Causes of Soil Pollution:
The recurring, ever-rising utilization of chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and fertilizers is one of the main reasons for advent of soil pollution by increasing its salinity making it unsuitable for crop bearing and unfavourably affecting the microorganisms existent in the soil, leading the soil to gradually lose its fertility and the subsequent loss of minerals present in the soil, thus causing soil pollution and damaging or eradicating more than just the targeted pest. Other types of soil pollution usually arise from radioactive fallout, the breach of underground storage tanks, percolation of contaminated surface water to subsurface layers, leaching of wastes from landfills or direct release of industrial wastes to the soil, poor and detrimental irrigation practices, inappropriate septic system and management and maintenance, leakages from sanitary sewage, acid rain falling onto the soil, fuel leakages from automobiles, that get lapped away due to rain and percolate into the nearby soil and harmful waste management methods, which are marked by discharge of sewage into the big dumping grounds and nearby streams or rivers.
Effects of Soil Pollution on Humans:
Soil pollution can have a cascade of destructive effects on ecosystems and human, plants and animal health. The harmful outcomes of soil pollution may come from direct interaction with polluted soil or from interaction with other resources, such as water or food which has been developed on or has come in direct contact with the contaminated soil.
Many sources of soil pollutants are carcinogenic causing humans who are exposed to these pollutants to be far more susceptible to develop cancer and being effected from it than those who are not. For example, consistent exposure to benzene is known to have caused leukaemia in both children and adults and contact with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is associated to liver cancer. Soil pollution can also result in neuromuscular obstruction as well as depression of the central nervous system, headaches, nausea, fatigue, eye irritation and skin rash. Soil does not need to be extremely contaminated to be harmful to humans. Soil that is not considerably contaminated may still hurt humans directly through bioaccumulation, which according to Pollution Issues, happens when plants are grown in lightly polluted soil, which constantly absorb molecules of the pollutants. Since the plants cannot get purged of these molecules, they amass in the plant, causing greater amounts of pollution to occur in the plant than in the soil. Animals who consume many of these polluted plants in their turn take on all the pollution those plants have stored. Larger predatory animals who then eat the herbivores take on all the pollution from these particular animals. Humans who eat plants or animal meat that have amassed copious amounts of soil pollutants may be infected, even if the soil as of such itself does not encompass adequate pollution to harm human health directly. Additionally, the existence of heavy metals in soil in lethal amounts can cause permanent developmental damage in children. Lead and mercury in soil may also be adversely detrimental to human health. Although lead and mercury can be present naturally in soil, greater concentrations of either metal may cause mutilation to the developing brains of young children, which in turn may cause neurological disorders. Humans in any time of life may also suffer from kidney or liver damage due to exposure from extreme mercury in soil. In addition to threatening human health, soil pollution can also cause economic loss.
We are already starting to see the longer-term tendencies and effects of our industrial heritage and previous actions. Studies on historically polluted sites shows us that we can never be too careful when making a conclusion on where to establish modern-day industries, because some contaminants can still be identified at potentially toxic levels decades after they were first released. Levels of mercury in the environment are intensifying due to earlier waves of industrial activity. Levels of some POPs are decreasing several years after they have been phased out. More contemporary industrial activity in areas, such as China, is showing us new means of exposure via soils, as in the case of contact from a rice diet grown in polluted areas.
To accomplish a clear indication of how soil contamination disturbs our health necessitates interdisciplinary teams, and good communication between scientists from different fields. In addition to the scientific tests, fostering positive interdisciplinary cooperation is also vital if we are to fill the lacunae in our understanding of how the state of the soil effects human health.
