Hazardous Pollutants

Pollution is defined as the introduction of a substance into the environment that has a harmful or poisonous effect. As defined, pollution can exist in a number of places, including in the air and water. While some pollution is merely bothersome, a number of hazardous pollutants exist that are harmful to the planet and the organisms that inhabit it.

Air

• Perhaps the most talked-about type of poolution, millions of harmful chemicals are being pumped into the air on a daily basis, both from naturally occurring sources and industrial sources. Air pollutants include gases and particulates from burning fossil fuels, dry cleaning chemicals and other volatile organic compounds, heavy metals and smog. These pollutants are destroying the ozone layer, increasing global warming and making humans across the globe sick. Natural sources of air pollutants include methane released from cattle and other livestock and radon gas, a radioactive gas released during the decay of uranium in the Earth's crust.

Water

• Fresh- and saltwater bodies of water are delicate ecosystems that require the right balance of nutrients and conditions. Several types of pollutants are threatening the earth's waterways, including organic and thermal pollutants. In addition to toxic wastes dumped directly into waterways, excesses of organic materials, such as human and animal waste, causes increases in the number of species that feed on this organic waste, which depletes the oxygen in the water. This, in turn, causes the death of many aquatic species that rely on oxygen for survival. Using water to cool industrial plants and then dumping it back out leads not only to increased temperatures in the body of water, but also decreased oxygen levels. Both of these conditions threaten the organisms living in the water.

Soil

• Pesticides and other man-made chemicals applied to crops or dumped in landfills build up to toxic levels in the soil. Animals and humans alike eat crops that are grown in the contaminated soil. Consumers higher up on the food chain, such as humans, are consuming higher doses of these chemicals because they consume the crops themselves and the animals that feed on those crops. Chronic exposure to both man-made and natural sources of soil pollution can lead to leukemia, kidney damage and liver toxicity.

Indoor

• Many people do not realize that their own homes are a major source of pollution. Harmful chemicals contained in a home build up to dangerous levels and are essentially trapped in, making their effects even more dangerous. Furniture made of pressed wood or particle board contains formaldehyde, which is released into the air and may lead to cancer. Carpeting, paint, industrial glues and other building materials also leach hazardous chemicals into the air on a daily basis. In addition to these man-made toxins, radon gases released from the earth can get trapped in a house and build up to deadly levels.