From the air we breathe to the food we eat and the water we drink, pollution has entered every sphere of our life.
Considering that it is almost 97% of the world's accessible freshwater resource polluting groundwater is perhaps one of the most blatant and negligent crime one can commit. About two billion urban and rural people depend on groundwater for everyday needs. Groundwater can be easily polluted by municipal, industrial, agricultural, and individual sources. Municipal sources of groundwater contamination include open dumpsites, poorly constructed or maintained landfills, latrines and other waste sites. Industrial pollution can come from dumping of wastewater or waste, from mining activities and from leakage or spillage from other industrial processes. Agricultural contamination is primarily due to overuse of pesticides and fertilizers that can seep into groundwater sources. Individuals can also pollute groundwater by improperly disposing of wastes like motor oil, detergents and cleaners that can leak into water sources.
Think Bellary people! A perfect and 'latest' example of how unbridled mining activities can destroy the environment.
Mining can be for common to precious, and from inert to hazardous materials. The most common pollution problem for an active mine arises from the disposal of mineral wastes, mainly mine waste rock and tailings. Economic ore deposits contain many chemical elements in addition to those that are extracted for sale. Some of these are toxic, and they are often present at concentrations that pose risks to the environment and human health. They can be leached from both sources, transported by wind, or taken up by plants and animals in the human food chain. Physical agents such as asbestos and crystalline silica can also be windborne, and radioactive minerals pose their own set of risks. Substances emitted from or present at mine sites can enter the body in a variety of ways such as inhalation, absorption through dermal contact, or ingestion of contaminated food and water.
Metal processing smelters or facilities that extract metals from ore to create more refined metal products are a major source of pollution. Some facilities that carry out metal and smelting processes are known to emit high quantities of air pollutants such as hydrogen fluoride, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, offensive and noxious smoke fumes, vapors, gases, and other toxins. A variety of heavy metals: lead, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, nickel, copper, and zinc are also released by the facilities. In addition, pickling and other processes in metalworking use large volumes of sulfuric acid which may also be released. Estimates from a survey conclude that steel production alone accounts for 5 to 6 percent of worldwide, man-made CO2 emissions. What's more layers of dust can also settle onto nearby agricultural fields, causing crop intake of pollutants and later consumed by humans. Particulate matter emissions, sewage waters, and solid wastes also enter waterways used for drinking water.
Fukushima, Chernobyl. Need we say more?
Radioactive materials cannot be treated, but only become harmless when they have finished their decay which can take up to a million years! Radioactive waste is categorized broadly as high or low level waste. There are worldwide efforts to find ways that high-level wastes can be reliably sealed off from the biosphere for at least a million years in so-called final repositories. There is no 'safe' level of radiation exposure. Radioactivity impacts the human metabolism in a wide variety of ways. Its effects can be dramatic, attacking all body functions in cases of severe exposure but more commonly seen as causing a range of cancers from exposure over a period of time or impacting the genetic code, which can result in health problems transmitted to the following generations.
Uggh! That stink that rises up when sewage is dumped into local waterways, in the absence of practical alternatives. A disgusting swirling pool of human faeces and wastewater from non-industrial human activities such as bathing, washing, and cleaning flowing directly into our waterbodies. Life-threatening human pathogens carried by sewage include cholera, typhoid and dysentery. Other diseases resulting from sewage contamination of water include hepatitis A, intestinal nematode infections, and numerous others. WHO estimates that 1.5 million preventable deaths per year result from unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or hygiene.
Next time you say "what's that smell", it's probably just the air! Airborne pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuel, vehicle engines and industrial production, by combustion of biomass for agricultural or land-clearing purposes, and by natural processes such as windblown dust, volcanic activity and biologic respiration. Outdoor air pollution and photochemical smog can occur in any environment where there are large and continuous emissions of primary air pollutants. However specifics of climate and geography play an important role in the persistence and severity of the pollution. For instance, warm and sunny climates, tend to be more polluted as the air in the upper atmosphere can become warm enough to inhibit vertical air circulation trapping smog in the lower atmosphere. Major health effects associated with outdoor air pollution are typically associated with chronic pulmonary and cardio-vascular stress from the fine particles and include increased mortality, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, asthma exacerbation, acute and chronic bronchitis, restrictions in activity and lost days of work.
Lead acid batteries are rechargeable batteries made of lead plates situated in a 'bath' of sulphuric acid within a plastic casing. They are used in every country in world, and can commonly be recognized as "car batteries". About 6 million tons of lead is used annually, on a worldwide basis, of which roughly three-quarters goes into the production of lead-acid batteries, which are used in automobiles, industry and a wide range of other applications. Much of this existing demand for lead is met through the recycling of secondary material and in particular from lead recovered from Used Lead-Acid Batteries. Exposure to lead through inhaling dust, fumes or vapors dispersed in the air can cause impaired physical growth, kidney damage, retardation, and in extreme cases even death. Lead poisoning can lead to tiredness, headache, aching bones and muscles, forgetfulness, loss of appetite and sleep disturbance.
Every human needs about 20 liters of freshwater a day for basic survival (drinking and cooking) and an additional 50 to 150 liters for basic household use. Growing concentrations of people combined with the increasing industrialization of land use have resulted in many major rivers becoming highly polluted. Sometimes the pollution levels even cause the rivers to become biologically dead and poisonous to drink. Key pollutants in the water systems are typically pathogens arising from human waste (bacteria and viruses), heavy metals and organic chemicals from industrial waste. Water pollution is one of the greatest causes of mortality that can be linked to environmental factors. Boiling water can destroy most pathogens, however this requires fuel, a commodity often in short supply in poor households. Water quality problems are affecting virtually all of the developing world's major rivers. Northern India suffers immense flooding in its river systems but in the dry season, pollution problems dominate, especially in the upper reaches, including around New Delhi.
Indoor Air Pollution
The most significant cause of indoor air pollution in the developing world is the burning of coal or unprocessed biomass fuels for cooking, heating and light. More than 50% of the world's population gets their energy for cooking in this way. Indoor Air Pollution mostly affects health through inhalation, but can also affect the eyes through contact with smoke with women and children being the most at risk. Indoor Air Pollution contributes to nearly 3 million deaths annually, and constitutes 4% of the global burden of disease.
Artisanal and small-scale mining refers to mining activities that use rudimentary methods to extract and process minerals and metals on a small scale. Artisanal miners also frequently use toxic materials in their attempts to recover metals and gems. Such miners work in difficult and often very hazardous conditions and, in the absence of knowledge or any regulations or standards, toxic materials can be released into the environment, posing large health risks to the miners, their families and surrounding communities.1 In this context, gold mining operations are particularly dangerous, as they often use the mercury amalgamation process to extract gold from ores. Artisanal gold mining releases mercury into the environment in its metallic form during amalgamation and as mercury vapor during the burning process.
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