| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Land pollution | the degradation of Earth's land surfaces often caused by human activities and their misuse of land resources |
| incineration | burning something to ashes to dispose of it |
| landfill | a place where the waste is put on or in the ground and is covered with earth |
| Leachate | The water that seeps through a landfill and comes out with various pollutants in it |
| Biogas | mostly methane and is produced deep in landfills by the breakdown of organic matter |
| biodegradable | capable of being broken down into harmless products |
| percolation | movement of water down through a substance like soil or garbage |
| settling | when the waste shifts around and compacts down-very unsteady |
| Hazardous waste | any discarded solid or liquid that contains carcinogens, catches fire easily, is explosive or unstable, releases toxic fumes, or is corrosive to metals |
| Waste management | based on the premise that a high volume of waste is the unavoidable result of our modern lifestyle and of economic development; objective is to manage waste and minimize its impact. |
| Waste prevention | views waste either as material that should not be created in the first place or as a potential resource that can be used as raw material for another process; minimizing the volume of hazardous waste is key |
| lead poisoning | sickness caused by exposure to too much lead from items such as lead-based paint or lead pipes |
| Cholera | an infectious disease transmitted through unclean water |
| WHO ~ World Health Organization | agency that monitors the effects of pollution and environmental factors on human health |
| Toxicology | the study of the harmful effects of chemicals on human and environmental health |
| toxicants | Toxic chemicals or poisons |
| Chemical toxicants | inorganic substances such as lead, mercury, asbestos, hydrofluoric acid and chlorine gas, organic compounds such as methyl alcohol, most medications and poisons from living things |
| Biological toxicants | bacteria and viruses that can induce disease in living organisms |
| Physical toxicants | substances that, due to their physical nature, interfere with biological processes. Examples include coal dust and asbestos fibers both of which can be fatal if inhaled |
| hazards | things that make you sick or cause injury |
| toxic | poisonous |
| susceptibility | how exposure to a toxin will affect you |
| ambient air pollution | Outdoor air pollution |
| pathogen | disease-causing organism |
| carcinogenic | causes cancer |
| teratogenic | causes developmental problems in unborn babies |
| mutagenic | causes mutations |
