Environmental Pollution

Pollution or environmental pollution is the contamination of air, water, soil, or land by solid, liquid, or gaseous substances or any forms of energy like heat, sound, and radioactivity. It has adverse or harmful effects on human beings, animals, or plants in our environment. The substances which are responsible for water pollution, air pollution, and land or soil pollution of our environment are called pollutants.

For scientific solutions to pollution, the harmful substance or molecule can be dispersed, diluted, decomposed, recycled, or stored in some harmless form.

Types of Pollution

Air, water, and land pollution are the major kinds of environmental pollution in science (chemistry or biology) that negatively affect our environment or impact human health and wildlife.

In modern society, we use different types of substances or machinery that pollute our environment in the form of light (electromagnetic spectrum radiation), plastic, and noise pollution. It affects living and non-living organisms in the earth’s environment.

Sources of Environmental Pollution

Different types of polluted substances coming from different sources are responsible for different kinds of environmental pollution. These pollutants are classified as,

1. Gaseous pollutants
2. Liquid pollutants
3. Solid pollutants
4. Weightless pollutants

Gaseous Pollutants

In learning chemistry or environmental science, the major kinds of harmful gaseous pollutants responsible for air and water contamination in the world may include,

• Carbon dioxide (CO₂)
• Methane (CH₄)
• Sulfur dioxide (SO₂)
• Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂)
• Ozone gas (O₃)
• Gaseous hydrocarbon

The pollutants, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide react with rainy water or moisture in the presence of oxygen or ozone from sulfuric acid or nitric acid rain to increase the pH scale of water or land.

Liquid Pollutants

Water in nature today is never clean since water contains different levels of poisonous liquid pollutants or wastes such as sewage wastes and industrial waste. These kinds of substances may include,

• Fecal matter
• Urine
• Water containing soaps or detergents
• Bacteria

These pollutants enter the river and affect aquatic life or the self-purification system of water is disturbed.

Solid Pollutants

Solid pollutants are mainly two types namely biodegradable and non-biodegradable pollutants responsible for general types of environmental pollution. The solid pollutants may include,

• Rubbish
• Ashes
• Dead animals
• Waste sludge
• Chemicals and paints
• Sand
• Pesticides and insecticides
• Manures
• Crop residue

Pollutants Without Weight

Pollutants without weight come from thermal or nuclear power plants and noise-generating machines. Such types of pollutants may include,

• Heat or specific heat
• Radioactive decay products
• Noise or sound

Thermal power plants generate heat for the production of electrical energy. The heat generated by this process negatively affects our enviourment. Nuclear plants generate harmful radiation that can cause various types of health problems.

Causes of Pollution

Air, water, soil, industrial, noise (sound), thermal, and radioactive (radiation) are the common types of environmental pollution caused by today’s quality of living. The air, water, and land in nature are never clean. It contains different kinds of pollutants that impact human health, ocean life, and wildlife on our earth.

What is Air Pollution?

Air pollutants in our environment mean, pollution caused by different kinds of poisonous gases (CO, NO, NO₂, SO₃, O₃), unburnt hydrocarbon, and different types of harmful chemical elements.

These harmful gases and particles can come from car and truck exhaust, factories, dust, wildfires, etc. These can have adverse effects on our planet and our health in several ways.

What are Water Pollutants?

Water pollutants in our environment come from insoluble solid particles, soluble salt solutions, sewage, garbage, low-level radioactive materials, industrial waste, algae, bacteria, etc.

Industrial Pollutants in Water

The waste discharges from industry affect the biosphere like air, water, and land. The waste may include,

• Harmful chemical elements such as mercury (Hg), sodium (Na), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), calcium (Ca), etc).
• Inorganic or organic compounds such as acid, alkaline, alcohol, etc.

These pollutants may harm humans, green plants, and aquatic or marine life in our world. These types of industrial waste are thrown into the water present in lakes or rivers and the water gets polluted.

Industrial pollution is also caused by greenhouse gases such as sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and radioactive waste coming from different types of industries. These types of substances pollute our global environments such as air, water, and land.

Environmental Science Topics