POLLUTION

Introduction
Environmental pollution is a multi-disciplinary science involving chemistry, physics, life
science, agriculture, medical science, public health, sanitary engineering etc. In broader
sense, it is the study of the sources, reactions, transport, effect and fate of chemical species
in the air, water and soil and the effect of human activity upon these.
Pollutant: A substance present in nature, in greater than natural abundance due to human
activity, which ultimately has a detrimental effect on the environment and therefrom on
living organisms and mankind. Examples are- lead, mercury, sulphur dioxide, carbon
monoxide, etc.
Contaminant: A material which does not occur in nature, but is introduced by human
activity into the environment, affecting its composition. A contaminant is classified as a
pollutant when it exerts a detrimental effect. Example- chlorine gas
TYPES OF POLLUTION

AIR POLLUTION

Causes of air pollution:

motor vehicle exhaust
power stations
car manufacturing
fertilizer factories
demolishing buildings
solvent evaporation
volcanic eruption
building roads
forest fires
Effect of air pollution:
Global warming, acid rain, smog, ozone depletion are some effects of air pollution

WATER POLLUTION
Causes of water pollution:

man-made chemicals used in farming

heavy metals

waste from factories

sediment from the river bed

air pollution
thermal (heat) pollution
soil pollution from rubbish dumps
Effects of water pollution:
The water in the earths biosphere is used and reused again and again by all living things

SOIL
Causes of soil pollution:

farming

mining and quarrying

household waste

demolition and putting up buildings

factory waste
Effects of soil pollution:
Experts say that lots of land each year becomes unusable for humans or animals.
NOISE POLLUTION
Causes of noise pollution:

noisy roads and traffic

air traffic

rail traffic

household noise

industrial noise
Effects of noise pollution:
We hear and make sounds nearly all the time but too much noise can make us feel angry or
depressed. The time of day that noises are heard is very important.

RADIATION
Pollution from radiation can be caused by:

nuclear power plants

making nuclear weapons

disposal of nuclear waste

mining for uranium

What can happen?
Radiation occurs naturally at low levels and is a useful source of power when
concentrated.
It can also be very harmful to all living things if they are exposed to too much of it.

LIGHT POLLUTION
Light pollution happens when outside lights, such as a streetlight or a security light, points
light upwards into the night sky.
This light gets scattered in the sky and makes an orange foggy glow to appear above a
town.
What can happen?
It is likely that we wont be able to see the stars in the night sky if the amount of light
pollution isnt closely controlled.

CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT

It is imperative that we carefully utilise our renewable resources of soil, water, plant and
animal life to sustain our economic development. Over exploitation of these is reflected in
soil erosion, siltation, floods, and rapid destruction of our forest, floral and wildlife
resources. The depletion of these resources often tends to be irreversible and since the
bulk of our population depends on these natural resources to meet the basic needs, it has
meant a deterioration in their quality of life.
Global petroleum deposits are likely to be exhausted within this century. Research is going
on for alternatives to fossil fuel (petroleum) based on biomass (green energy). Controlled
nuclear fusion holds the prospect of abundant energyif the relatively difficult deuteriumdeuterium fusion reaction can be utilised for energy production. This energy source will
become unlimited.
Solar energy is both renewable and non-polluting and provides ideal energy source. On a
global scale, tapping of only a small fraction of solar energy the earth can supply the entire
energy requirement.
In any new development project, due consideration must be given to the environmental,
social and cultural impacts. For this purpose, environmental experts must be involved in
project planning.
DISASTERS
NATURAL AND MANMADE DISASTERS
Sometimes there are drastic changes in environment due to natural disasters, e.g. cyclone,
typhoon, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, volcanic eruption etc. within a short time.

Bush fires, are another type of natural disasters, are of common occurrence in some
regions of the world due to hot summer and lightning. During the hot summer months
bush fires are common in Australia and in the Pacific coast arid areas in USA.
Man developed science and technology but over the years since the Industrial Revolution
(1780- todate) he continued to plunder natural resources thereby polluting the
environment. He degraded lands, destroyed forests, threw toxic wastes into rivers and seas
and also harmful gases into the atmosphere. This continuous load of manmade pollutants
into environment brought about adverse changes, which ultimately back-fired into series
of disasters from time to time.
Some examples of manmade disasters are: London smog, Minamata disease, nuclear
explosions, Bhopal disaster, Chernobyl disaster and Gulf War Hazards.
Nuclear Explosions. Two bombs were dropped by USA during World War II (Aug 6 and
9, 1945) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. These instantly killed about 6 lakhs people,
wiped out the two cities and unleashed radioactive fallout which has caused generations to
suffer from various diseases including genetic disorder. Radiation continues to damage
plants, soil and biosphere* in the region.
*the environment consists of four segments- atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and
bioshphere.
Global Warming or Green House Effect
Among the constituents of the atmosphere, only carbon dioxide and water vapour strongly
absorb infrared radiation (14000 to 25000 nm) and effectively block a large fraction of the
earths emitted radiation. The radiation thus absorbed by carbon dioxide and water vapour
is partly re-emitted to the earths surface. The net result is that the earths surface gets
heated up by a phenomenon called the greenhouse effect.
The current global trend in deforestation along with increased combustion of fossil fuels
have a cumulative effect on the net increase in carbon dioxide content (present 356 ppm,
50%). Carbon dioxide has the potential to rival nuclear wars in terms of massive
irreversible damage to the environment. It is the major greenhouse gas but there are other
greenhouse gases- methane (CH4, 19%), chlorofluorocarbons (CFC, 17%), nitrous oxide
(N2O, 4%) and water vapour (2%).
Ozone Hole
In september, 1980 scientists reported a large hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. CFC
was the prime suspect for causing ozone depletion. It was established that one molecule of
CFC is capable of destroying one lakh O3 molecule in the stratosphere. The extreme
chemical stability and nontoxicity of CFCs enable them to persist for years in the

atmosphere and to enter the stratosphere. Depletion of ozone layer above the earth surface
helps to penetrate harmful rays from the sun to the earth