CHM576 Lec1

CHM576
ENVIRONMENTAL
CHEMISTRY
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

PAHANG
DEFiNiTiON
Environmental
Chemistry is the
scientific study of
the chemical and
biochemical
phenomena that
occur in natural
places.
Environmental
chemistry is an
interdisciplinary science
that includes
atmospheric, aquatic
and soil chemistry, as
well as heavily relying
on analytical chemistry
and being related to
environmental and
other areas of science.
Environmental chemistry involves first
understanding how the uncontaminated
environment works, which chemicals in what
concentrations are present naturally, and with
what effects. Without this it would be impossible to
accurately study the effects humans have on the
environment through the release of chemicals.
Outline
Atmosphere
General
physical
structure
chemical
composition
Earths Atmosphere
The atmosphere is a gas.
There is a surface but no top the atmosphere

gradually thins out with increasing altitude
The Composition And Structure Of The
Atmosphere
Composition of the
atmosphere
Permanent Variable
gasses gasses
Composition of the Atmosphere
permanent gases
roles of nitrogen, oxygen and argon
variable gases
role of water vapor
trace gases
carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, CFCs, et al.
aerosols
suspension of fine particles or liquid droplets in a gas
The composition of gases in the atmosphere is not

uniform.
Lighter gases tend to rise to the top.
Gases are measured in ppm volume, which

is directly proportional to mole fraction.
Near the Earths surface, about 99% of the
atmosphere is composed of nitrogen and
oxygen.
Oxygen has a much lower bond enthalpy
than nitrogen, and is therefore more
reactive.
The dry atmosphere: 78% N2, 21% O2, 1% Ar
N2 is primordial its been part of the
atmosphere as long as theres been an
atmosphere
O2 has been rising from none at all about 2.2
Gya comes from photosynthesis
Ar40/Ar36 tells us that the atmosphere has
been outgassed from volcanoes
Permanent Gasses
Variable Gasses
Variable gases
Water Vapor: H2O (0-4%)

H2O can exist in all three phases at the surface of the
Earth solid, liquid and gas
Liquid or solid H2O can be suspended by atmospheric
winds (clouds) or fall to the surface (precipitation)
VERY powerful greenhouse gas (both in vapor form
and as clouds)
The Hydrological Cycle
Carbon dioxide
390 ppm (by mass)
Natural and anthropogenic sources
Strong greenhouse gas (GHG)
The important:
CO2 is a product of the reaction that allows modern civilization to
exist: combustion.
Increasing atmospheric CO2
concentration
Atmospheric increase
= Emissions from fossil
fuels
+ Net emissions from
changes in land use
- Oceanic uptake
- Terrestrial sinks
Methane
CH4 concentration: 1.8 ppmv
anthropogenic and natural sources
powerful greenhouse gas
oxidizes rapidly, hence low concentrations
Large concentrations proposed to explain
greenhouse warming of early Earth
Methane Emissions
Energy production and consumption
coal mining
natural gas systems
Waste management
landfill gas
Agriculture
manure management
cattle (enteric fermentation)
rice cultivation
21
Ozone, CFCs and NOx
Ozone (O3)
shields the surface from UV rays
produced by reaction with NOx and sunlight near the surface
CFCs (Chlorofluorocarbons)
destroy stratospheric ozone
chlorine is a catalyst: it destroys one O3 molecule and then
is free to find another
Ozone at high altitudes (stratosphere) is good;
ozone at low altitudes (troposphere) is bad.
Aerosols
Dust
Sea-spray
Microbes
Aerosols & Pollutants
Human and natural

activities displace tiny
soil, salt, and ash
particles as
suspended aerosols,
as well as sulfur and

nitrogen oxides, and
hydrocarbons as
pollutants.
Structure of the Atmosphere
Solar Energy as Radiation
Figure 1.1
Nearly 150 million kilometers separate the sun and earth, yet solar radiation drives
earth's weather.
Structure of the atmosphere
Layers of the atmosphere
***All info based on moving upward
through the atmosphere
TROPOSPHERE
Lowest and thinnest layer
16 km at equator, 8 km at poles
90% of the atmospheres mass
Temperature decreases with altitude
6C per kilometer
Top of troposphere averages 50C
Where weather occurs
Boundary between the troposphere, and
the stratosphere is called the tropopause
The Troposphere
Location of all weather
Pressure decreases
Temperature decreases
Wind increase
Clouds variable then decrease . Little water

vapor by the tropopause
Great instability, much vertical mixing

STRATOSPHERE
Extends from 10 km to 50 km above the ground

Less dense (less water vapor)
Temperature increases with altitude
Almost no weather occurrence
Contains high level of ozone
> ozone layer
Upper boundary is called stratopause
The Stratosphere
Pressure decreases
Temperature increases
Very stable air, little vertical mixing
Location of the Ozone layer
UV light produces and destroys O3
O2 UV O+O
O2 + O O3
O3 UV O2 +O
MESOSPHERE
Extends to almost 80 km high

Gases are less dense.
Temperature decreases as altitude
increases.
Gases in this layer absorb very little
UV radiation.
The Mesosphere
Pressure decreases
Temperature decreases
Where meteors begin to

burn
THERMOSPHERE
above the mesosphere and extends to

almost 600 km high
temperature increases with altitude
readily absorbs solar radiation
Temperature can go as high as 1,500 C
reflects radio waves
The Thermosphere
Pressure decreases
Particles of the atmosphere begin to

escape to space
Temperature increases
But, very few molecules
Ionosphere (partly in the

mesosphere)
Ions can cause auroras
End of Atmosphere
Structures and
Composition
Summary of the
Atmospheric Structure
Atmosphere
Temperature varies
greatly with altitude.
The profile makes a

Z-shape from
mesosphere to the
ground.
Atmosphere
Pressure is highest at
the surface and
decreases with
height.
Fluctuations in
pressure are a
driving force of
weather.
Radiation
Aurora
Formed
here
{
The atmosphere is
the first line of
defense against
radiation from the
Sun.
Outer Atmosphere
The Sun emits
Number of photons
radiation across the

electromagnetic
spectrum.
Light in the
ultraviolet region has
enough energy to
Wavelength, m break chemical
Energy
bonds.
Photochemistry =
1. Photodisociation
2. Photoionization
Oxygen in the upper atmosphere

absorbs much of the solar radiation
before it reaches the lower atmosphere:
O2 + h 2 O
These bonds break homolytically.
Photochemistry =
1. Photodisociation
2. Photoionization
Short wavelength radiation (ionizing radiation)

causes electrons to be knocked out of molecules
in the upper atmosphere; very little of this radiation
reaches the Earths surface.
The presence of these ions makes long-range
radio communication possible.
Ozone
Ozone absorbs much of the radiation
between 240 and 310 nm.
It forms from reaction of molecular oxygen
with the oxygen atoms produced in the upper
atmosphere by photodissociation (< 242 nm).
O + O2 O3
Ozone Depletion
In 1974 Rowland and Molina (Nobel Prize,

1995) discovered that chlorine from
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) may be
depleting the supply of ozone in the upper
atmosphere.
Nitrogen Oxides
What we recognize as
smog, that brownish
gas that hangs above
large cities like Los
Angeles, is primarily
nitrogen dioxide, NO2.
It forms from the
oxidation of nitric oxide,
NO, a component of
car exhaust.
CHEMISTRY & THE ATMOSPHERE
Atmospheric
Chemistry deals
with the different
chemical reactions,
processes and
species not only of
the Earths
atmosphere but also
other planets
atmosphere
AIR POLLUTANTS
Primary Particles
Pollen Dust Fly ash Polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons
Secondary Particles (formed from gas reactions)

Smog particles Sulfuric acid droplets Salts such
as (NH4)2SO4
Inorganic Gases
O3 SO2 NO NO2 CO H2S HCl NH3
Organics
Hydrocarbons including those that form
photochemical smog
Odorous organic sulfur compounds
Organohalides
Amines and other organonitrogen compounds
Organo-oxygen compounds including aldehydes
and ketones
Photochemical Smog
Smog particles Ozone Organic oxidants (PAN)
Aldehydes
CHEMISTRY & THE GEOSPHERE
Geochemistry deals
with chemical
species, reactions,
and processes in the
geosphere and their
interactions with the
atmosphere and
hydrosphere.
CHEMISTRY & THE BIOSPHERE
The Chemistry of the

Biosphere deals with
the different chemical
reactions, processes,
and species in the
Biosphere and its
effect on the
Biospheres
inhabitants
A Major Concern Regarding the Biosphere is
the Effect of Toxic Substances on Organisms:
Addressed by Toxicological Chemistry
THE ANTHROSPHERE
CHEMISTRY & THE ANTHROSPHERE
RELATED CHEMISTIES
RELATED TO ENVIRONMENT
CHEMISTRY
INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
Industrial ecology views an industrial
system as an artificial ecosystem, with
primary sources of raw materials and
energy and with a number of enterprises
making use of what would otherwise be
waste products of other members of the
system practiced in a manner that
minimizes environmental impact while
optimizing utilization of resources,
energy, and capital.
It is All About
SUSTAINABILITY;
Lets leave Earth in
a Condition to
Support Future
Generations.
CHEMISTRY & THE HYDROSPHERE
Hydrochemistry
deals with the
chemical
characteristics
and uses of the
water on and
beneath the
surface of the
Earth

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CHM576

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

There is a surface but no top the atmosphere

The composition of gases in the atmosphere is not

Gases are measured in ppm volume, which

Water Vapor: H2O (0-4%)

Human and natural

as well as sulfur and

Location of all weather

Clouds variable then decrease . Little water

Great instability, much vertical mixing

Extends from 10 km to 50 km above the ground

Extends to almost 80 km high

Where meteors begin to

above the mesosphere and extends to

Particles of the atmosphere begin to

But, very few molecules

Ionosphere (partly in the

The profile makes a

radiation across the

Oxygen in the upper atmosphere

Short wavelength radiation (ionizing radiation)

In 1974 Rowland and Molina (Nobel Prize,

Secondary Particles (formed from gas reactions)

The Chemistry of the

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