This document discusses various types and sources of environmental pollution. It defines pollution as the introduction of substances or energy into the environment by human activity that has harmful effects. The major forms of pollution are described as air, water, soil, radioactive contamination, noise, light, and thermal pollution. Key sources of air pollution include emissions from vehicles, industries, and biomass burning. Water pollution arises from sewage, industrial effluents, and agricultural runoff. Soil contamination is caused by acid rain, excessive fertilizer use, and waste dumping. The impacts of different types of pollution and case studies of polluted areas are also presented.

2. Environmental Pollution
Types and Sources
Sam Sanet Kumar
E.Kalaivani
Nivedita Gopinath
Ashish Bharadwaj

3. What is Pollution?
“Pollution means the introduction by man, directly or
indirectly, of substances or energy into the environment,
resulting in deleterious effects of such a nature as to
endanger human health, harm living resources and
ecosystems, and impair or interfere with amenities and
other legitimate uses of the environment.”
Definition of pollution by OECD (1974)

4. The major forms of pollution
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Air pollution
Noise pollution
Water pollution
Soil contamination
Radioactive contamination
Light pollution
Visual pollution
Thermal Pollution

5. Air Pollution
Air pollution is said to exist if the levels of
harmful gases, solids or liquids present in
the atmosphere are high enough to affect
humans, other organisms, buildings,
monuments, etc.

6. Major primary pollutants produced by human activity
include:
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Sulfur oxides (SOx) especially sulfur dioxide
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) especially nitrogen dioxide
Carbon monoxide (CO)
Carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas
Volatile organic compounds (VOC), such as hydrocarbon fuel
vapors and solvents
Particulate matter (PM), such as smoke and dust.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
Ammonia (NH3)
Odors, such as from garbage, sewage, and industrial
processes
Secondary pollutants include:
• Particulate matter formed from gaseous primary pollutants
and compounds in photochemical smog, such as nitrogen
dioxide
• Ground level ozone (O3)
• Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN)

7. Pollution Load of Vehicles, 2005
Pollutants
Total
Vehicular
Load
(in ‘000
tones)
CO
1325.911
Hydrocarbons
466.3362
NOX
327.6715
Particulate
Matter
48.71416
Benzene
13.26281
Butadiene
1.694508
Ozone
Potential
1667.886
Source : Transport fuel quality for year 2005,
CPCB, MoEF

8. Case Study I
Mexico City
Just living and breathing here is equivalent to
smoking two packets of cigarettes a day (Raven
& Berg 2004)
Millions of tonnes of Emissions from 3 million
vehicles, 36,000 industries, leakage of LPG and
particles of dried faecal matter from sewage
(Enger 2004)
Reforestation, import of clean fuel and upgrading
of public transport have led to improvements.

9. Case Study II
New Delhi
• In the early ‘90s: Delhi the 4th most polluted city
in the world (Brandon et al. 1995)
• Annual cost of air pollution was Rs.14 Billion,
World Bank (Bell et al. 2004)
• Today, Delhi is a model city in the South Asian
region
• Radical Turnaround due to:
» Eviction of polluting industries from the city
» Conversion of all public transport to CNG

10. Water Pollution
Water pollution is a large set of adverse
effects upon water bodies such as lakes,
rivers, oceans, and groundwater caused by
human activities.

11. Major Sources
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Sediments
Oxygen demanding Organic Wastes
Infectious Micro organisms
Organic Compounds
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Inorganic Nutrients and Chemicals
Runoff containing spilled petroleum products
Radioactive substances
Thermal Pollution

12. Freshwater Contamination:
Eutrophication
• Eutrophication is frequently a result of
nutrient pollution such as the release of
sewage effluent into natural waters (rivers or
coasts)
• Promotes excessive plant growth and decay
• Causes severe reductions in water quality
• Changes the species mix in the water body
• Causes Hypoxia

13. Marine: Algal Bloom
• Caused by coastal pollution, wastewater runoff
and higher ocean temperature due to global
warming
• A population explosion of pigmented marine
algae
• May release toxins that kill marine life
• Even non-toxic forms of algal bloom cause
damage to the marine ecosystem- Causes
Hypoxia

14. Groundwater Pollution
• Excessive extraction of
groundwater leads to natural
pollution of the same
• Examples are fluorosis and
arsenic poisoning
• Irreversible intrusion of
saltwater occurs in coastal
areas due to excessive
extraction
• Substances like paint thinners
and motor oil
• Neither gets flushed out nor
does it decompose away:
hence, can last for thousands
of years.

15. Arsenic and Fluoride
Contamination
• Arsenic and Fluoride deposits are present
naturally in aquifers. Poisons released due to
excessive water extraction
• Effect of arsenic on body tissues shows up after
2-5 years of consumption: leads to gangrene
and cancer, blindness, liver and heart problems,
diabetes, goitre, etc.
• Excess intake of fluoride leads to dental, skeletal
and non-skeletal fluorosis

16. Case Study III :
Fluorosis endemic in Jharana Kurd
• 1200 inhabitants of this Rajasthan village
suffer from Fluorosis (Jamwal & Manisha
2003)
• The disease has wiped out entire village
economies
• Brings stigma to women
• Problem now endemic in 19 states
• Govt. measures are weak- defluoridization
technology is expensive

17. Ship Pollution and Oil Spills
• Result of increased traffic in ocean ports,
pollution from ships directly affects coastal
areas, biodiversity, climate, food, and human
health.
• Discharge of cargo residues from bulk carriers
can pollute ports, waterways and oceans.
Oil Spills: While being toxic to marine life,
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the
components in crude oil, are very difficult to
clean up, and last for years in the sediment and
marine environment

18. Noise Pollution
• Predominant Cause:
Transportation
systems
• Health Impacts:
Stress, Hypertension,
Cardiac Problems
• High noise levels may
interfere with the
natural cycles of
animals, including
feeding behavior,
breeding rituals and
migration paths.

19. Environmental Noise Scale
Decibels
140
130
120
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
0
--Threshold of Pain
Siren at 100 Ft
Jetliner 500 ft overhead
Air compressor
Heavy City Traffic
--Beginning of hearing Damage
Average Traffic
Conversation Speech (3 Ft)
Business Office
Average Residence
Soft Whisper (5 ft)
Room in a quiet house
Motion picture studio
--Threshold of Hearing

20. Solid and Hazardous Waste
• Domestic Waste: Sewage and Household
Garbage (Municipal Solid Waste)
• Factory Waste : Effluents
• E-waste : Obsolete machines and parts
• Construction waste: materials from demolished
buildings
• Biomedical Waste : diseased organs, poisonous
medicines
• Radioactive waste from Nuclear Power Plants
• Waste from natural disasters and Wars

21. Case Study IV:
Alang, Graveyard of Ships
• Alang lies in the Gulf of Kambhat in
Gujarat
• 300 ships are dismantled every year
(Bavadam 2004 & Chaudhary 2004)
• Most ships contain toxic waste; cost of
clean up falls on Gujarat Government
• Greenpeace Campaign started in 2003
has made some difference: “Clean Toxic
Ships Now!”

22. Soil Contamination
• Refers to any physical or chemical change in soil
conditions that may adversely affect the growth of plants
and other organisms living in or on that soil
• Caused by Acid Rain and Excessive use of chemical
fertilizers
• Dumping/ leakage of wastes- garbage, untreated
sewage, effluents and mining waste
• Salinization may occur due to continued irrigation with
saline water
• Transforms plant metabolism, reduces crop yields and
aids soil erosion

23. Radioactive Contamination
• Radioactive contamination is typically the
result of a spill or accident during the
production or use of radionuclides
• Radioactive contamination can enter the
body through ingestion, inhalation,
absorption, or injection
• Chernobyl: Radioactive Iodine led to
thyroid impairment and cancer

24. Other types of Pollution
• Thermal: temperature change in natural water
bodies caused by human influence. The main
cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as
a coolant, especially in power plants.
• "Light pollution" (or photopollution) refers to light
that is considered annoying, wasteful or harmful.
Excess light
loss in visual acuity,
hypertension, headaches and increased
incidence of carcinoma.

25. Emissions Vs. Ambient Pollution
• Polluter generates emissions
• Emissions are transformed into ambient
concentrations of pollution- i.e. in the air
around us or in water we drink
• Ambient Concentrations, not emissions
per se, cause damage
• The two are imperfectly connected.

26. From Emissions to Ambient Pollution
Natural Environment
Environmental
Regulator
Producers
Consumers
Emissions
Emissions
Environmental Transformation (transport,
decay, combination, deposition
Ambient Levels of Pollution
Damage
(to Producers, Consumers, Ecosystems)

27. How much Pollution do we want?
• Efficiency requires equating Marginal
Damage (MD) from pollution to Marginal
savings of firm from polluting (MS or -MC)
• MD is in terms of ambient pollution
• MS is in terms of emissions
• So we express MD(p) in terms of per unit
of emissions to enable comparison

28. MDEi(ei) = {D(p +Δp) – D(p)}/Δei
= MD(p)Δp/ Δei
= ai MD(p)
Where; MDEi(ei) is marginal damage per unit of
emission from source i. Assume there is only
one receptor of pollution.
ai is the transfer coefficient Δp/ Δei (ratio of
change in pollution to change in emissions)
For instance, if ai is 2, then one unit of emission
yields 2 units of pollution

29. • Efficiency condition
-MCi(ei) = MDEi(ei) = ai MD(p) for all i
For any 2 sources n and m,
-MCm(em)/ am = -MCn(en)/ an = MD(p)
(Where the MC/a terms are marginal costs
per unit of ambient pollution)
Since only one receptor is assumed, MD(p)
is the same irrespective of the source

30. Thank you!
Questions?