18: Environmental Justice and Pollutants
- Page ID
- 94362
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- 18.2: Environmental Toxicology
- Environmental toxicology is the scientific study of the health effects associated with exposure to toxic chemicals (Table 1) occurring in the natural, work, and living environments. The term also describes the management of environmental toxins and toxicity, and the development of protections for humans and the environment.
- 18.3: Bioremediation
- Bioremediation is a waste management technique that involves the use of organisms such as plants, bacteria, and fungi to remove or neutralize pollutants from a contaminated site. According to the United States EPA, bioremediation is a “treatment that uses naturally occurring organisms to break down hazardous substances into less toxic or non toxic substances”.
- 18.4: Case Study - The Love Canal Disaster
- One of the most famous and important examples of groundwater pollution in the U.S. is the Love Canal tragedy in Niagara Falls, New York. It is important because the pollution disaster at Love Canal, along with similar pollution calamities at that time (Times Beach, Missouri and Valley of Drums, Kentucky), helped to create Superfund, a federal program instituted in 1980 and designed to identify and clean up the worst of the hazardous chemical waste sites in the U.S.