Marine Pollution Comenius Project

WATER THE BASIC INGREDIENT FOR 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 We pollute : Rivers Lakes Oceans We harm : Our planet All the living organisms Ourselves

MARINE 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 POLLUTION 1. 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 POLLUTION 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 STUDY MARINE POLLUTION IN ELEFSINA GULF

CASE STUDY MARINE POLLUTION IN ELEFSINA GULF 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. HYPOTHESIS

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 & 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 USED

Spectrophotometry Filtration

FINDING THE FLOATING PARTICLES EXPERIMENTAL 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 Sample Concentration in floating particles (mg/L) Aspropyrgos9,5 Loutropyrgos9

FINDING THE CHLOROPHYLL EXPERIMENTAL 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 PROCEDURE Wave length Absorption Sample A o Absorption Sample+HCI A a 665nm0,84600, nm0,76050,8480 Aspropyrgos Sample Wave length Absorption Sample A o Absorption Sample+HCI A a 665nm0,54020, nm0,49880,4663 Loutropyrgos Sample

FINDING THE CHLOROPHYLL EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE For the calculation of the concentration (mg/L) of the chlorophyll, we used the following equation : C chlorophyll = 26,7 * |E 665 o – E 665 a |*8 V*5 The final values are the following : Aspropyrgos Sample Loutropyrgos Sample Concentration (mg/L) of chlorophyll -a 0,84370,4272

FINDING THE NITRATES EXPERIMENTAL 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 PROCEDURE The measurements of absorption we took were the following : SampleAbsorption Average calculated absorption Aspropyrgos Measurement 1 : 0,0546 Measurement 2 : 0,0526 0,0536 Loutropyrgos Measurement 1 : 0,0571 Measurement 2 : 0,0541 0,0556

FINDING THE NITRATES EXPERIMENTAL 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+β Replacing 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 PROCEDURE So, the final results are : Sample Concentration in NO 2 C (mgions/L) Aspropyrgos0,0023 Loutropyrgos0,0065

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. RESULTS

ACTIONS TO REDUCE POLLUTION 1.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 BY: