Wikipedia defines pollution as the introduction of contaminants into an environment, of whatever predetermined or agreed upon proportions or frame of reference — it can take the form of chemical substances, or energy (noise, heat, or light). These contaminants cause instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms. The pollutants or elements of pollution can be foreign substances or energies, or naturally occurring, and when naturally occurring, they are considered contaminants when they exceed natural levels. The effects on human health? Adverse air quality can kill many organisms including humans. Ozone pollution can cause respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, throat inflammation, chest pain, and congestion. While water pollution causes about 14,000 deaths per day, mostly due to contamination of drinking water by untreated sewage in developing countries. Oil spills can also cause skin irritations and rashes. Noise pollution induces hearing loss, high blood pressure, stress, and sleep disturbance. Mercury has been linked to developmental deficits in children and neurologic symptoms. Lead and other heavy metals have been shown to cause neurological problems. Chemical and radioactive substances can cause cancer and child birth defects.
How about vehicle emissions? Why is diesel exhaust more hazardous to our health? For gasoline-powered cars, their emissions have been reduced considerably over the years while diesel engines produce 9-10 times more emissions than gasoline-powered cars. Diesel particulate matter has a carbon core and thousands of chemicals are absorbed onto this core and that most of these chemicals are quite toxic. Causes of air pollution involved in processes in industry, commerce, agriculture and in the home are the combustion processes used to provide heat and electricity and to power transport, the manufacture of refrigerants and solvents by industry, and the decomposing matter on landfill sites. While you may get a cough, you may also find your eyes feeling irritated and high concentrations air pollutants can damage airways to the lungs, causing inflammation and breathing difficulties. Some other causes of pollution include sewage and fertilizers contain nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. It is ultimately up to us, to be informed, responsible and involved when it comes to the problems we face with water and air. We must become familiar with our local water resources and learn about ways for disposing harmful household wastes so they don’t end up in sewage treatment plants that can’t handle them or landfills not designed to receive hazardous materials. If measures are not taken and air/water pollution continues, life on earth will suffer severely. Global environmental collapse and so as the global warming are surely not inevitable.
Tags: air and water pollution, deadly effects of air pollution, effects of pollution on human health, health risks due to pollution, water contamination
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