Marine PollutionMarine Pollution

Comenius ProjectComenius Project

WATERWATER

THE BASIC INGREDIENT FOR THE BASIC INGREDIENT FOR LIFE . . .LIFE . . .

• Covers 70 % of Earth’s surface

• Most precious natural resource

• Consists of oxygen & hydrogen : without them there is no life

. . . BUT WE POLLUTE IT. . . BUT WE POLLUTE IT

We pollute :

• Rivers

• Lakes

• Oceans

We harm :

• Our planet

• All the living organisms

• Ourselves

MARINE POLLUTIONMARINE POLLUTION

Marine pollution is the entry into the ocean of chemicals and particles which have a harmful effect on any living organism that drinks or uses or live in it.

CAUSES OF MARINE POLLUTIONCAUSES OF MARINE POLLUTION1.

• Sewage

• Fertilizers

2.

• Soil

• Wash-off plowed fields

• Construction & logging sites

• Urban areas

• Eroded river banks

3.

• Petroleum substances

• Radioactive substances

• Heat

CONSEQUENCES OF MARINE CONSEQUENCES OF MARINE POLLUTIONPOLLUTION

Marine pollution has disastrous consequences to our environment and to our life :

1. Pollution causes eutrophication (excessive phytoplankton growth). Phytoplankton uses more oxygen, and thus decreases its level in the sea, causing live organisms to die

2. Pollution is taken up by plankton and then by fish. As most animal feeds contain high fish meal and fish oil content, toxins can be found in commonly consumed by people food items like meat, eggs, milk, butter and margarine etc

CASE STUDYCASE STUDY MARINE POLLUTION IN ELEFSINA MARINE POLLUTION IN ELEFSINA

GULFGULF

CASE STUDYCASE STUDY MARINE POLLUTION IN ELEFSINA MARINE POLLUTION IN ELEFSINA

GULFGULF• Measurements taken by: University of Athens

• Area measured : Elefsina to Aspropyrgos

• Depth measured : 100 meters

• Substances found : cadmium, arsenic, cyanide,lead, zinc, mercury

• Damage : Irreparable

• Cause of damage : Ano Liosia landfill

• Side effects : Toxic & heavy metals in all Saronic Gulf

• Danger : If the substances come to the surface, all life in the Gulf will

be killed

The area of Aspropyrgos, as it is an industrial area, is expected to be more polluted than the area of Loutropyrgos which is an urban area with relatively low levels of pollution

To test our hypothesis we followed an experimental procedure.

HYPOTHESISHYPOTHESIS

• In February, we collected water samples from the areas of Aspropyrgos and Loutropyrgos

• One week later, we took the samples to the University of Athens to analyze them and study them using two (2) methods :spectrophotometry and filtration, to find the chlorophyll, the nitrates and the floating particles

SAMPLING & STUDYINGSAMPLING & STUDYING

Spectrophotometry

It measures the intensity of a colour in a solution and relates it to the concentration of the analyte. It can be measured by visual comparison, by a colorimeter or a spectrophotometer

Filtration

The water is passed through a fine-pore filter which is used to separate “suspended” from “dissolved” portions of the analyte. The analyte may be the suspended matter captured on the filter or the filter may be used to clarify the water for analysis of a dissolved material

METHODS OF ANALYSIS USEDMETHODS OF ANALYSIS USED

METHODS OF ANALYSIS USEDMETHODS OF ANALYSIS USED

Spectrophotometry

Filtration

FINDING THE FLOATING PARTICLES

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDUREEXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

We filter in tared filters :

a. One (1) litre from the Aspropyrgos sample

b. One (1) litre from the Lourtopyrgos sample

We leave the filters in a dryer to let all the water out. Then we weigh the filters with the floating particles left on them, and the weight of the particles is calculated by subtraction. If we divide the weight of the particles by the volume of the sample we find the concentration of floating particles

SampleSample Concentration in floating Concentration in floating particlesparticles

(mg/L)(mg/L)

AspropyrgosAspropyrgos 9,59,5

LoutropyrgoLoutropyrgoss

99

FINDING THE CHLOROPHYLL

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDUREEXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

We filter:

a. Two (2) litres from the Aspropyrgos sample

b. Two (2) litres from the Lourtopyrgos sample

The measurement of light absorption was calculated with a spectrophotometer UV-VIS in two wavelengths : 665nm and 750nm in a trajectory 5 cm.

First we measured the samples as they were and then we measured them after we added eight (8) drops of HCI.

FINDING THE CHLOROPHYLL

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDUREEXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

Wave lengthWave length AbsorptionAbsorption

Sample ASample Aoo

AbsorptionAbsorption

Sample+HCI Sample+HCI AAaa

665nm665nm 0,84600,8460 0,97300,9730

750nm750nm 0,76050,7605 0,84800,8480

Aspropyrgos Sample

Wave lengthWave length AbsorptionAbsorption

Sample ASample Aoo

AbsorptionAbsorption

Sample+HCI Sample+HCI AAaa

665nm665nm 0,54020,5402 0,48770,4877

750nm750nm 0,49880,4988 0,46630,4663

Loutropyrgos Sample

FINDING THE CHLOROPHYLL

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDUREEXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

For the calculation of the concentration (mg/L) of the chlorophyll, we used the following equation :

Cchlorophyll = 26,7 * |E665o – E665

a|*8

V*5The final values are the following :

AspropyrgoAspropyrgos Samples Sample

Loutropyrgos Loutropyrgos SampleSample

Concentration Concentration (mg/L) of (mg/L) of chlorophyll -achlorophyll -a

0,84370,8437 0,42720,4272

FINDING THE NITRATES

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDUREEXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

We took a specified quantity of the sample (40 ml) filtered + a specified quantity of solution A + a specified quantity of solution B and we measured the absorption of the monochromatic light

• Absorption measurement :Spectrophotometer UV-ViS CARY

• Wave length : 543 nm

•Trajectory : 5 cm

FINDING THE NITRATES

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDUREEXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

The measurements of absorption we took were the following :

SampleSample AbsorptionAbsorption Average Average calculated calculated absorptionabsorption

AspropyrgoAspropyrgoss

Measurement 1 : Measurement 1 : 0,05460,0546

Measurement 2 : Measurement 2 : 0,05260,0526

0,05360,0536

LoutropyrgoLoutropyrgoss

Measurement 1 : Measurement 1 : 0,05710,0571

Measurement 2 : Measurement 2 : 0,05410,0541

0,05560,0556

FINDING THE NITRATES

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDUREEXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

The mathematical relation between the absorption (A) from the coloured product and the concentration c in nitrous (NO2) in the sample is :

A=a*c+βReplacing the values of a and β we can find c

A=0,4726*c+0,0525

c = A – 0,0525

0,4726

FINDING THE NITRATES

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDUREEXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

So, the final results are :

SampleSample Concentration in NOConcentration in NO22

C (mgions/L)C (mgions/L)

AspropyrgosAspropyrgos 0,00230,0023

LoutropyrgosLoutropyrgos 0,00650,0065

From the experimental procedure, we came to the conclusion that the level of pollution in both areas (Aspropyrgos & Loutropyrgos) is very low.

This is because the Elefsina Gulf has been cleaned during the last years.

The pollution present in the Gulf comes from municipal and agricultural waste and not industrial.

RESULTSRESULTS

ACTIONS TO REDUCE POLLUTIONACTIONS TO REDUCE POLLUTION1. International and national agreements on safety

precautions

2. Public-private partnerships

3. “Think globally, act locally”

4. Improved surveillance of health effects

5. Education

6. Improving the health and living conditions

7. Conservation activities

8. Learning from past disasters

9. Developing risk assessment and health and environmental impact assessments

10.Developing and promoting the use of environmentally safe technologies

THE PROJECT WAS MADE BYTHE PROJECT WAS MADE BY::