91677 - Chemistry and Control of Pollutants

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will be capable to recognise contaminants and pollutants in the various environmental compartments (air, water, soil, biota) according to the present regulations including the standardized methodologies required by the regulation themselves.

Sources of pollution and environmental fate concept will be addressed

Practical advice about how to sample and analyse environmental matrices in order to obtain the maximum compositional/environmental information will be given

Course contents

Purpose and Scope of Environmental Legislation

European Environmental Legislation

Concepts of Pollutant, Contaminant, and Environmental Background (Natural and Non-Natural)

Conservative and Non-Conservative Chemical Species

Environmental Residence Time: How Persistent Are Pollutants in the Environment?

Environmental Fate of Pollutants - Role of Fluids (Air and Water): How Reactivity and Transport Affect the Environmental Composition Downstream of a Release - How Far Does a Pollutant Travel after being released?

Air Pollutants, Hydrosphere, Soil, Biosphere, and Sediments - Biogeochemical Cycles

Hydrological Cycle - Role of Airborne Particulate Matter in Atmospheric Deposition, Beginning with Cloud Formation - Hygroscopicity of Particulate Matter - pH of Natural and Polluted Rain, Fog, and Particulate Matter - Physical, Chemical, and Biological Weathering - Soil Formation and Its Nature and Environmental Role - Runoff - Surface and Groundwater - Aquatic Particulate Matter - pH and Redox Potential of Planetary Waters - Influence on the Fate of Inorganic Pollutants - Eh/pH Diagrams (Pourbaix)

Bioindicators

Environmental Monitoring and Environmental Archives: Importance of Temporal and Chronological Assessments in the Evolution of Environmental Conditions

POPs - Grasshopper Effect - DDT and Other Halogen Derivatives - Perfluorocompounds (Forever Chemicals) - PAHs and the Environmental Role of Combustion in Civilization/Society - The Mercury - New classes of pollutants: pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and hygiene products

Analytical requirements in the environmental field (concept of environmental matrix, limits of detection and quantification, practical laboratory measures). Representativeness of the environmental sample - Types of datasets: spot samples, time-series samples


The concept of environmental monitoring


Historical and contemporary pollutants: relationship between ancient and modern technologies


The role of the United Nations in terms of health, environment, climate, pollution, agriculture, radioactivity, and the European Environment Agency - Relationship between ECHAM and REACH, their relationship with environment and health

Integrated methodologies for studying pollution phenomena

Readings/Bibliography

Slides provided by the teacher

Reviews and articles from scientific journals

Titolo del Libro: Chimica ambientale

Autori : Colin Baird Michael Cann Lanciotti

Editore: Zanichelli

Edizione: 3° (2013)

Teaching methods

Whiteboard and PowerPoint presentations
Teaching materials: Slides (4 files) and PDFs containing background material to support the slides. All files are published on Insegnamenti virtuale.unibo.it. Please check the class spaces, announcements, and email regularly.

 Taking written notes during lessons is highly recommended to support the lerning process

Assessment methods

Oral exam split as follows:

1) oral presentation of a powerpoint (5-6 slides) on a topic covered by the course based on a recent scientific article agreed with the teacher

2) two questions on the program of the course

Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) or temporary/permanent disabilities are advised to contact the University Office responsible in a timely manner (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en ). The office will be responsible for proposing any necessary accommodations to the students concerned. These accommodations must be submitted to the lecturer for approval at least 15 days in advance, and will be evaluated in light of the learning objectives of the course.

Teaching tools

powerpoint slides by the teacher

case studies treated by the teacher

Office hours

See the website of Laura Tositti