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NAL Agricultural Thesaurus
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Concept Breadcrumbs

Fields of Study > environmental science > environmental degradation > pollution > pollution load > chemical oxygen demand
Natural Resources, Conservation, Environment > environmental science > environmental degradation > pollution > pollution load > chemical oxygen demand
Preferred Term:

chemical oxygen demand

Definition:
A measure of the amount of a water body's dissolved oxygen supply that would be used up in completely oxidizing added inorganic oxidizable compounds-such as in the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate. Biological oxygen demand (BOD) tests can only measure the biodegradable fraction of the total potential dissolved oxygen consumption by added wastes; however, COD tests may be used to measure the oxygen demand created by toxic organic or inorganic compounds as well as by biodegradable substances. A standard COD test, therefore, can be used to evaluate many industrial type wastes not readily analyzed for water quality factors by the sewage-oriented BOD test.
Concept Schemes:
NALT Full
NALT Core
Broader Concept:
pollution load
Entry Terms:
  • COD (chemical oxygen demand)
URI:
https://lod.nal.usda.gov/nalt/24643
Download this Concept:
RDF/XMLCreated 2006-01-19, last modified 2017-02-27
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