LAND POLLUTION

What is land pollution? Land pollution is the destruction

of the earth’s land surface, often directly or indirectly as a result of man’s activities and their misuse of land resources

It occurs when waste is not disposed off properly, or can occur when humans throw chemicals into the soil in the form of pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers during agricultural practices.

Exploitation of minerals (mining activities) has also contributed to the destruction of the earth’s surface.

CAUSES OF LAND POLLUTION

Solid Waste: These include all the various kinds

of rubbish we make at home, school, hospitals, market and work places.

Things like paper, plastic containers, bottles, cans, food and even used cars and broken electronic goods, broken furniture and hospital waste are all examples of solid waste. Some of these are biodegradable 

Because these do not easily decay, they pile up in landfills (a place where all the city’s rubbish are sent), where they stay for thousands of years.

These bring great harm to the land and people around it. 

Agricultural sources: These include waste matter produced by crop, animal manure,

and farm residues. They also include the chemical left over of all pesticides, fertilisers and insecticides used for agricultural activities.

Many farming activities engage in the application of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides for higher crop yield.

This is good because we get more food, but can you think of what happens to the chemicals that end up on the crops and soils? Sometimes, insects and small animals are killed and bigger animals that eat tiny animals (as in food chains) are also harmed.

Finally, the chemicals may be washed down as it rains and over time, they end up in the water table.

Chemicals: Chemical and nuclear power plants produce waste

materials that have to be stored somewhere. Fertilizer, insecticides, pesticides, pharmaceuticals

manufacturers also produce lots of solid and liquid waste.

In many cases they are stored in an environmentally safe way, but there are some that find their way into landfills and other less safe storage facilities.

Sometimes they also find their way into leaking pipes and gutters.

They end up polluting soils and making crops harmful to our health.

Deforestation: This is when trees are cut down for economic purposes, mining,

farming and construction. In forests areas, trees absorb and reflect about 20% of the intense heat from the sun, protecting and preserving its surface soils. Cutting down trees mean that the land is exposed to direct sunlight and rain, resulting in soil erosions, desertification and land degradation

Trees absorb carbon dioxide (a green house gas) from the air and enrich the air with Oxygen, which is needed for life.

Trees also, help replenish soils and help retain nutrients being washed away.

This is a major cause of land pollution.

MINING & INDUSTRIES: Mining and forestry activities that clear the land surfaces (clear-

cutting) and use 'skid trails' often leave the land unrestored. The surface is exposed to erosion which destroys the quality of

the land. Additionally, iron and other chemicals such as copper, mercury

and lead from mining practices leach into the soil, polluting it and leaving it exposed to water bodies as well.

These also include paints, chemicals, metals and aluminium, plastics and so on that are produced in the process of manufacturing goods.

Effects of land pollution.

Contaminated lands and environments can: Cause problems in the human respiratory system. Cause problems on the skin. Cause various kinds of cancers. There can be catastrophic consequences of land pollution in

relation to humans, animals, water and soils. The effects are even worse if the garbage is not separated into organic, re-usable and recyclable waste.

The toxic materials that pollute the soil can get into the human body directly by:

Coming into contact with the skin. Being washed into water sources like reservoirs and rivers. Eating fruits and vegetables that have been grown in polluted

soil. Breathing in polluted dust or particles.

Dump sites and landfills also come with serious problems like Very bad smell and odour in the town. Landfills breed rodents like rats, mice and insects, who

in-turn transmit diseases. Landfills in towns do not attract tourists to the town. The

town will loose revenue. Many landfills are always burning and they cause further 

air pollution.

SOIL CONTAMINATION

What is soil contamination?

Soil contamination, degradation and pollution mean different things even though we often use these terms to mean one thing. Here is the difference:

Soil pollution is when humans introduce harmful objects, chemicals or substances, directly or indirectly into the soil in a way that causes harm to other living things or destroys soil or water ecosystems.

Soil contamination is when the concentration of chemicals, nutrients or elements in the soil becomes more than it normally or naturally is, as a result of human action. If this contamination goes on to harm living organisms, we can call it pollution.

Soil degradation is when the soil looses its value (in terms of nutrients, chemical make-up etc. ) as a result of over-farming, over-grazing or erosion. For example, if a bush fire wipes out the vegetation on a piece of land thereby exposing the soils, and nutrients in the soil gets dissolved by rain water run-off, the ability of the soil to support plant life is reduced. We can call this soil degradation.

What causes contamination? Pesticides and herbicides (and other farming chemicals) often

end up contamination soils. Direct discharge of wastewater by industries can also cause

that. Leakages in sewage systems, underground storage tanks and

leaching of soluble substances from landfills can also result in contamination.

Rainwater or floods from other polluted lands and water bodies spread contaminants to soils in other locations.

The effects of soils contamination Soil contamination can result in soil and land pollution, and

affect the health of plants that depend on them. It can also harm living organisms in the soils and humans that

come into contact with them by touching, breathing or eating crops from contaminated soils.

Contaminants in soils can also get infiltrated into ground water and pollute them.

Depending on the extent and volume of soil contamination, it can be remedied by1. Digging out the soils for treatment and disposal2. Containing it to prevent it from spreading, by placing large plastic materials over the affected area.3. Treating the soils with some safe chemicals to neutralize the contaminant.

PREVENTION / SOLUTIONS

How to prevent land pollution Like many other challenges, the best way to solve problems is

to understand it. This means learning about it (like what you are doing now) is the greatest step forward.

Here are a few other tips on how you can help reduce land pollution:1. People should be educated and made aware about the harmful

effects of littering. Discuss with friends and family and talk about it.2. Buy biodegradable products.3. Store all liquid chemicals and waste in spill-proof containers.4. Eat organic foods that are grown without pesticides. Look out for

fertilizer or pesticide free products when you go to the market. 5. Don’t use pesticides if you can.

Cont. Reuse any items that you can. Items like

clothing, bottles, wrapping paper and shopping bags can be used over and over again, rather than buying new things.

The greatest prevention to land pollution is in the three ‘R's’ … Reduce Waste, Re-use things and Recycle things. This is true even for governments. They can also use the three ‘R’ rule to minimize the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. After the three 'R's, remember to turn the rest of the garbage into compost.

Cont. Personal litter should be disposed properly. We can

separate household waste at home for recycling. More than half of our household waste could be

recycled or re-used but once it is mixed up, it becomes more difficult to separate different components for recycling.

This is also true for waste we make at school or hospitals.

Use a drip tray to collect engine oil. Buy products that have little packaging. Don’t dump motor oil on the ground. Governments can also ensure that there are

incentives for people to recycle and re-use things. 

SOURCES:

WWW.GRINNINGPLANET.COM WWW.GREENLIVING.COM WWW.NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM NATIONAL TOXICOLOGY PROGRAM.