6. Be kept properly clean and dry.
No part of a factory becomes so unsightly in the absence of daily
cleaning as a mess-room, especially where provision has only to be
made for five or six workers.
Reid[1] has suggested the following scale of floor-space per person
in mess-rooms:
6 persons and under 10¹⁄₂ square feet per person.
Over 6 and up to 12 7¹⁄₂ „ „ „
„ 12 „ 20 6 „ „ „
„ 20 „ 28 5¹⁄₂ „ „ „
„ 28 and any number 5 „ „ „
In a factory well known to us for manufacture of white lead there is

a restaurant originally started in connection with the sick club of the
factory. For fivepence the workman obtains a hot meal of meat,
bread, and vegetables. Any profits go to the sick fund. Since this has
been started improvement in the physical condition of the men has
been marked; several cases of anæmia and malnutrition have
entirely cleared up. No workman, as has already been emphasized,
should commence work in a lead factory unless he has had a good
meal—that is, unless there is some food at least in the stomach—
particularly albuminous food, such as milk, cocoa made with milk, or
café au lait. The most suitable foods generally for lead-workers are
those containing proteids—meat, eggs, milk, cheese, and fatty
foods. Acids—vinegar, pickles, and the like—are especially to be
avoided.
Section 75 (2) of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, requires
that, where lead or other poisonous substance is used so as to give
rise to dust or fumes, meal-room accommodation shall be provided.
The question, as a rule, is easily decided, but there are border-line
cases where doubt may arise, as, for example, in letterpress printing
factories in regard to dust, and in soldering operations in regard to
fume. Operations in the composing-room undoubtedly give rise to
dust, and in stereotyping and casting the débris trodden underfoot
causes dust to rise. In linotype rooms, however, in the present state
of knowledge, a difficult burden of proof would rest on the person
who sought to show that dust or fumes were present to such an
extent as to justify action under the section. And the same view
holds, in our opinion, in regard to soldering.
Lavatories.—The usual requirement for this in nearly all
regulations is:
The occupier should provide and maintain in good repair for all persons
employed in lead processes—
(1) Suitable lavatory accommodation, including at least one lavatory basin for
every five such persons, fitted with a waste pipe, or placed in a trough having a
waste pipe, and having a constant supply of hot and cold water laid on; or
alternatively troughs of enamel or similar smooth impervious material, fitted with
waste pipes without plugs, and having a constant supply of warm water laid on,
and affording a length of at least two feet of trough for every five such persons.
(2) Soap, nail-brushes, and a sufficient supply of clean towels, renewed daily.
Discipline, and responsibility placed on some one person to see to

the cleanliness of the lavatory appliances and adequate supply of
the necessary means for washing, can alone insure proper use of
them by the persons employed. The workman has so narrow a
margin of time in which to get his breakfast and dinner that he
cannot be expected to wash if facilities for doing so fail. The
alternative of an enamelled iron trough with jets of warmed water is
in our experience much the most satisfactory installation where the
number employed is more than five or six. Provision of soft soap or
of soap in the form of powder, and nail-brushes nailed to the table,
hinder peculation. Wooden stands for holding wash-basins present
almost invariably a most uninviting appearance unless covered with
sheet lead.
Well-equipped wash-hand basins with hot and cold water laid on
close to the work-place are sometimes provided in addition to the
lavatory proper. If looked after they are valued and used, but if not
they become converted into receptacles for oddments.
Fig. 9.—Good Washing and Bath Accommodation in a Lead Smelting Works.
Fig. 10.—Washing Trough, Douche Baths, and Clothes Cupboards.
Type common on the Continent.
Roller towels should be at least 15 square feet in area for every

three persons employed, and renewed daily.
The merits of soluble sulphides in “akremnin” soap have been
advanced on the ground that the lead is converted into the insoluble
black sulphide, which is thereby made visible to the eye, and the
sight of which will, it is hoped, still further stimulate the desire to
wash. Probably such lead as remains on the hands after well
washing with soap is so closely adherent to the skin as to render risk
of contamination of the food in this way negligible. Dr. Robertson,
Chemist of the Royal Gunpowder Factory at Waltham Abbey, has
found that results as good as those to be obtained from use of
akremnin soap (and without any discoloration of the skin) are
obtained from use of a solution made up as follows: Sal ammoniac
added to saturation to a solution containing 8·5 c.c. of commercial
hydrochloric acid (specific gravity, 1·15) per 100 c.c. of water. The
procedure adopted at Waltham Abbey is—(1) Usual washing with
soap, water, and a nail-brush; (2) scrubbing with the special solution
by means of a nail-brush dipped in it; (3) rinsing in water; and (4)
washing with soap and water.
Sommerfeld[2], from his wide experience, considers that pumice-
soap, with the addition of turpentine, is the best cleansing material
lead-workers can use.
Baths.—Provision of bath accommodation is required under the
special rules for white-lead factories and the regulations for electric
accumulators. In several factories, however, baths are provided for
the use of the workers. They naturally make for improvement in
general health, but we cannot regard provision of them, any more
than cloakrooms and mess-rooms, as likely to influence materially
incidence of lead poisoning in a factory. The three requisites of (1)
convenience and quickness, (2) comfort, and (3) regular use, can
best be secured by the use of shower baths in place of slipper baths.
The advantage they have are—(1) Initial cost of installation is less;
(2) economy in space; (3) economy in water; (4) economy in time
required for bathing; (5) no worker comes into contact with water
used by another; (6) cleansing must be from the head downwards.
Danger of scalding can be absolutely excluded by use of valve
levers, so placed in relation to one another that steam cannot be
turned on until the cold-water valve has been opened, and the heater
can be so arranged that the water is not raised above a definite
temperature.
Separation of Processes.—Lead processes should, as far as
possible, be carried on in such a way that there is aerial
disconnection of one process from another. Separate workrooms,
although desirable unless very small, may not always be possible,
but by exhaust ventilation processes may be arranged so that dust is
not a source of danger to persons working elsewhere. Instances
could be given where, in paint and colour works, persons employed
in the grinding of earth colours, in which no lead entered, succumbed
to attacks of plumbism from contiguity of the plant with that for
grinding lead colours. Threading up of castor runners on a wire
previous to dipping used to be done, prior to 1901, in the dipping-
house itself, with the result that some severe cases of poisoning
occurred. By the rules of 1901 the process was required to be done
in a place separate from any place where dipping (or other
scheduled process) was carried on, and very few cases have
occurred since. And if exhaust ventilation is relied on, Duckering’s
experiments (p. 206) show the attention to detail necessary to
prevent air charged with lead dust being drawn to the spot by the
fan. The need for separation of processes becomes less in
proportion as the cubic space of the room increases, and dust and
fumes are locally removed.
Age of Employment.—The same considerations as have been
stated above govern this point also. Wherever lead dust or fumes
arise, whether exhaust ventilation is applied or not, persons of either
sex under eighteen years of age are probably rather more
susceptible to attack by reason of natural failure to appreciate the
risk run. When periodical medical examination in addition to exhaust
ventilation has been adopted, the age limit can safely be reduced to
sixteen. Where handling only of metallic lead and ordinary soldering
with an iron are done, risk of contracting plumbism is so remote that
an age limit may be unnecessary.
Wall Surface.—Wherever walls are likely to be splashed, as in
dipping rooms and enamelling workshops, the inner surface of the
walls should be of glazed bricks or tiles or enamelled plates, any of
which help also in increasing the light necessary in such rooms. If,
on account of the cost, such perfectly smooth material is
impracticable, the walls should be painted with oil colour, which will
enable them periodically to be wet-cleansed. Dusting the walls is to
be deprecated. Hence accumulations of dust and débris on ledges,
rafters, beams, roofs, etc., should, in our opinion, only very
occasionally be cleaned down. We consider that the risk from one
big cleaning down is less than that from repeated small ones. (See
p. 218).
Floors.—These should be smooth and impervious. Wood
flooring can hardly be regarded as coming within this category; it is
unsuitable where lead processes are carried on. Preference must be
given to floors of concrete and the like material, which can be
washed down easily rather than swept. Frequently the dust raised in
sweeping the floor has determined an attack of lead poisoning. No
objection can be raised to wooden grids and iron roll matting placed
on the concrete floor for the workers to stand on. Cold feet and
transference of lead dust by the boots are lessened by their use.
Where traffic is heavy, as is often the case in lead works, vibration is
set up with wooden floors, and dust disseminated. In smelting works
cast-iron plates are serviceable as flooring.
Instruction of the Worker.—Too much stress cannot be laid on
this point. To insist upon it, however, is useless unless the occupier
has installed the necessary exhaust ventilation, and equipped his
factory with the other essentials for enabling the workman to guard
against dust and free his hands of adhering lead, in whatever form.
When this has been done, then the worker himself can do
something.
Often he creates dust unnecessarily. In shovelling out of a cask
with spade or trowel, in order to get out the last trace of the material
to be transferred, he generally gives it a knock, which causes dust to
fly so sharply as to escape the exhaust; or he removes the
implement quickly from the exhaust, before it has been completely
emptied and while dust is still being given off. He will use a brush to
clean his bench in preference to cleaning it by a wet method. The
printer may hold type between his teeth. Many workers bite their
nails. Moustache and beard may be fingered, and because of this
workers may even be advised to be clean-shaven. They may chew
or smoke constantly while at work, and will frequently eat with
unwashed hands.
Notices enjoining care and cleanliness may be, and often are,
hung up in the workrooms, or a leaflet, such as the one here printed,
is handed to the worker on his first examination by the surgeon.
Nothing, however, can take the place of actual verbal instruction
from occupier, foreman, and fellow-worker impressed with the
importance of the matter.
Lead Poisoning: how Caused and how best Prevented.

Unless great care is taken, work in lead and lead compounds is injurious to
health, because the lead enters the system and causes lead poisoning.
Danger is greatest from breathing leady dust or fume, but eating with unwashed
hands, and biting nails or putting such things as sweets or pipes into the mouth
while the fingers are soiled with lead, all help to cause poisoning.
Many workers in lead have a blue line round the edge of the gums, but the first
actual symptoms of the injurious action of lead on the system are costiveness,
colicky pains in the stomach, headache, and marked paleness. Occasionally
headache is associated with epileptic fits, a very serious condition, which may be
followed by loss of sight. “Wrist-drop,” loss of power in the muscles moving the
fingers and wrist, results sometimes from lead poisoning, and may cause
permanent disablement from work. It does not usually come on until after a person
has worked in lead for some years.
Lead, even if absorbed in small quantities, has a tendency to remain in the
system, and if care be not taken it will go on accumulating, so that in time the
health may become permanently damaged, even without any definite attack
recognized as lead poisoning.
Girls and boys, because they are not so likely to observe the necessary
precautions as grown-up people, should be closely watched. Women should be
especially careful, as the injurious effect of lead in them may seriously interfere
with the healthiness of their children.
As lead does not enter the system through the pores of the skin, it can in great
measure be avoided by—
1. Taking special care to avoid raising dust. It is to the interest of everyone to
see that ventilating arrangements are in order for carrying dust away at
the point where it is produced.
Any little cloud constantly made at work is sure, if breathed, to set up lead
poisoning. Where lead colours are used wet, danger arises from the
splashing of the material and its subsequent drying into dust.
2. Paying scrupulous attention to cleanliness of the hands, face, teeth, and
clothing. The hands and nails should always be cleaned with soap and
nail-brush before food is eaten, and it is a wise practice also to wash out
the mouth. The teeth should be brushed at least once a day, preferably
before the evening meal.
3. Never commencing work on an empty stomach. Food containing fat, such
as bacon and milk, is suitable.
Overall suits, if worn, should never be shaken to rid them of dust. They require
washing at least once a week.
Aperient medicine, such as Epsom salts (one or two teaspoonfuls in water), can
be taken once or twice a week with advantage by lead-workers.
Experience shows that the habits and home life of the workers influence their
liability to lead poisoning. Intemperate persons are the first to fall victims. Those
who begin work on an empty stomach incur additional risk by so doing.
Carefulness while at work, and cleanliness, offer the best means of escaping
attacks of lead poisoning.
Those who work in lead should keep in mind every hour of every working day
the importance of not breathing lead dust and not carrying lead to the mouth in any
way.
Medical advice should at once be obtained if signs of lead poisoning present
themselves.
REFERENCES.
[1] George Reid: Memorandum on Mess-room Accommodation: Appendix
XXV. of the Potteries Committee’s Report, vol. ii., 1910. Cd. 5278.
[2] Th. Sommerfeld: Die Bekämpfung der Bleigefahr, edited by Leymann,
p. 76.
CHAPTER XV
DESCRIPTION OF PROCESSES
Lead smelting—Red and orange lead and litharge—Letterpress printing—File-cutting—File-hardening—
Tinning of metals—Plumbing and soldering—Brass.
Lead Smelting and Silver Refining.—Lead poisoning very rarely occurs in lead
mining in Europe, as galena (sulphide of lead), the principal ore in which the metal is
found, is insoluble. Galena always, and other lead ores very often, contain a small
proportion of silver, ranging from 0·001 to 1 per cent., and at times traces of gold.
Owing to the great affinity of lead for silver, lead smelting is necessarily a process
preliminary to the extraction of silver and gold from it[1].
Lead ores, drosses, etc., on arrival at the factory, are, after sampling, deposited in
bins or heaps (often in the open air), and watered to prevent dust. All ores may, and
refractory ores (containing over 4 per cent. silica) and dross must, be smelted in a blast
furnace by aid of coke. The bulk of the charge in a blast furnace may consist of more
or less complex ores of the precious metals, especially silver.
When galena is treated in a blast furnace, preliminary roasting is indispensable, and
in many smelting works its treatment takes place in a reverberatory or open-hearth
furnace, and not in a blast furnace.
The three principal methods applicable to extraction of lead from ores are—(1) The
roast and reaction method; (2) the roast and reduction method; and (3) the
precipitation process.
By the roast and reaction method a part of the galena is first converted into oxide
and sulphate of lead with access of air. Subsequently, on shutting off the air-supply and
increasing the temperature, a reaction takes place. The sulphur in the unchanged
sulphide combines with the oxygen of the oxide and sulphate to form sulphur dioxide,
which is carried away by the draught into the bricked flue, leaving metallic lead behind.
The process is carried on in a reverberatory or open-hearth furnace.
In the roast and reduction method the first portion of the process is carried out in a
reverberatory furnace, the galena being roasted pretty completely to lead oxide and
sulphate, which are then—usually in a blast furnace—reduced to the metallic state with
coke and other reducing agents, such as iron.
By the precipitation process galena was decomposed at a high temperature by
means of metallic iron, forming a mixture of iron and lead sulphide. This method was
only applicable to rich lead ores, and is now given up.
The three methods are hardly ever independent of one another, as the rich slag or
residues, for instance, which are obtained by the first method are retreated by the
second, and the second is, as has been stated, almost always combined with the first.
On tapping the blast or reverberatory furnace, the lead is drawn off into a lead well or
sump, from which, when cool, it is ladled into moulds, while the slag is run into
movable metal pots or along specially-prepared channels. The slag run off from the
reverberatory furnace contains much lead locked up as silicate, which requires to be
retreated, usually in the blast furnace. During the roasting process much raking of the
material is necessary. The slag from the blast furnace should contain less than 1 per
cent. of lead.
On the Continent and in America, the Huntingdon-Heberlein process has been
extensively adopted, with lessened incidence of poisoning, the result of mechanical
methods of working, obviating hand labour, and the low temperature (diminishing risk
from lead fume) at which the roasting is carried on. In this process the crushed ore is
desulphurized by first mixing with lime and heating in presence of air in a revolving
furnace, provided with automatic rabble, at moderate temperature (about 700° C.).
Subsequently the roasted material is conveyed from closed bins, into which it falls
automatically, by dust-proof elevators to a converter, in which atmospheric air at slight
pressure is forced through it. The agglomerated mass so formed, when tipped out of
the converter (in doing which there is risk from dust), is well damped, broken by hand,
and charged with coke in the usual way into the blast furnace.
In some lead-smelting works the material arrives on the premises in the form of
ingots of base bullion—i.e., impure lead rich in silver—the product of previous smelting
of the ore where it is mined in Australia or Spain. And one of the main objects of the
blast-furnace smelting of galena in the factory is to produce a base bullion rich in
precious metals. The lead so obtained requires further softening or refining to get rid of
copper, antimony, arsenic, and tin. This is effected in a reverberatory furnace, first at a
low temperature to allow of formation of furnace dross, which is removed through the
working doors, and secondly with increase of heat and access of air to oxidize, in the
order named, the tin, arsenic, and antimony. Finally the lead is tapped into kettles or
pots. If free from silver, such lead, when poured into moulds, is ready for the market;
but if rich in silver, it is treated for the recovery of that metal either by (a) Pattinson’s
process, depending on the higher temperature of crystallization of lead than of an alloy
of lead and silver, which enables a separation of one from the other to be made by a
process of ladling the crystalline from the liquid portion; or, much more commonly, by
(b) Parkes’s process, depending on the formation, on addition of zinc to a pot of molten
lead, of crusts consisting of an alloy of silver, lead, and zinc. The crusts obtained in the
latter process, after cooling, are broken up, placed in a crucible, and the zinc driven off
at a temperature of 1,000° C. in a dezincing Faber du Faur retort. The rich bullion,
retained either in the last kettle by the Pattinson process, or remaining in the crucible
after dezincing, next undergoes cupellation—i.e., exposure to a blast of air in a
furnace. The lead is oxidized into litharge, which drops into a receptacle below the
furnace, leaving the silver behind. In all lead-smelting works the draught from the
furnace carries much dust of ore and fuel, and fume, consisting of sulphide, sulphate,
and oxides of lead, into the flues. The dust is easily collected in dust chambers, but the
fume requires ducts of great length—sometimes a mile or more—in which to deposit.
Dangers and Prevention.—The risk from dust in general labouring work, in
depositing the ores in bins, in removing them to, and charging them into, the furnace,
can only be controlled by watering, preferably by a spray. From the blast furnace lead
fume and carbon monoxide may escape at the point where charging is done, if there is
back pressure from blockage in the flues, or if the furnace blast is not working perfectly.
In tapping the lead and in manipulations such as charging, drossing, and skimming,
conducted through the doors of furnaces of all descriptions, hoods, extending at the
sides down to the floor level, require to be arranged over the working doors, and
connected either with ducts passing vertically through the roof or directly with the
exhaust created in the furnace or flue itself. Dross and skimmings removed through the
working doors should be received into iron trolleys capable of being covered, and not
be allowed to fall on to the floors, to be shovelled up later on to barrows. Before such
dross or slag from reverberatory furnaces is broken up for further treatment it should
be well watered.
Lead absorption among the men actually employed in the Pattinson and Parkes’s
processes is comparatively rare, as the temperature of the molten metal does not
exceed 450° to 500° C. When, however, the zinc-silver-lead and gold alloy is removed
for treatment in special furnaces for distillation off of the zinc, prior to cupellation, the
lead from the Parkes’s pot, now free from silver, but containing traces of zinc,
antimony, and other impurities, is run in some works into what are termed “market
pots” for a final refining. Air and steam are blown through to oxidize the impurities. The
pot is skimmed twice, the first dross containing antimony, etc., and the second a fine
dust consisting of lead (60 per cent.) and zinc. The risk of poisoning at this point is
considerable, although an exhaust fan connects up the cover of the pot with a cyclone
separator, to carry away the fume when the steam is blown through. In other works this
dezincing is done in a refining furnace, the material being then in a slaggy state, thus
hindering development of fumes. After the condensation of the zinc in the distillation of
the silver-lead and zinc crust the cover of the pot is raised, and the remaining metal,
containing 80 per cent. of lead at a temperature of about 2,000° F., is ladled out into
moulds for treatment in the cupelling furnace. The temperature at which this ladling
operation has to be done makes the work impossible for those unaccustomed to it.
Exhaust ventilation in the operation of emptying the pot, and cutting off the heat by a
water-cooled jacket, suggest themselves as means to combat the undoubted risk.
In cupellation the temperature is high (about 2,000° C.), and fume will escape from
the working door and from the opening where the rich lead is fed into the furnace. The
danger here is sufficiently recognized by hoods and ducts placed in front of the
furnace, but the draught, unless the ducts are connected up with a high-pressure fan,
may prove inadequate to carry away all the fume.
Flue-cleaning, carried out usually at quarterly or half-yearly periods, is dusty work, as
much of the dust is in so fine a state of division as to repel contact with water.
Smelting of other metals when the ores contain appreciable amounts of lead is
equally productive of plumbism. Thus, in the year 1901 fourteen cases were reported
from an iron works for the manufacture of spiegeleisen, the ore (now no longer used)
coming from Greece[2]. In previous years it would appear to have been even greater. A
remarkable feature of all the reported cases from this factory was that the form
assumed was colic, and never paralysis. The poisoning was due to vaporization of the
molten lead by the very high temperature to which it was raised as the molten iron
flowed out of the furnace on tapping. The danger from fume was limited to the first few
feet of the channel, as the heavier molten lead gravitated down between loose
brickwork into a pit. Dust collected above the point where the furnace was tapped
contained 39·77 per cent. of lead monoxide, and the flue dust 4·22 per cent.[3]. A
flannel respirator worn once only by one of the furnace men contained lead equal to 16
milligrammes of lead monoxide. In 1906 three cases were reported in the extraction of
copper. The persons affected were employed in charging ore into the cupola[4].
Heavy incidence of poisoning (twelve cases in two months) in a smelting works (now
closed) led to examination of sixteen men. The gums of only one man were free of a
blue line—in most it was particularly dense—eight were anæmic, one had paralysis of
the wrists, and five others weakness. Analysis of the air was made at different points in
the factory by the chemist of the works, G. D. Cowan, with the following results:
The samples from the cupola were taken from inside the hood (about 5 feet above the men’s heads).
The gas was filtered through cotton-wool, so that all solid particles were retained, and the remaining gas
was treated separately. The solid particles will be called “dust,” and the gas, after filtration, “fume.”
The cupola samples on being examined gave—
Dust, first sample 0·08152 grain of lead per cubic foot.
„ second sample 0·07297 „ „ „
Fume, first sample
- 0·00526 „ „ „
„ second sample
The samples from the lead well were taken 12 inches above the molten metal at the end of the lead
siphon, and gave the following results:
Dust 0·05653 grain per cubic foot.
Fume Nil.
The briquetting machine samples were taken from the platform where all the ore and fluxes are mixed
before briquetting.
The results obtained here were as follows:
Dust 0·95715 grain of lead per cubic foot.
Fume, or fine dust that passed through filter 0·01314 „ „ „
The reason for these high results was owing to dust raised when waggons of ore were tipped prior to
mixing.
Assuming that 20 cubic inches of air pass in and out of the lungs at each respiration,
a man in eight hours would inhale and exhale 94·4 cubic feet. This amount of air,
inhaled at the position in the cupola where the sample was taken, would contain
7·3818 grains of lead; at the lead well, 5·3064 grains; and at the briquetting machines,
91·5953 grains. Although the condition of the air where the men actually worked must
have contained much less than these amounts, the analyses quite serve to explain the
heavy incidence.
Collis[5] quotes the following analysis of dust and fumes from Hofman’s “Metallurgy
of Lead.”
Lead Smelting: Analyses of Dust and Fumes (from Hofman’s “Metallurgy of
Lead”).
Percentage of—
Material Arsenious Lead Lead
Analysed. Arsenic. Oxide. Lead. Monoxide. Sulphate.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
All dust collected in ten years, average — — 25·6 — —
Dust from—
Downcomers of eleven blast furnaces — — 47·5 — —
Roof of blast-furnace building — — 27·1 — —
Fumes from—
Slag pot while boiling — 4·8 — 41·0 26·2
Reverberatory settling furnace 2·3 — — 31·0 —
Flue dust—
Friedrichshütte, Silesia — — — 62·8 —
A 7·5 — 26·2 — —
Freiberg, Saxony - B 37·5 — 21·3 — —
C 46·4 — 16·2 — —
Pribram, Bohemia — 1·0 — 45·5 —
Collis[6] estimated the attack rate in lead-smelting works at 30, and in spelter works
at 10, per 1,000 per annum. In one factory he found it 80 per 1,000, and in a spelter
works five cases occurred in a few months among seven workers.
The distribution of the reported cases from year to year was as follows:
Process. 1900. 1901. 1902. 1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. 1911. Total.
Lead
smelting 21 26 13 13 7 10 16 21 31 28 21 33 240
Desilverizing 1 3 9 10 16 6 9 4 3 6 — 3 70
Spelter 5 11 3 4 4 5 9 2 31 25 12 11 122
Other
(copper,
iron, etc.) 7 14 3 10 6 3 4 1 5 7 1 1 62
34 54 28 37 33 24 38 28 70 66 34 48 494
Spelter (Zinc) Manufacture.—Lead is present in zinc ores in a proportion of from
1 to 10 per cent. (usually 3 per cent.). Despite this small proportion, incidence of
chronic plumbism among those engaged in the manufacture is high, as in the present
state of knowledge the lead fume given off in distillation of the zinc cannot be efficiently
removed. Blende (zinc sulphide) is first calcined, and the residue, after mixture with
calamine (zinc ashes) and anthracite, forms the charge for the furnace. The retorts are
arranged in long rows one above the other, and frequently back to back in the furnace,
so that there may be 250 or more to each furnace, and of the furnaces there may be
several in a shed. Attached to the retort is a fireclay receptacle (condenser) into which
the zinc distils, and an iron nozzle (prolong) to prevent oxidation in the condenser.
While distillation goes on the carbonic oxide gas evolved burns brightly, tinged with the
greenish-white colour imparted by the zinc. The products of combustion, with traces of
lead fume from the hundreds of prolongs, are discharged into the atmosphere of the
sheds, where temperature is high. The latest design of prolongs, however, has an exit
at which the products of combustion escape near the furnace, so that the greater
portion pass up into the ventilating hoods. Periodically—three times to each charge—
the workman removes the prolong, ladles out such zinc as has condensed, and pours
it into moulds. Finally, when distillation is completed, the contents of the retorts are
raked out, and it is in the fuming hot residues so deposited on the floors that much of
the danger arises. In distilling furnaces of modern design the hot residues fall through
openings in the window of the furnaces into “pockets,” in which they cool off
considerably before they are drawn out into iron skips. In another form of furnace used
in the manufacture of spelter (Silesian), the workman after charging can leave the

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2.7.1 Vertical Structure—Vegetation Layers 29

3.1.2 Sources of Air Pollution 57

4.4 Water Resources 121

5. Social Issues and the Environment 151

5.3 Water conservation 156

6. Human Population and the Environment 182

“The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.”

2.1 CONCEPT OF AN ECOSYSTEM—PRODUCERS,

Figures and tabLes

Social Issues and the Environment 157

Fig. 5.4 Typical Rainwater Harvesting Facility for a Building

Table 3.1 Potential Harmful Effects of Automobile Exhaust Pollutants

Pollutant Health effects Environmental effects

case studies and burning tOpics

CASE Canada: Education, Migration, Divorce

Answers to Objective-Type Questions

∑ Book-end appendix will give the reader

vention on Wetlands of International Importance especially

Fig. 1.1 Impacts of Human Activities on the Environment

1.2 IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

Fig. 1.2 Functions of Environmental Education

 Supports relevant education by focusing on learning local environments.

1.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Fig. 1.3 Some Core Areas of Environmental Engineering

1.4.1 The Gaia Theory

Fig. 1.5 Lovelock and the Gaia Theory

Fig. 1.6 Daisyworld Mathematical Model

1.5 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES—THE SUBJECT AND

Environmental issue/Topic Major subject/ Topic knowledge required

1.6 COMPONENTS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND

Fig. 1.7 Components of the Environment

Fig. 1.7(a) Atmosphere

Fig. 1.7(b) Hydrosphere

Fig. 1.7(c) Lithosphere

Fig. 1.7(d) Biosphere

1.7 HUMANS AND THE BIOSPHERE

1.8 IMPACTS OF DEVELOPMENT ON THE

1.8.1 Environmental Impacts of Urbanization

Environmental Population Urban component

Table 1.3 Summary of Urban Environmental Issues and Options

Problem area Effects Causes Management options

productivity losses  Cottage industry

Table 1.3 (Contd.)

Table 1.3 (Contd.)

Table 1.4 Pros and Cons of Biofuels

Fig. 1.8 Composition and Examples of Biofuel

8. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was signed in

14. Which of the following is an example of impact of developmental activities on the

Answers to Objective-Type Questions

“The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.”

2.1 CONCEPT OF AN ECOSYSTEM—PRODUCERS,

is maintained by three groups, viz., producers, consumers, and decomposers/recyclers

Fig. 2.1 Biological Cycling of Materials in an Ecosystem

Fig. 2.2 Human Activities that Disturb the Natural Environment