Pollution of Environment

Course Teacher:
Kakon Sultana
Assistant Professor
Dept. of PME
CUET
i. Air pollution
ii. Water pollution
iii. Land pollution
iv. Fugitive emissions
v. Particulate emissions
vi. Pollution caused by fossil fuel
vii. Carbon emission
viii. Greenhouse effect
Pollution:
• Unwanted change in the physical, chemical, and biological nature of the
environment due to the presence or excessive addition of substances that are
poisonous to the environment and cause harmful changes in the earth's
environment.
• The word Environment included land, air, and water.
Pollutant:
• An undesirable substance present in the environment is responsible for
pollution of the atmosphere, land, water, etc.
• It is present in concentrations that are harmful to the environment and the
organisms.
• The nature and concentration of a pollutant determine the severity of its

detrimental effects on human health.

• Impurities released directly from the source of origin are known as primary

pollutants, for example, CO, SO2, and NO.

• When contaminants like HC, NO, and O3, combine in the atmosphere (moisture,

sunlight) to form new products like PAN (peroxy acetyl nitrate), petrochemical

smog, and formaldehyde, known as secondary pollutants.

 Pollutants types
1. The Degradable or called as non-persistent pollutants can be rapidly broken
down by natural processes. For example domestic sewage
2. Non-degradable pollutants cannot be degraded by natural processes. Once they
are released into the environment they are difficult to eradicate and continue to
accumulate. For example, toxic elements like lead or mercury, and nuclear wastes.
3. Slowly-degradable or persistent pollutants are pollutants that remain in the
environment for many years in an unchanged condition and take decades or longer
to degrade. For example, DDT pesticides and most plastics.
• Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane-DDT
 Effects of pollution
• Pollution produces physical and biological effects that vary from mildly
irritating to lethal.
• The more serious of the two is the biological effects.
• The physical effects of pollution are those that we can see, but they include
effects other than actual physical damage.
• Oil spills, killing fish and birds, coal-producing SOx, particulates, etc., are
considered physical effects.
• Air pollutants speed the erosion of statues and buildings, which in some
instances, destroys works of art.
• The most serious result of pollution is its harmful biological effects on
human health and on the food chain of animals, birds, and marine life.
• Pollution can destroy vegetation that provides food and shelter.
• It disrupts the balance of nature, and, in extreme cases, can cause the death
of humans.
Sources of petroleum hydrocarbon pollution
Environmental Fate of
petroleum hydrocarbon
on Soil.
Water pollution
Contaminants
 Pathways for Contamination
1. Well failure at production sites can create major problems for drillers and for
people who live within a mile of one of these wells. Poor design, cracked
casing, or flawed cement work can cause dangerous well blowouts, and toxic
leaks from malfunctioning wells can occur even after the well stops
producing.
2. Wastewater storage systems that aren’t properly designed, constructed,
monitored, and eventually closed and cleaned up are also a contamination
risk.
3. Wastewater transport whether by flowline, pipeline, or truck creates many
opportunities for fluids to spill or leak, especially as operators increasingly
transport larger quantities of wastewater longer distances for recycling. The
more it moves around, the more likely a spill can occur.
4. Disposal wells are usually considered one of the most economically and
environmentally sound solutions for managing oilfield wastewater, but site-
level malfunction and improperly permitted disposal wells can contaminate
groundwater, and increased disposal in some states has caused an uptick in
small earthquakes.
5. Releasing wastewater onto roads, land, and waterways can cause significant
contamination if water isn’t treated to meet quality standards that need to be advanced.
For example, one recent study found that releasing millions of gallons of wastewater,
even if treated, can have long-lasting impacts on the environment.
6. Using oilfield wastewater to irrigate crops is a practice used in drought-stricken
regions in some states and companies as well. Especially as demand for water or
disposal costs increases. Unfortunately, oil and gas companies, regulators, and
scientists don’t have the scientific evidence to confirm this practice poses no risk to
public health or the environment.
Pollution caused by fossil fuel
Air pollution
Leaded gasoline
• Gasoline is treated with a lead compound to reduce motor knocks.
• Combustion of leaded gasoline released lead into the air where it could
cause lead poisoning.
Carbon dioxide
 Greenhouse Effect

• Anaerobic fermentation is a metabolic process done by bacteria and eukaryotes

in the absence of air to convert carbohydrates into the products like gases,
alcohol, and acids. This fermentation is used to produce various chemicals in
industries
Greenhouse Effect
Greenhouse Effect
Carbon monoxide
• Photochemical smog is a mixture of pollutants that are formed when nitrogen oxides and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react to sunlight, creating a brown haze above cities. It
tends to occur more often in summer because that is when we have the most sunlight.

Sulfur oxide
Nitrogen oxides
Particulate matter
Environmental aspects of the mining industry
Mining is the extraction of minerals and other geological materials of economic
value from deposits on the Earth. Mining adversely affects the environment by
inducing loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, and contamination of surface water,
groundwater, and soil. Mining can also trigger the formation of sinkholes. The
leakage of chemicals from mining sites can also have detrimental effects on the
health of the population living at or around the mining site.
In some countries, mining companies are expected to adhere to rehabilitation and
environmental codes to ensure that the area mined is eventually transformed back
into its original state. However, violations of such rules are quite common.
 Environmental Impacts Of Mining
Air Pollution
• Air quality is adversely affected by mining operations.
• Unrefined materials are released when mineral deposits are exposed on the surface
through mining.
• Wind erosion and nearby vehicular traffic cause such materials to become airborne.
• Lead, arsenic, cadmium, and other toxic elements are often present in such particles.
• These pollutants can damage the health of people living near the mining site.
• Diseases of the respiratory system and allergies can be triggered by the inhalation of
such airborne particles.
Water Pollution
• Mining also causes water pollution which includes metal contamination, increased
sediment levels in streams, and acid mine drainage.
• Pollutants released from processing plants, tailing ponds, underground mines, waste-
disposal areas, active or abandoned surface or haulage roads, etc., act as the top
sources of water pollution.
• Sediments released through soil erosion cause siltation or the smothering of stream
beds. It adversely impacts irrigation, swimming, fishing, domestic water supply, and
other activities dependent on such water bodies.
• High concentrations of toxic chemicals in water bodies pose a survival threat
to aquatic flora and fauna and terrestrial species dependent on them for food.
• The acidic water released from metal mines or coal mines also drains into
surface water or seeps below ground to acidify groundwater.
• The loss of the normal pH of water can have disastrous effects on life
sustained by such water.
Damage To Land
• The creation of landscape blots like open pits and piles of waste rocks due to
mining operations can lead to the physical destruction of the land at the mining
site.
• Such disruptions can contribute to the deterioration of the area's flora and fauna.
• There is also a huge possibility that many of the surface features that were
present before mining activities cannot be replaced after the process has ended.
• The removal of soil layers and deep underground digging can destabilize the
ground which threatens the future of roads and buildings in the area.
• For example, lead ore mining in Galena, Kansas between 1980 and 1985
triggered about 500 subsidence collapse features that led to the abandonment of
the mines in the area. The entire mining site was later restored between 1994 and
1995.
House in Gladbeck, Germany, with
fissures caused by gravity erosion due
to mining
Loss Of Biodiversity
• Often, the worst effects of mining activities are observed after the mining process
has ceased.
• The destruction or drastic modification of the pre-mined landscape can have a
catastrophic impact on the biodiversity of that area.
• Mining leads to a massive habitat loss for a diversity of flora and fauna ranging
from soil microorganisms to large mammals.
• Endemic species are most severely affected since even the slightest disruptions in
their habitat can result in extinction or put them at high risk of being wiped out.
• Toxins released through mining can wipe out entire populations of sensitive
species.
Long-Term Ill-Effects Of Mining
• A landscape affected by mining can take a
long time to heal. Sometimes it never
recovers. Remediation efforts do not always
ensure that the biodiversity of the area is
restored. Species might be lost permanently.
Acid mine drainage
Sub-surface mining often progresses
below the water table, so water must
be constantly pumped out of the mine
in order to prevent flooding. When a
mine is abandoned, the pumping
ceases, and water floods the mine.
This introduction of water is the initial
step in most acid rock drainage
situations.

Acid mine drainage in the Portugal

Acid mine drainage in the Rio Tinto
River
Erosion
• Erosion of exposed hillsides, mine dumps, tailings dams, and resultant siltation
of drainages, creeks, and rivers can significantly affect the surrounding areas.
• Soil erosion can decrease the water availability for plant growth, resulting in a
population decline in the plant ecosystem. Soil erosion is mainly caused by
excessive rainfall, lack of soil management, and chemical exposure from mining.
• In wilderness areas, mining may cause the destruction of ecosystems and
habitats, and in areas of farming, it may disturb or destroy productive grazing and
croplands.
Sinkhole
• A sinkhole at or near a mine site is typically caused by the failure of a mine roof
from the extraction of resources, weak overburden, or geological discontinuities.
• The overburden at the mine site can develop cavities in the subsoil or rock,
which can infill with sand and soil from the overlying strata.
• These cavities in the overburden have the potential to eventually cave in, forming
a sinkhole at the surface.
• The sudden failure of the earth creates a large depression at the surface without
warning, this can be seriously hazardous to life and property.
• Sinkholes at a mine site can be mitigated with the proper design of infrastructure
such as mining supports and better construction of walls to create a barrier
around an area prone to sinkholes. Backfilling and grouting can be done to
stabilize abandoned underground workings.
Heavy metals
• Heavy metals are naturally occurring elements that have a high atomic weight
and a density at least 5 times greater than that of water. Their multiple
industrial, domestic, agricultural, medical, and technological applications have
led to their wide distribution in the environment; raising concerns over their
potential effects on human health and the environment.
• Naturally occurring heavy metals are displayed in shapes that are not promptly
accessible for uptake by plants. They are ordinarily displayed in insoluble
shapes, like in mineral structures, or in precipitated or complex shapes that are
not promptly accessible for plant take-up.
• Normally happening heavy metals have an awesome adsorption capacity in
the soil and are hence not promptly accessible for living organisms. The
holding vitality between normally happening heavy metals and soil is
exceptionally high compared to that with anthropogenic sources
 Environmental protection

• It is important to emphasize that technological solutions are available today

for reducing pollutant emissions from most sources to environmentally
acceptable levels.
• Unfortunately, what actually constitutes “ Environmentally acceptable”
amounts of a pollutant is a matter of some debate.
Fugitive emission
Fugitive dust
Particulate emission
Reference
Safety, Health, and Environmental protection
CHARLES A. WENTZ
McGraw-Hill