Environmental pollution:

Sources, causes, effect and

control

Dr. Renu Bhargava

Professor, Env Engg Section,
Deptt of Civil Engg.,
IIT, Roorkee
 Pollution

Pollution may be defined as ‘an undesirable change in the physical, chemical

or biological characteristics of our air, water and land that may or will harmfully,
affect human life, the lives of the desirable species, our industrial processes,
living conditions and cultural assets, or that may or will waste or deteriorate our
raw materials.

Pollution is mostly man made, but it can also be natural. Natural pollution is
caused by volcanic eruptions, emission of natural gases, soil erosion, ultraviolet
rays, cosmic rays etc.
 Types of Pollution
• Atmospheric (air) pollution
• Water pollution
• Soil/land pollution
• Radioactive pollution
• Noise pollution
Air Pollution
 Definition

Presence of foreign material in the air

which are harmful to man and
environment.
 Sources of Air Pollution
A. Natural
B. Anthropogenic
Domestic
Commercial
Agricultural
Industrial
Transportation related sources
 Natural sources
Natural pollutant emissions vary from one
location to another, with seasonal,
geological and meteorological conditions
and with the type of vegetation
eg. Volcanic eruptions, forest fires, dust
storms etc.
 Domestic Sources
In residential areas, domestic activities are the
major causes of pollutant emissions.

Activity Pollutants released

Space heating CO, CO2, NOx, Sox, soot, smoke (if fossil fuels are burned at the
residence)
Cooking Fats ( as solids, liquids, and vapors), particles, odors
Cleaning Solvent vapors, dust, lint, spray can propellants
Gardening Pesticides, fertilizers (some of which may be highly toxic)
Painting Principally solvent vapors
Washing Detergent particles, soap particles, lint
 Commercial Sources
• commercial sources of air pollution include
the public services industries eg.,dry
cleaning of clothes.
• Other include restaurants, hotels, schools,
printing and painting.
 Agricultural Sources
• animal feed operations
• Cotton particles during harvesting and
processing in sufficient quantities
• Pesticides and insecticides
 Industrial sources
A few of the polluting industries are
• Fertilizer and explosive manufactures
(produces NOx)
• Paper plants, natural gas cleaning and
processing plants, oil refineries, synthetic
fibers plant ( Hydrogen sulfide)
• Cast iron and other metallurgical
processes ( CO)
• Industries related to petroleum and natural
gas industries (VOCs)
 Transportation related sources
• Except agriculture the transportation
sector releases one third of the total
emissions of VOCs, nitrogen oxides, and
lead and more two thirds of the carbon
monoxide.
Sources of air pollution
 Important Air Pollution Sources and emisions
Category Examples Important Pollutants

Chemical plant Petroleum refineries, fertilizers, cement, Hydrogen sulphide, sulphur oxides,
paper mill, ceramic, clay products and flourides, organic vapors and dusts.
glass manufacture
Crop spraying Pest and weed control Organophosphates, chlorinated
hydrocarbons, lead, arsenic.

Fuel burning Domestic burning, thermal power plants Suphur and nitrogen oxides.

Metallurgical plants Aluminium refineries, steel plants Metal fumes ( Lead and Zinc) flourides
and particulates.

Nuclear device testing Bomb explosions Radioactive fallouts, Sr-90, Ca-137, C-

14, etc.

Ore preparation Crushing, grinding screening Uranium and Beryllium dust, other
particulates, argon-41, Iodine-131

Spray painting, solvent extractions, Furniture and appliances dyeing, Hydrocarbons and other organic vapors
inks, solvent cleaning printings and chemical separations, dry
cleaning
Transportation Cars, trucks, aeroplanes and railways Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides,
lead, smoke, organic vapors etc.

Waste recovery Scrap metal yards, rendering plants Smoke, soot. Odors. Organic vapors
metal fumes.
 Pollutants
Classification

Primary pollutant Secondary pollutant

Gaseous ---oxides of carbon, Photochemical smog, acid rain

oxides of sulphur, oxides of
nitrogen, hydrocarbons

Particulate---lead, SPM, RSPM,

Pollen, dust, fly ash etc.
 Photochemical smog

The product of photochemical reactions are formaldehyde, peroxybenzoyl

Nitrate (PBzN), peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), and acrolein.

Hydrocarbons + NOx + Sunlight Photochemical smog

The NO-NO2-O3 photochemical reaction sequence

N2+O2 2NO
2NO+O2 2NO2
In presence of sunlight
NO2 + hv NO +O
O +O2 +M O3 +M
Where hv means photon (λ<0.38µm)
Ozone then convert NO back to NO2
 Oxygen
SUN (O2)

Nitrogen
Nitric Atomic Ozone
Emissions dioxide
oxide oxygen (O3)
(NO2)
(NO) (O)

Fig. 3: Atmospheric nitrogen photolytic cycle

 Reaction of hydrocarbons with NOx
HC can cause NO to convert to NO2
Reducing NO removes O3 slowly
Increase in NO2 gives rise to increase in ozone production as shown below

OH- O2 NO O2 NO

RH RO2-
emissions
R- RO- HO2-

H2 O NO2 R’CHO NO2

 Effects
Pollutants Effects on Man, Vegetation and other materials

Carcinogenic hydrocarbon On man --- Cancer

Carbon monoxide On man – Poisoning, increased accident liability

Dust On man--- Repiratory diseases, fiseases like silicosis (cough,

cold, sneezing, allergic deseases, etc), asbestosis, byssinosis,
poisoning from metallic dust
Hydrogen sulphide On man– irritation of respiratory passages, danger of
respiratory paralysis and asphyxiation
On materials– Darkening of painted surfaces, corrosion
Hydrogen flouride On man – irritation, diseases of bone (flourosis), mottling of
teeth, respiratory diseases
On vegetation – destruction of crops
Heavy metals On man – specific poisoning, retardation of activities of brain,
interference in enzyme activities in liver and kidney
Nitrogen dioxide On man –irritation , brochitis, oedema of lungs

Photochemical smog (oxidants) On man – lung irritation, asthma, bronchitis,etc

On vegetation –destruction of vegetation
On materials– deterioration of rubber products such as tyres
and insulating wires
Sulphur dioxide On man– suffocation, irritation of throat and eyes, respiratory
diseases.
On vegetation– destruction of sensitive crops and reduced yield
On materials – corrosion.
Acid Rain and dry acid deposition
 Control of Air pollution
I.Control of particulate matter
• Arresters
• Scrubbers
II. Control of gaseous pollutants
III. Control of automobile exhaust
Some air pollution control devices
 Air pollution Meteorology
• The rate of decrease of temperature with increase in height is called
the temperature lapse rate. If the rate of decrease refers to the air
environment, it is called the environmental lapse rate.

Stratosphere

Height 10-20km

Troposphere

Temperature

Fig.1: Temperature change with height illustrating positive lapse in the troposphere.
 Unstable Neutral Stable I Stable II

H
E
I
G
H
T
Superadiabatic Adiabatic Subadiabatic Negative (inversion)

TEMPERATURE

Environmental Lapse Rate

Process Lapse Rate (Adiabatic)

Fig 2: Stability of an air parcel determined by environmental lapse rate.

H
E Top
I Inversion layer
G Base
H
T

Top

Inversion layer
Base

TEMPERATURE

Fig.3: Surface inversion and inversion aloft.

 Assesment
The pollution can be assesed by the use of
a. High volume sampler
b. Gas bubbler
c. Respirable dust monitoring equipments
d. Stack monitoring
 Water pollution
It is defined as the addition of some
substance (organic, inorganic, biological or
radiological) or factor (heat), which
degrade the quality of water so that it
either becomes health hazards or unfit for
use.
 Sources of water pollution
Point source Non-point sources

1.Municipal waste water

Agricultural sources
Most important characteristics
BOD, COD,DO, metals Fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides
Substances like DDT gives rise to biomagnification
2.Industrial waste water
Inorganic
Organic
Different metals,
Carbohydrate,
Flourides, sulphates,
proteins, oils, fats,
Cyanide, oxides of iron,
phenols, organic acids etc.
mercury,acid, alkali etc

3. Thermal pollution
Main sources are thermal and nuclear power plant
A few industrial sources of water pollution
 Effect on the aquatic system
• The oxygen demand in waste consumes Do from water and it may
bring it down to a value less than 4ppm which is threshold value for
the survival of fish and other aquatic life. Reduced DO also eliminate
the sensitive species like plankton, molusc and fish while annelid
worm and some insect larvae are tolerant to low DO content.
• The DO of the water depends upon the temperature of water
• Heavy metals and high temperature also affects the organisms
• Eutrophication algal bloom
 Effects on human health
• The waste water or sewage contains pathogens which when
consumed causes jaundice, cholera, typhoid, amoebiosis etc.
• Heavy metals can cause serious health problems. Murcuric
compounds are converted by bacterial actions into methyl mercury
which causes numbness of limbs, lips and tongue, blurring of vision
and metal derangement
• Minimata desease was caused in 1952 in Japan due to consumption
of mercury
• Cadmium can cause itai itai disease which is a painful disease of
bones and joints, cancer of lungs and liver.
• lead causes anaemia, headache, loss of muscle power and bluish
line around gums
Excess nitrate (ground water) may be fatal for infants. It causes
Methaemoglobinemia or blue baby disease
Haemoglobin + nitrate methaemoglobin
Flouride Causes teeth deformaty hardening of bones and
Skeletal florosis
 Control
1.Sewage should be suitably treated before discharging into the water
body
Conventional waste treatment
Primary Secondary Tertiary
Screen Biological treatment Polishing ponds
Grit Chamber ASP Nutrient removal
Settling Trickling filter Disinfection
Oxydation pond
Oxydation ditch
Aerated Lagoon
UASB and
Sludge Thickening
and treatment
 Soil /land Pollution
• The top soil gets polluted by the addition of the substances to the soil which
adversely affect physical, chemical and biological properties of soil and reduces its
productivity
• The process of soil production is very slow and hence the soil can be considered as
non-renewable resource.
• Soil pollution may occur by dumping and disposing the waste directly on land,
application of agrochemicals or indirectly through air pollution.
• Main soil pollutants are
• Industrial waste
• Pesticides
• Fertilizers and manures
• Discarded waste
• Solid and semi solid
• Radioactive sources
• And other polluting materials entering indirectly
 Effect
• Salination of the soil
• The soil may become infertile
• The pollutants may leach down with the rain water polluting the
ground water
 Control
• Manage the solid waste properly
• Pneumatic pipes should be laid for
collecting and disposing waste
• Industrial waste should be dumped in
special pits
• Chemical fertilizers and pesticides used
may be reduced--- biofertilizer,
biopesticides
 Radioactive pollution
• Natural sources--- from earth’s crust
• Man made sources
• Nuclear power plant
• Atomic explosions
• Nuclear fall out
• Radioactive isotopes used in laboratories,
radiation therapy
 Effects of radioactive pollution
• It depends upon half life, energy releasing
capacity, rate of diffusion, rate of
deposition of pollutant and the
environmental factors like wind,
temperature and rainfall
• The radiations can cause demage to skin,
sun burns,impair metabollism etc.
 control
• Proper precaution should be taken to
prevent the nuclear fall out
• Leakage should be checked
• Safe Disposal of radioactive waste
• Regular monitoring
• Prevent occupational exposure
Noise pollution