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Chemists develop a new method to break down pollutants in water

2/23/2018

Mercury under melting permafrost

2/16/2018

The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.

There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.

A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals…this is the lab book for you.
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what [I] was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”

You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now. It’s a great resource!

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

Lulu.com is having Presidents' Day deals -- check it out!
http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html

I was just notified that Teaching High School Chemistry has been listed by Tutorful as one of the Chemistry Revision Resources You Need To Succeed. What an exciting development! Check out the review --

https://tutorful.co.uk/blog/chemistry-revision-resources-you-need-to-succeed

From Tutorful, "We've been asking our users (around 60,000 students, parents and educators) for any resources they use and you were one of the top recommendations."

*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !

“Scientists have discovered the world’s largest amount of mercury trapped inside the Arctic’s frozen ground. At least 15 trillion tons of mercury is estimated to be lying dormant in Arctic permafrost, according to a new study published in the American Geophysical Union. That’s 10 times more than the total amount of human-caused mercury released over the last 30 years."
https://nypost.com/2018/02/06/massive-amount-of-toxic-mercury-hiding-in-arctic-permafrost/

“Permafrost is ground that remains frozen for longer than two consecutive years, and it may or may not contain significant amounts of ice.”
http://permafrost.gov.yk.ca/permafrost101/

“In a study published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, scientists recorded mercury concentrations within permafrost cores in Alaska and extrapolated how much of it is estimated to have been trapped in northern permafrost since the last Ice Age. The researchers found that permafrost soils of the north contain the largest store of mercury on the planet, nearly twice as much as all other soils, the ocean, and the atmosphere combined. The mercury originally became trapped within the permafrost when atmospheric mercury bonded to organic material in the soil, then became frozen, stuck until melting.”
https://inhabitat.com/an-enormous-amount-of-mercury-is-buried-beneath-the-melting-arctic-permafrost

“The mercury trapped in the Arctic has been frozen in place since the last Ice Age. Mercury is mostly found in the atmosphere, but it can bind to particles in soil and water.
The latest findings are the results of nearly a decade of sediment core sampling in Alaska. Scientists measured 793 gigagrams, or 15 million gallons, of mercury in frozen soil samples. Researchers estimate the Arctic region is home to 1,656 gigagrams of mercury.”
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2018/02/05/Arctic-permafrost-home-to-large-mercury-reserves-study-finds/1231517854199/

“Mercury is a bioaccumulator, meaning that, up the food chain, species absorb higher and higher concentrations. That could be particularly dangerous for native people in the Arctic who hunt and fish for their food.

Exposure to even small amounts of mercury can cause serious health effects and poses particular risks to human development.”
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06022018/thawing-arctic-permafrost-mercury-neurotoxin-health-risk-hunters-fisheries-climate-change

“The natural mercury gets into the permafrost from the atmosphere. In a part of something called the mercury cycle, atmospheric mercury vapor binds with organic material in the soil, which then gets buried by sediment. As time passes, it gets frozen and turns into permafrost.

According to the calculations done by the team, there are 793 gigagrams, or more than 15 million gallons, of frozen mercury located in the northern hemisphere’s permafrost. According to the researchers, that’s about 10 times the amount of all human-caused mercury emissions in the last 30 years.

If the non-permafrost soils in the permafrost regions are included, there are 1,656 gigagrams of mercury tucked away there also. If it somehow entered the water, it could result in massive implications, as inorganic mercury can get transformed by microbes into methylmercury, which is a potent neurotoxin.

There have been cases of methylmercury poisoning in humans after they ate fish which lived in methylmercury-contaminated water. It can result in central nervous system damage, and even birth defects.”
http://www.valuewalk.com/2018/02/huge-amounts-mercury-trapped-permafrost/

“Mercury is a toxin that can cause birth defects and neurological damage in animals, including humans. And mercury levels accumulate as you go up the food chain, which is why king-of-the-jungle species like tuna and whale can be unsafe to eat in large quantities.

As thawing permafrost releases more mercury into the atmosphere and oceans, the implications for human health are troubling. Locally, many northern communities rely on subsistence hunting and fishing, two sources of possible mercury contamination. Globally, the toxin could travel great distances and collect in distant ecosystems.”
https://grist.org/briefly/there-is-a-huge-amount-of-mercury-trapped-in-the-arctic/
This is a brief article that may be useful as a homework assignment.

“Birds and mammals that eat fish are have more exposures to methylmercury than other animals in water ecosystems. Predators that eat these birds and mammals are also at risk. Methylmercury has been found in eagles, otters, and endangered Florida panthers. At high levels of exposure, methylmercury's harmful effects on these animals include:

death,
reduced reproduction,
slower growth and development, and
abnormal behavior. “

https://www.epa.gov/mercury/basic-information-about-mercury

Other related blog posts that may be useful include:
09/24/2015      Facts about the element Mercury
01/27/2017      2016 Warmest Year on Record
03/24/2017      Toxic Mercury Levels in Sea Life
06/23/2017 Antarctica Melting

*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.

Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.

Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend and, for some, enjoy your mid-Winter vacation!

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Current Event – South Africa Drought Update

2/9/2018

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The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.

There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.

A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals…this is the lab book for you.
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what [I] was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”

You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now. It’s a great resource!

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html

*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !

This blog reported about the drought in Cape Town, South Africa on 2/2/2018.

“South Africa’s drought-stricken city of Cape Town has pushed back its estimate for ‘Day Zero’, when residents will have to start queuing for water, to May 11 [2018] from April 16 [2018], authorities say, citing a decline in agricultural water usage.
‘Capetonians must continue reducing consumption if we are to avoid Day Zero,’ Cape Town’s executive deputy major, Alderman Ian Neilson, was quoted as saying...

Neilson added: ‘All Capetonians must therefore continue to use no more than 50 litres per person per day to help stretch our dwindling supplies.’ “
http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/cape-town-receives-glimmer-of-hope-as-nervous-countdown-to-day-zero-continues/news-story/1e8db65b14416c7184c7d32e70765579

“Experts are keeping a close eye on daily consumption in a desperate bid to avoid the disaster, warning residents tempted to ignore measures that they face fines and the installation of water-management meters if they do not comply.

The movement of Day Zero to mid-May [2018] offers Capetonians some hope as historically, the rainy season should have arrived by then.”
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/05/africa/cape-town-day-zero-intl/index.html

“Cape Town, a top international tourist destination, has both high-income oceanside neighborhoods and sprawling informal settlements. Some say poorer residents are unfairly blamed as concerns rise over wasting water. About a quarter of Cape Town's population lives in the informal settlements, where they get water from communal taps instead of individual spigots at home. The 1 million people in Cape Town's poor townships make up 25 percent of the city's 4 million people yet only use 4.5 percent of the water, say water experts.”
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/cape-town-pushes-tap-closure-day-52844541

“The city is now working to upgrade its water systems -- rushing to build desalination, aquifer and water-recycling projects -- and help stretch the current supply. But officials say residents also need to step up. Only an estimated 55% of the city's residents are actually sticking to their allotted water per day, according to last week's figures.
But residents say they are already struggling to keep with existing restrictions. Photographer Melissa Delport, who lives in Seapoint, Cape Town, is one of those who has been queuing at a local natural spring to collect water.
‘We have reduced showers to twice a week and we shower in buckets with a face cloth,’ she told CNN. ‘We are reusing water where we can and using gray water to flush the toilet.’ “
https://www.yaktrinews.com/news/world-news/cape-towns-day-zero-pushed-back-amid-decline-in-agricultural-water-use/696912634

“Last week, satellite images showed Theewaterskloof Dam, Cape Town’s largest reservoir, at dangerously low levels. Accounting for over half of all water in the region’s dam system, it offered a glimpse into the extent of the deepening problem.

Should the government declare ‘Day Zero’ has arrived, faucets will cease to deliver water until the skies open and rain falls.
On this day, residents will be further rationed to just 25 liters (6.6 gallons), which they will be able to collect only from one of 200 stations. To put that into perspective, each collection point will have to accommodate the water needs of 20,000 Capetonians.

Key institutions — such as schools and hospitals — are expected to continue receiving water, according to officials, who have said contingency plans have been made.

But questions dominate everyday conversation around the city’s wider strategy for the general population, which authorities are yet to publicly outline. Given this stark outlook, there are concerns neighbors could turn on each other and fears of unrest erupting the longer the crisis continues.”
https://www.theatlantavoice.com/articles/african-wter-crisis-cape-towns-day-zero-pushed-back-amid-decline-in-agricultural-water-use/

Previous blog posts about Water include:
03/12/2014    Polarity and Intermolecular Forces
09/03/2015    Method to Slow Evaporation
10/08/2015    Current Event - Contaminated
                         Drinking Water
11/13/2015    Sewage in Lake Champlain
01/13/2016    Doce River Mine Accident (Brazil)
03/19/2016    Microplastic Polluting Our Oceans
09/23/2016    Water Pollution in US Schools
01/20/2017    Contaminated Drinking Water at
                         US Marine Camp
08/11/2017    Database About U.S. Public Water Systems
10/20/2017    Toxic Water in Puerto Rico

*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.

Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.

Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

current event - south africa drought

2/2/2018

0 Comments

Fix water leaks on your property
Use drinking water only for drinking, cooking and essential washing
Only flush the toilet when necessary
Cut showers to two minutes
Collect your shower, bath and basin water and re-use to flush toilet, water garden and wash car
Only run washing machines and dishwashers with a full load”

“Despite warnings since 2004, local government officials are criticizing South Africa's national government for its slow response to the crisis. As The Los Angeles Times notes:

Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and provincial authorities have accused the national African National Congress government of failing to build and maintain new infrastructure and send adequate emergency drought relief. It was not until August that the national government allocated the city $1.5 million to deal with the crisis.

Prior to tightening water measures, the city attempted to shame residents into using less water by posting an online map tracking water consumption across the city.

Cape Town has also tried to reduce water usage by weakening the water pressure and installing water management devices, according to Reuters. Desalination projects and new efforts to extract groundwater are still in the early stages…”
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/23/579784235/drought-stricken-cape-town-braces-for-water-to-run-out-in-april

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “[e]stimates vary, but each person uses about 80-100 gallons of water per day. Are you surprised that the largest use of household water is to flush the toilet, and after that, to take showers and baths? That is why, in these days of water conservation, we are starting to see toilets and showers that use less water than before.

Many local governments now have laws that specify that water faucets, toilets, and showers only allow a certain amount of water flow per minute. Water agencies in some areas, such as here in Atlanta, Georgia, offer rebates if you install a water-efficient toilet. In fact, I just put in two new toilets and received a rebate of $100 for each. Yes, they really do use a lot less water. For your kitchen and bathroom faucets, if you look real close at the head of a faucet, you might see something like ‘1.0 gpm’, which means that the faucet head will allow water to flow at a maximum of 1.0 gallons per minute.”
https://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-home-percapita.html

This situation may be a good source for a discussion or a test essay question about water and if a water crisis/shortage affects their area.

Other Water posts include:
03/12/2014    Polarity and Intermolecular Forces
09/03/2015    Method to Slow Evaporation
10/08/2015    Current Event - Contaminated Drinking Water
11/13/2015    Sewage in Lake Champlain
01/13/2016    Doce River Mine Accident (Brazil)
03/19/2016    Microplastic Polluting Our Oceans
09/23/2016    Water Pollution in US Schools
01/20/2017    Contaminated Drinking Water at
                         US Marine Camp
08/11/2017    Database About U.S. Public Water Systems
10/20/2017    Toxic Water in Puerto Rico

*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.

Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.

Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

Chemists develop a new method to break down pollutants in water

Mercury under melting permafrost

Current Event – South Africa Drought Update

current event - south africa drought

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