How do i isolate a in p=a+b+c?

Does the ground isolate radioactivity and/or toxicity?

• There's a mall in the city where I go with my gf. I read some articles about when the mall was under construction. In summary, the article said that the area (55 hectares), where the mall and other houses around are, was built over 500,000 (five hundred thousand) tons of toxic substances, industrial waste, such as calcium arsenate, lead, bismuth, copper, zinc and cadmium. I go to the movie theatre there once or twice a month. The article also said the company guaranteed that the ground would isolate the toxicity. It has been like 8 years since the mall and all the area was built, and 5 years has passed without any other article about that. So my question is, does the ground really isolate toxic substances? P.D. Sorry if I made mistakes, my natal language isn't english.

• Answer:

  While one would hope that the building regulations in force at the time it was built would have made them put a barrier somewhere in the foundations, these legal mechanisms are not always adhered to. Beyond that, there is always a degree of movement in the ground and even barriers get ripped or fractured over time. And toxic material will eventually disperse through any holes or cracks. So the truth is that you cannot be sure. However, if you are visiting a place like this a few times a month, I would not be too concerned. If there were more serious problems, it would show up in people who work there, day after day. It is, you could say, a sticky situation. But to answer your question more directly, yes, earth does tend to shield us from toxic or radioactive effects, but only to a degree. It depends on how deep a layer of earth is there, and how toxic the substance. And of course, if rainwater eventually percolates through this soil, that water will dissolve some of the dangerous materials and carry it to the groundwater. So it will not protect the purity of the environment.