Air and Water Pollution, Research Paper Example

There is a great set of air and water pollutants that affect all types of living beings on the Earth; however, there are two air pollutants (sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) and two water pollutants (estrogens and progestogens) have been chosen for evaluating of their dramatic effect on the environment and all kinds of life. The first air pollutant, sulphur monoxide, is the primary pollutant, as it is initially emitted in the atmosphere in its chemical form. There are some primary sources of sulphur dioxide emissions in the atmosphere:

“The largest sources of SO2 emissions are from fossil fuel combustion at power plants (73%) and other industrial facilities (20%).  Smaller sources of SO2 emissions include industrial processes such as extracting metal from ore, and the burning of high sulfur containing fuels by locomotives, large ships, and non-road equipment” (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010).

There are a number of adverse effects on human health produced by the sulphur dioxide exposure: they include bronchoconstriction and increased asthma symptoms (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). The risk population such as asthmatics, children and elderly people suffer most from the emissions, increasing admission to emergency departments with worsening respiratory diseases. In addition, various sulphur oxides react in the atmosphere and form small particles that have an ability of penetrating lugs and aggravating the existing heart diseases, causing emphysema and bronchitis (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010).

The second pollutant chosen for the present review is the group of nitrogen oxides, which is also a primary pollutant emitted in its initial form into the atmosphere from the following sources: on road vehicles, non-road equipment, electricity generation, fossil fuel combustion, industrial processes, waste disposal, fires etc. (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). As the major impact is felt from the automobile emissions, the volume of emissions is likely to decrease in future due to the newly-adopted ‘mobile source regulations’. The negative effect is particularly felt by the 16% of US citizens living near roadways (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010).

The nitrogen oxide effect is also felt for people exposed to presence near motor vehicles, which is the overwhelming number of worldwide population. Health effects of the pollutant include airway inflammation and increased asthmatic symptoms. Some chemical substances belonging to the group of nitrogen oxides, namely the nitrous acid and nitric acid, have the property of combining with ammonia and moisture to form particles that affect lungs in the same way that sulphur dioxide does (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). In addition, the pollutant can react with volatile organic compounds under the effect of sunlight and heat, forming ozone that is dangerous for all human beings. It reduces the lung function and causes respiratory dysfunctions (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010).

Nitrogen oxides contribute seriously to the formation of greenhouse gas emissions; the overwhelming 27% thereof come from transportation emissions. However, the main element of greenhouse gases is the carbon dioxide that has not been discussed in the present paper. All pollutants take their part in the composition of greenhouse effect, which pertains mainly to industrial and transportation emissions. Both the pollutants discussed and greenhouse gases produce adverse effect on the human health, affecting lungs and worsening the respiratory diseases already existing. The extreme frequency has been observed in the development of asthma in all groups of population, especially the risk groups such as elderly people and children (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010).

Speaking about water pollutants, there is a great quantity thereof, but the focus of the present paper was drawn to the female steroidal hormones, estrogens and progestogens. These hormones are increasingly found in wastewater due to their medical and agricultural usage, which aids their penetration into the aquatic environment (Kuster et al., 2005). The effect to health is observed not only on human beings, but plants and aquatic life forms as well; the decreasing reproductive tendencies and development defects are only some of the consequences of hormone exposure. Such phenomena as feminization, decreased fertility and even hermaphrodism are also observed as the due effect of hormones (Kuster et al., 2005).

The distribution of progestogens and estrogens is provided by their extensive usage in medicine (as contraceptives and treatment for hormonal disorders). These hormones are also widely used in agriculture as growth promoters, thus ensuring their penetration into wastewater. Such tendencies of vast distribution of hormones and their ability to accumulate in river and sea sediments are increasingly threatening the welfare and health of both human beings and other living organisms. The impact of hormones is still under question and remains a long-term perspective for research; however, the sources of hormone penetration into the aquatic environment and the ways of their distribution are already well-known, thus demanding much closer attention to their impact on all life forms.

References

Kuster, M., Lopez, M.J., & Barcelo, D. (2005). Estrogens and Progestogens in Wastewater, Sludge, Sediments, and Soil. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, Vol. 5, Part O, pp. 1-24.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from http://www.epa.gov/