Environmental Pollution

All of us need conducive environment.

It has its own Composition.

Pollution

Pollutants

Environmental pollution
Undesirable change in the
1. Physical,
2. Chemical
3. Biological characteristics of any
component of the environment which
can cause harmful effects on various
forms of life or property.


AIR POLLUTION
Gases: SO
2
, NO and NO
2
, hydrocarbons
Particulate: Smoke, dust, soot, fumes,
pollen grains
Radioactive: Radon-222, iodine-131

Sources of Air Pollution

Natural


Man-made
Sources of Air Pollution

1. Natural : volcanic eruptions,
pollen grains , Radioactive minerals
1. Man-made (anthropogenic):
Thermal power plants,
Vehicular emissions,
Fossil fuel burning,
Agricultural activities etc.

Man-made
Thermal power plants
They consume coal and release fly ash and
SO
2

Examples Are
Fertilizer plants
Paper and pulp mills
Automobiles
Release gases such as CO (about 77%),
NO
x
(about 8%),
Hydrocarbons (about 14%).
Duty diesel
Give out more NO
x
and
Suspended particulate matter (SPM)
Petrol vehicles
produce more CO and
hydrocarbons.

Indoor Air Pollution
Radon gas and
Radioactive daughters are responsible for a
large number of lung cancer deaths each
year.
Emission Of Radon
Building materials like bricks
Groundwater
Natural gas
Combustion
Complete combustion
Incomplete combustion
Coal
Sulphur dioxide.
black soot.
Pollutants i.e. CO, SO
2
, soot and many others like
formaldehyde, benzo- (a) pyrene (BAP) are toxic and
harmful for health.
BAP is also found in cigarette smoke and is considered
to cause cancer.
Effects of air pollution:
Effects on Human Health
Bigger particles (> 10 m) can be trapped by the hairs
and sticky mucus
Smaller particles can reach tracheo bronchial
system and there get trapped in mucus.
They are sent back to throat by beating of hair like
cilia.

Diseases linked to air
pollution
Lung cancer,
Chronic bronchitis
And
Emphysema
Sulphur dioxide (SO
2
)

Can go deep into the lungs and
affect them severely.
CO has affinity for haemoglobin
210 times more than oxygen.



Benzene, formaldehyde

Polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs)
toxic metals and dioxins (from burning of
polythene) can cause
Mutations,
cancer.

Effects on Plants:
Entering through stomata (leaf pores through which gases
Diffuse),
1. Can destroy chlorophyll
2. Erode waxy coating of the leaves called Cuticle.
Cuticle prevents excessive water loss and damage
from diseases
Damage to leaf structure causes
Necrosis: dead areas of leaf
Chlorosis
Epinasty: downward curling of leaf
Abscission :dropping of leaves


Effects on aquatic life:
Can cause high acidity (lower pH)

Effects on materials:
Accelerate corrosion
SO
2
can affect fabric, leather, paint.
Ozone can cause cracking of rubber.
NO
x
can also cause fading of cotton fibres.
Control of Air Pollution
Using low sulphur coal.
Removing NOx during the combustion process.
Removing particulate from stack exhaust
gases by Employing electrostatic Precipitators.



Vehicular pollution
Fuel efficient engine.
1. Slow burning of fuels to reduce NO
x
emission
2. Mass transport system: bicycles etc.
3. Non-conventional sources of energy.
4. Biological filters and bio-scrubbers.
5. Planting more trees.

NOISE POLLUTION

Sound is Mechanical energy:Causes pressure perturbation in the
medium through which sound travels
Unpleasant and unwanted sound is called noise.
Sound can propagate through a medium like air, liquid or solid.
Compression and rarefaction.
The number of compressions and rarefactions of the molecules of
the medium (for example air) in a unit time is described as
frequency.

Measurements of sound :Sound Pressure
Level (SPL) =Log P
s
/P
o
Unit: decibel (dB).
2 10
5
Pa is the average threshold of hearing
for a healthy ear.

Sources of noise pollution
Various modes of transportation

Nanjing (China) noise level of 105 dB has
been recorded,
Rome 90 dB,
New York 88 dB,
Calcutta 85 dB,
Effects of noise
(i) Interferes with man's communication
(ii) Hearing damage: Auditory sensitivity is
reduced with noise level of over 90 dB.
(iii) Physiological and Psychological
changes: It may result in hypertension,
insomnia (sleeplessness), gastro-intestinal and
digestive disorders.

NOISE POLLUTION DURING
DIWALI.

Some accidents do occur every year claiming a few lives.
firecrackers is beyond the permissible noise levels of 125
decibels as per the Environmental (Protection)
The department of explosives of the Union Ministry of
Commerce and Industry
Most of the firecrackers available in the market produce
noise beyond the permissible levels :National Physical
Laboratory, New Delhi
Standard conditions
In areas not having noise-reflecting surfaces
within a 15 metre Radius.

Two gadgets, for measuring sound levels were
installed at a height of 1.3 metres and at a
distance of 4 metres from the source of sound.

Rule 89
Government shall comply with amended
Rule 89 of the Environmental
(Protection) Rules, 1986 framed under
the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986
which essentially reads as follows.
1.
(i) The manufacture, sale or use of fire-crackers
generating noise level exceeding 125 dB at 4
meters distance from the point of bursting shall
be prohibited.
(ii)For individual fire-cracker constituting the
series (joined fire-crackers), the above
mentioned limit be reduced by 5 log 10 (N) dB,
where N = Number of crackers joined together.
2.
2. The use of fire works or fire crackers shall
not be permitted except between 6.00 p.m. and
10.00 p.m. No fire works or fire crackers shall
be used between 10.00 p.m. and 6.00 a.m.
3.
Fire crackers shall not be used at any time in
silence zones, as defined by the Ministry of
Environment and Forests.

Silence Zone has been defined as:
area comprising not less that 100 meters
around hospitals, educational institutions, courts,
Religious places or any other area which is
4.
The State Education Resource Centres in all
the States and Union Territories as well as the
management/principals of schools in all the
States and Union Territories shall take
appropriate steps to educate students about
the ill effects of air and noise pollution.

Control of Noise Pollution
Reduction in sources of noise
Noise making machines should be kept in containers
with sound absorbing media.
Proper oiling will reduce the noise from the machinery.
Use of sound absorbing silencers.
Planting more trees having broad leaves.
Through Law.
WATER POLLUTION
Water pollution can be defined as alteration
in physical, chemical or biological
characteristics of water making it unsuitable
for designated use in its natural state.
Sources of water pollution
Point sources
- Or
non-point sources.
Point sources
Which directly discharge effluents into them.
industries, power plants
Non-point sources
The discharge is not at any particular site, rather, these
sources are scattered, which individually or collectively
pollute water. Surface run-off from agricultural fields
Ground water pollution
Ground water forms about 6.2% of the total water.
Ground water seems to be less prone to pollution as
the soil mantle through which water
injection, mining etc. are mainly responsible for
ground water pollution, which is irreversible.

Ground water pollution with arsenic, fluoride and
nitrate are posing serious health hazards.

Surface water pollution
The major sources of surface water pollution are:
1. Sewage
2. Industrial effluents
3. Synthetic detergents
4. Agrochemicals
5. Oil
6. Waste heat
Effects of water pollution
Oxygen demanding wastes: The saturation
value of DO varies from 8-15 mg/L.
For Active fish species (trout and Salmon) 5-8
mg/L of DO is required whereas less desirable
species like carp can survive at 3.0 mg/L of DO.
Causes eutro phication

Nitrogen and Phosphorus
Compounds:
Nitrogen and phosphorus helps in the growth of algae and
other plants.
Under anaerobic conditions foul smelling gases are
produced.
The concentration of CO
2
which will further change pH of
water.
Pathogens
Pathogenic (disease causing)
And
Non-pathogenic micro organisms

Cholera,
Dysentery,
Typhoid,
Jaundice etc.
Toxic compounds
BOD is defined as the amount of DO
required to aerobically decompose
biodegradable organic matter of a given
volume of water over a period of 5 days
at 20C.
More BOD values of any water sample
are associated with poor water quality.
The non-biodegradable toxic compounds biomagnified in
the food chain.
Substances like DDT are not water soluble and have
affinity for body lipids. These substances tend to
accumulate in the organism's body. This process is called
bioaccumulation.
The concentration of these toxic substances builds up at
successive levels of food chain. This process is called
biomagnification.

Component DDT concentration
(ppm)

Birds =10.00
Needle fish =1.0
Minnows =0.1
Zooplankton =0.01
Water =0.000001
Heavy metals
Mercury methyl mercury by bacterial
action. Methyl mercury accumulates in fish.
Results
In 1953, people in Japan suffered from numbness
of body parts, vision and hearing problems and
abnormal mental behavior. This disease called
Minamata disease.
Cadmium
Itai-itai
Caused by cadmium contaminated rice.
In this disease bones, liver, kidney, lungs,
pancreas and thyroid are affected.

Arsenic pollution of ground water in Bangladesh and West Bengal
is causing various types of abnormalities.
Nitrate when present in excess in drinking water causes blue baby
syndrome or methaemoglobinemia. The disease develops when a part
of haemoglobin is converted into non-functional oxidized form.
Nitrate in stomach partly gets changed into nitrites which can
produce cancer-causing products in the stomach.
Excess of fluoride in drinking water causes defects in teeth and
bones called fluorosis.
Pesticides in drinking water ultimately reach humans and are
known to cause various health problems. DDT, aldrin, dieldrin etc.
have therefore, been banned. Recently, in Andhra Pradesh, people
suffered from various abnormalities due to consumption of
endosulphan
contaminated cashew nuts.
Control of Water Pollution
It is easy to reduce water pollution from point sources by
legislation.
However, due to absence of defined strategies it becomes
difficult to
prevent water pollution from non-point sources. The following
points
may help in reducing water pollution from non-point sources.
(i) Judicious use of agrochemicals like pesticides and fertilizers
which will reduce their surface run-off and leaching. Avoid use
of these
on sloped lands.
(ii) Use of nitrogen fixing plants to supplement the use of
fertilizers.
(iii) Adopting integrated pest management to reduce reliance on
pesticides.
(iv) Prevent run-off of manure. Divert such
run-off to basin for
settlement. The nutrient rich water can be
used as fertilizer in the fields.
(v) Separate drainage of sewage and rain
water should be provided
to prevent overflow of sewage with
rainwater.
(vi) Planting trees would reduce pollution
by sediments and will
also prevent soil erosion.
For controlling water pollution from point sources, treatment of
wastewaters is essential before being discharged. Parameters which
are
considered for reduction in such water are-
Total solids, biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen
demand (COD), nitrates and phosphates, oil and grease, toxic metals
etc.
Wastewaters should be properly treated by primary and secondary
treatments to reduce the BOD, COD levels upto the permissible levels
for discharge.
Advanced treatment for removal of nitrates and phosphates will
prevent eutrophication. Before the discharge of wastewater, it should
be disinfected to kill the disease-causing organisms like bacteria.
Proper chlorination should be done to prevent the formation of
chlorinated hydrocarbons or disinfection should be done by ozone or
ultraviolet radiations.
THERMAL POLLUTION
Thermal pollution can be defined as presence of waste heat in the
water
which can cause undesirable changes in the natural environment.
Causes of thermal pollution: Heat producing industries i.e.,
thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, refineries, steel mills etc.
are the major sources of thermal pollution. Power plants utilize only
1/3 of the energy provided by fossil fuels for their operations.
Remaining
2/3 is generally lost in the form of heat to the water used for cooling.
Cold water, generally, is drawn from some nearby water-body, passed
through the plant and returned to the same water body, with
temperature 10-16C higher than the initial temperature. Excess of heat
reaching such water bodies causes thermal pollution of water.
Effects of Thermal Pollution
(i) The dissolved oxygen content of
water is decreased as the
solubility of oxygen in water is
decreased at high temperature.
(ii) High temperature becomes a barrier
for oxygen penetration
into deep cold waters
(iii) Toxicity of pesticides, detergents and chemicals in the
effluents
increases with increase in temperature.
(iv) The composition of flora and fauna changes because the
species sensitive to increased temperature due to thermal
shock will be
replaced by temperature tolerant species.
(v) Metabolic activities of aquatic organisms increase at high
temperature and require more oxygen, whereas oxygen level
falls under
thermal pollution.
(vi) Discharge of heated water near the shores can disturb
spawning and can even kill young fishes.
(vii) Fish migration is affected due to formation of various
thermal
zones.
137
Control of Thermal Pollution:
The following methods can be employed for
control of thermal
pollution:
(i) Cooling ponds, (ii) Spray Ponds,
(iii) Cooling towers
(i) Cooling Ponds: Water from condensers is
stored in ponds
where natural evaporation cools the water
which can then be
recirculated or discharged in nearby water
body. (Fig. 5.2)