This document discusses soil pollution and methods to control it. It begins by defining soil pollution and its various causes such as industrial waste discharge, pesticide overuse, and solid waste disposal. It then describes the different types of soil pollution including agricultural, industrial, and urban pollution and their adverse effects. The document outlines bioremediation as a treatment process using microorganisms to degrade pollutants. Finally, it recommends several methods to control soil pollution such as reducing chemical usage, recycling, reforestation, proper waste management, and using organic and biodegradable products.

1. SOIL POLLUTION & IT’S
REMEDIES
Prepared By:Vivek Pathak

2. PLANET EARTH
Home to millions of species, including humans. Earth
is the only place in the universe where life is known to exist.

3. What is Soil..??
• Soil is the thin layer of organic and inorganic
materials that covers the Earth's rocky surface.
• Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that
have been altered by chemical and mechanical
processes that include weathering and erosion.

4. • O Horizon –
Organic matter
• A Horizon – Top
soil
• B Horizon –
Subsoil
• C Horizon –
Parent Material

5. Tom McMillan

6. SOIL POLLUTION
•
It is defined as the build-up in soils of persistent
toxic compounds, chemicals, salts, radioactive
materials, or disease causing agents, which have
adverse effects on plant growth and animal health.
•
Soil pollution is also caused by means other than
the direct addition of xenobiotic (man-made)
chemicals such as agricultural runoff waters,
industrial waste materials, acidic precipitates, and

7. Causes of Soil Pollution
• Seepage from a landfill
• Discharge of industrial waste into the soil
• Percolation of contaminated water into the soil
• Rupture of underground storage tanks
• Excess application of pesticides, herbicides or
fertilizer
• Solid waste seepage
• Deforestation and Soil erosion

8. Causes of Soil Pollution

9.  Excess application of
pesticides etc.
Excess use & disposal of Plastics and polyethene wastes

10.  Industrial seepage
 Solid waste seepage

11. How Do We Use Our Land /Soil Today?
We use our land today for several things such as:
Farming, Mining, Recreation, Highways, Building Cities.
- When land is being used for houses, industries, roads, and businesses it is known as urban land.
- Rural land is an area of few people and large open spaces of land. When land is being used for graze livestock
and wildlife, it is known as range land.
- We use land in three major ways; woods in forests, crops in farm, and mineral resources! Weather people live in
rural or urban cities, we all depend on resources that are being produced in the rural areas.
-Resources being produced by natural and
artificial ecosystems is known as ecosystem
services.
-Ecosystem Services:
-aesthetic beauty - purification of water & air
-regulation of climate -prevention of flood/drought
-movement and cycling of nutrients
-maintenance of biodiversity -detox wastes
-decompose wastes

12. The most common chemicals involved in
causing soil pollution are:
• Petroleum hydrocarbons
• Heavy metals
• Pesticides
• Solvents

13. “The living sinners on deadly ground.”
― Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut

14. Types of Soil Pollution
• Agricultural Soil Pollution
i) pollution of surface soil
ii) pollution of underground soil
• Soil pollution by industrial effluents and solid wastes
i) pollution of surface soil
ii) disturbances in soil profile
• Pollution due to urban activities
i) pollution of surface soil
ii) pollution of underground soil

15. Agricultural Soil Pollution
• Plants on which we depend for food are under attack
from insects, fungi, bacteria, viruses, rodents and other
animals, and must compete with weeds for nutrients.
• To kill unwanted populations living in or on their crops,
farmers use pesticides.
• The remnants of such pesticides used on pests may get
adsorbed by the soil particles and contaminate root
crops grown in that soil.
• The consumption of such crops causes the pesticides
remnants to enter human biological systems, affecting
them adversely.

16. Agricultural effects:
• Reduced soil fertility
• Reduced nitrogen fixation
• Increased erodibility
• Larger loss of soil and nutrients
• Deposition of silt in tanks and reservoirs
• Reduced crop yield
• Imbalance in soil fauna and flora

17. Agricultural effects:

18. Industrial Soil Pollution
• Large quantity of solid wastes like unused and rejected
chemicals
(like
sludge,
press
mud,
saw
dust, bottles, plastic materials etc.), unwanted industrial
wastes generated during manufacturing processes are
dumped over on the surface of soil by almost all industries
with difference in the degree.
• Larger the production base, larger is the generation of
wastes.
• Traditionally, these materials have been dumped around
the factory site or around the entire city. Rarely, they are

19. Industrial Soil Pollution

20. Industrial effects:
• Dangerous chemicals entering underground
water.
• Ecological imbalance.
• Release of pollutant gases.
• Increased salinity.
• Reduced vegetation.

21. Industrial Effects:
Soil pollution due to industrial waste
Polluted land with dangerous chemicals

22. Soil Pollution due to Urbanization
• Urban activities generate large quantities of city wastes
including several Biodegradable materials (like vegetables,
animal wastes, papers, wooden pieces, carcasses, plant
twigs, leaves, cloth wastes as well as sweepings) and many
non-biodegradable materials (such as plastic bags, plastic
bottles, plastic wastes, glass bottles, glass pieces, stone /
cement pieces).
• On a rough estimate Indian cities are producing solid city
wastes to the tune of 50,000 - 80,000 metric tons every day.
• If left uncollected and decomposed, they are a cause of
several problems.

23. The human race will be the
cancer of the planet.
Julian Huxley

24. Urbanization effects:
• Clogging of drains
• Inundation of areas
• Public health problems
• Pollution of drinking water sources
• Foul smell and release of gases
• Waste management problems

25. Urbanization effects:
Contamination of soil due to waste
water

26. Some more effects of soil pollution:
• Pollution runs off into rivers and kills the fish, plants and other
aquatic life.
• Crops and fodder grown on polluted soil may pass the pollutants
on to the consumers.
• Polluted soil may no longer grow crops and fodder
• Soil structure is damaged (clay ionic structure impaired.)
• Corrosion of foundations and pipelines
• May release vapours and hydrocarbon into buildings and cellars
• May create toxic dusts
• May poison children playing in the area

27. Bio magnification
• Process in which certain non-biodegradable substances
go on accumulating in the food-chain. The most common
example is of methyl mercury in fish and mercury in
eagles. Not only does bio magnification put the particular
species at risk, it puts all the species above and below it
at risk, and ultimately affects the food pyramid.

28. Solid waste composition

29. Solid waste management hierarchy

30. Some more effects of soil pollution:

31. Reason for Misuse of Natural Resources
a)Commercial interests like trading in products out of natural
resources.
b) Ignorance on necessity to preserve natural resources.
c) Deliberate negligence on destruction of natural resource.
d) Entertainment / recreational / aesthetic interest.
e) Extreme population pressure.
f) Self interest of human beings over the interest to retain
natural resources.
g) International trade and commitments.
h) Misuse of legislation.
….contd

32. i) Loop holes of provisions of law.
j) Protracted legal process.
k) Food interest
l) Luxuries required for man.
m) Increased industrial requirement.
n) Improvement of standard of living, GDP, per capita income
and purchasing power.
o) Expectations of instantaneous returns.

33. What can be done?

34. Methods to control Soil Pollution
• Reducing chemical fertilizer and pesticide use.
• Recycling is another way to reduce and control soil
pollution. Recycling paper, plastics and other materials
reduces the volume of refuse in landfills, another common
cause of soil pollution.
• Reusing of materials
• De-forestation, the cutting down of trees, causes erosion,
pollution and the loss of fertility in the topsoil. Planting
trees--or re-forestation--helps prevent soil erosion and
pollution.

35. Methods to control Soil Pollution
• Weeds soak up minerals in the soil. Reducing weed
growth helps reduce soil pollution. One of the more
common methods of reducing weed growth is covering
the soil with numerous layers of wet newspapers or a
plastic sheet for several weeks before cultivation. This
prevents light from reaching the weeds, which kills them.
• Designated pits should be used for the dumping of soil
wastes. These wastes should be treated chemically and
biologically to make them less toxic and hazardous.

36. Bioremediation
A treatment process that uses microorganisms (yeast,
fungi, or bacteria) to break down, or degrade, hazardous
substances into less toxic or nontoxic substances (carbon
dioxide and water)

37. Methods to control Soil Pollution

38. Disposal of Wastes
• One of the ways of doing this is by separating dry and wet
waste. Dry waste should be recycled or it can be burned.
On the other hand, wet waste should be decomposed.

39. Disposal of Wastes
• This decomposed waste should be further dumped in pits
so that it can be converted into compost and used for
agriculture. When disposing of waste, the authorities
should treat it with various kinds of chemicals, so that it
has a very low level of toxicity.

40. Recycling and Reuse
• People should buy and use products that have been
recycled. For instance, plastic bags should be given up;
instead, jute bags should be used. Reusing old items is
another good way to reduce the stress on various
resources. Clothes, paper, glass, everything should be
recycled and reused, as far as possible.

41. Biodegradable Products
• People should buy
biodegradable products.
Go organic - that's the
mantra for avoiding land
pollution. Organic
farming, lessening the
use of pesticides, buying
organic fruits and
vegetables and other
products, will keep land
pollution in check.

42. Grow More Trees
• Initiative should be
taken to grow more
trees. Researches
show that trees can
actually fertilize the
soil. This means that
by growing trees, soil
will become fertile,
agriculture will get
boosted and land
pollution will greatly
reduce.

43. Efficient Use of Resources
• There should be minimal wastage. There should be no
littering. Oil and petrol should be used judiciously. So
should all the other products and resources made from
glass, plastic, metal and paper.

44. Use organics products
Buy organics products, especially organic
cleaners, pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers. The
advantage of using organic products is that they are
biodegradable and friendly to the environment.

45. Proper Waste Management
• Excessive littering is one of most common reasons for land pollution.
• Take initiative to inform others about the harmful effects of littering.
• Organic wastes must be disposed of in areas that are far from human
or animal habitation. Waste like plastic, metals, glass and paper must
be recycled and reused.
• Find land far away from natural environments to dump wastes that
cannot be disposed of and are essential to industrial processes.

46. Improve fertility of the land by reforesting
Soil in forested lands are far more fertile than soil without
trees, suggesting that trees have the ability to fertilize land.

47. Compost garden and kitchen waste

48. Recycle everything.

49. When we heal the Earth, we
heal ourselves.
-David Orr

50. Compost garden and
kitchen waste.

51. Dispose of trash,
properly.

53. "Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by
your parents, it was loaned to you by your
children. We do not inherit the Earth from our
Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children."
Ancient Native Indian Proverb