Environmental Pollution Effects on Humans

We know that pollution causes not only physical disabilities but also psychological and
behavioral disorders in people.

We are discussing the effects of air pollution and specific air pollutants in more detail in
the Air Pollutants article.

The following pollution effects on humans have been reported:

Air Pollution Effects (1, 2)

• Reduced lung functioning

• Irritation of eyes, nose, mouth and throat

• Asthma attacks

• Respiratory symptoms such as coughing and wheezing

Air Pollution in Philippines

Photo: Jim D Stitch

• Increased respiratory disease such as bronchitis

• Reduced energy levels

• Headaches and dizziness

• Disruption of endocrine, reproductive and immune systems

• Neurobehavioral disorders

• Cardiovascular problems

• Cancer

• Premature death

We discuss effects of air pollution in more detail here.

Water Pollution Effects (3)

Waterborne diseases caused by polluted drinking water:

• Typhoid

• Amoebiasis

• Giardiasis

• Ascariasis

• Hookworm

Waterborne diseases caused by polluted beach water:

• Rashes, ear ache, pink eye

• Respiratory infections

• Hepatitis, encephalitis, gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, vomiting, and stomach aches

Conditions related to water polluted by chemicals (such as pesticides, hydrocarbons,

persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals etc):

Water Pollution, California

Photo: Caleb Coppola

• Cancer, incl. prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

• Hormonal problems that can disrupt reproductive and developmental processes

• Damage to the nervous system

• Liver and kidney damage

• Damage to the DNA

• Exposure to mercury (heavy metal):

o In the womb: may cause neurological problems including slower reflexes,

learning deficits, delayed or incomplete mental development, autism and brain
damage

o In adults: Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, heart

disease, and even death

Other notes:

• Water pollution may also result from interactions between water and contaminated
soil, as well as from deposition of air contaminants (such as acid rain)
 • Damage to people may be caused by fish foods coming from polluted water (a well
known example is high mercury levels in fish)

• Damage to people may be caused by vegetable crops grown / washed with polluted
water (author’s own conclusion)

Soil Pollution Effects (4)

• Causes cancers including leukaemia

Soil and Water Pollution,

Kenya
Photo: Tom Maruko

• Lead in soil is especially hazardous for young children causing developmental damage
to the brain

• Mercury can increase the risk of kidney damage; cyclodienes can lead to liver toxicity

• Causes neuromuscular blockage as well as depression of the central nervous system

• Also causes headaches, nausea, fatigue, eye irritation and skin rash

Other notes:

• Contact with contaminated soil may be direct (from using parks, schools etc)
or indirect (by inhaling soil contaminants which have vaporized)

• Soil pollution may also result from secondary contamination of water supplies and
from deposition of air contaminants (for example, via acid rain)

• Contamination of crops grown in polluted soil brings up problems with food security

• Since it is closely linked to water pollution, many effects of soil contamination appear
to be similar to the ones caused by water contamination
 An Extreme Oil Pollution Case

Pollution of pristine Ecuador rainforest by Texaco / Chevron oil corporation represents

perhaps one of the most outrageous cases of oil pollution ever.

Some levels of pollutants left by the company on its sites of oil exploration have been
calculated to exceed the US safety standards by as much as 1,000 times, causing such
side effects as children born with fused fingers and deformed eyes, high cancer rates, etc.

For more details, check out the Oil Pollution of Ecuador Rainforest article.

Environmental Pollution Effects on Animals

Effects of Pollution on Animals - Air Pollution (5)

• Acid rain (formed in the air) destroys fish life in lakes and streams

• Excessive ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun through the ozone layer in the
upper atmosphere which is eroded by some air pollutants, may cause skin cancer in
wildlife

• Ozone in the lower atmosphere may damage lung tissues of animals

Effects of Pollution on Animals - Water Pollution (6)

• Nutrient pollution (nitrogen, phosphates etc) causes overgrowth of toxic algae eaten
by other aquatic animals, and may cause death; nutrient pollution can also cause
outbreaks of fish diseases

Oil Coated Duck

Photo: Jack Wolf

• Chemical contamination can cause declines in frog biodiversity and tadpole mass

• Oil pollution (as part of chemical contamination) can negatively affect development of
marine organisms, increase susceptibility to disease and affect reproductive processes;
can also cause gastrointestinal irritation, liver and kidney damage, and damage to the
nervous system
 • Mercury in water can cause abnormal behavior, slower growth and development,
reduced reproduction, and death

• Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) may cause declines, deformities and death of fish
life

• Too much sodium chloride (ordinary salt) in water may kill animals (7)

Other notes:

• We also assume that some higher forms of non-aquatic animals may have similar
effects from water pollution as those experienced by humans, as described above

Effects of Pollution on Animals - Soil Pollution (8)

• Can alter metabolism of microorganisms and arthropods in a given soil environment;

this may destroy some layers of the primary food chain, and thus have a negative
effect on predator animal species

• Small life forms may consume harmful chemicals which may then be passed up the
food chain to larger animals; this may lead to increased mortality rates and
even animal extinction

Environmental Pollution Effects on Trees and Plants

Air Pollution (9)

Trees Damaged by Acid Rain

Photo: Lindley Ashline

• Acid rain can kill trees, destroy the leaves of plants, can infiltrate soil by making it
unsuitable for purposes of nutrition and habitation

• Ozone holes in the upper atmosphere can allow excessive ultraviolet radiation from
the sun to enter the Earth causing damage to trees and plants
 • Ozone in the lower atmosphere can prevent plant respiration by blocking stomata
(openings in leaves) and negatively affecting plants’ photosynthesis rates which will
stunt plant growth; ozone can also decay plant cells directly by entering stomata

Water Pollution

• May disrupt photosynthesis in aquatic plants and thus affecting ecosystems that
depend on these plants (10)

• Terrestrial and aquatic plants may absorb pollutants from water (as their main
nutrient source) and pass them up the food chain to consumer animals and humans

• Plants may be killed by too much sodium chloride (ordinary slat) in water (11)

• Plants may be killed by mud from construction sites as well as bits of wood and leaves,
clay and other similar materials (12)

• Plants may be killed by herbicides in water; herbicides are chemicals which are most
harmful to plants (13)

Soil Pollution

• May alter plant metabolism and reduce crop yields (14)

• Trees and plants may absorb soil contaminants and pass them up the food chain

Environmental Pollution Effects on Wider Environment

Apart from destroying the aquatic life in lakes and streams, acid rain can also corrode
metals, damage surfaces of buildings and monuments, and cause soil acidification.

Pollution of water may cause oxygen depletion in marine environments and severely affect
the health of whole ecosystems. (15)

Some Notes on Pollution Effects

Miguel A. Santos notes that a very important aspect of the effect of pollution is its dose (or
concentration) required to cause environmental damage. (16)

He defines pollution response as “the change in the effect of a pollutant in response to a

change in its concentration”. (17)

In this respect, he identifies 3 different types of response evoked by the environment to

different pollution concentrations: (18)
 • Linear effect

• Greater-than-linear effect

• Threshold effect

In the linear effect, environmental damage increases linearly with pollution concentrations.
In other words, “ the total damage or risk is directly proportional to the accumulated
exposure”. (19)

This effect occurs with radioactive substances as well as mercury, lead, cadmium and
asbestos.

In the greater-than-linear effect, environmental damage increases with an increase in

pollution concentrations but at a decreasing rate. This means that, as pollution
concentrations continue to increase the environmental damage will continue to decrease.
(20)

This is the case with thermal pollution.

In the threshold effect, pollution produces no effect until a certain threshold in pollution
concentrations is achieved. In other words, “so long as a given threshold is not exceeded,
the damage from pollution would be completely repaired as quickly as it is produced”. (21)

This effect is found with biodegradable pollutants.

It is also important to mention synergistic effects of pollutants on the environment. While

interacting with each other, pollutants can produce greater impacts than when acting
individually. (22)

A good example of that is a synergy between asbestos exposure and smoking in causing
lung cancer. (23)

Radioactive Pollution

Overview
The 40's was the era where the first nuclear bomb is being developed, Sidebar
and that's why it's called the nuclear era. However, nuclear energy has The Nuclear Guardianship
already researched back since 1900. Nuclear era reached its greatest Ethic
peak in the world war, by showing its massive ability of destroying Contribute
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materials
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Nuclear energy is a form of energy that’s released by the splitting of
atoms. Since scientists have found a way to make use of the energy, it Comment on this
has also been used to generate electricity. page
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Nuclear energy has been recognized as a clean energy because it Click here to view
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reaction that could damage our environment. It's also known that
nuclear energy has reduced the amount of greenhouse gas emission,
reducing emissions of CO2 for about 500 million metric tons of carbon.

Despite the advantage of nuclear as a clean energy, the big concern is

the waste resulted from nuclear reaction, which is a form of pollution,
called radioactivity. Radioactivity is a form of radiation (a form of
energy that travels through space). Some elements in this world are
naturally radioactive while some others are made to be. Radioactivity is
emitted when a radioactive element become unstable and begin to
decay in the attempt to regain their molecular stability. When an
element decays, it emits energy and small particles. If it’s still
radioactive, it will repeat the process, until it finally regains its
molecular stability and stop decaying. The time that it takes for half
way of decaying process is called half-life, and this differs for each
radioactive element. It possibly takes up to 4.5 billion years (Uranium
238) and as short as 8 days (Iodine 131). This process constantly
remains, not considering external factors such as pressure or
temperature. This process is expressed in units called becquerels. One
becquerel is equal to one disintegration of nuclei per second.

There are commonly three types of radiation, namely:

• Alpha particles, can be blocked by a piece of paper and human

skin.
• Beta particles can penetrate through skin, while can be
blocked by some pieces of glass and metal.
• Gamma rays can penetrate easily to human skin and damage
cells on its way through, reaching far, and can only be blocked
by a very thick, strong, massive piece of concrete.

Sources and Methods

We can classify major sources that lead to radioactive pollution to the following categories:

• nuclear power plants

• nuclear weapon
• transportation
• disposal of nuclear waste
• uranium mining

Please click here to view a comprehensive table explaining the above major sources.

©2001, Team C0111040 for ThinkQuest Internet Challenge 2001. Feedback | Site map

Noise Pollution

Overview
This particular pollution is ever increasing with due to the rise in the Sidebar
utilization of heavy duty machineries of industrial facilities and vehicles, No sidebar currently
synonymous to the increase in the standard of living in most countries. available
We make sounds practically every seconds of our day, but to the Contribute
extend it has reached an unfavorable high intensity which had cause materials
many disturbances and irritation to others emotionally that has adverse
Knowledge Base
effects on our daily activities.
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Noise levels can be measured by decibel method: page
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Decibel - one tenth of a bel where one bel represents a difference in Click here to view
level between two intensities I1, I0 where one is ten times greater than submitted comments
the other. Thus, the intensity level is the comparison of one intensity to
another and may be expressed:

Intensity level = 10 log10 (I1/I0) (dB)

For instance, the difference between intensities of 10-8watts/m2 and 10-

4
watts/m2, an actual difference of 10,000 units, can be expressed as a
difference of 4 bels or 40 decibels.

These are the few examples of threshold decibels of noises made:

Threshold of hearing 0 dB Motorcycle (30 feet 88 dB

Rustling leaves 20 dB Food blender (3 feet) 90 dB

Quiet whisper (3 feet) 30 dB Subway (inside) 94 dB

Quiet home 40 dB Diesel truck (30 feet) 100 dB

Quiet street 50 dB Power mower (3 feet) 107 dB

Normal conversation 60 dB Pneumatic riveter (3 feet) 115 dB

Inside car 70 dB Chainsaw (3 feet) 117 dB

Amplified Rock and Roll (6

Loud singing (3 feet) 75 dB 120 dB
feet)

Automobile (25 feet) 80 dB Jet plane (100 feet) 130 dB

Other noise measurement systems are:

• community noise equivalent level

• composite noise rating
• equivalent energy level
• noise and number index
• noise exposure forecast
• noise criterion
• noise level
• noise pollution level
 • noise rating
• perceived noise level
• traffic noise index
• sound level
• sound level meter
• sound pressure level

• world soundscape project

Sources and Methods
We can classify major sources that lead to noise pollution to the following categories:

• road traffic noise

• air traffic
• rail traffic
• neighborhood and domestic noise
• incompatible land use
• industrial noises

Please click here to view a comprehensive table explaining the above major sources.

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©2001, Team C0111040 for ThinkQuest Internet Challenge 2001. Feedback | Site map