vocabulary 581
Sanitary landfill a pit for wastes that
cannot be reused or recycled. It is safer
than an open dump.
Sanitation building and maintaining
toilets to manage human waste in a
safe and healthy way, and washing
hands to prevent the spread of germs.
Scarcity not having enough of something,
such as water or food.
Schistosomiasis a disease caused by
worms that live in water snails. Also
called blood flukes and bilharzia.
Septic tank a tank buried underground for
collecting and treating sewage.
Sewage water used to carry away human
waste in closed pipes or open ditches.
Sewage system a system of pipes or
ditches that carries sewage to septic
tanks, waste ponds, sewage treatment
plants, or elsewhere.
Sewage treatment ways of filtering
and cleaning sewage water so it can
be reused or safely returned to the
environment.
Sewer the pipes or ditches that make up a
sewage system.
Sharps needles, blades, lancets, and other
sharp medical tools or instruments.
(Broken glass can also be considered a
sharp.)
Silica, silica dust a substance found in
many kinds of mining and used in
many industries. Breathing silica dust
can cause health problems.
Silicosis a serious lung disease caused by
breathing in silica dust.
Silt tiny bits of rock and earth carried
by water that eventually become an
important part of healthy soil.
Smelting heating metals in order to work
with them. Smelting often creates toxic
pollution.
Soakaway pit a pit filled with sand and
gravel to let water absorb slowly into
the ground.
Sociodrama a short theater piece used
to show a social problem and suggest
solutions.
Solar energy energy from the sun used to
generate heat or electricity.
Solar oven an oven that uses the sun’s
heat to cook.
Solar panel a flat panel used to capture
the sun’s rays and produce electricity.
Solid waste anything that is used and
disposed of. Also called trash, garbage,
litter, rubbish.
Solvent a substance, usually liquid, that
can dissolve another substance. Water
is a safe solvent. Gasoline, acetone,
benzene, and xylene are toxic solvents.
Stagnant water water that does not move
and often smells bad. Mosquitoes breed
in stagnant water.
Sterile when people, plants, or animals
cannot reproduce. Or, when something
is free of germs.
Sterility inability to have children.
Sterilize to kill all the germs on something.
Surface water water that collects or runs
on the surface of the earth, such as
rivers, lakes, streams, and reservoirs.
Subsidy money given to increase or
decrease prices for goods or services
such as crops, oil, healthcare, etc.
Sustainable able to continue in an ongoing
way without running out or causing
excess harm, now or in the future.
Sustainability the ability to meet the daily
needs of people now without neglecting
the needs of future generations.
Syringe an instrument used with a needle
to inject medicine.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012