Report Industrial Pollution, Article Pollutant

Pollutant:

A pollutant is a waste material that pollutes air, water or soil, and is the cause of pollution. Three factors determine the severity of a pollutant: its chemical nature, its concentration and its persistence. Some pollutants are biodegradable and therefore will not persist in the environment in the long term. However the degradation products of some pollutants are themselves polluting such as the products DDE and DDD produced from degradation of DDT.

Different Types of pollutants by absorptive capacity:

I. a-Stock pollutants:

Pollutants that the environment has little or no absorptive capacity are called stock pollutants (e.g. persistent synthetic chemicals, non-biodegradable plastics, and heavy metals). Stock pollutants accumulate in the environment over time.

The damage they cause increases as more pollutant is emitted, and persists as the pollutant accumulates. Stock pollutants can create a burden for future generations by passing on damage that persists well after the benefits received from incurring that damage have been forgotten.

II. b-Fund pollutants:

Fund pollutants are those for which the environment has some absorptive capacity. Fund pollutants do not cause damage to the environment unless the emission rate exceeds the receiving environment's absorptive capacity (e.g. carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by plants and oceans). Fund pollutants are not destroyed, but rather converted into less harmful substances, or diluted/dispersed to non-harmful concentrations.

  

Industrial Pollutants:

Industrial pollutants are pollution and waste by-product directly connected with industrial manufacturing. Industrial pollutants represent the leading worldwide cause of pollution in general and probably the most toxic to all life and nature.

Today's Pollutant Sources:

Modern industrial pollutants don't use smokestacks nearly as often as in the past, but there is a far greater presence of liquid chemical pollutant produced. With the refining of manufacturing came new ways of melting, cleaning, acidifying and steaming products. That created another rainbow of pollutant by-product. Water pollution is now one of the biggest industrial pollutants, with wastewater pumped daily from factories that use it for washing and cooling among other uses.

Notable Pollutants:

I. Heavy metal:  Heavy metals occur naturally in the ecosystem with large variations in concentration. In modern times, anthropogenic sources of heavy metals, i.e. pollution, have been introduced to the ecosystem. Waste-derived fuels are especially prone to contain heavy metals, so heavy metals are a concern in consideration of waste as fuel.  Within the European community the thirteen elements of highest concern are arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, mercury, manganese, nickel, lead, tin, and thallium, the emissions of which are regulated in waste incinerators. Heavy metal pollution can arise from many sources but most commonly arises from the purification of metals. Unlike organic pollutants, heavy metals do not decay and thus pose a different kind of challenge for remediation. One of the largest problems associated with the persistence of heavy metals is the potential for bioaccumulation  and biomagnifications  causing heavier exposure for some organisms than is present in the environment alone.

II. Persistent organic pollutant: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic  processes. Many POPs are currently or were in the past used as pesticides. Others are used in industrial processes and in the production of a range of goods such as solvents, polyvinyl chloride, and pharmaceuticals. Most of POPs are created by humans in industrial processes, either intentionally or as byproducts.

III. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), also known as poly-aromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, are potent atmospheric pollutants that consist of fused aromatic rings and do not contain heteroatoms or carry  substituents. Naphthalene is the simplest example of a PAH. PAHs occur in oil, coal, and tar  deposits, and are produced as byproducts of fuel burning.

IV. Volatile organic compound: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) refer to organic  chemical compounds which have significant vapor pressures and which can affect the environment and human health. A major source of man-made VOCs is solvents, especially paints and protective coatings. Chlorofluorocarbons, which are banned or highly regulated, were widely used cleaning products and refrigerants. Tetrachloroethene is used widely in dry cleaning and by industry. Industrial use of fossil fuels produces VOCs either directly as products (e.g. gasoline) or indirectly as byproducts (e.g. automobile exhaust).