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What Is Soil Pollution and What Are Its Effects?

Any type of contamination of the ground that results in harmful toxins, chemicals, contaminants or any type of harmful material qualifies as soil pollution. Soil pollution comes in many forms and should always be taken very seriously as it can affect everything in an area from food and drinking water to wildlife and human health.

  1. Causes of Soil Pollution

    • Many different things can cause soil pollution. Chemicals, pesticides, radiation, heavy metals and oil are just a few of the things that can result in contaminated soil. Each type of pollution is going to look different and react differently with its environment. Radiation from nuclear waste can contaminate soil. More common causes include factory runoff and metals from mining. Even polluted water can carry contamination to the soil throughout an area.

    Immediate Effects

    • The full effect of soil pollution depends on the cause or causes of pollution as well as how serious the pollution levels are. Mildly polluted soil will cause fewer effects than seriously polluted soil. Some of the most serious effects can include a higher risk of cancer, contaminated food, birth defects in newborns, sickness and a wide variety of other similar issues. The overall health of a local population will always be worse in a heavily polluted area.

    Environmental Long-Term Effects

    • Long-term effects on the environment from soil pollution can contaminate any crops, making them less safe and less healthy than regular food. Depending on the level of pollution, crops can become impossible to grow. Major soil pollution can possibly affect drinking water sources, as well. Any area with untreated soil pollution over the long term will have less healthy food, plants and animals.

    Dealing with Soil Pollution

    • Many types of soil pollution can be treated over the long term to make the ground and surrounding environment safer, but such treatment often requires a massive government or humanitarian level of effort in order to set things back to normal. The first step must be to deal with the source and then to follow whatever steps help to contain that specific type of soil pollution and begin clean-up efforts.

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