Environmental PollutionTypes and Sources

Sam Sanet Kumar

E.Kalaivani

Nivedita Gopinath

Ashish Bharadwaj

What is Pollution?

“Pollution means the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the environment, resulting in deleterious effects of such a nature as to endanger human health, harm living resources and ecosystems, and impair or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the environment.”

Definition of pollution by OECD (1974)

The major forms of pollution

• Air pollution• Noise pollution • Water pollution• Soil contamination • Radioactive contamination • Light pollution • Visual pollution • Thermal Pollution

Air Pollution

Air pollution is said to exist if the levels of harmful gases, solids or liquids present in the atmosphere are high enough to affect humans, other organisms, buildings, monuments, etc.

Major primary pollutants produced by human activity include:

• Sulfur oxides (SOx) especially sulfur dioxide • Nitrogen oxides (NOx) especially nitrogen dioxide • Carbon monoxide (CO) • Carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas • Volatile organic compounds (VOC), such as hydrocarbon fuel

vapors and solvents • Particulate matter (PM), such as smoke and dust. • Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)• Ammonia (NH3) • Odors, such as from garbage, sewage, and industrial

processes

Secondary pollutants include:• Particulate matter formed from gaseous primary pollutants

and compounds in photochemical smog, such as nitrogen dioxide

• Ground level ozone (O3) • Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN)

Pollutants

Total Vehicular

Load (in ‘000 tones)

CO 1325.911

Hydrocarbons 466.3362

NOX 327.6715

ParticulateMatter 48.71416

Benzene 13.26281

Butadiene 1.694508

Ozone Potential 1667.886

Source : Transport fuel quality for year 2005,CPCB, MoEF

Pollution Load of Vehicles, 2005

Case Study IMexico City

Just living and breathing here is equivalent to smoking two packets of cigarettes a day (Raven & Berg 2004)

Millions of tonnes of Emissions from 3 million vehicles, 36,000 industries, leakage of LPG and particles of dried faecal matter from sewage (Enger 2004)

Reforestation, import of clean fuel and upgrading of public transport have led to improvements.

Case Study IINew Delhi

• In the early ‘90s: Delhi the 4th most polluted city in the world (Brandon et al. 1995)

• Annual cost of air pollution was Rs.14 Billion, World Bank (Bell et al. 2004)

• Today, Delhi is a model city in the South Asian region

• Radical Turnaround due to:» Eviction of polluting industries from the city» Conversion of all public transport to CNG

Water Pollution

Water pollution is a large set of adverse effects upon water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater caused by human activities.

Major Sources• Sediments• Oxygen demanding Organic Wastes• Infectious Micro organisms• Organic Compounds

• Inorganic Nutrients and Chemicals• Runoff containing spilled petroleum products • Radioactive substances• Thermal Pollution

Freshwater Contamination: Eutrophication

• Eutrophication is frequently a result of nutrient pollution such as the release of sewage effluent into natural waters (rivers or coasts)

• Promotes excessive plant growth and decay• Causes severe reductions in water quality • Changes the species mix in the water body• Causes Hypoxia

Marine: Algal Bloom

• Caused by coastal pollution, wastewater runoff and higher ocean temperature due to global warming

• A population explosion of pigmented marine algae

• May release toxins that kill marine life• Even non-toxic forms of algal bloom cause

damage to the marine ecosystem- Causes Hypoxia

Groundwater Pollution• Excessive extraction of

groundwater leads to natural pollution of the same

• Examples are fluorosis and arsenic poisoning

• Irreversible intrusion of saltwater occurs in coastal areas due to excessive extraction

• Substances like paint thinners and motor oil

• Neither gets flushed out nor does it decompose away: hence, can last for thousands of years.

Arsenic and Fluoride Contamination

• Arsenic and Fluoride deposits are present naturally in aquifers. Poisons released due to excessive water extraction

• Effect of arsenic on body tissues shows up after 2-5 years of consumption: leads to gangrene and cancer, blindness, liver and heart problems, diabetes, goitre, etc.

• Excess intake of fluoride leads to dental, skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis

Case Study III : Fluorosis endemic in Jharana Kurd• 1200 inhabitants of this Rajasthan village

suffer from Fluorosis (Jamwal & Manisha2003)

• The disease has wiped out entire village economies

• Brings stigma to women• Problem now endemic in 19 states• Govt. measures are weak- defluoridization

technology is expensive

Ship Pollution and Oil Spills • Result of increased traffic in ocean ports,

pollution from ships directly affects coastal areas, biodiversity, climate, food, and human health.

• Discharge of cargo residues from bulk carriers can pollute ports, waterways and oceans.

Oil Spills: While being toxic to marine life, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the components in crude oil, are very difficult to clean up, and last for years in the sediment and marine environment

Noise Pollution• Predominant Cause:

Transportation systems

• Health Impacts: Stress, Hypertension, Cardiac Problems

• High noise levels may interfere with the natural cycles of animals, including feeding behavior, breeding rituals and migration paths.

Environmental Noise Scale--Threshold of PainSiren at 100 FtJetliner 500 ft overheadAir compressorHeavy City Traffic--Beginning of hearing DamageAverage TrafficConversation Speech (3 Ft)Business OfficeAverage ResidenceSoft Whisper (5 ft)Room in a quiet houseMotion picture studio--Threshold of Hearing

140

130

120

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

0

Decibels

Solid and Hazardous Waste

• Domestic Waste: Sewage and Household Garbage (Municipal Solid Waste)

• Factory Waste : Effluents • E-waste : Obsolete machines and parts• Construction waste: materials from demolished

buildings• Biomedical Waste : diseased organs, poisonous

medicines• Radioactive waste from Nuclear Power Plants• Waste from natural disasters and Wars

Case Study IV:Alang, Graveyard of Ships

• Alang lies in the Gulf of Kambhat in Gujarat

• 300 ships are dismantled every year (Bavadam 2004 & Chaudhary 2004)

• Most ships contain toxic waste; cost of clean up falls on Gujarat Government

• Greenpeace Campaign started in 2003 has made some difference: “Clean Toxic Ships Now!”

• Refers to any physical or chemical change in soil conditions that may adversely affect the growth of plants and other organisms living in or on that soil

• Caused by Acid Rain and Excessive use of chemical fertilizers

• Dumping/ leakage of wastes- garbage, untreated sewage, effluents and mining waste

• Salinization may occur due to continued irrigation with saline water

• Transforms plant metabolism, reduces crop yields and aids soil erosion

Soil Contamination

Radioactive Contamination

• Radioactive contamination is typically the result of a spill or accident during the production or use of radionuclides

• Radioactive contamination can enter the body through ingestion, inhalation, absorption, or injection

• Chernobyl: Radioactive Iodine led to thyroid impairment and cancer

Other types of Pollution• Thermal: temperature change in natural water

bodies caused by human influence. The main cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant, especially in power plants.

• "Light pollution" (or photopollution) refers to light that is considered annoying, wasteful or harmful. Excess light loss in visual acuity, hypertension, headaches and increased incidence of carcinoma.

Emissions Vs. Ambient Pollution

• Polluter generates emissions• Emissions are transformed into ambient

concentrations of pollution- i.e. in the air around us or in water we drink

• Ambient Concentrations, not emissions per se, cause damage

• The two are imperfectly connected.

Natural Environment

Environmental Regulator

Damage

(to Producers, Consumers, Ecosystems)

Ambient Levels of Pollution

Environmental Transformation (transport, decay, combination, deposition

ConsumersProducers

Emissions Emissions

From Emissions to Ambient Pollution

How much Pollution do we want?

• Efficiency requires equating Marginal Damage (MD) from pollution to Marginal savings of firm from polluting (MS or -MC)

• MD is in terms of ambient pollution• MS is in terms of emissions• So we express MD(p) in terms of per unit

of emissions to enable comparison

MDEi(ei) = {D(p +Δp) – D(p)}/Δei= MD(p)Δp/ Δei= ai MD(p)

Where; MDEi(ei) is marginal damage per unit of emission from source i. Assume there is only one receptor of pollution.

ai is the transfer coefficient Δp/ Δei (ratio of change in pollution to change in emissions)

For instance, if ai is 2, then one unit of emission yields 2 units of pollution

• Efficiency condition-MCi(ei) = MDEi(ei) = ai MD(p) for all i

For any 2 sources n and m, -MCm(em)/ am = -MCn(en)/ an = MD(p)

(Where the MC/a terms are marginal costs per unit of ambient pollution)

Since only one receptor is assumed, MD(p) is the same irrespective of the source

Thank you!

Questions?