ENVIRONMENTAL  EFECT OF LEATHER SUGAR AND DISTILLERIES 

Environmental impact of leather industries

Leather is a product with high environmental impact, most notably due to:

·         the impact of livestock

·         the heavy use of polluting chemicals in the tanning process

·         air pollution due to the transformation process (hydrogen sulfide during dehairing and ammonia during deliming, solvent vapors).

·         Leather biodegrades slowly; it takes 25–40 years to decompose.

One tonne of hide or skin generally leads to the production of 20 to 80 m³ of wastewater including chromium levels of 100–400 mg/L, sulfide levels of 200–800 mg/L and high levels of fat and other solid wastes, as well as notable pathogen contamination. Pesticides are also often added for hide conservation during transport. With solid wastes representing up to 70% of the wet weight of the original hides, the tanning process comes at a considerable strain on water treatment installations.

Tanning is especially polluting in countries where environmental regulations are lax, such as in India, the world's third-largest producer and exporter of leather. To give an example of an efficient pollution prevention system, chromium loads per produced tonne are generally abated from 8 kg to 1.5 kg. VOC emissions are typically reduced from 30 kg/t to 2 kg/t in a properly managed facility. A review of the total pollution load decrease achievable according to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization posts precise data on the abatement achievable through industrially proven low-waste advanced methods, while noting that "even though the chrome pollution load can be decreased by 94% on introducing advanced technologies, the minimum residual load 0.15 kg/t raw hide can still cause difficulties when using landfills and composting sludge from wastewater treatment on account of the regulations currently in force in some countries."

In Kanpur, the self-proclaimed "Leather City of World" and a city of 3 million people on the banks of the river Ganges, pollution levels were so high that despite an industry crisis, the pollution control board has decided to seal 49 high-polluting tanneries out of 404 in July 2009. In 2003 for instance, the main tanneries' effluent disposal unit was dumping 22 tonnes of chromium-laden solid waste per day in the open. Scientists at the Central Leather Research Institute in India have developed biological methods for pretanning as well as better chromium management.

The higher cost associated to the treatment of effluents that to untreated effluent discharging leads to illegal dumping to save on costs. For instance, in Croatia in 2001, proper pollution abatement cost 70-100 USD/t of raw hides processed against 43 USD/t for irresponsible behavior.

No general study seems to exist but the current news is rife with documented examples. In November 2009 for instance, it was discovered that one of Uganda's main leather producing companies directly dumped its waste water in a wetland adjacent to Lake Victoria.

Environmental impact of Sugar Industries

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), roughly 145 million tons of sugars are produced in 121 countries each year. Sugar production does indeed take its toll on surrounding soil, water and air, especially in threatened tropical ecosystems near the equator.

Responsible for more biodiversity loss than any other crop, due to its destruction of habitat to make way for plantations, its intensive use of water for irrigation, its heavy use of agricultural chemicals, and the polluted wastewater that is routinely discharged in the sugar production process.

One extreme example of environmental destruction by the sugar industry is the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. Waters around the reef suffer from large quantities of effluents, pesticides and sediment from sugar farms, and the reef itself is threatened by the clearing of land, which has destroyed the wetlands that are an integral part of the reef’s ecology.

Meanwhile, in Papua New Guinea, soil fertility has declined by about 40 percent over the last three decades in heavy sugar cane cultivation regions. Some of the world’s mightiest rivers—including the Niger in West Africa, the Zambezi in Southern Africa, the Indus River in Pakistan, and the Mekong River in Southeast Asia—have nearly dried up as a result of thirsty, water-intensive sugar production.

In the United States the health of one of the country’s most unique ecosystems, Florida’s Everglades, is seriously compromised after decades of sugar cane farming. Tens of thousands of acres of the Everglades have been converted from teeming sub-tropical forest to lifeless marshland due to excessive fertilizer run-off and drainage for irrigation.

A tenuous agreement between environmentalists and sugar producers under a “Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan” has ceded some sugar cane land back to nature and reduced water usage and fertilizer run-off. Only time will tell if these and other restoration efforts will help bring back Florida’s once teeming “river of grass.”

Distilleries  

Distilleries are one of the 17 most polluting industries listed by the Central Pollution Control Board. At present, there are 319 distilleries in India with an installed capacity of 3.29 billion lit. of alcohol. The cane growing states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have the highest installed capacity constituting more than 40% of the total installed capacity, followed by Madhya Pradesh (14.2%) and Tamil Nadu (9.7%).

For every litre of alcohol produced, molasses based distilleries generate 8-15 l of waste water characterized by high BOD and high COD. The effluent causes apprehension of environmental pollution owing to its very high organic content. Many a times this wastewater is discharged in the water bodies either untreated or partially treated, resulting in depletion of oxygen causing wide spread mortality of aquatic organisms. As the effluent contains considerable amount of organic matter and plant nutrients, particularly potassium and sulphur, this can be applied to arable land as irrigation water and as an amendment. When applied to crops it may act as a source of plant nutrients (N, K, P, Ca, S, Cu, Mn and Zn) and has been reported to increase the yield of the crops.

AIR POLLUTION TYPES SOURCES EFFECS AND CONROL MEASURES 

Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to living organisms, or cause damage to the environment or atmosphere

Pollutants

Primary pollutants (directly emitted from a process)

·         Sulfur oxides (SO_x)

·         Nitrogen oxides (NO_x)

·         Carbon monoxide

·         Carbon dioxide (CO₂)

·         Volatile organic compounds – (VOCs)

• Methane (CH₄) & non-methane (NMVOCs).
• Methane-enhanced global warming
• NMVOCs, the aromatic compounds benzene, toluene & xylene - carcinogens and may lead to leukemia through prolonged exposure. 1,3-butadiene is another dangerous compound which is often associated with industrial uses.

·         Particulate matter 

·         Persistent free radicals

·         Toxic metals, such as lead, cadmium and copper.

·         Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

·         Ammonia (NH₃) –

·         Radioactive pollutants

Secondary pollutants (Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly. Rather, they form in the air when primary pollutants react or interact) include:

·         Photochemical smog:

• Classic smog -large amounts of coal burning in an area (mixture of smoke & sulfur dioxide).
• Modern smog -Vehicular emissions (acted on in the atmosphere by ultraviolet light from the sun to form secondary pollutants that also combine with the primary emissions).

·         Ground level ozone (O₃):

•  a pollutant, and a constituent of smog. formed from NO_x and VOCs. largely the combustion of fossil fuel

·         Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) - similarly formed from NO_x and VOCs.

·         Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

• long-range transport, bioaccumulate in human and animal tissue, biomagnify in food chains, and to have potential significant impacts on human health and the environment.

Sources

Anthropogenic sources (human activity) mostly related to burning different kinds of fuel

·         "Stationary Sources" include smoke stacks of power plants, manufacturing facilities (factories) and waste incinerators, as well as furnaces and other types of fuel-burning heating devices

·         "Mobile Sources" include motor vehicles, marine vessels and aircraft etc.

·         Chemicals, dust and controlled burn practices in agriculture and forestry management.

·         Fumes from paint, hair spray, varnish, aerosol sprays and other solvents

·         Waste deposition in landfills, which generate methane

·         Military, such as nuclear weapons, toxic gases, germ warfare and rocketry

Natural sources

·         Dust from natural sources, usually large areas of land with little or no vegetation

·         Methane, emitted by the digestion of food by ruminants

·         Radon gas (second most frequent cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking) (decay of radium) from radioactive decay within the Earth's crust. Accumulate in confined areas such as the basement of buildings.

·         Smoke and carbon monoxide from wildfires

·         Volcanic activity, which produce sulfur, chlorine, and ash particulates

Health effects

The health effects caused by air pollution may include difficulty in breathing, wheezing, coughing and aggravation of existing respiratory and cardiac conditions. Affect the body's respiratory system and the cardiovascular system. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) includes diseases such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and some forms of asthma.

Control measures

Efforts to reduce pollution from mobile sources includes primary regulation, expanding regulation to new sources (such as cruise and transport ships, farm equipment, and small gas-powered equipment such as lawn trimmers, chainsaws, and snowmobiles), increased fuel efficiency (such as through the use of hybrid vehicles), conversion to cleaner fuels (such as bioethanol, biodiesel, or conversion to electric vehicles).

Control devices

Particulate control

o    Mechanical collectors (dust cyclones, multicyclones)

o    Electrostatic precipitators : Highly efficient filtration devices that minimally impede the flow of gases through the device, and can easily remove fine particulate matter such as dust and smoke from the air stream.

o    Baghouses: A dust collector Designed to handle heavy dust loads distinguished from air cleaners which utilize disposable filters to remove the dust.

• Scrubbers
• Baffle spray scrubber
• Cyclonic spray scrubber
• Ejector venturi scrubber
• Mechanically aided scrubber
• Spray tower
• Wet scrubber

·         NOx control

o    Low NOx burners

o    Selective catalytic reduction (SCR)

o    Selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR)

o    NOx scrubbers

o    Exhaust gas recirculation

o    Catalytic converter

·         VOC abatement

o    Adsorption systems, such as activated carbon

o    Flares

o    Thermal oxidizers

o    Catalytic converters

o    Biofilters

o    Absorption (scrubbing)

o    Cryogenic condensers

o    Vapor recovery systems

·         Acid Gas/SO₂ control

o    Wet scrubbers

o    Dry scrubbers

o    Flue gas desulfurization

·         Dioxin and furan control

Plasma pyrolisis

Planned burning (at more than 850⁰C), Avoiding open burning

NOISE POLLUTION SOURCE EFECTS AND CONTROL MEASURES

 Noise pollution is excessive, displeasing human, animal or machine-created environmental noise that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life. The word noise comes from the Latin word nauseas, meaning seasickness.

Sources

The noise pollution has two sources, i.e. industrial and non- industrial. The industrial source includes the noise from various industries and big machines working at a very high speed and high noise intensity. Non-industrial source of noise includes the noise created by transport/vehicular traffic and the neighborhood noise generated by various noise pollution can also be divided in the categories, namely, natural and manmade.

1. Road Traffic Noise:- In the city, the main sources of traffic noise are the motors and exhaust system of autos, smaller trucks, buses, and motorcycles. This type of noise can be augmented by narrow streets and tall buildings, which produce a canyon in which traffic noise reverberates.

2. Air Craft Noise: - Now-a-days , the problem of low flying military aircraft has added a new dimension to community annoyance, as the nation seeks to improve its nap-of the-earth aircraft operations over national parks, wilderness areas, and other areas previously unaffected by aircraft noise has claimed national attention over recent years.

3. Noise from railroads:- The noise from locomotive engines, horns and whistles, and switching and shunting operation in rail yards can impact neighboring communities and railroad workers. For example, rail car retarders can produce a high frequency, high level screech that can reach peak levels of 120 dB at a distance of 100 feet, which translates to levels as high as 138, or 140 dB at the railroad worker’s ear.

4. Construction Noise:-The noise from the construction of highways, city streets, and buildings is a major contributor to the urban scene. Construction noise sources include pneumatic hammers, air compressors, bulldozers, loaders, dump trucks (and their back-up signals), and pavement breakers.

5. Noise in Industry: - Although industrial noise is one of the less prevalent community noise problems, neighbors of noisy manufacturing plants can be disturbed by sources such as fans, motors, and compressors mounted on the outside of buildings Interior noise can also be transmitted to the community through open windows and doors, and even through building walls. These interior noise sources have significant impacts on industrial workers, among whom noise- induced hearing loss is unfortunately common.

6. Noise in building: - Apartment dwellers are often annoyed by noise in their homes, especially when the building is not well designed and constructed. In this case, internal building noise from plumbing, boilers, generators, air conditioners, and fans, can be audible and annoying. Improperly insulated walls and ceilings can reveal the sound of-amplified music, voices, footfalls and noisy activities from neighboring units. External noise from emergency vehicles, traffic, refuse collection, and other city noises can be a problem for urban residents, especially when windows are open or insufficiently glazed.

7. Noise from Consumer products:- Certain household equipment, such as vacuum cleaners and some kitchen appliances have been and continue to be noisemakers, although their contribution to the daily noise dose is usually not very large.

Effects

Human health

Noise pollution can cause annoyance and aggression, hypertension, high stress levels, tinnitus, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, and other harmful effects. Furthermore, stress and hypertension are the leading causes to health problems, whereas tinnitus can lead to forgetfulness, severe depression and at times panic attacks.

High noise levels can contribute to cardiovascular effects and exposure to moderately high levels during a single eight hour period causes a statistical rise in blood pressure of five to ten points and an increase in stress and vasoconstriction leading to the increased blood pressure noted above as well as to increased incidence of coronary artery disease.

Wildlife health

Noise can have a detrimental effect on animals, increasing the risk of death by changing the delicate balance in predator or prey detection and avoidance, and interfering the use of the sounds in communication especially in relation to reproduction and in navigation. Acoustic overexposure can lead to temporary or permanent loss of hearing.

An impact of noise on animal life is the reduction of usable habitat that noisy areas may cause, which in the case of endangered species may be part of the path to extinction. Noise pollution has caused the death of certain species of whales that beached themselves after being exposed to the loud sound of military sonar.

Noise also makes species communicate louder, which is called Lombard vocal response. Scientists and researchers have conducted experiments that show whales' song length is longer when submarine-detectors are on. If creatures do not "speak" loud enough, their voice will be masked by anthropogenic sounds. These voices might be warnings, finding of prey, or preparations of net-bubbling. When one species begins speaking louder, it will mask other species' voice, causing the whole ecosystem to eventually speak louder.

European Robins living in urban environments are more likely to sing at night in places with high levels of noise pollution during the day, suggesting that they sing at night because it is quieter, and their message can propagate through the environment more clearly.

Zebra finches become less faithful to their partners when exposed to traffic noise. This could alter a population's evolutionary trajectory by selecting traits, sapping resources normally devoted to other activities and thus lead to profound genetic and evolutionary consequences.

Mitigation and control of noise

Technology to mitigate or remove noise can be applied as follows:

There are a variety of strategies for mitigating roadway noise including: use of noise barriers, limitation of vehicle speeds, alteration of roadway surface texture, limitation of heavy vehicles, use of traffic controls that smooth vehicle flow to reduce braking and acceleration, and tire design.

Aircraft noise can be reduced to some extent by design of quieter jet engines. This strategy has brought limited but noticeable reduction of urban sound levels. Reconsideration of operations, such as altering flight paths and time of day runway use, has demonstrated benefits for residential populations near airports.

Workers exposed Industrial noise can be protected by redesign of industrial equipment, shock mounting assemblies and physical barriers in the workplace.

A decibel is the standard for the measurement of noise. The zero on a decibel scale is at the threshold of hearing, the lowest sound pressure that can be heard, on the scale acc. To smith, 20 db is whisper, 40 db the noise in a quiet office. 60 db is normal conversation, 80 db is the level at which sound becomes physically painful.

The Noise quantum of some of the cities in our country indicate their pitch in decibel in the nosiest areas of corresponding cities, e.g. Delhi- 80 db, Kolkata - 87,Bombay-85, Chennai-89 db etc.

Schedule (see rule 3(l) and 4(l) Ambient Air Quality Standards in respect of Noise

		in dB(A) Leq *
Area Code	Category of Area/ Zone Limits	DayTime	NightTime
(A)	Industrial area	75	70
(B)	Commercial area	65	55
(C)	Residential area	55	45
(D)	Silence Zone	50	40

*dB(A) Leq denotes the time weighted average of the level of sound in decibels on scale A which is relatable to human hearing. A "decibel" is a unit in which noise is measured. "A", in dB(A) Leq, denotes the frequency weighting in the measurement of noise and corresponds to frequency response characteristics of the human ear. Leq : It is an energy mean of the noise level, over a specified period.