BY: Maria Joseph

Pollution is the introduction of a contaminant into the environment.

It is created mostly by human actions, but can also be a result of
natural disasters. Pollution has a detrimental effect on any living
organism in an environment, making it virtually impossible to
sustain life. Pollution harms the Earth’s environment and its
inhabitants in many ways. There are three main types of pollution:

• Air Pollution
• Land Pollution
• Water pollution
Air pollution is the accumulation of hazardous substances into the
atmosphere that danger human life and other living matter.

Sources of Air Pollution?

Some of the main contributors to air pollution are:

• Automobile emissions
• Tobacco smoke
• Combustion of coal
• Acid rain
• Noise pollution from cars and construction
• Power plants
• Manufacturing buildings
• Large ships
• Paint fumes
• Aerosol sprays
• Wildfires
• Nuclear weapons

Some other major air pollutants are:

Carbon Dioxide

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the major pollutants in the

atmosphere. Major sources of CO2 are fossil fuels burning
and deforestation.
• CO2 is a good transmitter of sunlight, but partially restricts
infrared radiation going back from the earth into space. This
produces the greenhouse effect that prevents a drastic cooling
of the Earth during the night. Increasing the amount of CO2
in the atmosphere reinforces this effect and is expected to
result in a warming of the Earth's surface. Currently carbon
dioxide is responsible for 57% of the global warming trend..
Nitric Oxide (N0) and Nitrogen Dioxide (N02)

• Natural component of the Earth's atmosphere.

• Important in the formation of both acid precipitation and
photochemical smog (ozone), and causes nitrogen loading.
• Comes from the burning of biomass and fossil fuels.

Nitrous Oxide (N20)

• Natural component of the Earth's atmosphere.

• Important in the greenhouse effect and causes nitrogen
loading.
• Comes from nitrogen based fertilizers, deforestation, and
biomass burning.

Sulfur and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Sulfur dioxide is produced by combustion of sulfur-containing

fuels, such as coal and fuel oils. Also, in the process of producing
sulfuric acid and in metallurgical process involving ores that
contain sulfur. Sulfur oxides can injure man, plants and materials.
At sufficiently high concentrations, sulfur dioxide irritates the
upper respiratory tract of human beings because potential effect of
sulfur dioxide is to make breathing more difficult by causing the
finer air tubes of the lung to constrict. Power plants and factories

emit 90% to 95% of the sulfur dioxide and 57% of the nitrogen
oxides. Almost 60% of the SO2 emissions are released by tall
smoke stakes, enabling the emissions to travel long distances. As
emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide from stationary
sources are transported long distances by winds, they form
secondary pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, nitric acid vapor,
and droplets containing solutions of sulfuric acid, sulfate, and
nitrate salts. These chemicals descend to the earth's surface in wet
form as rain or snow and in dry form as a gases fog, dew, or solid
particles. This is known as acid deposition or acid rain.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Chlorofluorocarbons, also known as Freon’s, are greenhouse gases

that contribute to global warming. Photochemical air pollution is
commonly referred to as "smog". Smog, a contraction of the words
smoke and fog, has been caused throughout recorded history by
water condensing on smoke particles, usually from burning coal.
With the introduction of petroleum to replace coal economies in
countries, photochemical smog has become predominant in many
cities, which are located in sunny, warm, and dry climates with
many motor vehicles.

Management and Prevention

Car Pool: Forming and implementing a car pool will reduce the
number of cars, thereby, preventing air pollution by cutting down
the use of fossil fuels. This way, it will help in the sustainable use
of fossil fuel and its conservation for the future generations.

Vehicle Care: Timely servicing of the car helps to keep it in a

good condition and also minimizes fuel exhaust. Driving the car at
an average speed and turning off in traffic is a key to save fuel.
Make sure to use unleaded petrol and opt for regular pollution
checking of your car.

Public Transport: Whenever possible, try to travel by public

transports. This helps in two ways; prevents air pollution and
increases public income. If you are going to a nearby place, go by
walking or use bicycle, instead of using your vehicle. The
objective is to minimize the use of fuels, as far as possible.

Alternative Energy Source: Another effective way to prevent air

pollution is to use alternative energy sources such as solar energy,
hydroelectric energy and wind energy. Nowadays, sophisticated
technologies such as wind turbine, solar water heaters are
introduced to generate electricity and other energy forms for the
household use.

Saving Energy: Saving energy will, of course, help to prevent air

pollution. Switch off the lights, fans, air conditioners, televisions,
and other appliances, when not in use. You can also share a room
with others when the air conditioner or fan is on, instead of
switching them on in every room.

Minimize Air Pollutants: Always try to minimize smoke

emission, as it can contribute to air pollution. One way is to
compost dried leaves and kitchen waste, instead of burning them.
Composting will also give you organic fertilizer for your garden.
While buying the products, always choose air-friendly and
recyclable products that will minimize the emission of pollutants.

Social awareness about air pollution is the most essential step to be

taken for the prevention of air pollution. Awareness programs
and/or advertisements should be encouraged, so that people
understand the potential health hazards of air pollution.
Improvement of transport facilities and proper use of land for the
sake of social benefits are equally important for controlling air
pollution.
Land pollution basically is about contaminating the land surface of
the Earth through dumping urban waste matter indiscriminately,
dumping of industrial waste, mineral exploitation, and misusing
the soil by harmful agricultural practices. Land pollution includes
visible litter and waste along with the soil itself being polluted. The
soil gets polluted by the chemicals in pesticides and herbicides
used for agricultural purposes along with waste matter being
littered in urban areas such as roads, parks, and streets.

Land Pollution Comprises Of: Solid Waste and Soil Pollution

Solid Waste: Semisolid or solid matter that are created by human

or animal activities, and which are disposed because they are
hazardous or useless are known as solid waste. Most of the solid
wastes, like paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans, and even used
cars and electronic goods are not biodegradable, which means they
do not get broken down through inorganic or organic processes.
Thus, when they accumulate they pose a health threat to people,
plus, decaying wastes also attract household pests and result in
urban areas becoming unhealthy, dirty, and unsightly places to
reside in. Moreover, it also causes damage to terrestrial organisms,
while also reducing the uses of the land for other, more useful
purposes.

Some of the sources of solid waste that cause land pollution are:

Wastes from Agriculture: This comprises of waste matter

produced by crop, animal manure, and farm residues.

Wastes from Mining: Piles of coal refuse and heaps of slag.

Wastes from Industries: Industrial waste matter that can cause

land pollution can include paints, chemicals, and so on.

Solids from Sewage Treatment: Wastes that are left over after
sewage has been treated, biomass sludge, and settled solids.
Ashes: The residual matter that remains after solid fuels are
burned.

Garbage: This comprises of waste matter from food that are

decomposable and other waste matter that are not decomposable
such as glass, metal, cloth, plastic, wood, paper, and so on.

Soil Pollution: Soil pollution is chiefly caused by chemicals in

pesticides, such as poisons that are used to kill agricultural pests
like insects and herbicides that are used to get rid of weeds. Hence,
soil pollution results from:

• Unhealthy methods of soil management.

• Harmful practices of irrigation methods.

Land pollution is caused by farms because they allow manure to

collect, which leaches into the nearby land areas. Chemicals that
are used for purposes like sheep dipping also cause serious land
pollution as do diesel oil spillages.

Management And Prevention

• People should be educated and made aware about the

harmful effects of littering
• Items used for domestic purposes ought to be reused or
recycled
• Personal litter should be disposed properly
• Reduce: Source reduction is any practice that reduces the
quantity and/or toxicity of pollutants entering a waste
stream before recycling, treatment or disposal. Examples
include equipment or technology modifications,
reformulation or redesign of products, substitution of less
toxic raw materials, improvements in work practices,
maintenance, worker training and better inventory control.
• Reuse: Is using a product or component in its original
form more than once. Examples include refilling a glass
bottle that has been returned, donating clothes to charity or
using a coffee can to hold nuts and bolts.
• Recycling: Is the use, reuse, and/or reclamation of waste
residuals or hazardous materials in waste. A material is
"used or reused" if it is used as an ingredient in an
industrial process to make a product or if it is used as an
effective substitute for a commercial product. A material is
reclaimed if it is processed to recover a usable product, or
if it is regenerated.
• Avoid chemicals in your home and yard: Substitute green
cleaning practices for chemical cleaners. If you do use
household chemicals or fertilizers, dispose of them safely.
• Have bins in accessible places.
Water pollution is an undesirable change in the state of water,
contaminated with harmful substances. It is the second most
important environmental issue next to air pollution. Any change in
the physical, chemical and biological properties of water that has a
harmful effect on living things is water pollution. Water pollution
affects all the major water bodies of the world such as lakes, rivers,
oceans and groundwater. Polluted water is unfit for drinking and
for other consumption processes. It is also not suitable for
agricultural and industrial use. The effects of water pollution are
harmful to human beings, plants, animals, fish and birds. Polluted
water also contains viruses, bacteria, intestinal parasites and other
harmful microorganisms, which can cause waterborne diseases
such as diarrhea, dysentery, and typhoid. Due to water pollution,
the entire ecosystem gets disturbed.

Sources Of Water Pollution

The important sources of water pollution are domestic wastes,

industrial effluents and agricultural wastes. Other sources include
oil spills, atmospheric deposition, marine dumping, radioactive
waste, global warming and eutrophication. Among these, domestic
waste (domestic sewage) and industrial waste are the most
important sources contributing to water pollution.
Domestic Sewage: Domestic sewage is wastewater generated from
the household activities. It contains organic and inorganic
materials such as phosphates and nitrates. Organic materials are
food and vegetable waste, whereas inorganic materials come from
soaps and detergents. Usually people dump the household wastes
in the nearby water source, which leads to water pollution. The
amount of organic wastes that can be degraded by the water bodies
is measured in terms of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD). BOD
is the amount of oxygen needed by microorganisms to decompose
the organic waste present in the sewage. The higher the amount of
BOD, the more water is polluted with organic waste. Many people
are not aware of the fact that soaps and detergents enrich the water
bodies with phosphates. These phosphates often lead to algal
bloom and eutrophication, which is is most common in stagnant
water bodies such as ponds and lakes. Algal bloom and
eutrophication lead to the suffocation of fish and other organism in
a water body.

Industrial Effluents: Wastewater from the manufacturing and

processing industries causes water pollution. The industrial
effluents contain organic pollutants and other toxic chemicals.
Some of the pollutants from industrial source include lead,
mercury, asbestos, nitrates, phosphates, oils, etc. Wastewater from
food and chemical processing industries contribute more to water
pollution than the other industries such as distilleries, leather
processing industries and thermal power plants. Also dye
industries generate wastewater which changes the water quality
especially water color. Since the water color is changed, there is
alteration in the light penetration and hence it disturbs the aquatic
plants and animals. Many of the big industries have come up with
wastewater treatment plants. However, it is not the case with
small-scale industries. It is very difficult to treat wastewater from
the industries.

Agricultural Waste: Agricultural waste include manure, slurries

and runoffs. Most of the agricultural farms use chemical fertilizers
and pesticides. The runoffs from these agricultural fields cause
water pollution to the nearby water sources such as rivers, streams
and lakes. The seepage of fertilizers and pesticides causes
groundwater pollution, which is commonly known as leaching.
Although the quantity of agricultural waste is low, the effects are
highly significant. It causes nutrient and organic pollution to both
water and soil. Nutrient pollution causes an increase in the nitrates
and phosphates in the water bodies, which leads to eutrophication.

Depending upon the origin, sources of water pollution are

classified as point source and non-point source and ground-water
pollution. Point source pollution discharges the harmful waste
directly into water bodies, for example, disposal through
wastewater treatment plants. On the other hand, non-point source
pollution delivers indirectly through other ways, for example,
water pollution from acid rain.

Management And Prevention

Although 71% of earth’s surface is covered with water bodies, we

don’t have enough water to drink. Many researches have been
done on water purification systems in order to have safe drinking
water. However, there are about 1 billion people, who don’t have
proper excess to drinking water. Therefore, water needs to be
conserved and prevent from pollution in order to make it safe for
drinking and other consumption process. Reducing the amount of
water use can help conserve water as well as save money.
Prevention of water pollution includes using eco-friendly
household products such as non-phosphate or low-phosphate
detergents and other toiletries, improving housekeeping, turning
off the water tap when not needed, disposing the household wastes
in proper sites far off from the water sources. Planting more trees
can also prevent water pollution by reducing soil erosion and water
runoff. Educating people about water pollution is an important way
of preventing water pollution.

Some other prevention tips are:

• Don’t throw trash, chemicals or solvents into sewer drains

• Avoid using pesticides and fertilizers that can run off into
water systems
• Sweep your driveway instead of hosing it down
• Use non-toxic cleaning materials
• Don’t wash paint brushes in the sink

• Chemistry Explained, Joanne Nazir.

• www.buzzle.com/articles/ water pollution.
• www.greenstudentu.com/encyclopedia/pollution
• Pollution: Causes, Effects and Control, 4th Edition-
Roy.M.Harrison