Pollution in the Environment

Pollution in the Environment

Pollution is a commonly bad thing these days. There are so many chemical plants and refineries, which make more pollution every day. Although these things do pollute the world every day, there are still a lot of other things that pollute the world that we might not even know about. Everyone in the world can be affected by pollution, but there are many ways to control pollution and make our living environment better. Pollution is a major problem and needs to be handled in a better way by society as a whole. There are ways to prevent pollution, and we as citizens can help by not polluting. There are many types of pollution such as, air, water and noise pollution, but there are ways to prevent it all together.

One for m of pollution is air pollution and it can be in many forms. Sometimes you can see pollution in the air, and sometimes you can't. One thing I would like to focus on is how air pollution can affect us in our everyday life. When people think about air pollution, they usually think about smog, acid rain, CFC's, and other forms of outdoor air pollution. But did you know that air pollution also can exist inside homes and other buildings? It can, and every year, the health of many people is affected by chemical substances present in the air within buildings. Also according to "Environmental Health Perspectives 118.7'', traffic related pollution exposure at schools and homes may both contribute to the development of asthma. Asthma is a serious condition that affects you to be able to breathe properly. Studies were done on 2,497 kindergarten and first grade children who didn't have signs of asthma. During a 3 year study on traffic related pollution, the study came back, stating that these children were exposed to NO2, may have been affected and may have caused the signs of asthma (McConnell 1021). In 13 communities there was a study on Nitrogen dioxide (N02), and there were hazard ratios for new asthma cases. Asthma risk increased with modeled traffic- related pollution exposure form roadways near homes. NO2 was measured at a central site in each community and was also associated with increased risk (McConnell 1021). Nobody should have these types of risks when they go to school or even at home. We all know that construction is always going on, to develop bigger and better things for our communities, but there needs to be some more thought put into where you should be building. Chemicals are a danger and if you are in need of a chemical you might not want to use it around a school or a community. The less traffic and workers around these types of places will benefit everyone involved.

Another form of pollution is water pollution. Not many people know that water pollution is even a threat, but in all reality this threat increases everyday. According to an article in the "IUP Journal of Biotechnology", water pollution problems due to industrial effluents in aquatic environments, are increasing day by day. Industrial wastes are degrading the ecosystem, global water and environment (Kumar). Although, we have this threat of water pollution, there are ways to try and prevent this. Natural Attenuation is viewed as the best solution for cleaning up waste sites, and will save billions of dollars (Kumar 45). Natural Attenuation, means to clean up and according to the US government, the clean up consist of physical, chemical, or biological processes that, under favorable conditions, act without human intervention to reduce the mass, toxicity, mobility, volume, or concentration of contaminants in soil or groundwater (Natural Attenuation Definition Page). Water pollution is harmful to everyone, and we all rely on water every day. We have to be able to have clean water and we shouldn't have to worry about the effects of pollution in our water. Since water is a necessity, there are ways to help filter your water at home, such as a filtration system in your water supply. A lot of people have city water but some people have a personal well, so using water treatments helps keep your water extra clean. Even though we have these types of things to help with our water, people still need to take care of our rivers and lakes. So the next time you throw something in a lake or a river, think about how it might affect others in the future.

When people say the word "pollution", most of the time people don't think of "noise" as pollution. Well noise pollution is a real type of pollution; it's a type of energy pollution. In fact some people would say that noise can be more harmful than other kinds of pollution. Just think about a noise so loud that could make you not hear the same again. High traffic flow is one of many causes to noise pollution and it is due to recent increases in vehicle transportation (Alizadeh