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ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND ITS IMPACT ON HEALTH
Prof. Mrs. Waikar Mrunalini Sachin,
Ismailsaheb Mulla Low College, Satara.
Email Id: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Environmental pollution is reaching worrying proportions worldwide.
Urbanization and industrialization along with economic development have led to
increase in energy consumption and waste discharges. The global environmental
pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions and acid deposition, as well as
water pollution and waste management is considered as international public
health problems, which should be investigated from multiple perspectives
including social, economic, legislation, and environmental engineering systems,
as well as lifestyle habits helping health promotion and strengthening
environmental systems to resist contamination .
Environmental pollutants have various adverse health effects from early
life some of the most important harmful effects are perinatal disorders, infant
mortality, respiratory disorders, allergy, malignancies, cardiovascular disorders,
and increase in stress oxidative, endothelial dysfunction, mental disorders, and
various other harmful effects. Though, short-term effects of environmental
pollutants are usually highlighted, wide range of hazards of air pollution from
early life and their possible implication on chronic non-communicable diseases of
adulthood should be underscored. Numerous studies have exposed that
environmental particulate exposure has been linked to increased risk of morbidity
and mortality from many diseases, organ disturbances, cancers, and other
chronic diseases. Therefore it is time to take action and control the pollution.
Otherwise, the waste products from consumption, heating, agriculture, mining,
manufacturing, transportation, and other human activities will degrade the
environment.
INTRODUCTION
Pollution became a popular issue after World War II, due to radioactive fallout from
atomic warfare and testing. Then a non-nuclear event, The Great Smog of 1952 in London,
killed at least 4000 people. This prompted some of the first major modern environmental
legislation, The Clean Air Act of 1956. Pollution began to draw major public attention in the
United States between the mid-1950s and early 1970s, when Congress passed the Noise
Control Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy
Act.
Pollution occurs when pollutants contaminate the natural surroundings: which brings
about changes that affect our normal lifestyles adversely. Pollutants are the key elements or
components of pollution which are generally waste materials of different forms. Pollution
disturbs our ecosystem and the balance in the environment. With modernization and
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RESEARCH FRONT
ISSN
(Print) 2320 – 6446, (Online) 2320 – 8341
Impact Factor – 1.115
development in our lives pollution has reached its peak: giving rise to global warming and
human illness. Pollution occurs in different forms; air, water, land, light, visual, noise,
thermal. Every form of pollution has two occurrences; the point and the non-point sources.
The point sources are easy to identify, monitor and control, whereas the non-point sources are
hard to control.
AIR POLLUTION
According to the dictionary, air pollution is the contamination of air by smoke and
harmful gases, mainly oxides of carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen. Air pollution is linked to
asthma, allergies and other respiratory illnesses. Air pollution includes:
 Exhaust fumes from vehicles
 The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil or gas
 Harmful off-gasing from things such as paint, plastic production and so on
 Radiation spills or nuclear accidents
LAND POLLUTION
Land pollution is the degradation of the Earth's surface caused by a misuse of resources
and improper disposal of waste. Land pollution is responsible for damage done to natural
habitat of animals, deforestation and damage done to natural resources, and the general uglying up of our communities. Land pollution includes:
 Litter found on the side of the road
 Illegal dumping in natural habitats
 Oil spills that happen inland
 The use of pesticides and other farming chemicals
 Damage and debris caused from unsustainable mining and logging practices
 Radiation spills or nuclear accidents
LIGHT POLLUTION
Light pollution is the brightening of the night sky inhibiting the visibility of stars and
planets by the use of improper lighting of communities. Light pollution uses more energy (by
shining more light up instead of down), may affect human health and our sleep cycles and
most importantly, corrupts our kid’s telescopes and their curiosity. Causes of light pollution:
 Street lamps that shine light in all directions, instead of with a hood to point light
downward toward the street.
 Unnecessary lights, especially around the home
NOISE POLLUTION
Noise pollution is any loud sounds that are either harmful or annoying to humans and
animals. Noise pollution is disruptive to humans' stress levels, may be harmful to unborn
babies, and drives animals away, causing nervousness and decreasing their ability to hear
prey or predators. Noise pollution includes:
 Airplanes, helicopters and motor vehicles
 Construction or demolition noise
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Impact Factor – 1.115

Human activities such as sporting events or concerts
THERMAL POLLUTION
Thermal pollution is the increase of temperature caused by human activity. These kinds of
environmental pollution can cause aquatic life to suffer or die due to the increased
temperature, can cause discomfort to communities dealing with higher temperatures and can
even affect plant-life in and around the area.
 Warmer lake water from nearby manufacturing (using cool water to cool the plant and
then pump it back into the lake)
 Included in thermal pollution should also be the increase in temperatures in areas with
lots of concrete or vehicles, generally in cities
VISUAL POLLUTION
Visual pollution is what you would call anything unattractive or visualizing damaging to
the nearby landscape. This tends to be a highly subjective topic, as we all find different things
attractive and unattractive. Mostly visual kinds of environmental pollution are annoying,
although some may say they are also depressing. Visual pollution includes:
 Skyscrapers might block the view of a mountain
 Graffiti or carving on trees, rocks or other natural landscapes
 Billboards, litter, abandoned homes and junkyards could also be considered among
three kinds of environmental pollution
WATER POLLUTION
Water pollution is the contamination of any body of water (lakes, groundwater, oceans,
etc). These kinds of environmental pollution are linked to health issues in humans, animals
and plant-life. Water pollution includes:
 Raw sewage running into lake or streams
 Industrial waste spills contaminating groundwater
 Radiation spills or nuclear accidents
 Illegal dumping of substances, or items in bodies of water
 Biological contamination, such as bacteria growth
CONCLUSION
Pollution effects are indeed many and wide ranging. There is no doubt that excessive
levels of pollution are causing a lot of damage to human and animal health, tropical
rainforests, as well as the wider environment. All types of pollution have an impact on the
living environment. The effects in living organisms may range from mild discomfort to
serious diseases such as cancer to physical deformities. Apart from destroying the aquatic life
in lakes and streams, acid rain can also corrode metals, damage surfaces of building and
monuments, and cause soil acidification. Pollution of water may cause oxygen depletion in
marine environments and severely affect the health of whole ecosystems. Experts admit that
pollution effects are quite often underestimated and that more research is needed to
understand the connections between pollution and its effects on all life forms. Last but not
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RESEARCH FRONT
ISSN
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Impact Factor – 1.115
least, we must agree that Pollution is worldwide issue which is challenge to researchers,
public health practitioners, and policymakers.
REFERENCES
1) Pandy V.C. (2003): ‘sustainable Development in south Asia’Gyan Publication House.
2) Chandra P. (2003):‘International Ecotourism’ Kanishka Publishers.
3) en.wikipedia.ord/wiki/Human_impact_on _the _environment
4) www.unep.org/
5) Environmental Health: Third Edition-Amazon.com.
6) http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environmentglobal-warmingpollutionoverview
7) http://worldwildlife.org/threats/pollution
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