Definition

Holdgate (1979) defined environment pollutionas the introductionby man into the environmentof substances or energy liable to cause interference with legitimate use of Environment .

 The undesirable change in the physical, chemical and biological aspects of the environment is termed as pollution .pollution causes harm to every life .

 

Types of pollution

Depending on the different types of polltuants that detorate the natural ingredients there are various types of pollution .the various types of pollution that are prevalent in our environment are :

·       Air pollution

·       Water pollution

·       Land pollution

·       Noise pollution

·       Gene pollution

·       Radioactive contamination

·       Light pollution

·       Thermal pollution

 

1.Air pollution

According to WHO ,air pollution is the presence of materials in air in such a concentration which are harmful to man and the environment .When the natural status of air gets deteriorate ,the environment also got disturbed .

There are lots of ways that causes air pollution .The major causes are :

·       Emission of pollutants from power stations ,refiners ,petrochemicals ,the chemical and fertilizer industries

·       Metalluragical and other industrial plants,municipal incineration

·       Indoor area sources : domestic ,cleaning activities ,petrol stations  dry cleaners

·       Mobile sources :automobiles ,cars ,railways and other types of vehicles

·       Natural sources :forest fire ,volcanic eruption ,dust stroms ,agricultural burning

·       Toxic metals such as lead ,CFCs ,etc

 Air pollution impacts on lifes of animals plants and the natural yhings

Effects of air pollution

·       On human and animals

·       Respiratory disorders such as Chronic obstruction Pulmonary Disease (COPD), pulmonary disease ,asthama,bronchiolitis and also lung cancer ,cardiovascular events , central nervous System disfunction and cutaneous disease

·       Irritation in eye  , headache problem

·       Dryness in mucos membrane

·       On plants

·       The higher exposure of plant in particulate ,the higher percentage of damage in plant organs .

·       Leaf injury ,damage to stomata ,premature senescence and reduce photosynthetic activity

·       Particulate deposition in leaf retard the synthesis of chlorophyll resultimg chlorosis ( seyyendnejad 2011)

·       Change in leaf morphology ,anatomy or physiology ( seyyednejad et.al 2011)

·       Deteriorates ecological condition

·       Tree trunk becomes dark ( Syyendnejad et. al 2011)

 

·       On others

·       Corrosion and tarnishing of metals ( buildings roofs )

Discoiouration and  peeling of paints

 

Control measures of air pollution

·       By  use of energy efficient devices and CFl light bulbs, solar,  wind and geothermal energies

·       Fuel substitution is another way of controlling air pollution .petrol, diseals  should be replaced by compressed natural gas (CNG)

·       Minimizing fire and fire products

·         Reduce emissions of smog and smoke from industries and factorires

·       The last and the best alternative for air pollution is afforestation .

 

Water pollution

The deterotation in the phusical chemical ,physical or biological aspect of water in different sources such as pond ,lakes ,sea,river etc is called water pollution . British poet W.H.auden once noted “thousands have lived without love but no one without water “ .this shows how water is imporatant for life but day by day water is detorating .

 Causes of water pollution

·       Discharge of domestic and industrial effulent waste

·       Leakages from water tanks ,marine ,dumping sites

·       Transboundry pollution

·       Chemical ,heavy metal ions  from agricultural land ,industrial wastes, sewages ,drainages

 

 

Effects of water pollution

1.     On plants

·       Pollution of water causes disturbances in the uptake of nutrient by the plants  ,also rushes essential nutrients

·       Acid rain can damage tree bark and leaves and fine root hairs

·       Disrupt photosynthesis in aquatic plants ( tropical rain forest-animals .com )

·       Water pollution makes soil acidic and negatively affects the sulublity of nutrients .

·       Sometimes causes explosion of new plants groeth

2.on animals and humans

·       Health risk related to polluted water includes diseases like respiratory diorders ,cancers diarrhoeal diseases, neurological dis orders and cardio vascular disease

·       Bacterial disease ,protozal disease , viral disease are rapidly transmitted by contaminated water .

·       Blue baby syndrome in newly born baby is due to frtilizers from agricultural land to water

·       Aquqtic life is in danger because of plastics .heavy toxic metal ions

Water pollution detrorates the senic beauty of any lakes ,ponds ,streans ,rivers ,oceans etc

 Control measures of water pollution

·       Proper disposal of sewages ,drainage,toxic chemicals and  industrial wastes

·       Use of phosphate free detergents and dish cleaner

·       Reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agricultural land

·       Increasing emphasis in control technology

 

Land pollution

Land pollution refers to the degradation or destruction of tehe earths surface ans soil directly and indirectly as a result of human activities .

Causes of land pollution

a.acid rain , deforestation ,excessive use of chemical ferilizers ,oil and fuel dumping ,buried waste , drainage of contaminated surface water

b.construction,domestic ,agriculture and industrial wastes disposal in land

 

Effects of land pollution

1.     On Plants

·       Uptake of nutrients by plants gets disturbed

·       Reduction in yield due to decrease in plant metabolism by toxic heavy metals

·       Wilting of palnts

 

2.     On human and animals

Ø  

Ø  Soil microorganisms habitat destroyed

Ø  Shift of animals from one place to another

 

 

               Control measures for land pollution 

·       Cleanup (bioremediation and phyto remediation).

·       Green agriculture

·       Sustainable forest management

·       Proper waste disposal

·       The 3R’srule and education

·       Sustainable developmental activities

   

NOISE POLLUTION

The propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal or others is called noise pollution .

 

Causes of noise pollution

·       High volume sound from factories, industries ,vehicles,loud music ,people yelling etc

 

Impacts of noise pollution

1.on plants

 

·       noise pollution around an area cantake decades to grow from seedling to adults

·       Retard growth pattern

2.on human and animals

·       Causes Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL)

·       High blood pressure ,stress,sleep disturbances

·       Heart diseases

·       Noise from ship and human activities in the ocean is harmful to whale and dolphins that depends on ecolocation to survive

Control measures for sound pollution

·       Industries and factories should be far from the residental areas

·       Sound absorbing plants around the road side

Controlling the level of volume during parties ,dances,singing

 

·       Light pollution

The pollution of the light environment by the anthropogenic light is termed as light pollution.it is caused by excessive lighting of street light, flood light in stadiums, light used in industrial areas etc

·       Plastic pollution

The pollution caused by the accumulation of plastic in environment is called plastic pollution .most of the plastic waste generated in the world end up in the oceans where they cause great harm to the marine systems.

 

·       Radioactive contamination

When radioactive substances are present in areas where their presence is undesirsble or unintended, it results a type of pollution called radioactive pollution,  radioactive substances triggres mutation in the genetic material of the living organisms , leading to different types of cancers .

 

·       Thermal pollution

An induced change in the temperature of large volume of water causes thermal pollution . the flora and fauna living in the area that was earlier adopted to a particular temperature range can be killed by this abrupt change in the water temperature .

 

Genetic pollution:

The dispersal of contaminated altered genes from genetically engineered organisms to natural organisms especially by cross pollination is called genetic pollution. Mixing of genetic information is bad for the environment because it can lead to a variety of