{| align=right |[[Image:Canal-pollution.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The Lachine Canal, in Montreal, is badly polluted]] |- | |- | |} Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. Generally the process needs to result from human activity to be regarded as pollution. Even relatively benign products of human activity are liable to be regarded as pollution, if they precipitate negative effects later on. The nitrogen oxides produced by industry are often referred to as pollution, for example, although the substances themselves are not harmful. In fact, it is solar energy (sunlight) that converts these compounds to smog. Pollution can take two major forms: local pollution and global pollution. In the past, only local pollution was thought to be a problem. For example, coal burning produces smoke, which in sufficient concentrations can be a health hazard. One slogan, taught in schools, was "The solution to pollution is dilution". The theory was that sufficiently diluted pollution could cause no damage. In recent decades, awareness has been rising that some forms of pollution pose a global problem. For example, human activity (primarily nuclear testing) has significantly raised the levels of background radiation all over the world, which may lead to human health problems. Awareness of both kinds of pollution, among other things, has led to the environmentalism movement, which seeks to limit the human impact on the environment. Whether something is pollution can depend on context. Blooms of algae and the resultant eutrophication of lakes and coastal ocean is considered pollution when it is fueled by nutrients from industrial, agricultural, or residential runoff. Carbon dioxide emissions are sometimes referred to as pollution, on the basis that these emissions have led, or are leading, to raised levels of the gas in the atmosphere and, furthermore, to harmful changes in the Earth's climate. Such claims are strongly disputed, particularly by political conservatives in Western countries and most strongly in the United States. Due to this controversy, in many contexts carbon dioxide from such sources are labelled neutrally as "emissions." See global warming for a very extensive discussion of this topic. Traditional forms of pollution include air pollution, water pollution, and radioactive contamination while a broader interpretation of the word has led to the ideas of ship pollution, light pollution and noise pollution. Serious pollution sources include chemical plants, oil refinery, nuclear waste dumps, regular garbage dumps (many toxic substances are illegally dumped there), incinerators, Polyvinyl chloride factories, car factories, plastics factories, corporate animal farms creating huge amounts of animal waste. Some sources of pollution, such as nuclear power plants or oil tankers, can release very severe pollution when accidents occur. Some of the more common contaminants are: chlorine hydrocarbons (CFH), heavy metals like lead (in lead paint and until recently in gasoline), cadmium (in rechargeable Nickel-cadmium battery), chromium, zinc, arsenic and benzene. Pollutants are thought to play a part in a variety of maladies, including: cancer, Lupus erythematosus, Immune system#Disorders of the human immune systems, allergies, and asthma. Some illnesses are named in relation with certain pollutants: for example, Minamata disease caused by mercury (element) compounds. ==Regulation and Monitoring== ===United States=== The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was supposed to establish "acceptable" levels of exposure to contaminants. One of the ratings chemicals are given are carcinogenicity, or how likely they are to cause cancer. Levels range from, not carcinogenic, likely carcinogen, known carcinogen, and unknown. But scientists are finding out that most of these levels are far too high and people should be exposed less to them. The CalEPA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has a list of more reasonable levels. ([http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/Newlist.html OEHHA]). The United States has a maximum fine of US dollar25,000 for dumping toxic waste. However, many large manufacturers plead guilty, as they can easily afford this relatively small fine. ==See also== *Dutch standards *Earth Day *Future energy development *Greenhouse gas. *List of songs about environmental pollution *Pollutant. *Petroleum. *Radioactive contamination *Remediation *Renewable energy *Ton Petroleum Equivalent. *Toxicology *Volatile Organic Compounds. *Whole Earth Catalog *World Ocean Day ==External links== *[http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-groups/one-list.tcl?short_list_name=tri00ry Toxic Release Inventory] - tracks how much waste companies release into the water and air. Gives permits for releasing specific quantities of these pollutants each year. [http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/main/index.jsp Map] *[http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-groups/one-list.tcl?short_list_name=hs Superfund] - manages Superfund sites and the pollutants in them (CERCLA). *[http://www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/pel/index.html OSHA limits for air contaminants] *[http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/atsdrhome.html Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry] - found out top 20 pollutants, alias for chemicals, how they affect people, what industries use them and what products they are found in. *[http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/ National Toxicology Program] - from National Institutes of Health. Reports and studies on how pollutants affect people. *[http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ Toxnet] - more databases and reports on toxicology. From NIH *[http://www.scorecard.org Scorecard.org] - lots of info about pollution in the US. Just enter your zip code. Colored maps also show how bad certain types of pollution are in your area. *[http://www.epa.gov Environmental Protection Agency] *[http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/Newlist.html OEHHA] *[http://ntmc0.tripod.com National Toxic Mold Coalition and Foundation] *[http://www.edf.org Environmental Defense Fund] *[http://www.rachel.org Rachel's Environment and Health News] - Weekly news about how the polluted environment affects people, and what corporations and governments are doing (or not doing) about it. Also in Spanish. *[http://www.essential.org Essential.org] - Some organizations related to consumers and consumer protection, including pollution. *[http://www.cleanupge.org CleanUp GE.org] - Info about GE's shady dumping practices on the Hudson river. *[http://ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/newsletters/ghindex.html Extoxnet newsletters] - environmental pollution news. Last update 1998. *[http://www.enn.com/ Environmental News Network] - more news *[http://www.ewg.org/ Environmental Working Group] *[http://www.ejnet.org/sludge/ Sewage Sludge] - in the U.S. it is perfectly legal to fertilize food crops with solids from the sewer, which include lots of heavy metals and toxins. *[http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/medicine/toxicology/ Yahoo - Toxicology] - another great starting point. *[http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/Tox/ToxTutor.html The ToxTutor from the National Library of Medicine] - An excellent resource to review human toxicology. *[http://the-raw-prawn.blogspot.com/2004/10/pollution-and-development-as-seen-from.html Pollution and development, as seen from space] *[http://www.choosevegetarian.com/earth_overview.asp Overview of the possible environmental benefits of a plant-based diet] * [http://airspace.bc.ca/Airspace Action on Smoking and Health] * [http://www.cigarettelitter.org/ CigaretteLitter.Org - The Facts About Cigarette Butts and Litter - Cigarette Litter] Waste Pollution Environmental engineering Environmental chemistry
Environment Industry
When people think about air pollution, they usually think about smog, acid rain, CFC's, and other forms of outdoor air pollution. But did you know that air pollution also can exist inside homes and other buildings? It can, and every year, the health of many people is affected by chemical substances present in the air within buildings. Air is the ocean we breathe. Air supplies us with oxygen which is essential for our bodies to live. Air is 99.9% nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor and inert gases. Human activities can release substances into the air, some of which can cause problems for humans, plants, and animals. Heat is a pollutant because increased temperatures result in the deaths of many aquatic organisms. These decreases in temperatures are caused when a discharge of cooling water by factories and power plants occurs. There are many sources of indoor air pollution. Tobacco smoke, cooking and heating appliances, and vapors from building materials, paints, furniture, etc. cause pollution inside buildings. Radon is a natural radioactive gas released from the earth, and it can be found concentrated in basements in some parts of the United States. Additional information about the radon problem is available from the USGS and the Minnesota Radon Project. Many people spend large portion of time indoors - as much as 80-90% of their lives. We work, study, eat, drink and sleep in enclosed environments where air circulation may be restricted. For these reasons, some experts feel that more people suffer from the effects of indoor air pollution than outdoor pollution. The Greenhouse Effect, also referred to as global warming, is generally believed to come from the build up of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is produced when fuels are burned. Plants convert carbon dioxide back to oxygen, but the release of carbon dioxide from human activities is higher than the world's plants can process. The situation is made worse since many of the earth's forests are being removed, and plant life is being damaged by acid rain. Thus, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air is continuing to increase. This buildup acts like a blanket and traps heat close to the surface of our earth. Changes of even a few degrees will affect us all through changes in the climate and even the possibility that the polar ice caps may melt. (One of the consequences of polar ice cap melting would be a rise in global sea level, resulting in widespread coastal flooding.)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Pollution:
Pollution
Pollution
Pollution
Pollution_control_technologies
Pollution_credit
Pollution_credit
Pollution_pump
Pollution_pump
Pollution
{| align=right |[[Image:Canal-pollution.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The Lachine Canal, in Montreal, is badly polluted]] |- | |- | |} Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. Generally the process needs to result from human activity to be regarded as pollution. Even relatively benign products of human activity are liable to be regarded as pollution, if they precipitate negative effects later on. The nitrogen oxides produced by industry are often referred to as pollution, for example, although the substances themselves are not harmful. In fact, it is solar energy (sunlight) that converts these compounds to smog. Pollution can take two major forms: local pollution and global pollution. In the past, only local pollution was thought to be a problem. For example, coal burning produces smoke, which in sufficient concentrations can be a health hazard. One slogan, taught in schools, was "The solution to pollution is dilution". The theory was that sufficiently diluted pollution could cause no damage. In recent decades, awareness has been rising that some forms of pollution pose a global problem. For example, human activity (primarily nuclear testing) has significantly raised the levels of background radiation all over the world, which may lead to human health problems. Awareness of both kinds of pollution, among other things, has led to the environmentalism movement, which seeks to limit the human impact on the environment. Whether something is pollution can depend on context. Blooms of algae and the resultant eutrophication of lakes and coastal ocean is considered pollution when it is fueled by nutrients from industrial, agricultural, or residential runoff. Carbon dioxide emissions are sometimes referred to as pollution, on the basis that these emissions have led, or are leading, to raised levels of the gas in the atmosphere and, furthermore, to harmful changes in the Earth's climate. Such claims are strongly disputed, particularly by political conservatives in Western countries and most strongly in the United States. Due to this controversy, in many contexts carbon dioxide from such sources are labelled neutrally as "emissions." See global warming for a very extensive discussion of this topic. Traditional forms of pollution include air pollution, water pollution, and radioactive contamination while a broader interpretation of the word has led to the ideas of ship pollution, light pollution and noise pollution. Serious pollution sources include chemical plants, oil refinery, nuclear waste dumps, regular garbage dumps (many toxic substances are illegally dumped there), incinerators, Polyvinyl chloride factories, car factories, plastics factories, corporate animal farms creating huge amounts of animal waste. Some sources of pollution, such as nuclear power plants or oil tankers, can release very severe pollution when accidents occur. Some of the more common contaminants are: chlorine hydrocarbons (CFH), heavy metals like lead (in lead paint and until recently in gasoline), cadmium (in rechargeable Nickel-cadmium battery), chromium, zinc, arsenic and benzene. Pollutants are thought to play a part in a variety of maladies, including: cancer, Lupus erythematosus, Immune system#Disorders of the human immune systems, allergies, and asthma. Some illnesses are named in relation with certain pollutants: for example, Minamata disease caused by mercury (element) compounds. ==Regulation and Monitoring== ===United States=== The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was supposed to establish "acceptable" levels of exposure to contaminants. One of the ratings chemicals are given are carcinogenicity, or how likely they are to cause cancer. Levels range from, not carcinogenic, likely carcinogen, known carcinogen, and unknown. But scientists are finding out that most of these levels are far too high and people should be exposed less to them. The CalEPA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has a list of more reasonable levels. ([http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/Newlist.html OEHHA]). The United States has a maximum fine of US dollar25,000 for dumping toxic waste. However, many large manufacturers plead guilty, as they can easily afford this relatively small fine. ==See also== *Dutch standards *Earth Day *Future energy development *Greenhouse gas. *List of songs about environmental pollution *Pollutant. *Petroleum. *Radioactive contamination *Remediation *Renewable energy *Ton Petroleum Equivalent. *Toxicology *Volatile Organic Compounds. *Whole Earth Catalog *World Ocean Day ==External links== *[http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-groups/one-list.tcl?short_list_name=tri00ry Toxic Release Inventory] - tracks how much waste companies release into the water and air. Gives permits for releasing specific quantities of these pollutants each year. [http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/main/index.jsp Map] *[http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-groups/one-list.tcl?short_list_name=hs Superfund] - manages Superfund sites and the pollutants in them (CERCLA). *[http://www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/pel/index.html OSHA limits for air contaminants] *[http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/atsdrhome.html Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry] - found out top 20 pollutants, alias for chemicals, how they affect people, what industries use them and what products they are found in. *[http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/ National Toxicology Program] - from National Institutes of Health. Reports and studies on how pollutants affect people. *[http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/ Toxnet] - more databases and reports on toxicology. From NIH *[http://www.scorecard.org Scorecard.org] - lots of info about pollution in the US. Just enter your zip code. Colored maps also show how bad certain types of pollution are in your area. *[http://www.epa.gov Environmental Protection Agency] *[http://www.oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/Newlist.html OEHHA] *[http://ntmc0.tripod.com National Toxic Mold Coalition and Foundation] *[http://www.edf.org Environmental Defense Fund] *[http://www.rachel.org Rachel's Environment and Health News] - Weekly news about how the polluted environment affects people, and what corporations and governments are doing (or not doing) about it. Also in Spanish. *[http://www.essential.org Essential.org] - Some organizations related to consumers and consumer protection, including pollution. *[http://www.cleanupge.org CleanUp GE.org] - Info about GE's shady dumping practices on the Hudson river. *[http://ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/newsletters/ghindex.html Extoxnet newsletters] - environmental pollution news. Last update 1998. *[http://www.enn.com/ Environmental News Network] - more news *[http://www.ewg.org/ Environmental Working Group] *[http://www.ejnet.org/sludge/ Sewage Sludge] - in the U.S. it is perfectly legal to fertilize food crops with solids from the sewer, which include lots of heavy metals and toxins. *[http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/medicine/toxicology/ Yahoo - Toxicology] - another great starting point. *[http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/Tox/ToxTutor.html The ToxTutor from the National Library of Medicine] - An excellent resource to review human toxicology. *[http://the-raw-prawn.blogspot.com/2004/10/pollution-and-development-as-seen-from.html Pollution and development, as seen from space] *[http://www.choosevegetarian.com/earth_overview.asp Overview of the possible environmental benefits of a plant-based diet] * [http://airspace.bc.ca/Airspace Action on Smoking and Health] * [http://www.cigarettelitter.org/ CigaretteLitter.Org - The Facts About Cigarette Butts and Litter - Cigarette Litter] Waste Pollution Environmental engineering Environmental chemistry
Pollution
Environment Industry
Pollution
When people think about air pollution, they usually think about smog, acid rain, CFC's, and other forms of outdoor air pollution. But did you know that air pollution also can exist inside homes and other buildings? It can, and every year, the health of many people is affected by chemical substances present in the air within buildings. Air is the ocean we breathe. Air supplies us with oxygen which is essential for our bodies to live. Air is 99.9% nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor and inert gases. Human activities can release substances into the air, some of which can cause problems for humans, plants, and animals. Heat is a pollutant because increased temperatures result in the deaths of many aquatic organisms. These decreases in temperatures are caused when a discharge of cooling water by factories and power plants occurs. There are many sources of indoor air pollution. Tobacco smoke, cooking and heating appliances, and vapors from building materials, paints, furniture, etc. cause pollution inside buildings. Radon is a natural radioactive gas released from the earth, and it can be found concentrated in basements in some parts of the United States. Additional information about the radon problem is available from the USGS and the Minnesota Radon Project. Many people spend large portion of time indoors - as much as 80-90% of their lives. We work, study, eat, drink and sleep in enclosed environments where air circulation may be restricted. For these reasons, some experts feel that more people suffer from the effects of indoor air pollution than outdoor pollution. The Greenhouse Effect, also referred to as global warming, is generally believed to come from the build up of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is produced when fuels are burned. Plants convert carbon dioxide back to oxygen, but the release of carbon dioxide from human activities is higher than the world's plants can process. The situation is made worse since many of the earth's forests are being removed, and plant life is being damaged by acid rain. Thus, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air is continuing to increase. This buildup acts like a blanket and traps heat close to the surface of our earth. Changes of even a few degrees will affect us all through changes in the climate and even the possibility that the polar ice caps may melt. (One of the consequences of polar ice cap melting would be a rise in global sea level, resulting in widespread coastal flooding.)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
P
PA | PB | PC | PD | PE | PF | PG | PH | PI | PJ | PK | PL | PM | PN | PO | PR | PS | PT | PU | PW | PX | PY | PZ |Words begining with Pollution:
Pollution
Pollution
Pollution
Pollution_control_technologies
Pollution_credit
Pollution_credit
Pollution_pump
Pollution_pump
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