SOIL POLLUTION
DEEPTHI.K.THOMAS
Abstract
World Soil Day was established in 2002 by the International Union of Soil Sciences
(IUSS) to celebrate the importance of soil and its vital contributions to human health
and safety. On December 20, 2013, the 68th UN General Assembly recognized
December 5th, 2014 as World Soil Day and 2015 as the International Year of Soils. This
official recognition of these events will emphasize the importance of soils beyond the
soil science community. It took two years for the leadership of Thailand and the FAO
Global Soil Partnership (GSP) to get these dates approved by the UN, but their hard
work prevailed and soil has garnered the attention it has so long deserved. World Soil
Day is annually held on December 5 to highlight soil's importance on Earth. We need
soil for basic survival - food and energy. It is linked with the United Nations' (UN) Year
of Soil. World Soil Day serves as a reminder to all of us that we owe our existence to
the soil. As we face mounting global production, climate and sustainability challenges.
Soil is fundamental to human life on Earth. Most plants require a soil substrate to
provide water and nutrients, and whether we farm the plants directly or consume
animals that feed on the plants, this means that we don't eat without soil.
Keywords: Xenobiotics, petroleum hydrocarbon, polynuclear
aromatic hydrocarbon, contamination
INTRODUCTION
Soil pollution as part of land degradation is caused by the presence of
xenobiotics (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural
soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity,
agricultural chemicals or improper disposal of waste. The most
common
1
Chemicals involved are petroleum hydrocarbon, polynuclear aromatic
hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, lead and other heavy metals.
Contamination is correlated with the degree of industrialization and
intensity of chemical substance. The concern over soil contamination
stems primarily from health risks, from direct contact with the
contaminated soil vapours from the contaminants, or from secondary
contamination of water supplies within and underlying the soil.
Mapping of contaminated soil sites and the resulting clean-ups are
time consuming and expensive task , requiring extensive amount of
geology, hydrology, chemistry , computer modelling skills and GIS in
Environmental contamination, as well as an appreciation of the
history of industrial chemistry.
WHAT IS SOIL POLLUTION?
Soil pollution refers to the contamination of soil with anomalous
concentration of toxic substance. It is a serious environment concern
since it harbours many health hazards. It is important to understand
that all soils contain compounds that are harmful /toxic to human
beings and other living organisms. However, the concentration of such
substances in unpolluted soil is low enough that they do not pose any
threat to the surrounding ecosystem. When the concentration of one
or more such toxic substances is high enough to cause damage to
living organism, the soil is said to be contaminated.
2
TYPES OF SOIL POLLUTION
Soil pollution may be any chemicals or contaminants that harm living
organisms. Pollutants decrease soil quality and also disturb the soil's
natural composition and also lead to erosion of soil. Types of soil
pollution can be distinguished by the source of the contaminant and
its effects of the ecosystem. Types of soil pollution may be agricultural
pollution, Industrial wastes and urban activities.
Agricultural Pollution
• Agricultural processes contribute to soil pollution.
• Fertilizers increase crop yield and also cause pollution that impacts
soil quality.
• Pesticides also harm plants and animals by contaminating the soil.
• These chemicals get deep inside the soil and poison the ground
water system.
Industrial Waste
• About 90% of oil pollution is caused by industrial waste products.
• Improper disposal of waste contaminates the soil with harmful
chemicals.
• These pollutants affect plant and animal species and local water
supplies and drinking water.
Urban Activities
• Human activities can lead to soil pollution directly and indirectly.
• Improper drainage and increase run-off contaminates the nearby
land areas or streams.
• Excess waste deposition increases the presence of bacteria in
the soil
3
CAUSES OF SOIL POLLUTION
So pollution can be caused by the following:
Microplastics
Oil spills
Mining and activities by other heavy industries
Accidental spills may happen during activities etc
Corrosion of underground storage tanks (including piping used
to transmit the contents )
Acid rain
Intensive farming
Agrochemicals, such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers
Petrochemicals
Industrial accidents
Road debris
Drainage of contaminated surface water into the soil
Ammunitions, chemical agents and other agents of war
Waste disposal – oil and fuel dumping, Nuclear wastes, Direct
discharge of industrial wastes to the soil, Discharge of sewage,
Landfill and illegal dumping, coal ash, electronic waste
4
EFFECTS OF SOIL POLLUTION
1. Health Effects: Contaminated or polluted soil directly affects
human health through direct contact with soil or via inhalation of soil
contaminants which have vaporized; potentially greater threats are
posed by the infiltration of soil contamination into groundwater
aquifers used for human consumption, sometimes in areas apparently
far removed from any apparent source of above ground
contamination. This tends to result in the development of pollution
related disease.
Healthy consequences from exposure to soil contamination vary
greatly depending on pollutant type, pathway of attack and
vulnerability of the exposed population. Chronic exposure to
chromium, lead and other metals, petroleum, solvents and many
pesticides and herbicide formulations can be carcinogenic, can cause
congenital disorders. Industrial or manmade concentrations of
naturally occurring substances, such as nitrate and ammonia
associated with livestock manure from agricultural operations, have
also been identified as health hazards in soil.
2. Ecosystem Effects: Not unexpectedly, soil contaminants can
have significant deleterious consequences for ecosystem. There are
radical soil chemistry changes which can arise from the presence of
many hazardous chemicals even at low concentration of the
contaminant species. These changes can manifest in the alteration of
metabolism of endemic microorganisms and arthropods resident in a
given soil environment. The result can be virtual eradication of some
of the primary food chain, which in turn could have major
consequences for predator or consumers species.
5
Control of soil Pollution
A number of ways have been suggested to curb the pollution rate.
Attempts to clean up the environment require plenty of time and
resources. Some the steps to reduce soil pollution are:
• Ban on use of plastic bags below 20 microns thickness.
• Recycling of plastic wastes
• Ban on deforestation.
• Encouraging plantation programmes.
• Encouraging social and agro forestry programmes.
• Undertaking awareness programmes.
• Reducing the use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides.
• Recycling paper, plastics and other materials.
• Ban on use of plastic bags, which are a major cause of pollution.
• Reusing materials.
• Avoiding deforestation and promoting forestation.
• Suitable and safe disposal of including nuclear wastes.
• Chemical fertilizers and pesticides should be replaced by organic
fertilizers and pesticides.
6
PREVENTION OF SOIL POLLUTION
Land fills
Recycling
Composting
Incineration
Production of biogas and manure
HOW CAN WE STOP SOIL POLLUTION?
There is no easy way to solve soil pollution, if there were it wouldn’t
be so much of a problem. Broadly speaking, there are different things
that can help to tackle the problem –
EDUCATION: Making people aware of the problem is the first
step to solving it.
ECONOMICS: Most environmental experts agree that the best
way to tackle pollution is through something called the polluter
pays principle. This means that whoever causes pollution should
have to pay to clean it up, one way or another. Polluter pays can
operate in all kinds of ways. It could mean that tanker owners
should have to take out insurance that covers the cost of oil spill
clean-ups.
7
CONCLUSION
Soil pollution is one the major type of the pollution this pollution is
actually present due to the activities of human like the human made
chemicals. The major cause involves the industrial activity which
leaves the harmful substance in soil causing its contamination. Also
the agricultural chemicals are also paying the part to make the soil
dirty. Moreover human waste material improper disposal also one of
the major cause for this. This type of pollution is actually not only
disturb the fertility of the lands but also cause the contamination of
underground water sources. Also it causes the spread of diseases very
rapidly.
REFERENCES
Adriano, D.C.; Bollag, J. Frankenberger, W.T.; and Sims, R.C., eds.
(1999). Bioremediation of Contaminated Soils. Agronomy
monograph 37. American Society of Agronomy.
Pierzynski, G.M.; Sims, J.T.; and Vance, G.F. (2000). Soils and
Environmental Quality, 2nd edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/ world-soil-day
http://biology.tutorvista.com/environmenta l-pollution/soil-
pollution.html
Wikipedia
8
9
