Environmental chemistry

Environmental chemistry deals with the study of various chemical

phenomenon taking place in the environment. It is a science of chemical
activity in the surrounding like air, water, and soil and effect of human
activities upon these. So environmental chemistry is a multidirectional study
involving physical and life science, meteorology, agriculture, public health,
sanitary engineering etc. Environmental chemistry is the chemistry of earth
natural process in air, water and soil. The human being have disturbed the
natural environment and the chemical aspect of which is the main subject of
environmental chemistry.
The environment consists of four segments. They are:
1) Lithosphere: It is the outer rigid sheet of the earth or solid component of
the earth consisting of soil, rocks, and mountains. About 30% of the
earth surface is covered by lithosphere.
2) Hydrosphere: It is the part of environment containing water. About 70%
of earth surface is covered with water.
3) Biosphere: It is the region of the earth where life exist. This denotes the
kingdom of living beings.
4) Atmosphere: It is the cover of gases which extends to the height of
500km from the earth surface. It protects the life on the earth from
harmful radiations from the sun. It has mainly four spheres.
Troposphere: 0 to 16km from the earth surface consisting O 2, N2, CO2, H2O
vapour etc.
Stratosphere: From 16 to 50km from earth surface which consist of O 3 mainly,
and other gas O2, N2, and H2 etc.
Mesosphere: From 50 to 80km from earth surface containing O 2, N2, NO+, O2+
etc.
Thermosphere: From 80 to 500km from earth surface containing O 2+, O+, e- etc.
The major components of atmosphere are N2 and O2 and minor components
are Ar, CO2 and trace components are noble gases, hydrocarbon, O3 etc.
Pollution:
The excessive discharge or addition of undesirable substances or unwanted
foreign matters into the environment these by adversely altering the natural
quality of environment and causing damage to human, plants or animals life is
called pollution.
The unwanted and undesirable foreign matters added to the environment are
called pollutants.
Cause of pollution:
The main cause of pollution of environment are as follows:
a) Tremendous increase in human population.
b) Rapid industrialization
c) Rapid Urbanization.
d) Unexpected exploitation of nature like cutting trees. Besides these man
himself, natural phenomenon like radio activity, volcanic eruption,
strong winds, forest fire, landslide, and sand-dust also cause pollution.
e) Excessive use of insecticides, pesticides, chemical fertilizer and other
chemicals also cause pollution.

Types of pollution:
Pollution are classified into following type;
1) Air Pollution
2) Water Pollution
3) Soil or land Pollution

Water Pollution:
When toxic substance enters into lakes, streams, rivers, oceans and other
water bodies they get dissolved or lie suspended in water. This results the
pollution of water where the quality of water deteriorates. Water is needed
directly for man for domestic use such as drinking, cooking, bathing, washing in
animal husbandry, agriculture, transport, and for industries. However the
quality of water required in each case is different. Water which is suitable for
drinking purpose may not be suitable for industrial use and vice versa.
Water pollution can be defined as the contamination of a stream, river, lake, ocean
or any other stretch of water, depleting water quality and making it toxic for the
environment and humans.
 There are two types of water pollution:

 Organic pollution due to microorganisms - bacteria and viruses - present

in the water, generated by excrement, animal and vegetable waste
 Chemical pollution generated by the nitrates and phosphates of pesticides,
human and animal drugs, household products, heavy metals, acids and
hydrocarbons used in industries

Sources of water pollution

Human activity is primarily responsible for water pollution, even if natural

phenomenon - such as landslides and floods - can also contribute to degrade
the water quality.
 Inadequate sewage collection and treatment are sources of water pollution.
According to the United Nations, more than 80% of the worldwide
wastewater goes back in the environment without being treated or reused.
 Even though it does not have a direct impact on water quality, urbanization
and deforestation have a lot of indirect effects. For instance, cutting down
trees and concreting over large areas generates an acceleration of flows which
does not give enough time for water to infiltrate and be purified by the
ground.
 Agriculture has an impact on water pollution due to the use of chemicals
such as fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides or insecticides running
off in the water, as well as livestock excrement, manure and methane
(greenhouse effect). Regarding aquaculture, pollution is directly in the water,
as excess food and fertilizers are causing dystrophication.
 Industries produce a lot of waste containing toxic chemicals and pollutants.
A huge amount of the industrial waste is drained in the fresh water which
then flows into canals, rivers and eventually in the sea.
 Another source of water pollution is the burning of fossil fuels, causing air
pollution like acid rain which then flows to streams, lakes, and other stretches
of water.
 Every day, garbage such as plastic, paper, aluminium, food, glass, or rubber
are deposited into the sea. These items take weeks to hundreds of years to
decompose, and thus they are a major cause for water pollution
 Generated power plants and uranium mining, radioactive waste can linger in
the environment for thousands of years. When these substances are released
accidentally or disposed improperly, they threaten groundwater, surface
water, as well as marine resources.

Effect of Water pollution

 Water pollution has very negative effects on public health. A lot of diseases
result from drinking or being in contact with contaminated water, such as
diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, dysentery or skin infections. In zones where there
is no available drinking water, the main risk is dehydration obviously.
 Water pollution truly harms biodiversity and aquatic ecosystems. The toxic
chemicals can change the colour of water and increase the amount of minerals
also known as eutrophication - which has a bad impact on life in water.
Thermal pollution, defined by a rise in the temperature of water bodies,
contributes to global warming and causes serious hazard to water organisms
 Water pollution drastically affects aquatic life. It affects their
metabolism, behaviour, causes illness and eventual death. Dioxin
is a chemical that causes a lot of problems from reproduction to
uncontrolled cell growth or cancer. This chemical is bio
accumulated in fish, chicken and meat. Chemicals such as this
travel up the food chain before entering the human body.
 The effect of water pollution can have a huge impact on the food
chain. It disrupts the food-chain. Cadmium and lead are some toxic
substances, these pollutants upon entering the food chain through
animals (fish when consumed by animals, humans) can continue
to disrupt at higher levels.
 Excessively used insecticides pesticides, and even chemical
fertilizer were washed up to ponds rivers lakes where aquatic
plants and animals consumes these and grow fast ultimately they
absorb much more dissolved oxygen in water after their death
which cause shortage of dissolved oxygen in water therefore
decrease the population of aquatic lives.
 Nuclear weapons testing ,leakage from underground nuclear
detonation and other nuclear power plants may give rise to
radioactive fallout which may come up to water causing water
pollution that may cause many disease in bones, blood cells etc.
 Cyanides wastes in water from metal cleaning industries ,coke
burning, tobacco smoke etc. are deadly poisonous by failure in
oxygen utilization.

  Wastewater treatment consists of removing pollutants from wastewater
through a physical, chemical or biological process.
 Globally, agriculture accounts for 70% of water resources, so it is essential to
have climate-friendly crops, efficient irrigation that reduces the need for water
and energy-efficient food production. Green agriculture is also crucial to limit
the chemicals that enter the water.
 Ecosystem stabilization is the most scientific way to control water pollution.
The principle involved in this technique include reduction of waste at source,
harvesting and removal of biomass, trapping of nutrients, fish management
aeration etc.
 Air pollution has a direct impact on water contamination. . This pollution
causes a rapid acidification of our oceans, and threatens marine life and
corals. Preventing air pollution is the best way to prevent this from happening
 Recycling of waste water by suitable treatment before its discharge into water
bodies.
 Effective filtration followed by chlorination, ozonisation of waste water
provides safe water to drink and domestic use.
 Without water conservation, we won’t go very far.. It means being aware
that water is a scarce resource, taking care of it accordingly, and managing it
responsibly

Acid rain:
Acid rain" is a popular term referring to the deposition of a mixture from
wet (rain, snow, sleet, fog, cloud water, and dew) and dry (acidifying
particles and gases) acidic components. Distilled water has a pH of 7.
Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acidic. "Unpolluted rain has an acidic
pH, but usually no lower than 5.7, because carbon dioxide and water in
the air react together to form carbonic acid, a weak acid according to the
following reaction:
H2O (l) + CO2 (g) ⇌ H2CO3 (aq)
Carbonic acid then can ionize in water forming low concentrations
of carbonate and hydronium ions:
H2O (l) + H2CO3 (aq) ⇌ HCO3− (aq) + H3O+ (aq)
When atmospheric pollutants like oxides of nitrogen and sulphur react
with rainwater and come down with the rain, then this results in Acid
Rain.

Causes of Acid Rain

The causes of acid rain are  due to oxides of sulphur and nitrogen
which get mixed with the wet components of rain. These oxides get
mixed with water are found in two ways either man-made i.e as the
emissions are given out from industries, automobiles or by natural
causes like lightning strike in the atmosphere releases oxide of nitrogen
ions and sulphur is released from volcanic eruption
The pH value of regular rainwater is around 5.7, giving it an acidic
nature. The oxides of nitrogen and sulphur are blown away by the wind
along with the dust particles. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen
dioxide undergo oxidation, and then they react with water resulting in the
formation of sulphuric acid and nitric acid respectively. The following
reaction will clarify the acid formation reaction:
Acid rain is essentially a by-product of human activities which emit
oxides of nitrogen and sulphur in the atmosphere.  Example – the
burning of fossil fuels, unethical waste emission disposal techniques.
2SO2 (g) + O2 (g) + 2H2O (l) → 2H2SO4 (aq)
4NO2 (g) + O2 (g) + 2H2O (l) → 4HNO3 (aq)
Areas of Acid rain
 Highly populated area (densely populated cities)
 Where there is high number of automobiles and internal
combustion engine used by high population emitting CO 2,CO,
hydrocarbon etc,
 In industrial area where production of CO2, CO, SO2, NO2 SO3,NO
etc.

Effects of Acid Rain

 Acid rain is very harmful to agriculture, plants, and animals. It

washes away all nutrients which are required for the growth and
survival of plants. Acid rain alters the composition of the soil.
 It causes respiratory issues in animals and humans., irritation to
eyes ,mucus membrane, as well as skin
 When acid rain falls down and flows into the rivers and ponds it
affects the aquatic ecosystem. As it alters the chemical
composition of the water, which is actually harmful to the aquatic
ecosystem to survive.
 Acid rain also causes the corrosion of water pipes. Which further
results in leaching of heavy metals such as iron, lead and copper
into drinking water.
 It damages the buildings and monuments made up of stones and
metals.
Prevention of Acid Rain

 Burning fossil fuels is still one of the cheapest ways to produce electricity
which should be stopped.
  Sulphur can also be 'washed' out of smoke by spraying a mixture of
water and powdered limestone into the smokestack.
 Cars are now fitted with catalytic converters which remove three
dangerous chemicals from exhaust gases.
 Governments need to invest in researching different ways to produce
alternative energy. Like Hydroelectric, nuclear power, solar energy or
windmills. These are 'clean' as far as acid rain goes.

Greater subsidies of public transport by the government to

encourage people to use public transport rather than always
travelling by car.
 Walking, cycling and sharing cars all reduce the pollution from
vehicles
Biochemical Oxygen Demand(BOD)

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is the amount of

dissolved oxygen (DO) needed (i.e. demanded) by
aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material
present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a
specific time period. More the value of BOD of water more it is
polluted. The common lake or stream contains small amounts of
oxygen in the form of dissolved oxygen (DO).  which  is a
crucial component of natural water bodies, maintaining the
aquatic life. The decay of organic matter in water is measured
as biochemical oxygen demand. Biological oxygen demand is
essentially a measure of the amount of oxygen required to
remove waste organic matter from water in the process of
decomposition by aerobic bacteria. To comply with BOD limits,
commercial production and manufacturing industries are
required to implement a wastewater pre-treatment or disposal
program.

Sources of BOD

Sources of biological oxygen demand include leaves and

woody debris, dead plants and animals, animal manure,
effluents from pulp and paper mills, wastewater treatment
plants, feedlots, and food-processing plants, failing septic
systems and urban storm water runoff. One of the most
important nutrients affecting BOD in aquatic systems especially
in recent times is phosphate pollution .

How is BOD determined?

There are a few methods approved for determining biological oxygen demand,
although one of them is used overwhelmingly by the analytical community.

This method analyses the difference in dissolved oxygen from a sample for five days

. A known volume of sample has its initial DO content recorded and after a five day
incubation period at 20°C, the sample is removed from the incubator and the final
DO content is taken. 

The BOD value is then calculated from the depletion and the size of the sample
used. The DO readings are usually in parts per million (ppm). Higher BOD indicates
more oxygen is required, signifying lower water quality. Low BOD means less
oxygen is being removed from water, so the water is usually more pure. 

Since cold water retains oxygen better than warmer water, DO is usually lower in
summer months.

The biggest challenge in the BOD test relates to time, as the holding time for a BOD
sample is 48 hours from collection. For BOD to operate properly there must be a
sufficient population of healthy bacteria in the bottle.

Advertisement
Air pollution:
The excessive discharge of undesirable forging substances into atmospheric air
thereby adversely affecting the quality of air and causing damage of human,
plant and animal lives is called air pollution
Or
Addition of undesirable material into the atmosphere either by natural
activities or manmade activities on the earth which adversely affect the quality
of air and hence disturb the equilibrium in the atmosphere is called air
pollution
Major air pollutants
Gases which freely mixes with air without setting down (Eg. SOx, NOx, CO, CO2
and hydrocarbon)
Particulates: e.g. dust, smoke, fly ash, asbestos, lead, mercury
SOx as pollutants:
(SOx refers for SO2 and SO3)
The main sources of SO2 are:
 Thermal power plants in which sulphur containing coal and diesel
are fired.
 Petroleum industries
 Oil refineries
 Sulphuric acid plant, sulphide ore of metal roasting plant
 Direct burning of sulphur S+ O2 → SO2
SO3 is formed by oxidation of SO2 under the influence of sunlight
SO2+ O3→ SO3 + O2 (photolytic reaction)
2SO2+ O2→ 2SO3
Effect of SOx
Presence of SO2 in the atmosphere cause cardiac ( heart) and respiratory
disease to man like asthma , bronchitis etc. It damages agriculture, damage of
cell membrane of plant cell, Chlorophyll destruction, reduction in yield of
plants.
Effect of SO3: If just 1ppm of SO3 in air cause severe breathing problems,
irritation of eyes and lungs .It may cause acid rain so destruct vegetation,
corrodes iron metal, steel etc.. It also damage aquatic and terrestrial lives
SO3+ H2O → H2SO4
Both SO2 and SO3 are converted into sulphur and sulphuric acid in the presence
of water vapour. The droplets of these acids remain suspended in air causes
acidic rain with rain water or acidic environment which has harmful effect on
material like cloth, paper, buildings, corrodes marbles, iron steel and very
destructive to lungs tissue and even cause heart failure
Remedy of SOx
1) Pollution due to SO2 gas be removed by removing sulphur after
combustion of fuel by passing fuel gas through alkaline medium, alumina
or activated carbon or limestone powder (these absorb SO2 and reduce
SO2 in atmosphere.
2) By removing sulphur and SO2 gas that obtained from fertilizers factory by
passing through NH3 or lime water where ammonium sulphate, calcium
sulphate will form as bi-product.
3) By using low sulphur fuel.
4) By using other energy source for fuel combustion.
NOx as pollutants:
(The mixture of NO and NO2 are denoted by NOx)
Source of NOx:
i) NOx are formed from the combustion of fuels (coal, diesel, petrol,
etc.)
ii) By manufacture of acid from explosive industries.
iii) Because of continuous u=increase in number of vehicles, power,
plants, industries, the pollution due to NOx is increasing day-by-day.
iv) NOx is also formed from photolytic reaction (during lightening)
a) N2+O2 <200oC 2NO , 2NO+O2 2NO2
●
b) i)NO2 U-V rays NO+O ,
ii)O+O2 O3 ,
iii) O3+NO NO2+O2
 v) Oxides of nitrogen are also from thunderstorms and electric
discharge.
Effect of NOx:
1) In the high NOx consisting area, respiratory illness among the
children have been reported.
2) These are unpleasant in odour and leads irritation of eyes and
even lungs congestion.
3) In sunlight NOx and hydrocarbon from petroleum products from
smog which limits the visibility of road and airlines leading
accident. Smog cause eye imitation difficulties in breathing there
by lungs asthma, bronchitis may result in men living around it.
4) It may cause acid rain which cause great destruction in metallic
articles, idols, bridges, houses, temples, marble buildings and
other metallic structures.
Remedy of NOx:
i) By modification of combustion of fuels including low excess air
firing process, by using low NOx burner.
ii) By recirculation of flue-gas (exhaust gas) which emits 60% less
NOx.
iii) Flue-gas treatment method can also be applied though they
are costly (where NH3 is used as redu8cing agent to convert
NOx to N2).

CO and CO2 as pollutants:

Source of CO:
1) CO is released by partial combustion of fuel in automobiles, industries,
and oil refineries (combustion of low oxygen amount)
2) Cigarettes, bidi, tambakoo smoke, domestic heat appliances like fire
wood, LP gas etc. are the other sources.
3) Volcanic action, natural gas emission, electric discharge seed
germination, marsh gas production etc.
 Effect of CO:
a) Though it is colourless, odourless, non-corrosive, it is very toxic in
nature.
b) It cause headache, visual difficulty, paralysis, and even death in
human beings.
c) CO reacts with haemoglobin of blood (with iron of HB) forming
carboxyl haemoglobin which greatly reduce the transfer of oxygen to
the body tissue. In better word, the presence of CO reduces the
oxygen carrying capacity of blood, which ultimately cause headache
and sever difficulties.
d) Co also affect the cardio-vascular system thereby causing heart
diseases.
Hb+O2 HbO2 Hb+O2
Inhaled oxygen (Available for body tissue)
But, Hb+CO HbCO Quantity of O2 for body cell greatly
(Carboxyl haemoglobin) reduced which cause suffocation or
even death
(Cannot take O2 from lungs)

Remedy of CO:
i) By the modification of internal combustion engines to reduce the
formation of CO as pollutant during fuel combustion.
ii) Development of exhaust system reactors which will complete the
combustion process.
iii) By using alternate fuel for gasoline’s which will yield low
concentration of pollutant.
iv) By minimising emission from automobiles and vehicles by cleaning
the exhaust gases after combustion by using catalysts.
v) Development of pollution free power sources to replace the internal
combustion engine.

Hydrocarbons HC or CxHy as pollutant:

Source of HC:
Sources of HC are petroleum 55%, Coal 3.8%, wood 2.2%, refuse burning
28.3% solvent evaporation 11.2% and in urban areas (where there is high
population of human) release of hydrocarbon due to human activities high
is quite high.
Effect of HC:
1) If the concentration of HC is above 500 to 1000 ppm in atmosphere, they
have carcinogenic effect on the lungs and cause cancer.
2) Due to photochemical reaction with oxygen and oxides of nitrogen, they
form photochemical oxidant causing formation of smog which has
strong damaging effect to the human beings and plants.
3) Hydrocarbon effects lungs and cause swelling when enter to the lungs.
Inhalation of aromatic hydrocarbon vapour cause great ill effect like
irritation of mucus membrane, respiratory problem, long cancer affect
nervous system, may even lead to death.
Benzene cause lungs cancer
Ethylene dichloride- stomach
Nitro phenol- Bladder cancer
Beta -Hepthylamine- Urinary Bladder

Remedy of HC:
By the removal of photochemical reaction and other reactions, HC are
removed from the atmosphere as these reactions are
thermodynamically unstable giving solid organic particulates and CO2
acids and aldehydes.

Particulates:
Small solid particles and liquid droplets are known as particulates. These
are present in the atmosphere in fairly large amount and couwre air
pollution problems. Dust, smoke, smog, fly ash (asbestos dust), lead dust
etc. are the examples of particulates.

Source of Particulates:
1) Volcanic eruption
2) Blowing of dust and soil by wind
3) Spraying of salt and other solid particles by sea ocean
 4) From manmade activities which include house cleaning, mines,
quarries, running vehicles, furnace ashes, pottery and ceramics
factories, cement and brick factories, etc.

Particulates as Major source Effects

pollutants
1. Dust House cleaning dust, power Allergic and respiratory
house mines, quarries, running diseases to man and
vehicles, furnace ashes, naturalanimals, corrosion of
winds, forest fires pottery, metallic articles,
cement, brick and ceramics, structure and
industries destruction of natural
beauty.
2. Smoke, Incomplete combustion of fuel Lungs cancer, eye
fly from diesel engine domestic fire irritation, spoiling of
particles, wood, industrial power plants, clothes, less of calorific
ash, etc. open fire furnace and value due to incomplete
automobiles. combustion.
3. Smog It is combustion of smoke and It has similar effects like
fog, minute liquid and droplets smoke but somewhat
particles suspended in air. prolonged one.
4. Fly ash Asbestos dust: mining processing Respiratory disease lead
and manufacture of asbestos poisoning effect on the
gaskets and ropes used in metabolism in the body.
automobiles buildings, flooring
and insulating materials.
Lead dust: lead mining, lead
batteries, lead paints
manufacturing, lead alloy,
automobiles exhausts, etc.

Oxides of metals, metallic halides, combustion of fuels asbestos dust,

sulphuric acid droplets etc. are the inorganic particulates whereas
smoke, shoot, fly ash, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are organic
particulates.
 Effect of particulates:
1) If the size of the particulates are smaller than 3 micron but if the size
is greater than 3 micron they are trapped in the nose and throat.
2) Particulates like fumes, dust, soot, mist, aerosols, can bring damage
to buildings, monuments, sculpture (art design).
3) Corrosive particulates increase corrosion.
4) Particulate plays important role in maintaining radiation and heat
balance on earth, may cause warming of earth.
5) It cause formation of cloud by condensation of water vapour.

Remedy of Particulate: -
To remove particulate and their impacts gravity setting chambers,
cyclone collectors, air filters, mixture be applied or fitted in different
factories or industries or manufacturing plants.
Control of Air Pollution:
The best way to control air pollution is to reduce or prevent the formation of
pollutants at the source itself. The damages caused by air pollution are
generally much higher than the cost of preventing such damages. The various
air pollution control methods are:
 To eliminate dust, extraction ventilation is frequently applied. In this the
air steam carrying suspended dust particles is first maintained at a
sufficient velocity to keep the dust particles in suspense other method
for removing dust are filters, washer cyclone dust separators etc.
 The smoke emitted from automobiles and vehicles may be reduced by
cleaning the exhaust gases after combustion by the use of catalyst.
 The use of chimneys reduces the concentration of airpollutants near the
ground level. The gases discharged from the tall chimneys get diluted
and dispersed into the atmosphere. Thus chimneys act to provide low
concentration of pollutants.
 The use of wood and coal as a fuel should be gradually reduced and
modern energy source such as electricity nuclear power solar energy
should be used for domestic and industrial purposes.
 The main cause of air pollution is the lack of proper planning during
rapid industrialization. To avoid air pollution problems industrial zoning
 should be done. It should be desirable to have suitable buffer zone
(protected zone) between residential and industrial units in order to
facilitate dilution of pollution.
 Plants use carbon dioxide for their food preparation by photosynthesis
and release oxygen to the air/ atmosphere .Consequently they help to
reduce the CO2. Moreover air passing through vegetation area shows
down considerably and helps to deposition of suspended particles such
as dust fire silts etc. Thus plant help in controlling air pollution.
 SO2 pollution can be controlled either by removing sulphur combustion
or by desulphurisation of fuel So2 and acid fumes can be removed by
different modern methods as lime water wash by liquid ammonia cairox
method ( mixing with alkaline KMnO4). NOx can be removed by low
excess air firing method for fuel combustion.

Ozone (O3):
The ozone layer is found in the lower portion of the earth’s
Atmosphere. It has the potential to absorb around 97-99% of the
harmful ultraviolet radiations coming from the sun that can damage
life on earth. The ozone layer in the stratosphere acts as protective
shield for the life on land. It protects life from skin cancer and DNA
mutation.
Formation of ozone layer (photochemical reaction for the formation of ozone):
Due to the absorption of UV radiation from the sun, oxygen molecule gets
splited into oxygen atoms. The oxygen atom so formed combines with oxygen
molecule to give ozone molecule.

hv
O2 O●+O●, O 2+ O ● O3 (Ozone)
 In lower layer of atmosphere it also formed due to decomposition of NO 2 by
sunlight.

Sunlight
NO2 NO+ O●
O 2+ O ● O3 (Ozone)

Importance of ozone layer:

Ozone is used as germicides, disinfectant, sterilizing agents to purify
atmosphere in underground railway, tunnels, kitchens, slaughter house,
theatres.
Ozone layer is very important for the existence of life on the earth because it
absorbs most of the harmful UV radiations coming from the sun (about 99%).
Thus if O3 depleted, then the harmful UV radiations coming from the sun would
reach the earth. These UV radiations would damage the plant, cause skin
cancer in animals and man, and ultimately cause gradual destruction of life on
earth.
Depletion of Ozone layer: Ozone layer depletion is the gradual thinning of the
earth’s ozone layer in the upper atmosphere caused due to the release
of chemical compounds containing gaseous bromine or chlorine from
industries or other human activities

Causes of Ozone Layer Depletion

1. Chlorofluorocarbons
Ozone layer is mainly depleted by chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs) which are also
called Freon’s, (which are used in refrigerants, propellants in spray , perfumes,
etc ) other substances responsible for depletion of ozone layer are CO, NO,
NO2, CH4 etc. These liberates free chlorine, which cause depletion of ozone
layer.)
CFCs absorb UV rays from sun and decompose to give Chlorine atom. This
chlorine atom causes to decompose ozone molecule. It is estimated that one
molecule of CFCS can destroy 1, 00, 000 molecules of ozone.
Mechanism:
 hv
Cl2CF2 Cl●+ClCF2
Cl●+O3 ClO●+O2

2. Naturally some ozone is decomposed O3 O2+O. Thus formed

‘O’ atom reacts with ClO to produce more Cl atom leading for their loss of O3.
O+ClO● Cl●+ O2
Cl●+ O3 ClO●+O2
O+ O3 2 O2

3. The stratosphere contain traces of NO gas released from air craft as well as
formed during lightening. This NO is like O atom to destroy ozone.

NO+ ClO● Cl●+NO2

Cl●+ O3 ClO●+ O2
NO+O3 NO2+O2

Similarly,

NO2+O NO+O2

Uv
O2 O●+O● also happens
4. Researchers say that the unregulated launching of rockets result in
much more depletion of ozone layer than the CFCs do.
5. The volcanic eruptions are also responsible for the depletion of the
ozone layer.
Effect of ozone layer depletion:
Effects on Human Health
The humans will be directly exposed to the harmful ultraviolet radiations
of the sun due to the depletion of the ozone layer. This might result in
serious health issues among humans, such as skin diseases, cancer,
sunburns, cataract, quick ageing and an weekend immune system.
Effects on Animals
Direct exposure to ultraviolet radiations leads to skin and eye cancer in
animals.
Effects on the Environment
Strong ultraviolet rays may lead to minimal growth, flowering and
photosynthesis in plants. The forests also have to bear the harmful
effects of the ultraviolet rays.
Effects on Marine Life
Planktons are greatly affected by the exposure to harmful ultraviolet
rays. These are higher in the aquatic food chain. If the planktons are
destroyed, the organisms present in the lower food chain are also
affected.

Solutions to Ozone Layer Depletion:

Avoid Using Pesticides
Natural methods should be implemented to get rid of pests and weeds
instead of using chemicals. One can use eco-friendly chemicals to
remove the pests or remove the weeds manually.
Minimize the Use of Vehicles
The vehicles emit a large amount of greenhouse gases that lead to
global warming as well as ozone depletion. Therefore, the use of
vehicles should be minimized as much as possible.
Use Eco-friendly Cleaning Products
Most of the cleaning products have chlorine and bromine releasing
chemicals that find a way into the atmosphere and affect the ozone
layer. These should be substituted with natural products to protect the
environment.

Use of Nitrous Oxide should be prohibited

The government should take actions and prohibit the use of harmful
nitrous oxide that is adversely affecting the ozone layer. People should
be made aware of the harmful effects of nitrous oxide and the products
emitting the gas so that its use is minimized at the individual level as
well.

Global Problems:
Global warming and Green House affect;
The earth is heated up by the sunlight and some of the heat is absorbed by the
earth in re-radiated back into the space. However, some of the gases in the
lower atmosphere ( acting like glass or plastic wall/cover in artificial botanical
green house) allow the solar radiation but do not allow the earth to re-radiate
the heat into the space. In other words these gases in the atmosphere are
transparent to sunlight coming in but they strongly absorb the IR radiation
which the earth sends back as heat. As a result the temperature of the earth
rises up. Global warming is a gradual increase in the earth’s temperature
generally due to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon
dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants. 
The such rays consist of UV, visible and IR radiations. Among them O 3 layer
absorb UV radiation (about 99%) and allow visible and IR radiation to pass
through towards the earth. Since IR rays are of short wave length so they easily
pass through CO2 layer in the atmosphere. Those IR rays cause heating effect
to the object on the earth and in the atmosphere. It cause greater heating of
earth’s atmosphere. Hence the temperature of the earth and its atmosphere
rises up which is global warming and effect is called greenhouse effect. Every
year the world wide concentration of CO2 is increasing of a ratio of 0.75 ppm
and temperature is rising at the rate of 0.05oC per year. If this rate is
continuous the world will go on warming up more and more which melts
glaciers, mountain snow, polar ice caps, which results in floating of many low
lying countries like Maldives.

Causes of Global Warming

Following are the major causes of global warming:

Man-made Causes
Deforestation Plants are the main source of oxygen. They take in carbon
dioxide and release oxygen thereby maintaining environmental balance.
Forests are being depleted for many domestic and commercial
purposes. This has led to an environmental imbalance, thereby giving
rise to global warming.
Use of Vehicles: Vehicles burn fossil fuels which emit a large amount of
carbon dioxide and other toxins into the atmosphere resulting in a
temperature increase.
Chlorofluorocarbon: With the excessive use of air conditioners and
refrigerators, humans have been adding CFCs into the environment
which affects the atmospheric ozone layer. The ozone layer protects the
earth surface from the harmful ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun. The
CFCs has led to ozone layer depletion making way for the ultraviolet
rays, thereby increasing the temperature of the earth.
Industrial Development: With the rapid industrialization, the harmful
emissions from the factories add to the increasing temperature of the
earth..
Agriculture
Various farming activities produce carbon dioxide and methane gas.
These add to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and increase the
temperature of the earth.
Overpopulation
Increase in population means more people breathing. This leads to an
increase in the level of carbon dioxide, the primary gas causing global
warming, in the atmosphere.
Forest Blazes
Forest fires emit a large amount of carbon-containing smoke. These
gases are released into the atmosphere and increase the earth’s
temperature resulting in global warming.

Natural Causes of Global Warming

Volcanoes
Volcanoes are one of the largest natural contributors to global warming.
The ash and smoke emitted during volcanic eruptions goes out into the
atmosphere and affects the climate.
Water Vapour
Water vapour is a kind of greenhouse gas. Due to the increase in the
earth’s temperature more water gets evaporated from the water bodies
and stays in the atmosphere adding to global warming.
Melting Permafrost
Permafrost is there where glaciers are present. It is a frozen soil that has
environmental gases trapped in it for several years. As the permafrost
melts, it releases the gases back into the atmosphere increasing the
earth’s temperature.

Effects of Global Warming

Following are the major effects of global warming:

Rise in Temperature; Global warming has led to an incredible increase in

earth’s temperature. This has resulted in an increase in the melting of
glaciers, which have led to an increase in the sea level. This could have
devastating effects on coastal regions.

Threats to the Ecosystem: Global warming has affected the coral reefs
that can lead to a loss of plant and animal lives. Increase in global
temperatures has made the fragility of coral reefs even worse.

Climate Change: Global warming has led to a change in climatic

conditions. There are droughts at some places and floods at some. This
climatic imbalance is the result of global warming.
Spread of Diseases: Global warming leads to a change in the patterns of
heat and humidity. This has led to the movement of mosquitoes that
carry and spread diseases.

High Mortality Rates :Due to an increase in floods, tsunamis and other

natural calamities, the average death toll usually increases. Also, such
events can bring about the spread of diseases that can hamper human
life.

Loss of Natural Habitat :A global shift in the climate leads to the loss of
habitats of several plants and animals. In this case, the animals need to
migrate from their natural habitat and many of them even become
extinct. This is yet another major impact of global warming
on biodiversity

Removal of global warming:

1. Renewable energies: The first way to prevent climate change is to move away
from fossil fuels. What are the alternatives? Renewable energies like solar, wind,
biomass and geothermal
2. Energy & water efficiency: Producing clean energy is essential, but reducing our
consumption of energy and water by using more efficient devices (e.g. LED light
bulbs, innovative shower systems) is less costly and equally important
3. Sustainable transportation: Promoting public transportation, carpooling, but also
electric and hydrogen mobility, can definitely help reduce CO2 emissions and thus
fight global warming.
4. Sustainable infrastructure: In order to reduce the CO2 emissions from buildings -
caused by heating, air conditioning, hot water or lighting - it is necessary both to
build new low energy buildings, and to renovate the existing constructions.
5. Sustainable agriculture & forest management: Encouraging better use of natural
resources, stopping massive deforestation as well as making agriculture greener and
more efficient should also be a priority.
6. Responsible consumption & recycling: Adopting responsible consumption habits
is crucial, be it regarding food (particularly meat), clothing, and cosmetics or
cleaning products. Last but not least, recycling is an absolute necessity for dealing
with waste.
Soil or Land pollution
The addition of chemical substances that cause the contamination of
soil and degrades the soil quality is called soil pollution It occurs
when the pollutants causing the pollution reduce the quality of the
soil and convert the soil inhabitable for microorganisms and macro
organisms living in the soil.

Soil contamination or soil pollution can occur either because of

human activities or because of natural processes. However, mostly it
is due to human activities such as overuse of pesticides the soil will
lose its fertility. Moreover, the presence of excess chemicals will
increase the alkalinity or acidity of soil thus degrading the soil quality.
This will in turn cause soil erosion. This soil erosion refers to soil
pollution .The soil contamination can occur due to the presence of
chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, ammonia, petroleum
hydrocarbons, lead, nitrate, mercury, naphthalene, etc. in an excess
amount.

Causes of Soil Pollution

Soil pollution can be natural or due to human activity.

 Pesticides like DDT, Aldrin and Dieldrin are synthetic toxic

chemicals that definitely kill different types of pests and insects
causing damage to agriculture but it has many ecological
repercussions. They are generally insoluble in water and non-
biodegradable and keep on accumulating in the soil. Therefore,
the concentration of these chemicals will increase when the
transfer of these chemicals take place from lower to higher
trophic level via the food chain. Hence, it will cause many
metabolic and physiological disorders in humans.

 Chlorinated Organic toxins are the chemicals act as harmful

toxins for nerves, hence they are more dangerous to humans. It
led to pesticides related to the death of field workers in some
agricultural fields.
  .Herbicides can decompose in a span of few months so are not
environmental friendly and most of the herbicides are toxic..

 Excessive use of inorganic nitrogen  fertilizers leads to

acidification of soil and contaminate the agricultural soil.

 The incorrect way of chemical waste disposal from different

types of industries can cause contamination of soil. Human
activities like this have led to acidification of soil and
contamination due to the disposal of industrial waste, heavy
metals, toxic chemicals, dumping oil and fuel, etc.
 Poor irrigation methods increase the soil salinity. Moreover,
excess watering, improper maintenance of canals
and irrigation channels, lack of crop rotation and
intensive farming gradually decreases the quality of soil over
time and cause degradation of land.

 Disposal of plastics, cans, and other solid waste falls into the
category of soil pollution. Disposal of electrical goods such as
batteries causes an adverse effect on the soil due to the presence
of harmful chemicals. For instance, lithium present in batteries
can cause leaching of soil.
 In urban lack of proper waste disposal, regular constructions
can cause excessive damage to the soil due to lack of
proper drainage and surface run-off. These waste disposed of
by humans contain chemical waste from residential areas.
Moreover leaking of sewerage system can also affect soil
quality and cause soil pollution by changing the chemical
composition of the soil.

 Acid rain is caused when pollutants present in the air mix up

with the rain and fall back on the ground. The polluted
water could dissolve away some of the essential nutrients
found in soil and change the structure of the soil


Effects of soil pollution:

Soil pollution is not only the problem in particular nation but it is a

global problem. It causes harmful effect on the soil and the
environment at large. Contamination of soil will decrease the
agricultural output of a land. Major soil pollution after effects are:

 It can decrease the quality of the crop. Regular use of inorganic

fertilizers, pesticides will decrease the fertility of the soil at a
rapid rate and alter the structure of the soil. This will lead to
decrease in soil quality and poor quality of crops. Over the time
the soil will become less productive due to the accumulation of
toxic chemicals in large quantity.
 It will increase the exposure to toxic and harmful chemicals
thus increasing health threats to people living nearby and on the
degraded land. Living, working or playing in the contaminated
soil can lead to respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and other
diseases. Moreover, it can cause other health problems.

 The surface run-off after raining will carry the polluted soil and
enter into different water resource. Thus, it can cause
underground water contamination thereby causing water
pollution. This water after contamination is not fit for human as
well as animal use due to the presence of toxic chemical
 Soil pollution can cause an imbalance of the ecosystem of the
soil. The soil is an important habitat and is the house of
different type of microorganisms, animals, reptiles, mammals,
birds, and insects. Thus, soil pollution can negatively impact the
lives of the living organisms and can result in the gradual death
of many organisms. It can cause health threats to animals
grazing in the contaminated soil or microorganisms residing in
the soil.
Therefore, human activities are responsible for the majority of the
soil pollution. It is very important to educate people around us the
importance of environment if they are not aware.

Control measures of Soil pollution:

 Use of correct farming techniques

 Recycling of Waste before disposal
 Proper disposal method of household and industrial waste
 Use of organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides
 Community education and awareness
 Proper maintenance of sewage system