What Are The Organic Pollutants In Environment?

What are different types of pollutants and their effects in the environment?

• Answer:

  oxide There are many different kinds of pollutants, but some of the more larger problems result from: Greenhouse gases - Carbon dioxide and methane are two of the most important of these gases, called greenhouse gases because they trap heat in the earth's atmosphere. This is already causing severe problems around the world and the situation will only get worse. The rising temperatures will likely lead to more severe weather events, cause shifts in natural communities, and probably lead to greater species extinction rates, among numerous other effects. Pesticides - A broad group of chemicals that enable us to live more comfortable lives by and large, but whose main purpose underlies the central problem with pesticide pollution. They are all poisons. A lot of these chemicals will wash into our rivers and streams and cause direct toxicity to fishes, and may work their way up the food chain to affect birds, bears, whales, and other predatory wildlife, including humans. Some of these pesticides will persist for long periods of time in the environment. DDT was a pesticide used for along time in the US (and is still being used in parts of the world for mosquito control), but has been banned in the US since 1972. Yet we still find DDT in our environment, sometimes at very high levels. Heavy metals - Most heavy metals, such as mercury, are a natural part of the earth's crust, and would be slowly released into the environment over time anyway, just from weathering of soils and rocks. However, our consumption of fossil fuels has greatly increased the introduction of heavy metals into our environment. It is estimated that half of the mercury introduced into the environment today is due to human sources. The problem is mercury, as well as other heavy metals, cannot be detoxified. Once it is in the environment, it is here for good. Toxic effects of heavy metals vary. Mercury is a potent toxin in people targeting nervous tissue, but targets other tissues in other animals. The effects of heavy metals can also be quite severe, since plants and animals have no natural ability to deal with heavy metals specifically and heavy metals do not have any functions in our bodies. Endocrine disruptors - Endocrine disruptors (EDs) include a variety of compounds that share the ability to mimic natural hormones. These come from a variety of sources, including pesticides and plastics. They can cause quite a lot of harm. There are many different kinds of hormones. Some hormones are produced all the time, while others are only produced when they are needed. Hormones are chemical messengers in your body which cause your body to respond in specific ways. Hormones regulate a lot of activities, including sexual maturation, weight gain and loss, stress, cancer generation, and reproduction, not only in people but in all organisms. Usually, your body produces precisely the amount of hornone you need at any particular point in time. But EDs come in and pretend to be a hormone, making your body react in an inappropriate way. We have found some natural populations of fishes that are all or mostly female, or all male, for example. This is likely hormone mediated. Obviously, this is not a good situation, since a population that is all one sex cannot reproduce. Petroleum-Everyday water districts, cities, states, farmers, and residential consumers are having to dig deeper to another aquafer in the ground (another water source in the ground). Oil/Gas stations keep leaking and do the minimum to clean, remidiate the problem. Agencies/officials DO NOT have strict enforcement or repremendments agains this. Just light oversight. Soon, water will be even more costly than oil. Its only a matter of time. LA has the biggest water pollution in Southern California....so, in simple terms. Petroleums and the effects is deeper fresh water drilling and more polluted groundwater.