Natural pollutants

Pollutants may be produced by human activity i.e anthropogenic pollutants or by natural chemicals.
Natural pollutants may be produced, for example, when an erupting volcano spews out huge quantities of
rocks, ash, chlorine, sulfur dioxide, and other chemicals. Other natural chemicals can pollute too, but
sometimes human actions allow natural substances such as naturally radioactive radon gas to reach
dangerous levels.

Motion and Transformation of Pollutants

Pollutants seldom stay at the point of release. They move, and are transported, among air, water, soil, and
sediments, and often food as well. They often move transboundary: across state and national boundaries
traveling with air or water currents. Sometimes, biotransport occurs meaning pollutants are carried in
body tissues of migrating animals such as salmon, whales, or birds, or are found in the droppings of
migratory birds.
A pollutant is typically transformed into end products different than the chemical form in which it was
initially emitted. It may be transformed into chemicals that are no longer pollutants as when biological
matter is broken down by microorganisms and incorporated. Air, soil, and water pollution is greatest at
the pollutant source. Although pollutants move, their concentrations are higher near the emission source.
Consider dioxins emitted as particulates from an incinerator. The highest fallout of the particulates onto
vegetation, soil, and water occurs near that incinerator. However, some dioxins do not fallout, but
continue traveling with air currents for long distances before settling out. Wherever they fall, they may
contaminate forage or grain that is then eaten by cattle and other animals – and these animals absorb these
fat-soluble chemicals into their fat. Humans eating fatty meat such as hamburgers then absorb dioxins
into their own fat. Chemicals such as dioxins that move into an organism’s fat may stay for years. This is
a temporary “fate.” Eventually, over years the dioxins are slowly broken down and move out of the body.

When a gaseous pollutant mixes evenly with the atmosphere, it can sometimes be carried worldwide.
Major examples are stratospheric ozone depletion due to CFCs and global climate change due to CO 2.
Some of these pollutants have long lives, hence they build up in the atmosphere over time unless their
emission sources are removed. Some pollutants change their chemical form after emission. Sulfur dioxide
and nitrogen oxides (acid-deposition precursors) mix evenly in the atmosphere too. However, whereas
CFCs and CO2 are stable in the atmosphere, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are transformed from
gases into tiny particles. Particles are heavier than air and don’t mix evenly. Still, they can move
hundreds, even thousands, of kilometres before the acid particles finish settling out onto land and water.
Interestingly, although acid particles do not travel worldwide, their impact is global. This is true because
acidic pollutants (most commonly emitted during the burning of fossil fuels) are released in so many
places around the world. Another characteristic of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides is that they are
inorganic chemicals and do not degrade in the same way as most organic pollutants do. Although only
small quantities may settle out at any one spot, if emissions continue, the acids build up over time in soil
and water.
The grasshopper effect
The “grasshopper effect” (also called “global distillation”) is a special case of pollutant fate and
transport. The insecticide, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) provides an illustration. If
DDT is used in a country near the equator, it evaporates and the prevailing winds may blow it north. As
DDT encounters cooler air, it condenses and comes to earth. On a warm day, it evaporates again. The
process repeats itself, sometimes many times. Finally, in the far north, it is too cold for DDT to evaporate
again, so it stays put – the Arctic is a sink for DDT and similar persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The
POPs in the Arctic accumulate in soils and water, enter the Arctic food chain, and build up in the fat of
marine mammals.
Microorganisms (fungi and bacteria) degrade organic wastes, including plant debris, animal remains,
theorganic material in trash, and also many individual organic pollutants. Microbes work in both water
and soil. Microbial breakdown is a vital natural service: wastes and chemical pollutants would otherwise
build up in the environment to intolerable levels. CO 2 and water are the end products of microbial
metabolism when oxygen is present. An organic substance degraded all the way to CO 2 and water is said
to be mineralized. Some microorganisms can degrade organic substances without requiring oxygen to do
so. In that case, the most common end product is methane (“swamp gas”). Some synthetic organic
chemicals have structures that make it very difficult for microbes to degrade them. Included among these
substances are polychlorinated chemicals such as dioxins, DDT, and PCBs, which sometimes persist in
the environment for many years and, in very cold climates, indefinitely. Other factors contribute to
degrading organic substances too.

Atmospheric oxygen reacts with many organic substances. Heat also degrades organic pollutants. The
higher the temperature, the more rapidly organic materials break down. In very cold conditions, the Arctic
and Antarctic, organics may persist for many thousands of years, becoming deeply buried in snow and
ice. Sunlight, especially the strong ultraviolet radiation contributes to the breakdown of organic
pollutants. Wave motion in water assists degradation by bringing pollutants to the surface, exposing them
to sunlight, heat, and oxygen. The hydroxyl radical contributes to the degradation of both organic and
inorganic substances. These processes provide natural services that are very effective in degrading
organic substances. However, human activities often overwhelm natural systems. Large quantities of
pollutants and wastes produced by human activities may not be easily degraded by natural processes.
Inorganic chemicals are not mineralized to CO2 and water – they are already mineral substances.
Inorganic substances do undergo chemical reactions, but are not destroyed in the same manner as organic
materials. For instance, burning a metals in oxygen produces metal oxides. Such oxidation can also
occur, albeit slowly, without combustion.
The hydroxyl radical, composed of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, has a free electron, which
makes it highly reactive. It is the chief oxidizing agent in the atmosphere and is responsible for destroying
organic chemicals in the atmosphere. It also can destroy inorganic chemicals.