Definition
Basic
Pollution is the presence in or the introduction into the environment of a substance, which has harmful or poisonous effects. In the context of globalisation, the focus is on man-made pollution.
Sources
Pollutants given off by various industries and factories are often considered to be one of the prime factors contributing to air, water and soil pollution. According to the [US] Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
eHow
Pollution comes mainly from the following:
-road traffic
-industry (such as power stations and factories)
-domestic heating
-domestic sewage
-aircraft
-ships
-agriculture
-construction sites
-quarrying
-operational discharges from oil rigs
-mining discharges
-accidents and spills at sea
-seepage from waste sites
Sources2 3
History
Pollution is not a new phenomenon. In fact, it is older than most people realize. Archeologists digging through sites of Upper Paleolithic settlements (settlements of the first modern humans, between forty thousand and ten thousand years ago) routinely find piles of discarded stone tools, and the litter from the making of these tools. One could even argue that the first use of wood-burning fire ushered in the era of air pollution. Lead pollution from Roman smelters can be traced all across Europe. Yet all this early pollution was limited in its effects on the environment. As humans moved from nomadic to settled societies, however, pollution increased in magnitude, becoming a real problem for the environment and its human and nonhuman inhabitants.
Although pollution of major proportions has been a problem since the centuries preceding the Middle Ages, it is worth noting that after World War II, the type of pollution involved changed significantly. Industries began manufacturing and using synthetic materials such as plastics, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and inorganic pesticides like dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT). These materials are not only toxic, they also accumulate in the environment—they are not biodegradable. Thus, increased rates of cancers, physical birth defects, and mental retardation, among other health problems, are now being observed. A worrisome loss of biodiversity is an additional result.
P Issues
Modern Industry
As cities became more populated towards the end of the 19th century, industrialized cities across Europe and the United States were experiencing a new kind of pollution: waste from industries and factories. In 1897, a report to the Royal Commission on River Pollution detailed the gross industrial contamination of the Tawe River in Wales, noting that it was polluted by "alkali works, copper works, sulfuric acid liquid, sulfate of iron from tin-plate works, and by slag, cinders and small coal". In the United States, industrial chemicals and wastes, including sulfuric acid, soda ash, muriatic acid, limes, dyes, wood pulp, and animal byproducts from industrial mills contaminated waters in the Northeast. Water and air pollution in U.S. urban areas continued to increase well into the 20th century.
eoEarth
Between 1930 and 2000 global production of man-made chemicals increased from 1 million to 400 million tonnes each year.
WWF
Types
Air Pollution
Industrial pollution is one of the major causes of air pollution. With the increase in the number of industries and factories due to the industrial revolution; air pollution also has increased significantly. The emissions from various industries contain large amounts of gases such as carbon dioxide, sulphur and nitrogen, among others. These gases, when present in elevated levels in the atmosphere, often result in various environmental and health hazards such as acid rain, and various skin disorders in individuals.
Water Pollution
Pollution emitted from the industries is also one of the major factors contributing towards water pollution. Dumping of various industrial waste products into water sources, and improper contamination of industrial wastes, often result in polluting the water. Such water pollution disturbs the balance of the ecosystem inside, resulting in the death of various animal and plant species present in the water.
Soil Pollution
Soil pollution is defined as a phenomenon is which the soil loses its structure and fertility due to various natural and artificial reasons. Dumping of industrial wastes is one of the prime factors contributing towards soil pollution. Industrial wastes contain large amounts of various chemicals, which get accumulated on the top layer of the soil, resulting in loss of fertility of the soil. Such loss of fertility ultimately results in changes in the ecological balances of the environment due to reduction in plant growth.
eHow
Toxics
A Blacksmith Institute study concluded that the top six toxic threats are:
(Est. Global Population at Strong Risk/Est. Global Impact)
-Lead (10mil/18-22mil)
-Mercury (8.6mil/15-19mil)
-Chromium (7.3mil/13-17mil)
-Arsenic (3.7mil/5-9mil)
-Radionuclides (3.3mil/5-8)
-Pesticides (3.4mil/5-8mil)
Determents
Human
The health impacts from the Top Six Toxic Threats include physical and mental disabilities, organ dysfunction, neurological disorders, developmental problems for unborn fetuses and children, cancers, and in some cases, death. These pollutants can weaken the immune system, rendering a person more susceptible to disease. An initial exposure to toxic pollution can be the undocumented cause of later illnesses, such as respiratory infections, tuberculosis, gastrointestinal disorders, and maternal health problems. Up to 300 man-made chemicals have been found in humans.
Blacksmith WWF
The global health impact from toxic pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides and radionuclides, is greater than previously thought. Today, more than 100 million people are estimated to be at risk from toxic pollution at levels above international health standards. This is a public health issue as salient as tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV/AIDS, and one that should receive considerable attention and resources.
Blacksmith
Key facts
Pollution likely affects over a billion people around the world, with millions poisoned and killed each year. The World Health Organisation estimates that 25 percent of all deaths in the developing world are directly attributable to environmental factors. Some researchers estimate that exposure to pollution causes 40 percent of deaths annually.
Pollution is regarded as a major (and quickly emerging) factor in disease. People affected by pollution problems are much more susceptible to contracting other diseases. Others have impaired neurological development, damaged immune systems, and long-term health problems.
The world's worst polluted places are in the developing world. Similar conditions no longer exist in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia today. In wealthier countries, there are sufficient legal, political, cultural and economic disincentives for polluters to allow their activities to affect human health on a massive scale. Unfortunately, many of these tactics do not work in developing countries that are trying to increase their industrialization and make themselves economically competitive for manufacturing and processing.
Environment
Additionally, pollution contributes to global warming. Toxic emission from industry and other sources may contain greenhouse gases. Therefore some sources of pollution contribute to global warming. Unlike global warming, where the negative effects are evolutionary and solutions elusive, the effects of pollution are immediate and deadly, and the solutions are well-known and available.
Worst Polluted
Challenges
While it's difficult to deny that some chemicals bring significant benefits to society - through their use in healthcare for example - unfortunately some chemicals are damaging wildlife and people, and enough isn't known about their long-term effects.
Panda
Man-made chemicals are in use all around us - from pesticides to cosmetics and baby bottles to computers - our 21st century society depends on them. During their manufacture and use, chemicals are released into the environment. They can travel vast distances by air or water and are also absorbed by wildlife and humans through the skin or ingested in food and water.
WWF
International Law
The two primary sources of international law are custom and treaties, and both play a role in regulating international pollution. Customary international law emerges when countries engage in certain practices in the belief that those practices are required by international law. To become customary law, a practice must be generally followed, rather than just being the practice of a few countries. In contrast, treaties, which are often referred to as conventions or protocols, are legally binding agreements between countries or intergovernmental organizations. Treaties typically do not enter into force until a specified number of countries have expressed their consent to be bound by the treaty; even after the treaties enter into force, only the countries that expressed their consent are bound. A treaty is only effective to the extent it is implemented domestically by the parties to it. Each treaty raises its own questions of domestic implementation.
Another important concept, known as the precautionary principle or precautionary approach, addresses circumstances where significant health, safety, or environmental risks may be involved although full scientific certainty is lacking. Many countries, especially those in Europe, consider the precautionary principle to be a part of customary international law, but this legal status is debated by other countries, such as the United States.
Int'l Law
Prospects
Pollution: 'A Global Killer, a Solvable Problem'
The understanding and the technology for remediation of all types of pollution sites is well established in the industrialized world, where life-threatening toxic pollution has almost been eliminated. All that is needed to eliminate pollution worldwide is resources and commitment.
Worst Polluted
Places
10 Most Polluted Cities
1. Sumgayit, Azerbaijan (Center of Soviet Chemical Production)
2. Chernobyl, Ukraine (Nuclear Power)
3. Dzerzhinsk, Russia (Chemical Manufacturing from Cold War)
4. Kabwe, Zambia (Lead Smelter)
5. La Oroya, Peru (Lead, Copper and Zinc Mining)
6. Linfen, China (Coal Production)
7. Norilsk, Russia (Metal-Smelting Complex)
8. Sukinda, India (Chromite Mine)
9. Tianying, China (Center of Chinese Lead Production)
10. Vapi, India (Industrial Waste Site)
Scientific American
Developed vs. Developing Countries
Pollution in developing countries is often hidden away from the casual visitor. In most countries the major polluting industries are concentrated in special estates or industrial cities, usually well away from the capitals. In these places people are faced with ongoing soil, air and water contamination from antiquated enterprises and the legacy of decades of uncontrolled emissions. In some towns, life expectancy reaches medieval rates and birth defects are the norm, not the exception. In others, children’s asthma rates are measured above 90 percent and mental retardation is endemic. In such places, life expectancy may be half that of the richest nations and these shortened, debilitated lives are miserable. The levels of regulatory and management controls that protect people in modern industrial societies are not yet reflected in developing countries.
Living in a town with serious pollution is like living under a death sentence. If the damage does not come from immediate poisoning, then cancers, lung infections and mental retardation are likely outcomes. Often insidious and unseen, and usually in places with deficient and exhausted health systems, pollution is an unacknowledged burden on the poor and marginalized in the developing world. It is a major factor impairing economic growth, and a significant strain on the lives of already impoverished people.
Solving these problems can also be extremely cost effective in terms of health impact. The estimated benefits compare favourably to World Bank estimates of costs of lives saved on interventions related to water supply, improved cooking stoves, and malaria controls. This confirms that dealing with highly polluted sites is one of the most cost effective methods to improving life expectancy in the developing world.
Blacksmith Institute
Key Companies/Industries
Top 10 Most Polluting Industries
1. Chemical Manufacturing
2. Fertilizer Industry
3. Pharmaceutical Industry
4. Pesticide Manufacturing
5. Oil Refineries
6. Iron and Steel Industry
7. Cement Production Industry
8. Pulp and Paper Industry
9. Leather Industry
10. Sugar Refining
Love to Know
15 Most Polluting Energy Companies in the World
1. Huaneng Power International, China
2. Eskom, South Africa
3. NTPC Ltd, India
4. China Huadian Group Corp., China
5. China Power Investment Corp., China
6. Southern Co., U.S.
7. American Electric Power Co. Inc., U.S.
8. E.ON AG, Germany
9. North China Grid Co. Ltd., China
10. RWE AG, Germany
11. Datang Intl. Power Gen. Co., China
12. Duke Energy Corp., U.S.
13. AES Corp., U.S.
14. Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S.
15. Datang Intl. Power Gen. Co., China
Daily Green
Top 10 Green Companies (From List of Top 100)
1. International Business Machines (Technology)
2. Hewlett Packard (Technology)
3. Johnson & Johnson (Pharmaceuticals)
4. Sony (Consumer Products, Cars)
5. GlaxoSmithKline (Pharmaceuticals)
6. Novartis (Pharmaceuticals)
7. Deutsche Telekom (Technology)
8. Panasonic (Consumer Products, Cars)
9. HSBC Holdings (Banks and Insurance)
10. Toshiba (Technology)
Newsweek
Profit, People, Planet
A recent trend has been the emergence of voluntary corporate codes of conduct.
Pollution Issues
7 chemical producing companies who have joined the UN Global Compact LEAD companies:
-BASF SE (DE)
-Bayer AG (DE)
-Novartis International AG (Pharma) (CH)
-Novo Nordisk (Pharma) (DK)
-Novozymes (DK)
-Sumitomo Chemical Company Ltd (JP)
-Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd (JP)
Toxics Watch
Towards Globalisation
Many environmental activists and other observers believe that countries have an obligation through customary international law to not cause transboundary environmental harm. Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration (1972) and Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration that emerged out of the 1992 Earth Summit both clearly state this principle. The Rio Declaration affirms that countries have "the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction." Under this principle, countries are prohibited from undertaking or allowing actions that will cause pollution in other nations.
Pollution Issues
Towards Political Tools
2010 has been a year of significant progress, and the international community is starting to recognize the importance of this global issue. In September, Blacksmith Institute hosted an international conference in Bellagio, Italy, where leaders from multilateral organizations and environmental ministries convened to share knowledge and outline future steps to address pollution problems.
Ministers and representatives from developing countries presented the scope of toxic pollution in their own countries, and acknowledged that the problem is a priority for their respective Ministries of Environment. The participants concluded that an international response to deal with these issues is needed. Interim solutions must be implemented while a longer-term strategy, such as a fund to specifically address remediation of legacy pollution, is developed.
Seeing so many influential leaders and policymakers gathered to tackle this important issue provided great hope for the future.
Blacksmith Institute
Towards Political Actors
The interrelations between those actors who affect global pollution levels are complex, as they extend from civil society, to politicians, to big businesses. Another added layer that further complicates the matter is the level of national vs. international law. Hence, solutions to the problems of pollution demand both cooperation and individual responsibility. Civil society, as consumers and voters, can effect change through their choices in the marketplace, and their voice in the political arena.
Businesses on the other hand are often forced to compete to the fullest of their ability, within legal standards. Hence, a socially responsible approach is not necessarily in their short term interest. Hence, while civil society is justified to demand green standards from businesses, the purchasing power of civil society will also give an advantage to those companies that following environmentally friendly standards.
Politicians on the other hand often make choices that benefit them in the short-term (re-election), and thus will cede to the demands of those corporate lobbyists who are looking to increase short-term profit and competitiveness.
Therefore, the solutions must include the following:
-That politicians in democracies are held accountable for their actions.
-For public awareness about the detriments of industrial pollution to increase for civil society to feel the sense of urgency in order to put pressure on their political representatives, and to make meaningful choices when they purchase products.
-The legal framework under which corporations operate needs to be altered in order to give them an incentive to be environmentally responsible.
-The most challenging step will be to create a just (and enforceable) international legal standards to encourage an environmentally responsible approach by corporations.
