Assignment

On
THE ENVIRONMENTAL
POLLUTION
Advised by :
KHEM KEMLEANG , Lecturer

Researched by:
1. Mr. NOEUN SONEANG
2. MISS. CHHENG RAVY
3. MISS. CHOUB KHEN
4. MISS. PAN SOKNY
Faculty of Arts Humanity and Linguistics

Major: CULTURAL STUDIES 3.2

Batch: 15, Year: 3, Semester: 2

Academic Year: 2019 - 2020

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. TERM OF INVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

2. TYPES OF POLLUTION

3. THE CAUSES OF POLLUTION

4. THE EFFECTS OF THE POLLUTION

5. THE SOLUTION
 I. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Environmental pollution is a term that refers to all the ways that human activity harms the natural
environment. Most people have witnessed environmental pollution in the form of garbage dump or a factory
pouring out black smoke. However, pollution can also be invisible, odorless, and tasteless. Some kinds of
pollution do no actually dirty the land, air, or water, but they reduce the quality of life for people and other
living things. For example, noise from traffic and machinery can be considered forms of pollution.
Environmental pollution is one of the most serious problems facing humanity and other life form
today. Badly polluted air can harm crops and cause life threatening illness. Some air pollutants have reduced
harmful ultraviolet radiation. Many scientists believed that these and other air pollutants have begun to
change climate around the world. Water and soil pollution threaten the ability of farmers to grow enough
food . ocean pollution endanger many marine organism.
Many people think of air, water, and soil pollution as distinct forms of pollution. However, each of
the part of an environment- air, water, and soil depend upon the others and upon the plant and animals living
within the environment.
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability,
disorder,harm or discomfort to theecosystemi.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the
formof chemical substancesorenergy,such as noise, heat or light. Pollutants, the components of pollution,
canbe either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants. Pollution is often
classedaspoint sourceornonpoint source pollution. Environment pollution is a wide-reaching problem and it
is likely to influence the health of humanpopulations is great. This paper provides the insight view about the
affects of environment pollution in theperspective of air pollution, water and land/soil waste pollution on
human by diseases and problems,animals and trees/ plants. Study finds that these kinds of pollutions are not
only seriously affecting thehuman by diseases and problems but also the animals and trees/ plants.
According to author, still time leftin the hands of global institutions, governments and local bodies to use the
advance resources to balancethe environment for living and initiates the breathed intellectuals to live
friendly with environment. Aseffective reply to contamination is largely base on human appraisal of the
problem from every age groupand contamination control program evolves as a nationwide fixed cost-sharing
effortrelying upon voluntary participation (Sharp & Bromley, 1979).Nuclear weaponscontinued to be tested
in theCold War,sometimes near inhabited areas, especially in theearlier stages of their development. The toll
on the worst-affected populations and the growth since then inunderstanding about the critical threat to
human health posed byradioactivityhas also been a prohibitivecomplication associated withnuclear
power.Though extreme care is practiced in that industry, thepotential for disaster suggested by incidents
such as those atThree Mile IslandandChernobylpose alingering specter of public mistrust. One legacy of
nuclear testingbeforemost forms were bannedhas beensignificantly raised levels of background radiation.
 II. Type of pollution

1. Air pollution
2. Water pollution
3. Soil pollution
4. Marine pollution
5. Noise pollution
6. Thermal pollution
7. Nuclear hazard
 AIR POLLUTION

Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause

harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built
environment, into the atmosphere.
The atmosphere is a complex dynamic natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on
planet Earth. Stratospheric ozone depletion due to air pollution has long been recognized as a threat to
human health as well as to the Earth's ecosystems.
Indoor air pollution and urban air quality are listed as two of the world's worst pollution problems in the
2008 Blacksmith InstituteWorld's Worst Polluted Places report.
A substance in the air that can cause harm to humans and the environment is known as an air pollutant.
Pollutants can be in the form of solid particles, liquid droplets, or gases. In addition, they may be natural or
man-made.[2]
Pollutants can be classified as primary or secondary. Usually, primary pollutants are directly emitted from a
process, such as ash from a volcanic eruption, thecarbon monoxide gas from a motor vehicle exhaust or
sulfur dioxide released from factories. Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly. Rather, they form in the
air when primary pollutants react or interact. An important example of a secondary pollutant is ground level
ozone — one of the many secondary pollutants that make up photochemical smog. Some pollutants may be
both primary and secondary: that is, they are both emitted directly and formed from other primary pollutants.
Major primary pollutants produced by human activity include:

 Sulphur oxides (SOx) - especially sulfur dioxide, a chemical compound with the formula SO2. SO2 is
produced by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur
compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide. Further oxidation of SO2, usually in the presence
of a catalyst such as NO2, forms H2SO4, and thus acid rain.[2] This is one of the causes for concern over
the environmental impact of the use of these fuels as power sources.
 Nitrogen oxides (NOx) - especially nitrogen dioxide are emitted from high temperature combustion,
and are also produced naturally during thunderstorms byelectrical discharge. Can be seen as the brown
haze dome above or plume downwind of cities. Nitrogen dioxide is the chemical compound with the
formula NO2. It is one of the several nitrogen oxides. This reddish-brown toxic gas has a characteristic
sharp, biting odor. NO2 is one of the most prominent air pollutants.
 Carbon monoxide (CO)- is a colourless, odorless, non-irritating but very poisonous gas. It is a
product by incomplete combustion of fuel such as natural gas, coal or wood. Vehicular exhaust is a
major source of carbon monoxide.
 Carbon dioxide (CO2) - a colourless, odorless, non-toxic greenhouse gas also associated with ocean
acidification, emitted from sources such as combustion, cement production, and respiration. It is
otherwise recycled in the atmosphere in the carbon cycle.
 Volatile organic compounds - VOCs are an important outdoor air pollutant. In this field they are
often divided into the separate categories of methane (CH4) and non-methane (NMVOCs). Methane is
an extremely efficient greenhouse gas which contributes to enhanced global warming. Other
hydrocarbon VOCs are also significant greenhouse gases via their role in creating ozone and in
prolonging the life of methane in the atmosphere, although the effect varies depending on local air
quality. Within the NMVOCs, the aromatic compounds benzene, toluene and xylene are suspected
carcinogens and may lead to leukemia through prolonged exposure. 1,3-butadiene is another dangerous
compound which is often associated with industrial uses.

 Particulate matter - Particulates, alternatively referred to as particulate matter (PM) or fine particles,
are tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas. In contrast, aerosol refers to particles and the gas
together. Sources of particulate matter can be man made or natural. Some particulates occur naturally,
originating from volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grassland fires, living vegetation, and sea spray.
Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, power plants and various industrial
processes also generate significant amounts of aerosols. Averaged over the globe, anthropogenic
 aerosols—those made by human activities—currently account for about 10 percent of the total amount
of aerosols in our atmosphere. Increased levels of fine particles in the air are linked to health hazards
such as heart disease,[3] altered lung function and lung cancer.

 Persistent free radicals connected to airborne fine particles could cause cardiopulmonary disease.[4][5]

 Toxic metals, such as lead, cadmium and copper.

 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - harmful to the ozone layer emitted from products currently banned
from use.
 Ammonia (NH3) - emitted from agricultural processes. Ammonia is a compound with the formula
NH3. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor. Ammonia contributes
significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to foodstuffs and
fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or indirectly, is also a building block for the synthesis of many
pharmaceuticals. Although in wide use, ammonia is both caustic and hazardous.
 Odors — such as from garbage, sewage, and industrial processes
 Radioactive pollutants - produced by nuclear explosions, nuclear events, war explosives, and natural
processes such as the radioactive decay of radon.
Secondary pollutants include:

 Particulate matter formed from gaseous primary pollutants and compounds in photochemical smog.
Smog is a kind of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Classic smog
results from large amounts of coal burning in an area caused by a mixture of smoke and sulfur dioxide.
Modern smog does not usually come from coal but from vehicular and industrial emissions that are
acted on in the atmosphere by ultraviolet light from the sun to form secondary pollutants that also
combine with the primary emissions to form photochemical smog.
 Ground level ozone (O3) formed from NOx and VOCs. Ozone (O3) is a key constituent of the
troposphere. It is also an important constituent of certain regions of the stratosphere commonly known
as the Ozone layer. Photochemical and chemical reactions involving it drive many of the chemical
processes that occur in the atmosphere by day and by night. At abnormally high concentrations brought
about by human activities (largely the combustion of fossil fuel), it is a pollutant, and a constituent of
smog.
 Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) - similarly formed from NOx and VOCs.
Minor air pollutants include:

 A large number of minor hazardous air pollutants. Some of these are regulated in USA under
the Clean Air Act and in Europe under the Air Framework Directive.
 A variety of persistent organic pollutants, which can attach to particulate matter.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation
through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. Because of this, they have been observed to persist
in the environment, to be capable of long-range transport, bioaccumulate in human and animal tissue,
biomagnify in food chains, and to have potential significant impacts on human health and the environment.
sources
Sources of air pollution refer to the various locations, activities or factors which are responsible for the
releasing of pollutants into the atmosphere. These sources can be classified into two major categories which
are:
Anthropogenic sources (human activity) mostly related to burning different kinds of fuel

 "Stationary Sources" include smoke stacks of power plants, manufacturing facilities (factories) and
waste incinerators, as well as furnaces and other types of fuel-burning heating devices. In developing
and poor countries, traditional biomass burning is the major source of air pollutants; traditional biomass
includes wood, crop waste and dung.[6][7]
 "Mobile Sources" include motor vehicles, marine vessels, aircraft and the effect of sound etc.

 Chemicals, dust and controlled burn practices in agriculture and forestry management. Controlled or

prescribed burning is a technique sometimes used in forest management, farming, prairie restoration or
greenhouse gas abatement. Fire is a natural part of both forest and grassland ecology and controlled fire
can be a tool for foresters. Controlled burning stimulates the germination of some desirable forest trees,
thus renewing the forest.

 Fumes from paint, hair spray, varnish, aerosol sprays and other solvents

 Waste deposition in landfills, which generate methane. Methane is not toxic; however, it is highly
flammable and may form explosive mixtures with air. Methane is also an asphyxiant and may displace
oxygen in an enclosed space. Asphyxia or suffocation may result if the oxygen concentration is reduced
to below 19.5% by displacement

 Military, such as nuclear weapons, toxic gases, germ warfare and rocketry

Natural sources

 Dust from natural sources, usually large areas of land with little or no vegetation
 Methane, emitted by the digestion of food by animals, for example cattle
 Radon gas from radioactive decay within the Earth's crust. Radon is a colorless, odorless, naturally
occurring, radioactive noble gas that is formed from the decay of radium. It is considered to be a health
hazard. Radon gas from natural sources can accumulate in buildings, especially in confined areas such
as the basement and it is the second most frequent cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking

 Smoke and carbon monoxide from wildfires
 Vegetation, in some regions, emits environmentally significant amounts of VOCs on warmer days.
These VOCs react with primary anthropogenic pollutants—specifically, NOx, SO2, and anthropogenic
organic carbon compounds—to produce a seasonal haze of secondary pollutants.[8]
 Volcanic activity, which produce sulfur, chlorine, and ash particulates

Emission factors
Air pollutant emission factors are representative values that people attempt to relate the quantity of a
pollutant released to the ambient air with an activity associated with the release of that pollutant. These
factors are usually expressed as the weight of pollutant divided by a unit weight, volume, distance, or
duration of the activity emitting the pollutant (e.g., kilograms of particulate emitted per megagram of coal
burned). Such factors facilitate estimation of emissions from various sources of air pollution. In most cases,
these factors are simply averages of all available data of acceptable quality, and are generally assumed to be
representative of long-term averages.
There are 12 compounds in the list of POPs. Dioxins and furans are two of them and are intentionally
created by combustion of organics, like open burning of plastics. The POPs are also endocrine disruptor and
can mutate the human genes.

Control devices
The following items are commonly used as pollution control devices by industry or transportation devices.
They can either destroy contaminants or remove them from an exhaust stream before it is emitted into the
atmosphere.

 Mechanical collectors (dust cyclones, multicyclones)

 Electrostatic precipitators An electrostatic precipitator (ESP), or electrostatic air cleaner is a
particulate collection device that removes particles from a flowing gas (such as air) using the force
of an induced electrostatic charge. Electrostatic precipitators are highly efficient filtration devices
that minimally impede the flow of gases through the device, and can easily remove fine particulate
matter such as dust and smoke from the air stream.
 Baghouses Designed to handle heavy dust loads, a dust collector consists of a blower, dust
filter, a filter-cleaning system, and a dust receptacle or dust removal system (distinguished from air
cleaners which utilize disposable filters to remove the dust).

 Particulate scrubbersWet scrubber is a form of pollution control technology. The term
describes a variety of devices that use pollutants from a furnace flue gas or from other gas streams.
In a wet scrubber, the polluted gas stream is brought into contact with the scrubbing liquid, by
spraying it with the liquid, by forcing it through a pool of liquid, or by some other contact method,
so as to remove the pollutants.
 WATER POLLUTION

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies(e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater).

Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without
adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds.
Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water. In almost all cases the effect is
damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities.
Surface water and groundwater have often been studied and managed as separate resources, although they
are interrelated.[7] Surface water seeps through the soil and becomes groundwater. Conversely, groundwater
can also feed surface water sources. Sources of surface water pollution are generally grouped into two
categories based on their origin.

Point sources
Point source water pollution refers to contaminants that enter a waterway from a single, identifiable
sourcesm, such as a pipe or ditch. Examples of sources in this category include discharges from a sewage
treatment plant, a factory, or a city storm drain. The U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA) defines point source
for regulatoryenforcement purposes. The CWA definition of point source was amended in 1987 to include
municipal storm sewer systems, as well as industrial stormwater, such as from construction sites.
Non–point sources
Non–point source pollution refers to diffuse contamination that does not originate from a single discrete
source. NPS pollution is often the cumulative effect of small amounts of contaminants gathered from a large
area. A common example is the leaching out of nitrogen compounds from fertilized agricultural lands.
Nutrient runoff instormwater from "sheet flow" over an agricultural field or a forest are also cited as
examples of NPS pollution.
Contaminated storm water washed off of parking lots, roads and highways, called urban runoff, is
sometimes included under the category of NPS pollution. However, this runoff is typically channeled into
storm drain systems and discharged through pipes to local surface waters, and is a point source. However
where such water is not channeled and drains directly to ground it is a non-point source.
Groundwater pollution
Interactions between groundwater and surface water are complex. Consequently, groundwater pollution,
sometimes referred to as groundwater contamination, is not as easily classified as surface water
pollution. By its very nature, groundwater aquifers are susceptible to contamination from sources that may
not directly affect surface water bodies, and the distinction of point vs. non-point source may be irrelevant.
A spill or ongoing releases of chemical or radionuclide contaminants into soil (located away from a surface
water body) may not create point source or non-point source pollution, but can contaminate the aquifer
below, defined as a toxin plume. The movement of the plume, called a plume front, may be analyzed
through a hydrological transport model or groundwater model. Analysis of groundwater contamination may
focus on the soil characteristics and site geology, hydrogeology, hydrology, and the nature of the
contaminants.

Causes
The specific contaminants leading to pollution in water include a wide spectrum of chemicals, pathogens,
and physical or sensory changes such as elevated temperature and discoloration. While many of the
chemicals and substances that are regulated may be naturally occurring (calcium, sodium, iron, manganese,
etc.) the concentration is often the key in determining what is a natural component of water, and what is a
contaminant. High concentrations of naturally-occurring substances can have negative impacts on aquatic
flora and fauna.
Oxygen-depleting substances may be natural materials, such as plant matter (e.g. leaves and grass) as well as
man-made chemicals. Other natural and anthropogenic substances may cause turbidity (cloudiness) which
blocks light and disrupts plant growth, and clogs the gills of some fish species.[10]
Many of the chemical substances are toxic. Pathogens can produce waterborne diseases in either human or
animal hosts.[11] Alteration of water's physical chemistry includes acidity (change in pH), electrical
conductivity, temperature, and eutrophication. Eutrophication is an increase in the concentration of chemical
nutrients in an ecosystem to an extent that increases in the primary productivity of the ecosystem.
Depending on the degree of eutrophication, subsequent negative environmental effects such
as anoxia (oxygen depletion) and severe reductions in water quality may occur, affecting fish and other
animal populations.
Chemical and other contaminants
Contaminants may include organic and inorganic substances.
Organic water pollutants include:

 Detergents
 Disinfection by-products found in chemically disinfected drinking water, such as chloroform
 Food processing waste, which can include oxygen-demanding substances, fats and grease
 Insecticides and herbicides, a huge range of organohalides and other chemical compounds
 Petroleum hydrocarbons, including fuels (gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuels, and fuel oil) and lubricants
(motor oil), and fuel combustion byproducts, from stormwaterrunoff[16]
 Tree and bush debris from logging operations
 Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as industrial solvents, from improper storage.
 Chlorinated solvents, which are dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs), may fall to the bottom
of reservoirs, since they don't mix well with water and are denser.
 Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs)
 Trichloroethylene
 Perchlorate
 Various chemical compounds found in personal hygiene and cosmetic products
Inorganic water pollutants include:

 Acidity caused by industrial discharges (especially sulfur dioxide from power plants)

 Ammonia from food processing waste
 Chemical waste as industrial by-products
 Fertilizers containing nutrients--nitrates and phosphates—which are found in stormwater runoff from
agriculture, as well as commercial and residential use[16]
 Heavy metals from motor vehicles (via urban stormwater runoff)[16][17] and acid mine drainage
 Silt (sediment) in runoff from construction sites, logging, slash and burn practices or land clearing
sites

Macroscopic pollution—large visible items polluting the water—may be termed "floatables" in an urban

stormwater context, or marine debris when found on the open seas, and can include such items as:

 Trash or garbage (e.g. paper, plastic, or food waste) discarded by people on the ground, along with
accidental or intentional dumping of rubbish, that are washed by rainfall into storm drains and
eventually discharged into surface waters
 Nurdles, small ubiquitous waterborne plastic pellets
 Shipwrecks, large derelict ships
Control of pollution
Domestic sewage
Domestic sewage is 99.9 percent pure water, while the other 0.1 percent are pollutants. Although found
in low concentrations, these pollutants pose risk on a large scale. In urban areas, domestic sewage is
typically treated by centralized sewage treatment plants. In the U.S., most of these plants are operated by
local government agencies, frequently referred to as publicly owned treatment works (POTW).
Municipal treatment plants are designed to control conventional pollutants: BOD and suspended solids.
Well-designed and operated systems (i.e., secondary treatment or better) can remove 90 percent or more
of these pollutants. Some plants have additional sub-systems to treat nutrients and pathogens. Most
municipal plants are not designed to treat toxic pollutants found in industrial wastewater.
Cities with sanitary sewer overflows or combined sewer overflows employ one or
more engineering approaches to reduce discharges of untreated sewage, including:

 utilizing a green infrastructure approach to improve stormwater management capacity throughout the

system, and reduce the hydraulic overloading of the treatment plant[24]
 repair and replacement of leaking and malfunctioning equipment[15]
 increasing overall hydraulic capacity of the sewage collection system (often a very expensive
option).
A household or business not served by a municipal treatment plant may have an individual septic tank,
which treats the wastewater on site and discharges into the soil. Alternatively, domestic wastewater may
be sent to a nearby privately owned treatment system (e.g. in a rural community).
Industrial wastewater
Some industrial facilities generate ordinary domestic sewage that can be treated by municipal facilities.
Industries that generate wastewater with high concentrations of conventional pollutants (e.g. oil and
grease), toxic pollutants (e.g. heavy metals, volatile organic compounds) or other nonconventional
pollutants such as ammonia, need specialized treatment systems. Some of these facilities can install a
pre-treatment system to remove the toxic components, and then send the partially-treated wastewater to
the municipal system. Industries generating large volumes of wastewater typically operate their own
complete on-site treatment systems.
Some industries have been successful at redesigning their manufacturing processes to reduce or
eliminate pollutants, through a process called pollution prevention.
Heated water generated by power plants or manufacturing plants may be controlled with:

 cooling ponds, man-made bodies of water designed for cooling by evaporation, convection,

and radiation
 cooling towers, which transfer waste heat to the atmosphere through evaporation and/or heat transfer
 cogeneration, a process where waste heat is recycled for domestic and/or industrial heating purposes.
Agricultural wastewater
Nonpoint source controls
Sediment (loose soil) washed off fields is the largest source of agricultural pollution in the United
States. Farmers may utilize erosion controls to reduce runoff flows and retain soil on their fields.
Common techniques include contour plowing, crop mulching, crop rotation, planting perennial crops
and installing riparian buffers.
Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) are typically applied to farmland as commercial fertilizer;
animal manure; or spraying of municipal or industrial wastewater (effluent) or sludge. Nutrients may
also enter runoff from crop residues, irrigation water, wildlife, and atmospheric deposition.  Farmers can
develop and implement nutrient management plans to reduce excess application of nutrients.
To minimize pesticide impacts, farmers may use Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques (which
can include biological pest control) to maintain control over pests, reduce reliance on chemical
pesticides, and protect water quality.
Point source wastewater treatment
Farms with large livestock and poultry operations, such as factory farms, are called concentrated animal
feeding operations or feedlots in the US and are being subject to increasing government
regulation. Animal slurries are usually treated by containment in anaerobic lagoons before disposal by
spray or trickle application to grassland.Constructed wetlands are sometimes used to facilitate treatment
of animal wastes. Some animal slurries are treated by mixing with straw and composted at high
temperature to produce a bacteriologically sterile and friable manure for soil improvement.
Construction site stormwater
Sediment from construction sites is managed by installation of:

 erosion controls, such as mulching and hydroseeding, and

 sediment controls, such as sediment basins and silt fences.
Discharge of toxic chemicals such as motor fuels and concrete washout is prevented by use of:

 spill prevention and control plans, and

 specially designed containers (e.g. for concrete washout) and structures such as overflow controls
and diversion berms.
 Soil contamination

Soil contamination or soil pollution is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made)

chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment.
This type of contamination typically arises from the failure caused by corrosion of underground storage
tanks (including piping used to transmit the contents), application of pesticides, percolation of contaminated
surface water to subsurface strata, oil and fuel dumping, disposal of coal ash, leaching of wastes
fromlandfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil. The most common chemicals involved are
petroleum hydrocarbons, lead, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (such as naphthalene and
benzo(a)pyrene), solvents, pesticides, and other heavy metals. This occurrence of this phenomenon is
correlated with the degree of industrialization and intensities of chemical usage.
The concern over soil contamination stems primarily from health risks, from direct contact with the
contaminated soil, vapors from the contaminants, and from secondary contamination of water supplies
within and underlying the soil. Mapping of contaminated soil sites and the resulting cleanup are time
consuming and expensive tasks, requiring extensive amounts of geology, hydrology, chemistry, computer
modeling skills, and GIS in Environmental Contamination, as well as an appreciation of the history of
industrial chemistry.
It is in North America and Western Europe that the extent of contaminated land is most well known, with
many of countries in these areas having a legal framework to identify and deal with this environmental
problem; this however may well be just the tip of the iceberg with developing countries very likely to be the
next generation of new soil contamination cases.
The immense and sustained growth of the People's Republic of China since the 1970s has exacted a price
from the land in increased soil pollution. The State Environmental Protection Administration believes it to
be a threat to the environment, to food safety and to sustainable agriculture. According to a scientific
sampling, 150 million mi (100,000 square kilometers) of China’s cultivated land have been polluted, with
contaminated water being used to irrigate a further 32.5 million mi (21,670 square kilometers) and another 2
million mi (1,300 square kilometers) covered or destroyed by solid waste. In total, the area accounts for one-
tenth of China’s cultivatable land, and is mostly in economically developed areas. An estimated 12 million
tonnes of grain are contaminated by heavy metals every year, causing direct losses of 20 billion yuan
(US$2.57 billion).[2]
Causes
This type of contamination or pollution typically arises from failure due to corrosion of underground storage
tanks or of the piping associated with them, historical disposal of coal ash, application of pesticides,
percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface strata, oil and fuel dumping, leaching of wastes
from landfills or direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil. The most common chemicals involved are
petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, lead, pesticides, and other heavy metals. The occurrence of this
phenomenon is correlated with the degree of industrialization and intensities of chemical usage.
Hitorical deposition of coal ash used for residential, commercial, and industrial heating, as well as for
industrial processes such as ore smelting, is a common source of contamination in areas that were
industrialized before about 1960. Coal natually concentrates lead and zinc during its formation, as well as
other heavy metals to a lesser degree. When the coal is burned, most of these metals become concentrated in
the ash (the principal exception being mercury). Coal ash and slag may contain sufficient lead to qualify as a
"characteristic hazardous waste", defined in the USA as containing more than 5 mg/L of extractable lead
using the TCLP procedure. In addition to lead, coal ash typically contains variable but significant
concentrations of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; e.g., benzo(a)anthracene,
benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, indeno(cd)pyrene, phenanthrene, anthracene,
and others). These PAHs are known human carcinogens and the acceptable concentrations of them in soil
are typically around 1 mg/kg. Coal ash and slag can be recognized by the presence of off-white grains in
soil, gray heterogeneous soil, or (coal slag) bubbly, vesicular pebble-sized grains.
Treated sewage sludge, known in the industry as biosolids, has become controversial as a fertilizer to the
land. As it is the byproduct of sewage treatment, it generally contains contaminants such as organisms,
pesticides, and heavy metals than other soil.[3]
Health effects
Contaminated or polluted soil directly affects human health through direct contact with soil or via inhalation
of soil contaminants which have vaporized; potentially greater threats are posed by the infiltration of soil
contamination into groundwater aquifers used for human consumption, sometimes in areas apparently far
removed from any apparent source of above ground contamination.
Health consequences from exposure to soil contamination vary greatly depending on pollutant type, pathway
of attack and vulnerability of the exposed population. Chronic exposure to chromium, lead and other metals,
petroleum, solvents, and many pesticide and herbicide formulations can be carcinogenic, can
cause congenital disorders, or can cause other chronic health conditions. Industrial or man-made
concentrations of naturally-occurring substances, such as nitrate and ammonia associated with livestock
manure from agricultural operations, have also been identified as health hazards in soil and groundwater.[4]
Chronic exposure to benzene at sufficient concentrations is known to be associated with higher incidence of
leukemia. Mercury and cyclodienes are known to induce higher incidences of kidney damage, some
irreversible. PCBs and cyclodienes are linked to liver toxicity. Organophosphates and carbamates can induce
a chain of responses leading to neuromuscular blockage. Many chlorinated solvents induce liver changes,
kidney changes and depression of the central nervous system. There is an entire spectrum of further health
effects such as headache, nausea, fatigue, eye irritation and skin rash for the above cited and other
chemicals. At sufficient dosages a large number of soil contaminants can cause death by exposure via direct
contact, inhalation or ingestion of contaminants in groundwater contaminated through soil. [5]
Ecosystem effects
Not unexpectedly, soil contaminants can have significant deleterious consequences for ecosystems. There
are radical soil chemistry changes which can arise from the presence of many hazardous chemicals even at
low concentration of the contaminant species. These changes can manifest in the alteration of metabolism of
endemic microorganisms and arthropods resident in a given soil environment. The result can be virtual
eradication of some of the primary food chain, which in turn could have major consequences for predator or
consumer species. Even if the chemical effect on lower life forms is small, the lower pyramid levels of
the food chain may ingest alien chemicals, which normally become more concentrated for each consuming
rung of the food chain. Many of these effects are now well known, such as the concentration of persistent
DDT materials for avian consumers, leading to weakening of egg shells, increased chick mortality and
potential extinction of species.
Effects occur to agricultural lands which have certain types of soil contamination. Contaminants typically
alter plant metabolism, most commonly to reduce crop yields. This has a secondary effect upon soil
conservation, since the languishing crops cannot shield the Earth's soil mantle from erosion phenomena.
Some of these chemical contaminants have long half-lives and in other cases derivative chemicals are
formed from decay of primary soil contaminants.
Cleanup options
Clean up or environmental remediation is analyzed by environmental scientists who utilize field
measurement of soil chemicals and also apply computer models (GIS in Environmental Contamination) for
analyzing transport[7] and fate of soil chemicals. There are several principal strategies for remediation:

 Excavate soil and take it to a disposal site away from ready pathways for human or sensitive
ecosystem contact. This technique also applies to dredging of bay muds containing toxins.
 Aeration of soils at the contaminated site (with attendant risk of creating air pollution)
 Thermal remediation by introduction of heat to raise subsurface temperatures sufficiently high to
volatize chemical contaminants out of the soil for vapour extraction. Technologies include
ISTD, electrical resistance heating (ERH), and ET-DSPtm.
 Bioremediation, involving microbial digestion of certain organic chemicals. Techniques used in
bioremediation include landfarming, biostimulation and bioaugmentating soil biotawith commercially
available microflora.
 Extraction of groundwater or soil vapor with an active electromechanical system, with subsequent
stripping of the contaminants from the extract.
 Containment of the soil contaminants (such as by capping or paving over in place).
 Phytoremediation, or using plants (such as willow) to extract heavy metals
 Noise pollution

Noise pollution is excessive, displeasing human, animal, or machine-created environmental

noise that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life. The wordnoise comes from the Latin
word nauseas, meaning seasickness.
The source of most outdoor noise worldwide is mainly construction and transportation systems,
including motor vehicle noise, aircraft noise, and rail noise.[1][2] Poorurban planning may give rise to noise
pollution, since side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the
residential area.

Health effects
[edit]Human health
Noise health effects describe problems in both health and behavior. Unwanted sound (noise) can damage
physiological and psychological health. Noise pollution can cause annoyance and aggression,hypertension,
high stress levels, tinnitus, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, and other harmful effects.[3][4][5][6] Furthermore,
stress and hypertension are the leading causes to health problems, whereas tinnitus can lead to forgetfulness,
severe depression and at times panic attacks.[4][7]
Chronic exposure to noise may cause noise-induced hearing loss. Older males exposed to
significant occupational noise demonstrate significantly reduced hearing sensitivity than their non-exposed
peers, though differences in hearing sensitivity decrease with time and the two groups are indistinguishable
by age 79.[8] A comparison of Maaban tribesmen, who were insignificantly exposed to transportation or
industrial noise, to a typical U.S. population showed that chronic exposure to moderately high levels of
environmental noise contributes to hearing loss.[3]
High noise levels can contribute to cardiovascular effects and exposure to moderately high levels during a
single eight hour period causes a statistical rise in blood pressure of five to ten points and an increase
instress[3] and vasoconstriction leading to the increased blood pressure noted above as well as to increased
incidence of coronary artery disease.
Noise pollution is also a cause of annoyance. A 2005 study by Spanish researchers found that in urban areas
households are willing to pay approximately four Euros per decibel per year for noise reduction.[9]
Wildlife health
Noise can have a detrimental effect on animals, increasing the risk of death by changing the delicate balance
in predator or prey detection and avoidance, and interfering the use of the sounds in communication
especially in relation to reproduction and in navigation. Acoustic overexposure can lead to temporary or
permanent loss of hearing.
An impact of noise on animal life is the reduction of usable habitat that noisy areas may cause, which in the
case of endangered species may be part of the path to extinction. Noise pollution has caused the death of
certain species of whales that beached themselves after being exposed to the loud sound of
military sonar[11] (see also Marine mammals and sonar).
Noise also makes species communicate louder, which is called Lombard vocal response. Scientists and
researchers have conducted experiments that show whales' song length is longer when submarine-detectors
are on.[13] If creatures do not "speak" loud enough, their voice will be masked by anthropogenic sounds.
These unheard voices might be warnings, finding of prey, or preparations of net-bubbling. When one species
begins speaking louder, it will mask other species' voice, causing the whole ecosystem to eventually speak
louder.
European Robins living in urban environments are more likely to sing at night in places with high levels of
noise pollution during the day, suggesting that they sing at night because it is quieter, and their message can
propagate through the environment more clearly.[14] The same study showed that daytime noise was a
stronger predictor of nocturnal singing than night-time light pollution, to which the phenomenon is often
attributed.
Zebra finches become less faithful to their partners when exposed to traffic noise. This could alter a
population's evolutionary trajectory by selecting traits, sapping resources normally devoted to other
activities and thus lead to profound genetic and evolutionary consequences.

Noise pollution
It is not easy to give an adequate noise pollution definition. Basically noise pollution would be a form of
pollution done by different audio sources that either distract, irritate or damage certain environment. Noise is
really any unwanted sound, some sound that isn't natural to given environment and it causes disturbance to
not only natural processes but can also cause harm to human society.

Noise pollution can become big environmental problem in some areas. It is not only stressful to many
animals but can also cause the problems in predator/prey relation and detection, and even lead to different
reproduction problems. More serious noise can even significantly reduce usable habitats for many sound-
sensible animals, and can in the end even result in extinction of some species. For instance the noise
pollution caused by man kills lot of sea animals, especially the ones that use the sense of hearing as the most
important organ of perception like dolphins and whales. Scientists have found out that many whales and
dolphins commit massive suicides by coming ashore guided by false signals that resulted from noise
pollution.

Noise pollution doesn't have only negative effect on animals but can also have negative impact on human
health. Exposure to much noise can lead to stress, aggression, sleep disturbance, hearing loss, and different
other psychological issues. Many studies have shown negative effect of noise pollution to human health, and
many people these days tend to find homes in some quiet and peaceful areas with where noise levels are
very low.

The most common source of noise pollution is transportation, in form of motor vehicles. Some other sources
like car alarms, emergency service sirens, office equipment, factory machinery, construction work, barking
dogs, power tools, lighting hum, different audio systems, loudspeakers and noisy people can also cause
noise pollution but motor vehicles are globally speaking dominant source of noise pollution.

Noise pollution problem definitely deserves more attention from environmental point of view. Though noise
pollution is not widely recognized as one of the big environmental problems noise laws still do not exist in
many parts of the world. If we look at the United States for example we can see that there are federal
standards for highway and aircraft noise, many states and local governments have specific statutes on
building codes, urban planning and roadway development but U.S. still doesn't have a single body that
would regulate noise pollution. Not one country in the world does which means that effects of noise
pollution are still underestimated.

In some countries different types of noise are managed by agencies responsible for the source of the noise,
and so for instance transportation noise is often regulated by the relevant transportation ministry, while for
instance loud music noise is a criminal offense in many areas. Basically world is still seeing noise pollution
as the annoyance rather than the real problem, and this is the main reason why there aren't special bodies that
would regulate noise pollution and suggest noise laws to legislative bodies.
 Thermal pollution

The broadest definition of thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that
changes ambient water temperature. Thermal pollution is usually associated with increases of water
temperatures in a stream, lake, or ocean due to the discharge of heated water from industrial processes, such
as the generation of electricity. Increases in ambient water temperature also occur in streams where shading
vegetation along the banks is removed or where sediments have made the water more turbid . Both of these
effects allow more energy from the sun to be absorbed by the water and thereby increase its temperature.
There are also situations in which the effects of colder-than-normal water temperatures may be observed.
For example, the discharge of cold bottom water from deep-water reservoirs behind large dams has changed
the downstream biological communities in systems such as the Colorado River.

Sources

The production of energy from a fuel source can be direct, such as the burning of wood in a fireplace to
create heat, or by the conversion of heat energy into mechanical energy by the use of a heat engine.
Examples of heat engines include steam engines, turbines , and internal combustion engines. Heat engines
work on the principal of heating and pressuring a fluid, the performance of mechanical work, and the
rejection of unused or waste heat to a sink . Heat engines can only convert 30 to 40 percent of the available
input energy in the fuel source into mechanical energy, and the highest efficiencies are obtained when the
input temperature is as high as possible and the sink temperature is as low as possible. Water is a very
efficient and economical sink for heat engines and it is commonly used in electrical generating stations.

The waste heat from electrical generating stations is transferred to cooling water obtained from local water
bodies such as a river, lake, or ocean. Large amounts of water are used to keep the sink temperature as low
as possible to maintain a high thermal efficiency. The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station between Los
Angeles and San Diego, California, for example, has two main reactors that have a total operating capacity
of 2,200 megawatts (MW). These reactors circulate a total of 2,400 million gallons per day (MGD) of ocean
water at a flow rate of 830,000 gallons per minute for each unit. The cooling water enters the station from
two intake structures located 3,000 feet offshore in water 32 feet deep. The water is heated to approximately
19°F above ambient as it flows through the condensers and is discharged back into the ocean through a
series of diffuser -type discharges that have a series of sixty-three exit pipes spread over a distance of 2,450
feet. The discharge water is rapidly mixed with ambient seawater by the diffusers and the average rise in
temperature after mixing is less than 2°F.

These ASTER false-color images were acquired over Joliet 29, a coal-burning power plant in Illinois. Joliet
29 can be seen in the VNIR image (top) as the bright blue-white pixels just above the large cooling pond.
Like many power plants, Joliet 29 uses a cooling pond to discharge heated effluent water. In the bottom
image a single ASTER Thermal Infrared band was color-coded to represent heat emitted from the surface.
The progression from warmest to coolest is shown with the following colors: white, red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, and black.
Environmental Effects

The primary effects of thermal pollution are direct thermal shock , changes in dissolved oxygen, and the
redistribution of organisms in the local community. Because water can absorb thermal energy with only
small changes in temperature, most aquatic organisms have developed enzyme systems that operate in only
narrow ranges of temperature. These stenothermic organisms can be killed by sudden temperature changes
that are beyond the tolerance limits of their metabolic systems. The cooling water discharges of power plants
are designed to minimize heat effects on local fish communities. However, periodic heat treatments used to
keep the cooling system clear of fouling organisms that clog the intake pipes can cause fish mortality. A heat
treatment reverses the flow and increases the temperature of the discharge to kill the mussels and other
fouling organisms in the intake pipes. Southern California Edison had developed a "fish-chase" procedure in
which the water temperature of the heat treatment is increased gradually, instead of rapidly, to drive fish
away from the intake pipes before the temperature reaches lethal levels. The fish chase procedure has
significantly reduced fish kills related to heat treatments.

Small chronic changes in temperature can also adversely affect the reproductive systems of these organisms
and also make them more susceptible to disease. Cold water contains more oxygen than hot water so
increases in temperature also decrease the oxygen-carrying capacity of water. In addition, raising the water
temperature increases the decomposition rate of organic matter in water, which also depletes dissolved
oxygen. These decreases in the oxygen content of the water occur at the same time that the metabolic rates
of the aquatic organisms, which are dependent on a sufficient oxygen supply, are rising because of the
increasing temperature.

The composition and diversity of communities in the vicinity of cooling water discharges from power plants
can be adversely affected by the direct mortality of organisms or movement of organisms away from
unfavorable temperature or oxygen environments. A nuclear power-generating station on Nanwan Bay in
Taiwan caused bleaching of corals in the vicinity of the discharge channel when the plant first began
operation in 1988. Studies of the coral Acropora grandis  in 1988 showed that the coral was bleached within
two days of exposure to temperatures of 91.4°F. In 1990 samples of coral taken from the same area did not
start bleaching until six days after exposure to the same temperature. It appears that the thermotolerance of
these corals was enhanced by the production of heat-shock proteins that help to protect many organisms
from potentially damaging changes in temperature. The populations of some species can also be enhanced
by the presence of cooling water discharges. The only large population of sea turtles in California, for
example, is found in the southern portion of San Diego Bay near the discharge of an electrical generating
station.

Abatement
The dilution of cooling water discharges can be effectively accomplished by various types of diffuser
systems in large bodies of water such as lakes or the ocean. The only thermal effects seen at the San Onofre
nuclear generating station are the direct mortality of plank tonic organisms during the twenty-five-minute
transit through the cooling water system. The effectiveness of the dilution systems can be monitored
by thermal infrared imaging using either satellite or airborne imaging systems. The use of cooling towers
has been effective for generating stations located on smaller rivers and streams that do not have the capacity
to absorb the waste heat from the cooling water effluent . The cooling towers operate by means of a
recirculating cascade of water inside a tower, with a large column of upwardly rising air that carries the heat
to the atmosphere through evaporative cooling. Cooling towers have been used extensively at nuclear
generating stations in both the United States and France. The disadvantages of cooling towers are the
potential for local changes in meteorological conditions due to large amounts of warm air entering the
atmosphere and the visual impact of the large towers.
 References:

Cultural Studies 3.2 Book

Understanding Environmental Pollution Book

Environment and Pollution Book

 Fundamental of Pollution Book