Health and Environmental Impacts of Pollution

Soil Pollution Effects

Health Risks from Soil Contamination

Direct contact with contaminated soil or groundwater from affected regions can have an adverse impact on humans, animals, fish, and other living organisms. Consumption of food grown on such soil poses the greatest threat to human life. Contact with soil polluted by heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and chromium is largely responsible for increased cases of cancer, birth defects, and leukemia.

Ecosystem Degradation Due to Soil Pollution

Soil contamination is often the result of:

• Leaching from landfills
• Release of untreated industrial waste
• Acid rain due to excessive air pollution
• Nuclear fallout
• Fuel dumping
• Oil spills on land

Soil pollution leads to low crop productivity and stunted growth of plants. It also results in reduced atmospheric nitrogen fixation, erosion, and an imbalance in soil flora and fauna.

Impacts of Noise Pollution

Hearing Loss from Noise Exposure

The most common effect of prolonged exposure to high-decibel noise is deafness among people. This is a result of eardrum rupture caused by high-decibel noise.

Sleep Interference and Health Hazards

Sleeplessness caused by noise pollution affects one's personal well-being and job performance. Frequent sleep disturbance is a health hazard because it deprives a person of adequate rest required for body organs to renew their supply of energy and nutritive elements, which only prolonged, sound sleep can provide.

Effects of Radiation Pollution

Cancer Risks from Radiation Exposure

Cancer is the most common health effect of radiation exposure. The most common type of cancer caused by exposure to radiation is lung cancer. It is important to note that lung cancer can also be caused by excessive smoking.

Soil Contamination by Nuclear Radiation

Nuclear radiation can contaminate soil. Any kind of cultivation on such soil can affect humans via the food chain. According to U.S. researchers, the soil of the Marshall Islands, an area widely known for nuclear bomb testing by the U.S. military in the 1950s and 1960s, is highly contaminated by nuclear radiation. Even local food, including coconut water, contained radiation levels significant enough to pose a health risk.