Types of Pollution

Types of Pollution includes air pollution, light pollution, littering, noise pollution, soil contamination, radioactive contamination, thermal pollution, visual pollution, and water pollution.  There are also many other types of pollution which are less known or relate to specific fields of endeavor such as pollution affecting certain scientific experiments.

What is Pollution?

Pollution refers to the contamination of the Earth’s natural environment with materials that are not naturally present or not naturally present in those quantities and may harm the function of ecosystem, human health and quality of life.  Some environmental types of pollution are followed by natural disasters but most is a result of human activities.

Air pollution

Air pollution causes damage through acid rain, global warming, smog, and ozone depletion. Pollution in the air that we breathe can negatively affect our body.  Air pollution is the contamination of the Earth’s atmosphere.  One of the greatest challenges caused by air pollution is global warming, where Earth’s temperature rises because heat is trapped by the buildup of certain atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2).  Increase of CO2 in the atmosphere has existed since humans began to use fire for agriculture, heating and cooking and today, factories, transportation and agriculture are major contributors especially in the urban zones.

Sources of Air Pollution

• Cars, trucks, jet airplanes and other combustion engine vehicles cause air pollution.  The exhaust from these contains carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and gaseous oxide.
• Factories, office buildings, homes and power-generating stations burn fossil fuels which create smog that destroys plants, damages buildings and creates oxidation on iron.
• Petroleum refineries release hydrocarbons and various particulates that pollute the air.
• Power lines that are not insulated and are high voltage.
• Pesticides used to kill indoor and outdoor pests, insecticides used to kill insects and herbicides use to kill weeds all cause air pollution.
• Radioactive fallout causes air pollution from the nuclear energy dispersed, which is a dust.
• Dust from fertilizers used to help plants grow causes air pollution
• Toxic fumes from new carpet, paint and/or cleaning chemicals that are used indoors.
• Mining causes air pollution by releasing a variety of particles.

Indoor Air Pollution

Indoor air pollution is often an unrecognized form of polution that is inside the homes and buildings where people spend most of their time.

Sources of indoor pollutants

• Tobacco smoke
• Chemicals released from synthetic carpets and furniture, pesticides, and household cleaners
• Materials used in the building such as asbestos, formaldehyde and lead
• Construction materials
• Heating, air-conditioning devices, and cooking apparatuses etc.
• Furniture
• Coatings (wall paint, varnish, floors etc.)
• Maintenance and cleaning products (detergents, pesticides etc.)
• Biological contaminants like mold and pollen
• Gases such as radon (an invisible radioactive gas that enters homes from the ground in some regions) and carbon monoxide

The effects of indoor air pollution can be more harmful than outside air pollution because people spend as much as 90 percent of their time living, working, and playing indoors.  Indoor air quality problems can result to respiratory problems and dermal and mucus irritation.  It is advisable to make sure that the houses and buildings are well-ventilated to minimize air pollutants and also focus on building materials used to ensure indoor air pollution is kept to a minimum.

Outdoor Air Pollution

Outdoor Air pollution is commonly known as ambient air pollution.    Smog, a thick dirty fog which is a mixture of fog and smoke or other airborne pollutants, is an example or large scale outdoor pollution.  As the smog ages and reacts with oxygen, organic and sulfuric acids condense as droplets, increasing the haze.  Another type of smog is calls photochemical smog.  This type of smog is caused by combustion in car, truck and airplane engines which produce nitrogen oxides and release hydrocarbons from unburned fuels.  The sunlight combined nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons turns oxygen into ozone, an agent that attacks rubber, injures plants, and irritates lungs.

Sources of Outdoor Air Pollution

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