CHEMISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT
cod. 06699

Academic year 2007/08
2° year of course - First semester
Professor
Academic discipline
Chimica dell'ambiente e dei beni culturali (CHIM/12)
Field
"scienze della prevenzione nell'ambiente e nei luoghi di lavoro"
Type of training activity
Characterising
40 hours
of face-to-face activities
5 credits
hub:
course unit
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Learning objectives

<br />The objective of this course is to provide the basic concepts for the comprehension of:<br />1) origin, reactions, transport of chemicals in the atmosphere, water, soil as well as their effects an the human health an the natural environment<br />2) new industrial and research approaches for the synthesis of chemicals through low impact industrial processes<br />3) reference legislation frame concerning waste management and ”chemical reading” of Decree 334/99 (Seveso 2).

Prerequisites

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Course unit content

<br /> <br /><br />Concept and definition of pollutant<br />Molecular structure physical chemical properties relationship, Kow, Henry’s law and Henry’s constant<br />Relationship between molecular structure ad reactivity: short accounts on basic thermodynamic and kinetic concepts <br />Abiotic transformation and degradation processes: oxidation, hydrolysis phototransformation and photodegradation, estimation of photolysis rate constants or phototransformation rate constants, example of calculation<br />Short accounts on biotransformation and degradation processes, kinetics of transformation and degradation<br />Petroleum hydrocarbons: chemical nature of petroleum and its average composition, the industrial chemistry of petroleum. Hydrocarbons in the environment: dispersion, evaporation, dissolution, photooxidation, microbial transformation. Petroleum and aquatic organisms.<br />Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins: nomenclature, origin, their physical chemical properties, environmental distribution and behaviour, toxicity, ITEF.<br />Synthetic polymers: classification and nomenclature code, methods for the synthesis of polymers. Environmental characteristics of synthetic polymers: combustion, biodegradation, photodegradation, recycling.<br />Pesticides: chemical structure and synthesis of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides, organophosphates, carbamates, pyretrins and pyretroids. Physical chemical properties of pesticide, their environmental properties, toxicity, bioaccumulation properties, ecological effects.<br />Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: their chemical nature, origin, environmental behaviour, carcinogenicity and effects on human health and the environment.<br />Soaps and detergents: classification and their synthesis, the active cleaning agents, builders, bleachers. Toxicity, biodegradation, sorption and bioaccumulation.<br />Chemistry of natural water: carbon and nitrogen transformations in natural water bodies, salinity of seawater, vertical depth profile of seawater composition.<br />Water pollution: influence of chemical processes on dissolved oxygen, BOD, kinetic of BOD reduction, seasonal variation and vertical profile of dissolved oxygen, anaerobic degradation processes, the effects of organic wastes. <br />Atmospheric chemistry and pollution: vertical profile of atmospheric temperature and pressure, the role of OH radical, ozone cycle, hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. CFCs: classification, CFCs and the ozone layer, their ODP and GWP. NOx and SOx: sources, toxicity and their impact on the environment.<br />Soil contamination: sources and distribution of contaminants, soil/water partition process, soil/organism process, ecological and health effects of soil contamination.<br />Distribution of chemicals in the environment: two-phase partition processes in the environment, the fugacity concept, fugacity and chemical distribution, the fugacity capacity factor (Z), chemical distribution in a model environment, example of distribution calculation.<br />Basic principle of Green Chemistry: comparison between classical and low impact innovative industrial synthesis of chemicals, the ideal reaction, atom economy, the Environmental factor (E), use and selection of the reaction media.<br />Chemical aspects on waste management within the Decree 22/97 (D. Ronchi): waste classification. Chemical aspects of the low 334/99 (Seveso 2 o grandi rischi).<br />An integral part of the course will be the a cycle of seminars, organized autonomously by groups of students focused on subjects of the frontal lectures and aimed at deepening aspects of environmental chemistry in a wider conception.

Full programme

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Bibliography

<br />Basic Concepts of Environmental Chemistry Des W. Connell; Lewis Publishers, N.Y.(1997).<br />Environmental Organic Chemistry R.P. Schwarzenbach, P.M. Gschwend, D.M. Imboden; J. Wiley& Sons, Inc. (1993).

Teaching methods

<br />Teaching method: frontal lectures, integrated with deepening seminars, organized autonomously by groups of students, focused on topics of the theortical part of the course.<br /> <br />Evaluation criteria: The ability of the candidate to autonomously accede to primary literature sources concerning a specific environmental issue and frame it in a critical manner within the topics of the course will be evaluated. 

Assessment methods and criteria

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Other information

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