Day: April 18, 2013

Pollution is any, physical, chemical or biological changes that adversely affect the health, survival or activities of living organisms that alter the environment in an undesirable way. Sources of Pollution Sources of Pollution are of two types: Natural Sources Man made Sources Natural Sources of Pollution: Natural sources of pollution includes volcanic activity, algal blooms, dramatic changes in the ocean currents. Volcanic activity can lead to alteration of climatic conditions. algal blooms can cause low level of Biological oxygen demand there by killing fishes. changes in the Ocean current can lead to poor nutrient cycling. Man made sources All human activities. agricultural impact on environment. Transportation of Hazardous materials Incineration of waste products. Industrial activities. Pollutants are released accidentally, some times deliberately in a single step or continuously eg: effluents.leak or leaching of water. Environmental Pollutants Biological - Cholerae Bacterium, sewage pollution of water Physical - Heat, Noise, Radioactivity, Particulate matter. Chemical - chemicals are intrinsically harmful, eg: heavy metals, Xenobiotic compounds. Most naturally occurring substances ie, pollutants whose increased concentration in environment can lead to health problems or environmental damage. Eg: chloride in water. Priority Pollutants US environmental protection agency has listed 129 priority pollutants which are dangerous and can cause health problems and environmental damage. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP's) 12 most notorious persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are called as dirty dozens: these are 1. DDT 2. Toxaphane 3. PCB's 4. Dioxins & Furans 5. Hexachloro Benzene 6. Chlordane 7. Dieldrin 8. Endrin 9. Aldrin 10. Mirex 11.Heptachlor Got something to say about this post? Leave a comment...your comments are valuable for improving the posts.

Day: April 18, 2013

Environmental Pollution: A Major Threat

Methanol Production