SOURCES OF POLLUTION AND THEIR IMPACTS ON ENVIRONMENT

AND HEALTH
Pollution is the process of making land, water, air or other parts of the environment dirty and not
safe or suitable to use. This can be done through the introduction of a contaminant into a natural
environment, but the contaminant doesn't need to be tangible. Things as simple as light, sound
and temperature can be considered pollutants when introduced artificially into an environment.

Toxic pollution affects more than 200 million people worldwide, according to Pure Earth, a non-
profit environmental organization. In some of the world's worst polluted places, babies are born
with birth defects, children have lost 30 to 40 IQ points, and life expectancy may be as low as 45
years because of cancers and other diseases. Read on to find out more about specific types of
pollution.
1). Land pollution
Land can become polluted by household garbage and by industrial waste. In 2014, Americans
produced about 258 million tons of solid waste, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. A little over half of the waste — 136 million tons— was gathered in landfills. Only
about 34% was recycled or composted.
Organic material was the largest component of the garbage generated, the EPA said. Paper and
paperboard accounted for more than 26%; food was 15% and yard trimmings were 13%. Plastics
comprised about 13% of the solid waste, while rubber, leather and textiles made up 9.5% and
metals 9%. Wood contributed to 6.2% of the garbage; glass was 4.4% and other miscellaneous
materials made up about 3%.

Commercial or industrial waste is a significant portion of solid waste. According to the

University of Utah, industries use 4 million pounds of materials in order to provide the average
American family with needed products for one year. Much of it is classified as non-hazardous,
such as construction material (wood, concrete, bricks, glass, etc.) and medical waste (bandages,
surgical gloves, surgical instruments, discarded needles, etc.). Hazardous waste is any liquid,
solid or sludge waste that contain properties that are dangerous of potentially harmful to human
health or the environment. Industries generate hazardous waste from mining, petroleum refining,
pesticides manufacturing and other chemical production. Households generate hazardous waste
as well, including paints and solvents, motor oil, fluorescent lights, aerosol cans and ammunition.

2). Water pollution

Water pollution happens when chemicals or dangerous foreign substances are introduced to
water, including chemicals, sewage, pesticides and fertilizers from agricultural runoff, or metals
like lead or mercury. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 44% of
assessed stream miles, 64% of lakes and 30% of bay and estuarine areas are not clean enough for
fishing and swimming. The EPA also states that the United States most common contaminants
are bacteria, mercury, phosphorus and nitrogen. These come from the most common sources of
contaminates, that include agricultural runoff, air deposition, water diversions and channelization
of streams.

Water pollution isn't just a problem for the United States. According to United Nations, 783
million people do not have access to clean water and around 2.5 billion do not have access to
adequate sanitation. Adequate sanitation helps to keep sewage and other contaminants from
entering the water supply.
According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 80% of pollution in
marine environment comes from the land through sources like runoff. Water pollution can also
severely affect marine life. For example, sewage causes pathogens to grow, while organic and
inorganic compounds in water can change the composition of the precious resource. According
to the EPA, low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water are also considered a pollutant.
Dissolved is caused by the decomposition of organic materials, such as sewage introduced into
the water.
Warming water can also be harmful. The artificial warming of water is called thermal pollution.
It can happen when a factory or power plant that is using water to cool its operations ends up
discharging hot water. This makes the water hold less oxygen, which can kill fish and wildlife.
The sudden change of temperature in the body of water can also kill fish. According to
the University of Georgia, it is estimated that around half of the water withdrawn from water
systems in the United States each year is used for cooling electric power plants.
"In nearly all cases, 90% of this water is returned to its source, where it can raise the water
temperature in an area immediately surrounding the water discharge pipe. Depending on water
flow, the water temperature quickly returns to ambient temperatures that do not harm fish." Donn
Dears, former president of TS August, a not for profit corporation organization focused on
energy issues, told Live Science.

Nutrient pollution, also called eutrophication, is another type of water pollution. It is when
nutrients, such as nitrogen, are added into bodies of water. The nutrient works like fertilizer and
makes algae grow at excessive rates, according to NOAA. The algae blocks light from other
plants. The plants die and their decomposition leads to less oxygen in the water. Less oxygen in
the water kills aquatic animals.
3). Air pollution
The air we breathe has a very exact chemical composition; 99% of it is made up of nitrogen,
oxygen, water vapor and inert gases. Air pollution occurs when things that aren't normally there
are added to the air. A common type of air pollution happens when people release particles into
the air from burning fuels. This pollution looks like soot, containing millions of tiny particles,
floating in the air.

Another common type of air pollution is dangerous gases, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides and chemical vapors. These can take part in further chemical
reactions once they are in the atmosphere, creating acid rain and smog. Other sources of air
pollution can come from within buildings, such as secondhand smoke.

Finally, air pollution can take the form of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide or sulfur
dioxide, which are warming the planet through the greenhouse effect. According to the EPA, the
greenhouse effect is when gases absorb the infrared radiation that is released from the Earth,
preventing the heat from escaping. This is a natural process that keeps our atmosphere warm. If
too many gases are introduced into the atmosphere, though, more heat is trapped and this can
make the planet artificially warm, according to Columbia University.
Air pollution kills more than 2 million people each year, according to a study published in the
journal of Environmental Research Letters. The effects of air pollution on human health can vary
 widely depending on the pollutant, according to Hugh Sealy, professor and director of the
environmental and occupational health track at the Department of Public Health and Preventive
Medicine, St. George's University, St. George's, Grenada. If the pollutant is highly toxic, the
effects on health can be widespread and severe. For example, the release of methyl isocyanate
gas at Union Carbide plant in Bhopal in 1984 killed over 2,000 people, and over 200,000
suffered respiratory problems. An irritant (e.g. particulates less than 10 micrometers) may cause
respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease and increases in asthma. "The very young, the old
and those with vulnerable immune systems are most at risk from air pollution. The air pollutant
may be carcinogenic (e.g. some volatile organic compounds) or biologically active (e.g. some
viruses) or radioactive (e.g. radon). Other air pollutants like carbon dioxide have an indirect
impact on human health through climate change," Sealy told Live Science.

4). Noise pollution

Even though humans can't see or smell noise pollution, it still affects the environment. Noise
pollution happens when the sound coming from planes, industry or other sources reaches harmful
levels. Research has shown that there are direct links between noise and health, including stress-
related illnesses, high blood pressure, speech interference, hearing loss. For example, a study by
the WHO Noise Environmental Burden on Disease working group found that noise pollution
may contribute to hundreds of thousands of deaths per year by increasing the rates of coronary
heart disease. Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA can regulate machine and plane noise.
Underwater noise pollution coming from ships has been shown to upset whales' navigation
systems and kill other species that depend on the natural underwater world. Noise also makes
wild species communicate louder, which can shorten their lifespan.
5). Light pollution
Most people can't imagine living without the modern convenience of electric lights. For the
natural world, though, lights have changed the way that days and nights work. Some
consequences of light pollution are:

 Some birds sing at unnatural hours in the presence of artificial light.

 Scientists have determined that long artificial days can affect migration schedules, as they allow
for longer feeding times.
 Streetlights can confuse newly hatched sea turtles that rely on starlight reflecting off the waves to
guide them from the beach to the ocean. They often head in the wrong direction.
 Light pollution, called sky glow, also makes it difficult for astronomers, both professional and
amateur, to properly see the stars.
 Plant's flowering and developmental patterns can be entirely disrupted by artificial light.
 According to a study by the American Geophysical Union, light pollution could also be making
smog worse by destroying nitrate radicals that helps the dispersion of smog.
Turning on so many lights may not be necessary. Research published by International Journal of
Science and Research estimates that over-illumination wastes about 2 million barrels of oil per
day and lighting is responsible for one-fourth of all energy consumption worldwide.
6). Other pollution facts:
 Americans generate 30 billion foam cups, 220 million tires, and 1.8 billion disposable diapers
every year, according to the Green Schools Alliance.
 According to the WHO, ambient air pollution contributes to 6.7% of all deaths worldwide.
 The Mississippi River drains the lands of nearly 40% of the continental United Sates. It also
carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each
year, resulting in a dead zone each summer about the size of New Jersey.
 Pollution in China can change weather patterns in the United States. It takes just five days for the
jet stream to carry heavy air pollution from China to the United States, where it stops clouds
from producing rain and snow.
 About 7 million premature deaths annually linked to air pollution, according to WHO. That is
one in eight deaths worldwide.