2019年化学周 - Types of Pollution

Air

Air pollution is the single biggest environmental health risk, causing roughly 7 million deaths annually. Short-lived pollutants – which include black carbon, methane, ozone, and airborne particles produced by industrial operations and the burning of diesel, coal, kerosene or biomass – are responsible for about one-third of deaths from stroke, chronic respiratory disease and lung cancer and one-quarter of deaths from heart attack. These pollutants are also contributing to global warming, lowering labour productivity, and increasing food insecurity around the world.

Different types of air pollution:

1. Indoor (household) air pollution caused by cooking stoves, heating and lighting. More than 3 million people use solid fuels and open fires for cooking and heating.
2. Outdoor (ambient) air pollution caused by emission from power generation, transport, industrial furnaces, brick kilns, wildfires, agriculture, dust and sand storms. 90 out of 193 countries do not have vehicle emission standards. 86% of countries practice open burning for agriculture and/or municipal waste.

Air pollution is a big killer. Each year 6.5 million people died prematurely because of poor air quality. 4.3 million deaths are attributed to indoor air pollution from cooking: this is mostly in low and middle-income countries.

2 million deaths every year caused by respiratory infections because of indoor air pollution; 800,000 of these are children below age of five. 

3.7 million deaths attributed to outdoor air pollution. Over half of the world's population lives in urban areas; only 12% of cities have air quality measures that meet WHO standards.
Ground-level ozone impacts food security by reducing crop yields by up to 50 million tons each year. Financial cost of environmentally related health risks is in the range of 5% - 10% of GDP, with air pollution taking the highest toll. 

What can we do to advocate for better air quality?

1. Provide clean cooking and heating stoves to rural communities.
2. Use cleaner-burning fuels.
3. Switch to clean diesel and improved engines for transport and freight.
4. Have stricter vehicle emissions and efficiency standards.
5. Switch from kerosene lamps to clean lighting technologies like solar lights.
6. Don't openly burn waste.
7. Prioritize the use of walking, cycling or rapid urban transit over private vehicles.
8. Ensure industries use clean technologies.
9. Establish, adhere to and enforce air quality standards.
10. Invest in renewable energy.
11. Stop emissions of climate pollutants such as black carbon, ozone and methane to save lives and help reduce global warming by 0.5 degrees Celcius.

Chemical 

Humans use over 100,000 different chemical elements and compounds, including lead, mercury, cadmium and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). If not managed properly, chemicals can have severe impacts on human health, causing acute poisoning, cancers, birth defects, neurological disorders, hormone disruption and more. Lead poisoning in children costs an estimated $977 billion dollars per year – equivalent to 1.2 per cent of the world’s GDP – by lowering the IQ of children in low- and middle-income countries. Chemical pollution also depletes the ozone layer and disrupts delicate species and ecosystems.

Lead is a widely used metal that is harmful to human health and the environment. Exposure to lead is responsible for 4% of ischemic heart disease and 6.6% of strokes.

Where can find lead?

1. Water
2. Dust and soil
3. Air
4. Inside homes, buildings and schools and playgrounds

What are the sources of lead in the environment?

1. Lead paint
2. E-waste recycling and waste incineration
3. Smelting
4. Mining
5. Disposal of lead acid batteries
6. Spent munitions

What are the common products that may contain lead?

1. Paint
2. Ceramics
3. Toys
4. Electrical and electronic equipment
5. Pipes and plumbing materials
6. Jewelry
7. Lipsticks
8. PVC plastic

Who is at risk?

1. Adults, especially pregnant women and workers in industries that use lead.
2. Children. Lead is particularly dangerous to children because:

• their growing bodies absorb 4-5 times more lead than adults
• their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead

Exposure to lead in children leads to:

1. Reduced intelligence quotient
2. Shortened attention span
3. Increased anti-social behavior 
4. Underperformance at school
5. Anemia
6. Hypertension
7. Kidney damage

Every year, approximately 800,000 people die of lead exposure in developing countries. 

Lead exposure is responsible for 4% of ischaemic heart diseases and 6.6% of strokes.

Lead is stored and accumulates in teeth and bones. 

Lead in our body is distributed to brain, liver, kidney and bones.

Lead attacks brain and central nervous system, reproductive organs, blood and immune system.

What can we do?

1. Separate batteries and electronic waste for proper recycling.
2. Make sure your lead paint laws are enforced.
3. Encourage governments to regulate the use of lead in paint by 2020.
4. Encourage industry to stop putting lead in paint.
5. Educate ourselves and our communities about the environmental, health and economic costs of lead exposure.

Freshwater

Around the world, some 2 billion tons of human waste are disposed of in water courses every day. All of that pollution has significant health impacts: 4,000 children die every day from diseases caused by polluted water and inadequate sanitation. Each year, some 1.8 million people (mostly children) are killed by diarrhoea alone. The impacts on wildlife can also be severe. Runoff of fertilizer and other chemicals into freshwater bodies can trigger nutrient pollution, an overgrowth of plant life that starves fish and other animals of oxygen.

 Where does our freshwater come from?

1. Lakes
2. Rivers
3. Aquifers
4. Wetlands

What do we need freshwater for?

1. Drinking
2. Bathing and recreation
3. Growing food
4. Manufacturing and industry
5. Sustaining biodiversity including fisheries

Freshwater makes up only 2.5% of all water.

Waterborne diseases such as diarrhea are a leading cause of mortality, particularly in children.

2.4 billion people (nearly one in three) lack access to basic sanitation such as toilets and latrines.

80% of wastewater goes into water bodies untreated.

Every year 1.8 billion people are exposed to contaminated drinking water.

Freshwater quality is under threat because of:

1. Pollution (pathogenic or organic)
2. Natural disasters
3. Climate change (leading to saltwater intrusion)
4. Increasing food and energy production
5. Infrastructure development
6. Resource extraction

What will poor water quality bring?

1. Threatens human health
2. Decreases biodiversity
3. Reduces the suitability of water for food and energy production

What can we do?

1. Be aware of your water footprint in the food and products you consume.
2. Advocate for sound freshwater ecosystem management by reducing pesticide and fertilizer use.
3. Support organisations providing safely managed sanitation and drinking water.
4. Buy locally produced products that take environmental conditions into account.
5. Eat less meat. Agriculture is the biggest user of freshwater supplies and meat is the most water-intensive food.

Land and soil

Major industrial accidents and extended industrial mismanagement, especially in the extractive industry, can pollute enormous areas of land. Contaminated soil can lead to contaminated crops and produce, which have direct and immediate impacts on human health. 

What are the causes of land and soil pollutions?

1. Poor agricultural practices
2. Improper solid waste management
3. Unsafe storage of hazardous chemicals and nuclear waste
4. Leachates from mismanaged landfills
5. Uncontrolled dumping of waste from households, industrial plants and mining

What can healthy soils bring?

1. Regulate water flow
2. Filter pollutants
3. Cycle nutrients 
4. Support plant and animal diversity and productivity
5. Growing food on uncontaminated soil helps fight hunger and provides safe food.

What can we do?

1. Urge your government to clean up contaminated sites.
2. Buy organic foods.
3. Invest in long-term environmental monitoring following industrial closures.
4. Reduce the use of antimicrobials, including antibiotics in the livestock sector.
5. Establish guidelines for the reduction and efficient use of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture.
6. Adopt agro-ecological practices such as integrated pest management.

Marine

The continuous growth in the amount of solid waste that humans produce, and the very slow rate at which that waste degrades, are together leading to a gradual increase in the amount litter found at sea, on the seafloor and along coastlines around the world.

Human activities on land are the biggest sources of marine pollution. These include the dumping of waste along coastlines, littering on beaches, and the breaking down of ships. Floods and other storm-related events flush this waste into the sea, where it sinks or is carried away by currents. The major sea-based sources of marine pollution include discarded fishing gear, shipping activities, and legal and illegal dumping.

All of this pollution causes serious economic losses. Coastal communities are facing increased expenditures on beach cleaning, public health and waste disposal. The shipping industry is impacted by higher costs associated with fouled propellers, damaged engines, and managing waste in harbours. The fishing industry damaged gear and reduced and contaminated catch.

Marine pollution also causes biodiversity loss and hampers ecosystem functions and services. Discarded fishing gear can entangle and kill marine life and smother wildlife habitats. Pesticides and other toxins adhere to tiny particles of discarded plastics (microplastics), which can be accidentally ingested by small aquatic life. Once ingested, the toxins biomagnify as they move up the food chain, accumulating in birds, sea life and possibly humans.

Different types of plastic:

1. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) - Your dry cleaning garment bags
2. Low-density polyethylene (LPDE) - Single-use lightweight bags (for examples: bottles, shopping bags, straws, cups, food packaging, etc)
3. Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) - Shopping bags