Hello steemians!! Today's post is to mark the end of my pollution series, it has been a fun series to make and I am happy people turned up for it, taking care of our environment should be the paramount thing in our lives and I am hoping the series goes a long way in making it a fruition, today's topic of choice is LAND POLLUTION also known as soil contamination.
Land pollution can be defined as the introduction into soil or earth surface substances that don't normally belong there, Land contamination or soil pollution is caused by the presence of
Anthropogenic(human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is usually caused by industrial activity, agricultural chemicals, or improper disposal of waste. Which include garbage and industrial waste, agricultural pesticides and fertilizers, effluent from mining and other forms of industry, the unwanted repercussions of urbanization, and the destruction of soil through over-intensive agriculture.
The interest over soil contamination arises mostly from health risks , from direct contact with the contaminated soil, vapors from the contaminants, and from secondary contamination of water supplies within the soil.
CAUSATIVE AGENTS
- Soil erosion
- Oil spill .
- Mining and activities by other heavy industries
- Accidental spills as may happen during activities, etc.
- Corrosion of underground storage tanks
- Acid rain
- Intensive farming
- Agricultural chemicals , such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers
- Industrial accidents
- Debris from roads
- Drainage of contaminated surface water into the soil
- Improper Waste disposal (Oil and fuel dumping, Nuclear wastes, Direct discharge of industrial wastes to the soil, Discharge of sewage sludge, Landfill and illegal dumping)
The disposal of munitions, and a lack of care in manufacture of munitions can contaminate soil for long periods. There is little evidence on this type of contamination due to restrictions placed by Governments of many countries on the publication of material related to wars.
DISEASES CONNECTED TO LAND POLLUTION
- Cancer, including leukemia: caused by the contact with soils contaminated with chemicals (gasoline, benzene).
- Nervous system damage: caused especially by the presence of Lead (Pb) in soil, and affecting especially kids.
- Neuromuscular blockage and depression of the central nervous system.
- Kidney and liver failure: caused by chemicals such as Mercury (Hg).
- Brain damage
SOLUTIONS TO LAND POLLUTION
Removal of soil and take it to a disposal site away from ready pathways for human or sensitive ecosystem contact. This technique also applies to dredging of bay muds containing toxins.
Circulation of air into soils at the contaminated site.
Introduction of heat to raise subsurface temperatures sufficiently high to volatize chemical contaminants out of the soil for vapour extraction. Technologies include ISTD, electrical resistance heating (ERH), and ET-DSP.
Bioremediation, involving microbial digestion of certain organic chemicals. Techniques used in bioremediation include landfarming, biostimulation and bioaugmentating soil biota with commercially available microflora.
Removal of groundwater or soil vapor with an active electromechanical system, with subsequent stripping of the contaminants from the extract.
Quarantine of the soil contaminants (such as by capping or paving over in place).
Phytoremediation, or using plants (such as willow) to extract heavy metals.
Mycoremediation or using fungus to metabolize contaminants and accumulate heavy metals.
Remediation of oil contaminated sediments with self-collapsing air microbubbles.
This is the end of my pollution series, I thank everyone who upvoted, commented and resteem the previous posts in the series.
Please continue to support the movement of a cleaner world by upvoting, commenting, resteeming this post