Soil Pollution
What Is Soil Pollution?
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What Is Soil Pollution?
Soil pollution results from the build up of contaminants, toxic compounds, radioactive materials, salts, chemicals and cancer-causing agents. The most common soil pollutants are hydrocarbons, heavy metals (cadmium, lead, chromium, copper, zinc, mercury and arsenic), herbicides, pesticides, oils, tars, PCBs and dioxins.
Until the 1970s, there was little talk of soil pollution and its devastating effects. In the 1980s, the U.S. Superfund was created to set guidelines for the handling of hazardous material and soil contamination cleanup. Today there are more than 200,000 sites awaiting EPA soil cleanup, which is very expensive and labor-intensive work. Even a small cleanup project can cost $10,000, while larger areas require millions of dollars to clean it up for future use.
Causes of Soil Pollution
1. Following WWII and Vietnam, scientists discovered high incidences of mutation, miscarriage, mental defects, cancer and sickness in areas where nuclear warheads had been dropped. Food shortages also alerted officials that something was seriously wrong with the local soil. DDT and Dioxin were two of the worst pollutants from war aftermath.
In some cases, agricultural processes cause soil pollution. High levels of radionuclides like nitrogen and phosphorus can be found surrounding farm centers containing high population densities of livestock. Pesticides applied to plants can also seep into the ground, leaving lasting effects. Heavy metals can arrive in the soil by using polluted water to wet crops and by using mineral fertilizers.
Industry is to blame for some of the biggest soil-pollution disasters. Heavy metals come from iron, steel, power and chemical manufacturing plants that recklessly use the Earth as a dumping ground for their refuse. Plants that burn their waste on-site are guilty of releasing heavy metals into the atmosphere, which come to settle in the soil, thus leaving
[pic]
What Is Soil Pollution?
Soil pollution results from the build up of contaminants, toxic compounds, radioactive materials, salts, chemicals and cancer-causing agents. The most common soil pollutants are hydrocarbons, heavy metals (cadmium, lead, chromium, copper, zinc, mercury and arsenic), herbicides, pesticides, oils, tars, PCBs and dioxins.
Until the 1970s, there was little talk of soil pollution and its devastating effects. In the 1980s, the U.S. Superfund was created to set guidelines for the handling of hazardous material and soil contamination cleanup. Today there are more than 200,000 sites awaiting EPA soil cleanup, which is very expensive and labor-intensive work. Even a small cleanup project can cost $10,000, while larger areas require millions of dollars to clean it up for future use.
Causes of Soil Pollution
1. Following WWII and Vietnam, scientists discovered high incidences of mutation, miscarriage, mental defects, cancer and sickness in areas where nuclear warheads had been dropped. Food shortages also alerted officials that something was seriously wrong with the local soil. DDT and Dioxin were two of the worst pollutants from war aftermath.
In some cases, agricultural processes cause soil pollution. High levels of radionuclides like nitrogen and phosphorus can be found surrounding farm centers containing high population densities of livestock. Pesticides applied to plants can also seep into the ground, leaving lasting effects. Heavy metals can arrive in the soil by using polluted water to wet crops and by using mineral fertilizers.
Industry is to blame for some of the biggest soil-pollution disasters. Heavy metals come from iron, steel, power and chemical manufacturing plants that recklessly use the Earth as a dumping ground for their refuse. Plants that burn their waste on-site are guilty of releasing heavy metals into the atmosphere, which come to settle in the soil, thus leaving