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Unearthing the issue: Causes and sources of soil pollution
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Industrialization is the process of applying mechanical, chemical, and electrical sciences to reorganize production, with inanimate sources of energy, to develop industries[38]. It is understood that as there is an increase in industrialization, it brings about a subsequent increase in living standards, economic prosperity, healthcare services and population as a result[1][2]. However, with this increase, there is a significant impact on the environment, specifically, air and water conditions. Most waste-intensive industries directly discharge wastes, including pesticides, chemicals, oil and heavy-metals into the nearby water bodies, thereby polluting it[3]: More than 80 toxins have been found in industrial pollutants, which are released into the air[7]. Toxins released from these industries into the air lead to 4.2 Million deaths a year[8], and these pollutants also impact the condition of human health, by certain toxins acting as carcinogens, disease carriers, infection catalysts, etc. Other than these immediate effects, industrialization causes several long term impacts such as the acidity of oceans, due to high CO2 with predictions of extreme increases over the next century, leading to severe second order effects[9]. This report discusses the impact of industrialization on human health by taking a balanced view on advantages and disadvantages, possible courses of action and a personal perspective. The report evaluates the different factors of the issue, considering highly industrialized countries such as USA, along with the national perspective of India to finally conclude with how regulated industrialization is beneficial and advantageous.
The sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region bears the blunt of soil pollution mainly due to-haphazard disposal and gross mismanagement of a wide assortment of pollutants generated from within and outside the region. Pollution of agricultural soils in the region is so intense that out of the 80 countries substantially affected by land degradation (soil pollution, inclusive) in the world, 36 are found in Africa, the SSA, in particular. Pollution of soils has resulted into a significant reduction in their ability to support crop growth and yield apart from jeopardizing safety and security of agricultural produce in SSA. Consequences of pollution of soils on human health in the region are inadequately reported, but they range from non-fatal, life-changing effects like skin damage due to acute, invariably fatal incidences of exposure to milt by chronic effects. We show in this review, that while science and advancement in technology has provided a multitude of alternative techniques to pollution control and remediation of affected soils, such techniques are largely inaccessible to most SSA countries. There is also lack of coordination on development, enforcement and implementation of legal and political instruments to tackle the growing risk of pollution to human health from soil contamination across the SSA region. Couple with this, lack of data on status of soil pollution in most SSA countries affects the countries’ capacity to devise and plan policies that can help reduce soil pollution. Countries need to maximize efforts to reverse the status of already polluted pieces of land through strengthening remediation programs, research on how best to gather, maintain and complement soil pollution data and actions that inform decision-making.
Forests are known to have beneficial effects on the environment, influence the climate, water sources, and temperature. Forests help in conserving biodiversity, reducing harmful effects caused by chemicals from the soil, acting as a carbon sink, and protecting watersheds, all of these have great benefits to both humans and the environment. The ecosystem of the forests and the environmental sustainability is at risk as a result of deforestation. Deforestation also hampers the socioeconomic development in many parts of the world. Through secondary research and a descriptive research design, this paper analyzes the impacts of deforestation on the Environment and Agriculture in Kenya. According to research, agricultural activities are the major cause of deforestation globally, it accounts for about 80% of total deforestation in developing countries. Other causes of deforestation are human population growth, poor governance and corruption, illegal logging, and wildfires. Deforestation affects the environment through climate change, water loss, decreased biodiversity, habitat loss, and conflicts. Several conservation measures have been tried in various places to slow down the rate of deforestation. These include; imposing bans, legislations, devolution, public participation, barriers, and modernizing forest management. It is therefore recommended that; people need be educated about the benefits of forests and their adverse impacts that may result from deforestation, population control to avoid invasion in forested areas, adoption of sustainable and environmental-friendly agricultural practices, strengthening institutions such as legislature and judiciary to curb corruption, reduction of the continued widespread dependence of household biomass sources of energy ad adoption of Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to monitor activities in and around forests.
Electronic waste (e-waste) is a rapidly developing environmental problem particularly for the most developed countries. There are technological solutions for processing it, but these are costly, and the cheaper option for most developed countries has been to export most of the waste to less developed countries. There are various laws and policies for regulating the processing of e-waste at different governance scales such as the international Basel Convention, the regional Bamoko Convention, and various national laws. However, many of the regulations are not fully implemented and there is substantial financial pressure to maintain the jobs created for processing e-waste. Mexico, Brazil, Ghana Nigeria, India, and China have been selected for a more detailed study of the transboundary movements of e-waste. This includes a systematic review of existing literature, the application of the Driver, Pressure, State, Impact, Response (DPSIR) framework for analysing complex problems associated with social ecological systems, and the application of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for evaluating the environmental impact of electronic devices from their manufacture through to their final disposal. Japan, Italy, Switzerland, and Norway have been selected for the LCA to show how e-waste is diverted to developing countries, as there is not sufficient data available for the assessment from the selected developing countries. GOOD, BAD and UGLY outcomes have been identified from this study: the GOOD is the creation of jobs and the use of e-waste as a source of raw materials; the BAD is the exacerbation of the already poor environmental conditions in developing countries; the UGLY is the negative impact on the health of workers processing e-waste due to a wide range of toxic components in this waste. There are a number of management options that are available to reduce the impact of the BAD and the UGLY, such as adopting the concept of a circular economy, urban mining, reducing loopholes and improving existing policies and regulations, as well as reducing the disparity in income between the top and bottom of the management hierarchy for e-waste disposal. The overarching message is a request for developed countries to help developing countries in the fight against e-waste, rather than exporting their environmental problems to these poorer regions.
Soil has a role of ‘mother’ for all living beings present on Earth, including plants, animals, humans and microorganisms. It is source of water and nutrients that are required for suitable growth and development of plants. ‘Soil pollution’ is the contamination of soil with harmful contents or substances that have poisonous effects on growth and health of plants and all creatures. Since soil pollution cannot be directly assessed or visually perceived generally, it has become a hidden danger. Soil can be polluted in many ways, including precipitation deposits of acidic compounds, human developmental and mining activities, industrial activities, various agricultural activities such as use of pesticides and over-fertilization. All these affect soil pH, presence and activities of micro-organisms in soil, occurrence of toxic metals in soil. The plants grown in such soil can uptake harmful components and pass these through various physiological pathways within the food chain. These soil contaminations ultimately affect the whole vegetation of an area and finally will pollute our future. The present chapter summarizes current knowledge on the effects of different soil contaminations on the development of crop plants and their channelization in food chain with effect on human health. This chapter suggests new perspectives and future challenges on the proposed topic.
There has been a rapid rise in the soil pollution over the last two decades which has posed threat to living beings and the ecosystem as well. Soil pollution is caused by both natural and anthropogenic activities. Former includes volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis etc. while the later includes metals (trace and heavy metals), chemicals and radioactive wastes. The chemicals can be grouped into pesticides and allied chemicals, crude petroleum and its derivatives and polymers, plasticizers and other wastes. Radioactive wastes include nuclear power generation wastes and other by products released from nuclear technology (medicines and research). These are harmful substances which stay in the ecosystem for long duration during which they get accumulated and biomagnified to concentration potentially toxic to organisms at higher trophic levels in the food chain. Most of these chemicals are carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic in nature. It is therefore crucial to develop tools to assess potential risks of human exposure to pollutants and to decide threshold concentrations in soils in order to protect human health.
World Soil Day was established in 2002 by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) to celebrate the importance of soil and its vital contributions to human health and safety. On December 20, 2013, the 68th UN General Assembly recognized December 5th, 2014 as World Soil Day and 2015 as the International Year of Soils. This official recognition of these events will emphasize the importance of soils beyond the soil science community.
It took two years for the leadership of Thailand and the FAO Global Soil Partnership (GSP) to get these dates approved by the UN, but their hard work prevailed and soil has garnered the attention it has so long deserved. World Soil Day is annually held on December 5 to highlight soil's importance on Earth. We need soil for basic survival - food and energy. It is linked with the United Nations' (UN) Year of Soil.
World Soil Day serves as a reminder to all of us that we owe our existence to the soil. As we face mounting global production, climate and sustainability challenges.
Soil is fundamental to human life on Earth. Most plants require a soil substrate to provide water and nutrients, and whether we farm the plants directly or consume animals that feed on the plants, this means that we don't eat without soil. Having said that, it is not hard to see that a) it is possible to have a sea-based diet and b) it is possible to grow our food hydroponically. In those cases, it is possible to reduce the importance of soil. However, we still have the other reasons that soil is fundamental: it is required for trees. I don't think I need to go into the importance of trees for shade, animal habitat, building materials.
Effluents and mine waste from artisanal mining in Kokoteasua, a community in Ghana, are discharged directly to the environment withoutpriortreatmentandhavethepotentialofpollutingthesoilandwaterresourcesthatthe populace rely on for their daily water need. Therefore, this study has assessed the impact of the artisanal mining activities on the soil and water resources in the community. The method employed involved mapping the water supply points in the community and sampling the water supply points and the soil (at 20 cm and 40 cm depths) to determine their heavy metal levels (i.e. Fe, Pb, Zn, As, Mn, Cu, and Hg). The water quality was assessed using the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline values for drinking water while pollution indices were used to evaluate the levels of soil pollution. The results, generally, indicated that groundwater in the community is potable but unsuitable for drinking in isolated locations due to high levels of As and Zn. The stream, however, recorded high levels of Mn, Fe, and pH above the acceptable WHO drinking water guidelines. Again, the study found the soil to be extremely polluted with all the measured heavy metals (except Hg) from contamination factor, enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index and pollution load index assessments. Thus, the artisanal mining needs to be regulated to protect the water resource and soil from further pollution.
Most regional municipal solid waste landfills in Serbia are operated without control of landfill leachate and gas or with no regard for implementation of national and European legislation. For the first time in Serbia, groundwater and soil at a landfill were subject to systematic annual monitoring according to national, European legislation and adopted methodologies. Characterisation of the groundwater and soil samples from the landfill included ten metals (Fe, Mn, As, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, Cu and Hg), 16 EPA PAHs, nutrients and certain physicochemical parameters, in order to assess the risks such poorly controlled landfills pose to the environment. This impact assessment was performed using specially adapted pollution indices: LWPI, the Single factor pollution index and the Nemerow index for groundwater, and geo-accumulation index, ecological risk factor and selected rations of PAHs for soil. The data analysis included multivariate statistical methods (factor analysis of principal component analysis (PCA/FA)) in order to assess the extent of the contaminants detected in the groundwater and soil samples.
The pollution indices (LWPI: 3.56-8.89; Nemerow index: 2.02-3.78) indicate the quality of the groundwater at the landfill is degrading over time, with PAH16, TOC, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn as the substances of greatest concern. Heavy metals Hg (Igeo≤3.14), Pb (Igeo≤2.22), Cr (Igeo≤3.31) and Cu (Igeo≤2.16) represent the worst soil contamination. Hg has moderate (52.9) to very high (530.0) potential ecological risk, demonstrating the long-term potential effects of bioaccumulation and biomagnification.
The results of this work indicate that Cr and Cu should possibly be added to the EU Watch List of emerging substances. This proposition is substantiated by relevant state and alike environmental information from nations in the region. This study demonstrates the need to develop a model for prioritization of landfill closure and remediation based on environmental risk assessment.
In view of the grave consequences of soil degradation on ecosystem functions, food security, biodiversity and human health, this book covers the extent, causes, processes and impacts of global soil degradation, and processes for improvement of degraded soils. Soil conservation measures, including soil amendments, decompaction, mulching, cover cropping, crop rotation, green manuring, contour farming, strip cropping, alley cropping, surface roughening, windbreaks, terracing, sloping agricultural land technology (SALT), dune stabilization, etc., are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to soil pollution and the methods of physical, chemical and biological remediation of polluted soils. This book will lead the reader from the basics to a comprehensive understanding of soil degradation, conservation and remediation. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014. All rights are reserved.
A pot experiment was conducted in a plastic film house to evaluate the translocation and uptake of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn) into brown rice (Oryza sativa L.) and the heavy metals residues in soils which had previously been irrigated with domestic wastewater for a long time (3 years). The range of Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn was 5.10 ± 0.01, 0.105 ± 0.017, 5.76 ± 0.42, and 23.56 ± 1.40 mg kg−1, respectively in the domestic wastewater-irrigated soil, and 0.370 ± 0.006, 0.011 ± 0.001, 0.340 ± 0.04, and 2.05 ± 0.18 mg kg−1, respectively, in the domestic wastewater-irrigated brown rice. The results indicated that application of domestic wastewater to arable land slightly increased the levels of Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn in soil and brown rice (P < 0.01). The concentrations of heavy metals in brown rice were lower than the recommended tolerable levels proposed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. However, the continuous monitoring and pollution control of hazardous materials from domestic wastewater are needed in order to prevent excessive build-up of heavy metals in the food chain.
Natural concentrations of heavy metals in soils depend primarily on the type and chemistry of the parent materials from which the soils are derived. However, anthropogenic inputs may lead to concentrations highly exceeding those from natural sources. Average concentrations of some heavy metals in the Earth’s crust, in some sediments and generally in soils are shown in Table 13.
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