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The Effects of Different Industrial Pollutants

The consumer demand placed on companies to develop more products of convenience has resulted in an increase of industrial by-products and pollutants. These pollutants have had a negative effect on humans and the environment in terms of health, crop production, toxicity and wildlife population.

  1. Increased Dumping

    • According to post-gazette.com, a 2007 report issued by the Environmental Protection Agency revealed that the legal dumping of 10 million pounds of pollutants, such as lead, arsenic and formaldehyde, has made Pennsylvania the sixth largest culprit of toxic dumping in the nation.

    Metallic Elements

    • Sewage sludge and pollutants from gold mining and textile plants in the Pacific Rim have caused an increase in metallic elements found in lowland rice fields, and a decrease in the amount of rice crops.

    Obesity Levels

    • According to physorg.com, biologist Bruce Blumberg has made a connection between industrial chemical pollutants found in pesticides, plastics, cosmetics and packaging, and accelerated obesity levels in humans. Blumberg revealed that the pollutants trigger a metabolic hormone change that favors the growth of fat cells.

    Wildlife Habitats

    • According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the coastal waters of Falmouth, Massachusetts, are still showing signs of gross contamination resulting from a 1969 oil spill. The pollutants, found only 20cm below the water's surface, have affected the way the area's fiddler crabs feed and burrow, resulting in their decreased population.

    Health Risks

    • Untreated chemicals, such as pesticides and dye by-products produced by industrial plants of Gujarat, India, have been consistently dumped into the Kolak River, and have been linked to the region's high increase of tuberculosis and cancer deaths over the past decade.

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