Yllana Bay View College, Inc.

“The Builder of Future Leaders”

Senior High School Department
Enerio Street, Balangasan District, Pagadian City
Contact Number: (062) 2154176 / Email Address: [email protected]

EARTH
SCIENCE
NAME OF STUDENT: ______________________________________________________
YEAR & BLOCK: ______________________________ GROUP:
________

09357431309
Debbie P. Maglangit
[email protected]
.

Teacher’s Profile

Debbie P. Maglangit
SCIENCE INSTRUCTOR
CONTACT #: 09357431309
PUROK NAWASA, NAPOLAN PAGADIAN CITY

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT:
BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SCIENCE
WESTERN MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY-PAGADIAN CAMPUS

WEEK 11: HUMAN ACTIVITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

 Humans cope with the progressively rising living standards through industrialization,
modernization, and innovation in technologies. Humans exert e ffort to improve the ways in
transportation, food security processes in the form of agriculture, and harnessing energy sources to
make living much more comfortable to the present and future generations. The drawback, however, is
the inevitable production of immense amounts of wastes, which are by-products of these
developments. Some of these wastes are treated properly for proper disposal but most goes
directly to the environment and accumulate.

Human activities have caused various changes in the environment and still continue to pose
threat to its health status. Each type of human activity creates various forms of waste products
that, once able to accumulate in the environment, can cause deterioration in the pristine condition
of the ecosystem. What are the different forms of waste that go into our environment? How can we
differentiate them from one another?

LEARN ABOUT IT!

Waste refers to any discarded or rejected material mainly from human activities and some other
processes. The management and regulation of these waste materials vary depending on the waste
type. Thus, correct classification of these waste materials is crucial for proper waste management.

Since wastes come in many forms across di fferent geographic, environmental, industrial,
and demographic settings, there exist numerous classifications and regulatory schemes, which make
an accurate classification challenging.

In general, and for simplicity, wastes can be classified as solid and liquid wastes.

SOLID WASTES
Solid wastes , as their name implies, refer to wastes that are in solid form. Solid wastes are
further subdivided as either putrescible or non-putrescible.

Biodegradable Wastes
Biodegradable wastes have organic matter capable of being naturally decomposed by
microorganisms, which can cause formation of malodorous and toxic substances. These include
food wastes and animal and human waste in the form of excrements and cadavers.

Nonbiodegradable Wastes
Nonbiodegradable wastes , unlike putrescible waste, do not decompose easily and may either
be combustible or incombustible. Since this type of waste does not break down easily, it
persists in the environment, often causing inconvenience and aesthetic problems. The most
common examples of this are plastic materials, bottled water containers, paper, and glass.

LIQUID WASTES
Liquid wastes are those that are in liquid form, freely flowing when transported or heated to
60°C and are not capable of being picked up by a spade or shovel. Examples of these are household
and industrial wastewater and like human and animal excreta.

Domestic Wastewaters Domestic wastewaters are liquid wastes

coming from domestic residential areas. These are products
of our daily living coming from our various activities like
food preparation, washing of clothes, bathing, and toilet
usage. Blackwater and greywater are products of most
domestic areas that pass through piped water supply. These are also referred to as sewage
that can be described as the combination of all these types of liquid waste.

Effluent
Effluent is the wastewater that flows out from a specific
source. This wastewater often requires treatment before it
can be released to water bodies like lakes and rivers.
Effluent from commercial areas like restaurants and
hotels contain very high amounts of oil from cooking
processes that are aided by grease traps incorporated in
the pipelines. These help remove the oil from the water
before it can be released into the environment.

Gas Wastes
Gas wastes are any gaseous material due to be discarded.
These are usually waste products from household and
industrial equipment. These include fumes from motor
vehicles and exhaust cooling agents, such as freons from
air-conditioning units. The gaseous wastes are mainly generated
by the anthropogenic activities. These include methane oxides
of nitrogen (NO x ), (CH 4 ), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ),
chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), carbon monoxide (CO), and oxides
of sulphur (SO x ). These gases can be a serious environmental
pollutant that is hazardous to both environment and human
health. Proper management is highly needed.

Hazardous Wastes
Hazardous wastes have properties that pose a substantial threat
to the environment and to the health of the public. These are
generated from many sources, ranging from industrial
manufacturing processes to electronic wastes, and they come in
many forms including liquids, solids and gases.

For a waste to be considered hazardous, it should be:

a. Toxic: It causes injury or death when inhaled or ingested.
b. Flammable: It can easily ignite and burn rapidly.
c. Corrosive: It can burn skin on contact and can erode away the surface of.
d. Reactive: It can react with other substances to produce toxic vapors or explosions.

Examples of hazardous wastes include:

(1) strong acids, bases, and cyanides;
(2) flammable chemicals such as fuels, kerosene, gasoline, and methanol;
(3) electronic wastes, such as batteries and computer parts;
(4) and special wastes. These materials often come with specific signs to inform people about its
presence in the environment.

Special Wastes
Special wastes , as the name implies, require special or
unique regulatory requirements to lessen their potential of
causing harm. Special wastes include clinical and asbestos
waste.

Clinical Wastes
Clinical wastes originate from medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and
other related activities and facilities. These include wastes
containing human tissue, body fluids or blood, laboratory
specimens and cultures, as well as animal tissues and
carcasses. Clinical wastes can be further classified as cytotoxic wastes (contaminated by residues
toxic to cells), drug wastes (include those with pharmaceutical
and chemical substances that can be poisonous), and sharp
wastes (potentially injurious and infectious materials with
sharp edges used in medical practices such as syringe needles
and other surgical apparatus).
 Asbestos Wastes
Asbestos wastes refer to any waste containing the hazardous mineral asbestos which is a fibrous form
of silica mineral. Since asbestos exists in fibrous forms, it can be easily inhaled and ingested, thereby
causing severe health problems such as lung cancer.

CAUSES OF WASTES
Looking at your surroundings, you will be able to see a lot of waste items that come from
different sources. Solid, liquid, gaseous, and hazardous wastes are products of di fferent human and natural
processes that are essential to sustain the increasing demands of mankind. What causes the accumulation of
wastes the environment? Where specifically these wastes come from?

Waste production comes from different sources. These sources can be classified under two general
causes, namely anthropogenic and natural sources.

Causes of Wastes Production

Wastes can be caused by humans, or they may originate from the environment through natural
processes.

Anthropogenic Wastes
Anthropogenic wastes are those generated from various human activities. This unit will primarily focus
on this kind of waste.

Natural Wastes
Natural wastes are those originating from the environment, particularly from natural processes. These
are usually wastes that are produced by Earth’s di fferent natural phenomena. Natural wastes include
matter brought about by dust storms and typhoons, left by forest fires, and even the byproducts of
different biological processes such as animal excreta after digestion and the decay of organisms. In a
sense, these wastes are simply a temporary inconvenience as these are eventually reintegrated into other
processes.

1. Residential Sources
2. Agricultural Sources
3. Commercial Sources
4. Mining Sources
5. Industrial Sources

World’s Waste Generation

Various regions across the globe
generate varying amounts of wastes every
year due to varying levels of income
and degree of industrialization. These
are summarized in Figure 11, based on
a report released by the World Bank
in 2012.

EFFECTS OF WASTES
 Without proper disposal and management of excessive wastes, the impacts they have on the
environment, the economy, and the health and safety of the public are amplified. The following
are the effects of wastes in different aspects of life:

1. Economic and Aesthetic Impact

2. Environmental Impact
 Soil
 Water Bodies
 Atmosphere
 Effects of Mining
3. Pollution Impact
 Water Pollution
 Air Pollution
 Radioactive Pollution
 Soil Pollution
 Thermal Pollution

MANAGING WASTES

Prepared by:

DEBBIE P. MAGLANGIT, LPT

Instructor