Pollution

Various definitions of pollution exist, which may or may not recognize certain types, such as noise pollution or greenhouse gases. The United States Environmental Protection Administration defines pollution as "Any substances in water, soil, or air that degrade the natural quality of the environment, offend the senses of sight, taste, or smell, or cause a health hazard. The usefulness of the natural resource is usually impaired by the presence of pollutants and contaminants."{{Cite web |title=Vocabulary Catalog |url=https://sor.epa.gov/sor_internet/registry/termreg/searchandretrieve/glossariesandkeywordlists/search.do;jsessionid=uJCB5Gu4w83V2Rvwe9ICdwSYPN92FIBDbphBhn8YAqz9GhWQ2_kk!918770883?details=&vocabName=Environmental%20Issues%20Glossary&filterTerm=pollution&checkedAcronym=false&checkedTerm=false&hasDefinitions=false&filterTerm=pollution&filterMatchCriteria=Contains |access-date=1 May 2022 |website=US EPA: System of Registries |language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816015617/https://sor.epa.gov/sor_internet/registry/termreg/searchandretrieve/glossariesandkeywordlists/search.do;jsessionid=uJCB5Gu4w83V2Rvwe9ICdwSYPN92FIBDbphBhn8YAqz9GhWQ2_kk!918770883?details=&vocabName=Environmental%20Issues%20Glossary&filterTerm=pollution&checkedAcronym=false&checkedTerm=false&hasDefinitions=false&filterTerm=pollution&filterMatchCriteria=Contains |archive-date=16 August 2022 }} In contrast, the United Nations considers pollution to be the "presence of substances and heat in environmental media (air, water, land) whose nature, location, or quantity produces undesirable environmental effects."{{Cite web |title=pollution |work= glossary |url=http://data.un.org/Glossary.aspx?q=pollution#:~:text=UNdata%20source:%20Environment%20Glossary%20%7C%20United,activity%20that%20generates%20pollutants. |access-date=1 May 2022 |publisher=UNdata }}File:Smog in the centre of Moscow, 06.08.2010.JPG in the center of Moscow, Russia in August 2010]]

The major forms of pollution are listed below along with the particular contaminants relevant to each of them:

• Air pollution: the release of chemicals and particulates into the atmosphere. Common gaseous pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrogen oxides produced by industry and motor vehicles. Photochemical ozone and smog are created as nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons react to sunlight. Particulate matter, or fine dust is characterized by their micrometre size PM₁₀ to PM_2.5.
• Electromagnetic pollution: the overabundance of electromagnetic radiation in their non-ionizing form, such as radio and television transmissions, Wi-fi etc. Although there is no demonstrable effect on humans there can be interference with radio-astronomy and effects on safety systems of aircraft and cars.
• Light pollution: includes light trespass, over-illumination and astronomical interference.
• Littering: the criminal throwing of inappropriate man-made objects, unremoved, onto public and private properties.
• Noise pollution: which encompasses roadway noise, aircraft noise, industrial noise as well as high-intensity sonar.
• Plastic pollution: involves the accumulation of plastic products and microplastics in the environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, or humans.
• Soil contamination occurs when chemicals are released by spill or underground leakage. Among the most significant soil contaminants are hydrocarbons, heavy metals, MTBE,{{cite web |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805125815/http://www.epa.gov:80/mtbe/water.htm |archive-date=5 August 2015 |url=http://www.epa.gov/mtbe/water.htm#concerns |work=Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether |title=Drinking Water |at=Concerns about MTBE |publisher=U.S. EPA}} herbicides, pesticides and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
• Radioactive contamination, resulting from 20th century activities in atomic physics, such as nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons research, manufacture and deployment. (See alpha emitters and actinides in the environment.)
• Thermal pollution, is a temperature change in natural water bodies caused by human influence, such as use of water as coolant in a power plant.
• Visual pollution, which can refer to the presence of overhead power lines, motorway billboards, scarred landforms (as from strip mining), open storage of trash, municipal solid waste or space debris.
• {{Anchor|Water pollution}}Water pollution, caused by the discharge of industrial wastewater from commercial and industrial waste (intentionally or through spills) into surface waters; discharges of untreated sewage and chemical contaminants, such as chlorine, from treated sewage; and releases of waste and contaminants into surface runoff flowing to surface waters (including urban runoff and agricultural runoff, which may contain chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as human feces from open defecation).{{Cite journal |last=Aboyeji |first=Oyebanji Oluseun |date=1 December 2013 |title=Freshwater Pollution in Some Nigerian Local Communities, Causes, Consequences and Probable Solutions |url=https://www.richtmann.org/journal/index.php/ajis/article/view/2307 |journal=Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies |doi=10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n13p111|doi-access=free }}{{Citation |last1=Englande |first1=A.J. |title=Wastewater Treatment &Water Reclamation☆ |date=2015 |journal=Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences |pages=B978-0-12-409548-9.09508-7 |publisher=Elsevier |language=en |doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-409548-9.09508-7 |isbn=978-0-12-409548-9 |pmc=7158167 |last2=Krenkel |first2=Peter |last3=Shamas |first3=J.}}{{Citation |last1=Ahmed |first1=Jebin |title=CHAPTER 1. Industrial Wastewater and Its Toxic Effects |date=2021 |work=Chemistry in the Environment |pages=1–14 |editor-last=Shah |editor-first=Maulin P |place=Cambridge |publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry |doi=10.1039/9781839165399-00001 |isbn=978-1-83916-279-4 |last2=Thakur |first2=Abhijeet |last3=Goyal |first3=Arun|doi-access=free }}

File:Ship Tracks Reveal Pollution's Effects on Clouds.ogv

One of the most significant natural sources of pollution are volcanoes, which during eruptions release large quantities of harmful gases into the atmosphere. Volcanic gases include carbon dioxide, which can be fatal in large concentrations and contributes to climate change, hydrogen halides which can cause acid rain, sulfur dioxides, which are harmful to animals and damage the ozone layer, and hydrogen sulfides, which are capable of killing humans at concentrations of less than 1 part per thousand.{{Cite web |title=Volcanic gases can be harmful to health, vegetation and infrastructure |url=https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanic-gases-can-be-harmful-health-vegetation-and-infrastructure |access-date=7 May 2022 |website=United States Geologic Survey}} Volcanic emissions also include fine and ultrafine particles which may contain toxic chemicals and substances such as arsenic, lead, and mercury.{{Cite journal |last1=Trejos |first1=Erika M. |last2=Silva |first2=Luis F. O. |last3=Hower |first3=James C. |last4=Flores |first4=Eriko M. M. |last5=González |first5=Carlos Mario |last6=Pachón |first6=Jorge E. |last7=Aristizábal |first7=Beatriz H. |date=1 March 2021 |title=Volcanic emissions and atmospheric pollution: A study of nanoparticles |journal=Geoscience Frontiers |language=en |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=746–755 |doi=10.1016/j.gsf.2020.08.013 |bibcode=2021GeoFr..12..746T |s2cid=224936937 |issn=1674-9871|doi-access=free |hdl=11323/7574 |hdl-access=free }}

Wildfires, which can be caused naturally by lightning strikes, are also a significant source of air pollution. Wildfire smoke contains significant quantities of both carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, which can cause suffocation. Large quantities of fine particulates are found within wildfire smoke as well, which pose a health risk to animals.{{Cite web |title=Wildfires |url=https://www.who.int/health-topics/wildfires |access-date=8 May 2022 |website=World Health Organization}}

File:2021 Death rates, by energy source.svg use (areas of rectangles in chart) greatly exceed those resulting from production of renewable energy (rectangles barely visible in chart).{{cite web |last1=Ritchie |first1=Hannah |author1-link=Hannah Ritchie |last2=Roser |first2=Max |author2-link=Max Roser |title=What are the safest and cleanest sources of energy? |url=https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy |publisher=Our World in Data |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115112316/https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy |archive-date=15 January 2024 |date=2021 |url-status=live }} Data sources: Markandya & Wilkinson (2007); UNSCEAR (2008; 2018); Sovacool et al. (2016); IPCC AR5 (2014); Pehl et al. (2017); Ember Energy (2021).]]

Motor vehicle emissions are one of the leading causes of air pollution.[http://www.tc.gc.ca/programs/environment/ems/epr2001/awareness.htm Environmental Performance Report 2001] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112065500/http://www.tc.gc.ca/programs/environment/ems/epr2001/awareness.htm |date=12 November 2007 }} (Transport, Canada website page)[http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/drs/atmosphere/issue/188/index.html State of the Environment, Issue: Air Quality] (Australian Government website page){{cite web|url=http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/pollution.htm|title=Pollution|date=11 April 2007|access-date=1 December 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070411002000/http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/society/pollution.htm|archive-date=11 April 2007}} China, United States, Russia, India,{{cite web|url=http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/tre_tp20.html|title=Top 20 Emitting Countries by Total Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions for 2009|first=Oak Ridge National|last=Laboratory|website=Cdiac.ornl.gov|access-date=1 December 2017|archive-date=11 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511124547/http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/tre_tp20.html|url-status=dead}} Mexico, and Japan are the world leaders in air pollution emissions. Principal stationary pollution sources include chemical plants, coal-fired power plants, oil refineries, petrochemical plants, nuclear waste disposal activity, incinerators, large livestock farms (dairy cows, pigs, poultry, etc.), PVC factories, metals production factories, plastics factories, and other heavy industry. Agricultural air pollution comes from contemporary practices which include clear felling and burning of natural vegetation as well as spraying of pesticides and herbicides.Silent Spring, R Carlson, 1962

About 400 million metric tons of hazardous wastes are generated each year."[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570933_2/Pollution.html Pollution] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021014815/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570933_2/Pollution.html |date=2009-10-21 }}". Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2009. The United States alone produces about 250 million metric tons.{{cite web|title=Solid Waste – The Ultimate Guide|url=http://www.ppsthane.com/blog/solid-hazardous-waste-ultimate-guide|website=Ppsthane.com|access-date=1 December 2017}} Americans constitute less than 5% of the world's population, but produce roughly 25% of the world's {{CO2}},"[http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008a/080407GurneyVulcan.html Revolutionary {{CO2}} maps zoom in on greenhouse gas sources] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501115653/http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008a/080407GurneyVulcan.html |date=2020-05-01 }}". Purdue University. 7 April 2008. and generate approximately 30% of world's waste.{{cite web |url=http://www.oregon.gov/DAS/FAC/docs/ww092001.pdf |title=Waste Watcher |access-date=26 August 2010 |archive-date=10 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510211714/https://www.oregon.gov/DAS/FAC/docs/ww092001.pdf |url-status=dead }}[http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/08/31/alarm_sounds_on_us_population_boom/ Alarm sounds on US population boom]. 31 August 2006. The Boston Globe. In 2007, China overtook the United States as the world's biggest producer of {{CO2}},"[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/jun/19/china.usnews China overtakes US as world's biggest {{CO2}} emitter]". Guardian.co.uk. 19 June 2007. while still far behind based on per capita pollution (ranked 78th among the world's nations)."[http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/top2008.cap Ranking of the world's countries by 2008 per capita fossil-fuel CO2 emission rates.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927213509/http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/top2008.cap |date=2011-09-27 }}". CDIAC. 2008.

File:Yangzhou - industrial area west of Wenfeng Temple - P1130239.JPG's downtown, China]]

Chlorinated hydrocarbons (CFH), heavy metals (such as chromium, cadmium – found in rechargeable batteries, and lead – found in lead paint, aviation fuel, and even in certain countries, gasoline), MTBE, zinc, arsenic, and benzene are some of the most frequent soil contaminants. A series of press reports published in 2001, culminating in the publication of the book Fateful Harvest, revealed a widespread practise of recycling industrial leftovers into fertilizer, resulting in metal poisoning of the soil.{{Cite web |title=Environmental Pollution {{!}} Chemistry Science Fair Project |url=https://www.seminarsonly.com/Engineering-Projects/Chemistry/Environmental-Pollution.php |access-date=7 June 2022 |website=www.seminarsonly.com}} Ordinary municipal landfills are the source of many chemical substances entering the soil environment (and often groundwater), emanating from the wide variety of refuse accepted, especially substances illegally discarded there, or from pre-1970 landfills that may have been subject to little control in the U.S. or EU. There have also been some unusual releases of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins, commonly called dioxins for simplicity, such as TCDD.{{cite journal|author=Beychok, Milton R. |date=January 1987 |title=A data base for dioxin and furan emissions from refuse incinerators |journal=Atmospheric Environment |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=29–36 |doi=10.1016/0004-6981(87)90267-8 |bibcode=1987AtmEn..21...29B}}

Pollution can also occur as a result of natural disasters. Hurricanes, for example, frequently result in sewage contamination and petrochemical spills from burst boats or automobiles. When coastal oil rigs or refineries are involved, larger-scale and environmental damage is not unusual. When accidents occur, some pollution sources, such as nuclear power stations or oil ships, can create extensive and potentially catastrophic emissions.{{Cite web |title=Environmental disasters |url=https://www.lenntech.com/environmental-disasters.htm |access-date=7 June 2022 |website=www.lenntech.com}}

Plastic pollution is choking our oceans by making plastic gyres, entangling marine animals, poisoning our food and water supply, and ultimately inflicting havoc on the health and well-being of humans and wildlife globally. With the exception of a small amount that has been incinerating, virtually every piece of plastic that was ever made in the past still exists in one form or another. And since most of the plastics do not biodegrade in any meaningful sense, all that plastic waste could exist for hundreds or even thousands of years. If plastic production is not circumscribed, plastic pollution will be disastrous and will eventually outweigh fish in oceans.{{Cite journal |last1=Hassan |first1=Sidra |last2=Haq |first2=Ihsan ul |date=27 June 2019 |title=Pervasive Pollution Problems Caused by Plastics and its Degradation |url=https://online-journals.org/index.php/i-joe/article/view/10873 |journal=International Journal of Online and Biomedical Engineering |language=en |volume=15 |issue=10 |pages=29–39 |doi=10.3991/ijoe.v15i10.10873 |s2cid=198582480 |issn=2626-8493|doi-access=free }}

[[File:CO2-by-country--1990-2025.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Historical and projected CO₂ emissions by country (as of 2005).

Source: Energy Information Administration.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080423003259/http://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/oiaf/1605/cdrom/pdf/ggrpt/057304.pdf World Carbon Dioxide Emissions] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080326004201/http://ftp@ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/oiaf/1605/cdrom/pdf/ggrpt/057304.pdf|date=26 March 2008}} (Table 1, Report DOE/EIA-0573, 2004, Energy Information Administration)[http://rainforests.mongabay.com/09-carbon_emissions.htm Carbon dioxide emissions chart] (graph on Mongabay website page based on Energy Information Administration's tabulated data)]]

Raised levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are affecting the Earth's climate. Disruption of the environment can also highlight the connection between areas of pollution that would normally be classified separately, such as those of water and air. Recent studies have investigated the potential for long-term rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide to cause slight but critical increases in the acidity of ocean waters, and the possible effects of this on marine ecosystems.

In February 2007, a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), representing the work of 2,500 scientists, economists, and policymakers from more than 120 countries, confirmed that humans have been the primary cause of global warming since 1950. Humans have ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the consequences of global warming, a major climate report concluded. But to change the climate, the transition from fossil fuels like coal and oil needs to occur within decades, according to the final report this year from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).{{cite web|title=Global Warming Can Be Stopped, World Climate Experts Say|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070504-global-warming.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509013424/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070504-global-warming.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 May 2007|access-date=26 August 2010|publisher=News.nationalgeographic.com}}

{{further|Soil pollution#Health effects|Toxic hotspots|List of pollution-related diseases|Air pollution#Health effects}}

File:Health effects of pollution.png

Pollution affects humans in every part of the world. An October 2017 study by the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health found that global pollution, specifically toxic air, water, soil and workplaces, kills nine million people annually, which is triple the number of deaths caused by AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and 15 times higher than deaths caused by wars and other forms of human violence.{{cite news |last=Stanglin |first=Doug |date=20 October 2017 |title=Global pollution is the world's biggest killer and a threat to survival of mankind, study finds |work=USA Today |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/10/20/study-global-pollution-worlds-biggest-killer-and-threat-survival-mankind/783321001/ |access-date=20 October 2017}} The study concluded that "pollution is one of the great existential challenges of the Anthropocene era. Pollution endangers the stability of the Earth's support systems and threatens the continuing survival of human societies."

Adverse air quality can kill many organisms, including humans. Ozone pollution can cause respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, throat inflammation, chest pain, and congestion. A 2010 analysis estimated that 1.2 million people died prematurely each year in China alone because of air pollution.{{cite web |last=Wong |first=Edward |date=1 April 2013 |title=Air Pollution Linked to 1.2 Million Deaths in China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/world/asia/air-pollution-linked-to-1-2-million-deaths-in-china.html |access-date=1 December 2017 |website=The New York Times}} China's high smog levels can damage the human body and cause various diseases.{{Cite journal |last1=Maji |first1=Kamal Jyoti |last2=Arora |first2=Mohit |last3=Dikshit |first3=Anil Kumar |date=1 April 2017 |title=Burden of disease attributed to ambient PM2.5 and PM10 exposure in 190 cities in China |journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research |language=en |volume=24 |issue=12 |pages=11559–11572 |doi=10.1007/s11356-017-8575-7 |issn=0944-1344 |pmid=28321701 |bibcode=2017ESPR...2411559M |s2cid=37640939}} In 2019, air pollution caused 1.67 million deaths in India (17.8% of total deaths nationally).{{Cite journal |last1=Pandey |first1=Anamika |last2=Brauer |first2=Michael |last3=Cropper |first3=Maureen L |last4=Balakrishnan |first4=Kalpana |author-link4=Kalpana Balakrishnan |last5=Mathur |first5=Prashant |last6=Dey |first6=Sagnik |last7=Turkgulu |first7=Burak |last8=Kumar |first8=G Anil |last9=Khare |first9=Mukesh |last10=Beig |first10=Gufran |last11=Gupta |first11=Tarun |last12=Krishnankutty |first12=Rinu P |last13=Causey |first13=Kate |last14=Cohen |first14=Aaron J |last15=Bhargava |first15=Stuti |date=21 December 2020 |title=Health and economic impact of air pollution in the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30298-9 |journal=The Lancet Planetary Health |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=e25–e38 |doi=10.1016/s2542-5196(20)30298-9 |issn=2542-5196 |pmc=7805008 |pmid=33357500}} Studies have estimated that the number of people killed annually in the United States could be over 50,000.{{cite web |author1=David |author2=Michael |author3=Caroline, Mindy |author4=Neil Franklin |author5=Vikas |title=Air Pollution – Effects |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution_-_effects.html |access-date=26 August 2010 |publisher=Library.thinkquest.org |archive-date=30 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430113828/http://library.thinkquest.org/26026/Environmental_Problems/air_pollution_-_effects.html |url-status=dead }} A study published in 2022 in GeoHealth concluded that energy-related fossil fuel emissions in the United States cause 46,900–59,400 premature deaths each year and PM2.5-related illness and death costs the nation $537–$678 billion annually.{{cite journal |last1=Mailloux |first1=Nicholas A. |last2=Abel |first2=David W. |last3=Holloway |first3=Tracey |last4=Patz |first4=Jonathan A. |date=16 May 2022 |title=Nationwide and Regional PM2.5-Related Air Quality Health Benefits From the Removal of Energy-Related Emissions in the United States |journal=GeoHealth |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=e2022GH000603 |doi=10.1029/2022GH000603 |pmc=9109601 |pmid=35599962|bibcode=2022GHeal...6..603M }} In the US, deaths caused by coal pollution were highest in 1999, but decreased sharply after 2007. The number dropped by about 95% by 2020, as coal plants have been closed or have scrubbers installed.{{cite web | title=Particulate pollution from coal associated with double the risk of mortality than PM2.5 from other sources | website=News | date=23 Nov 2023 | url=https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/particulate-pollution-from-coal-associated-with-double-the-risk-of-mortality-than-pm2-5-from-other-sources/ | access-date=10 Apr 2024}}

In 2019, water pollution caused 1.4 million premature deaths.{{Cite journal |last1=Fuller |first1=Richard |last2=Landrigan |first2=Philip J |last3=Balakrishnan |first3=Kalpana |author-link3=Kalpana Balakrishnan |last4=Bathan |first4=Glynda |last5=Bose-O'Reilly |first5=Stephan |last6=Brauer |first6=Michael |last7=Caravanos |first7=Jack |last8=Chiles |first8=Tom |last9=Cohen |first9=Aaron |last10=Corra |first10=Lilian |last11=Cropper |first11=Maureen |last12=Ferraro |first12=Greg |last13=Hanna |first13=Jill |last14=Hanrahan |first14=David |last15=Hu |first15=Howard |date=June 2022 |title=Pollution and health: a progress update |journal=The Lancet Planetary Health |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=e535–e547 |doi=10.1016/s2542-5196(22)00090-0 |issn=2542-5196 |pmid=35594895 |doi-access=free}} Contamination of drinking water by untreated sewage in developing countries is an issue, for example, over 732 million Indians (56% of the population) and over 92 million Ethiopians (92.9% of the population) do not have access to basic sanitation.{{Cite journal |website=WaterAid |date=November 2017 |title=Out of Order – The State of the World's Toilets 2017 |url=https://www.wateraid.org/uk/sites/g/files/jkxoof211/files/Out%20of%20Order%20report%202017_0.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231207115250/https://www.wateraid.org/uk/sites/g/files/jkxoof211/files/Out%20of%20Order%20report%202017_0.pdf |archive-date= Dec 7, 2023 }} In 2013 over 10 million people in India fell ill with waterborne illnesses in 2013, and 1,535 people died, most of them children.{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Over-1500-lives-lost-to-diarrhoea-in-2013-delay-in-treatment-blamed/articleshow/39186504.cms|title=Over 1,500 lives lost to diarrhoea in 2013, delay in treatment blamed|website=The Times of India|last=Isalkar|first=Umesh|date=29 July 2014|publisher=Indiatimes|access-date=29 July 2014}} {{As of|2007}}, nearly 500 million Chinese lack access to safe drinking water."[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes]". The New York Times. 26 August 2007.

Acute exposure to certain pollutants can have short and long term effects. Oil spills can cause skin irritations and rashes. Noise pollution induces hearing loss, high blood pressure, stress, and sleep disturbance. Mercury has been linked to developmental deficits in children and neurologic symptoms. Older people are significantly exposed to diseases induced by air pollution. Those with heart or lung disorders are at additional risk. Children and infants are also at serious risk. Lead and other heavy metals have been shown to cause neurological problems, intellectual disabilities and behavioural problems.{{Cite web |last=World Health Organisation |date=31 August 2022 |title=Lead poisoning |url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health |access-date=5 July 2023 |website=www.who.int |language=en}} Chemical and radioactive substances can cause cancer and birth defects.

The health impacts of pollution have both direct and lasting social consequences. A 2021 study found that exposure to pollution causes an increase in violent crime.{{Cite journal |last1=Herrnstadt |first1=Evan |last2=Heyes |first2=Anthony |last3=Muehlegger |first3=Erich |last4=Saberian |first4=Soodeh |date=2021 |title=Air Pollution and Criminal Activity: Microgeographic Evidence from Chicago |url=https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20190091 |journal=American Economic Journal: Applied Economics |language=en |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=70–100 |doi=10.1257/app.20190091 |issn=1945-7782 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10871/122348 |s2cid=226513602}} A 2019 paper linked pollution to adverse school outcomes for children.{{Cite journal |last1=Heissel |first1=Jennifer |last2=Persico |first2=Claudia |last3=Simon |first3=David |date=2019 |title=Does Pollution Drive Achievement? The Effect of Traffic Pollution on Academic Performance |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w25489 |doi=10.3386/w25489 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10945/61763 |s2cid=135425218 |website=National Bureau of Economic Research|series=Working Paper Series }} A number of studies show that pollution has an adverse effect on the productivity of both indoor and outdoor workers.{{Cite journal |last1=Zivin |first1=Joshua Graff |last2=Neidell |first2=Matthew |date=1 December 2012 |title=The Impact of Pollution on Worker Productivity |journal=American Economic Review |volume=102 |issue=7 |pages=3652–3673 |doi=10.1257/aer.102.7.3652 |issn=0002-8282 |pmc=4576916 |pmid=26401055}}{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Teng |last2=Liu |first2=Haoming |last3=Salvo |first3=Alberto |date=29 May 2015 |title=Severe Air Pollution and Labor Productivity |location=Rochester, NY |publisher=Social Science Research Network |ssrn=2581311}}{{Cite journal |last1=Neidell |first1=Matthew |last2=Gross |first2=Tal |last3=Graff Zivin |first3=Joshua |last4=Chang |first4=Tom Y. |date=2019 |title=The Effect of Pollution on Worker Productivity: Evidence from Call Center Workers in China |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w22328.pdf |journal=American Economic Journal: Applied Economics |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=151–172 |doi=10.1257/app.20160436 |issn=1945-7782 |doi-access=free |s2cid=3329058}}{{Cite journal |last1=Salvo |first1=Alberto |last2=Liu |first2=Haoming |last3=He |first3=Jiaxiu |date=2019 |title=Severe Air Pollution and Labor Productivity: Evidence from Industrial Towns in China |url=https://econpapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8916 |journal=American Economic Journal: Applied Economics |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=173–201 |doi=10.1257/app.20170286 |issn=1945-7782 |s2cid=41838178}}

File:Pacific-garbage-patch-map 2010 noaamdp.jpg ]]

Pollution has been found to be present widely in the natural environment. A 2022 study published in Environmental Science & Technology found that levels of anthropogenic chemical pollution have exceeded planetary boundaries and now threaten entire ecosystems around the world.{{cite journal |last1=Persson |first1=Linn |display-authors=etal. |date=2022 |title=Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities |journal=Environmental Science & Technology |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=1510–1521 |bibcode=2022EnST...56.1510P |doi=10.1021/acs.est.1c04158 |pmc=8811958 |pmid=35038861}}{{cite news |last=Carrington |first=Damian |date=18 January 2022 |title=Chemical pollution has passed safe limit for humanity, say scientists |work=The Guardian |location= |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/18/chemical-pollution-has-passed-safe-limit-for-humanity-say-scientists |access-date=18 January 2022}}

There are a number of effects of this:

• Biomagnification describes situations where toxins (such as heavy metals) may pass through trophic levels, becoming exponentially more concentrated in the process.File:CO2 emission pie chart.svg by jurisdiction (as of 2015)]]
• Carbon dioxide emissions cause ocean acidification, the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans as {{co2}} becomes dissolved.
• The emission of greenhouse gases leads to global warming which affects ecosystems in many ways.
• Invasive species can outcompete native species and reduce biodiversity. Invasive plants can contribute debris and biomolecules (allelopathy) that can alter soil and chemical compositions of an environment, often reducing native species competitiveness.
• Nitrogen oxides are removed from the air by rain and fertilise land which can change the species composition of ecosystems.
• Smog and haze can reduce the amount of sunlight received by plants to carry out photosynthesis and leads to the production of tropospheric ozone which damages plants.
• Soil can become infertile and unsuitable for plants. This will affect other organisms in the food web.
• Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can cause acid rain which lowers the pH value of soil.
• Organic pollution of watercourses can deplete oxygen levels and reduce species diversity.

{{excerpt|Regulation and monitoring of pollution}}

File:Litter trap.jpg, east-central Victoria, Australia.]]

File:Thermal-oxidizer-rto.jpg, decomposes hazard gases from industrial air streams at a factory in the United States.]]

File:Dust collector kosovo.jpg in Pristina, Kosovo]]Pollution control is a term used in environmental management. It refers to the control of emissions and effluents into air, water or soil. Without pollution control, the waste products from overconsumption, heating, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation and other human activities, whether they accumulate or disperse, will degrade the environment. In the hierarchy of controls, pollution prevention and waste minimization are more desirable than pollution control. In the field of land development, low impact development is a similar technique for the prevention of urban runoff.

Policy, law and monitoring/transparency/life-cycle assessment-attached economics could be developed and enforced to control pollution.{{cite book | author1 = Ni-Bin Chang | author2 = Ana Pires | date = 18 February 2015 | title = Sustainable Solid Waste Management: A Systems Engineering Approach | publisher = John Wiley & Sons | page = 209 | isbn = 978-1-118-96453-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vli-BgAAQBAJ}} A review concluded that there is a lack of attention and action such as work on a globally supported "formal science–policy interface", e.g. to "inform intervention, influence research, and guide funding".

In September 2023 a Global Framework on Chemicals aiming to reduce pollution was agreed during an international conference in Bonn, Germany. The framework includes 28 targets, for example, to "end the use of hazardous pesticides in agriculture where the risks have not been managed" by 2035.{{cite web |title=New UN framework to protect environment from harmful chemicals |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/09/1141717 |website=United Nations |date=30 September 2023 |access-date=12 October 2023}}

• Recycling
• Reusing
• Waste minimisation
• Mitigating
• Pollution prevention
• Compost

• Air pollution control
• Green wall
• Smog Tower
• Thermal oxidizer
• Bioremediation
• Dust collection systems
• Baghouses
• Cyclones
• Electrostatic precipitators
• Scrubbers
• Baffle spray scrubber
• Cyclonic spray scrubber
• Ejector venturi scrubber
• Mechanically aided scrubber
• Spray tower
• Wet scrubber
• Sewage treatment
• Sedimentation (Primary treatment)
• Activated sludge biotreaters (Secondary treatment; also used for industrial wastewater)
• Aerated lagoons
• Constructed wetlands (also used for urban runoff)
• Industrial wastewater treatment
• API oil-water separators{{cite book|author=Beychok, Milton R.|title=Aqueous Wastes from Petroleum and Petrochemical Plants|edition= 1st|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=1967|lccn=67019834|isbn=978-0-471-07189-1|title-link=Aqueous Wastes from Petroleum and Petrochemical Plants}}{{cite book|author=American Petroleum Institute (API)|title=Management of Water Discharges: Design and Operations of Oil–Water Separators|edition= 1st|publisher=American Petroleum Institute|date=February 1990|author-link=American Petroleum Institute}}
• Biofilters
• Dissolved air flotation (DAF)
• Powdered activated carbon treatment
• Ultrafiltration
• Vapor recovery systems
• Phytoremediation

Pollution has a cost.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/01/29/the-staggering-economic-cost-of-air-pollution/ The staggering economic cost of air pollution] By Chelsea Harvey, Washington Post, 29 January 2016[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081112124418.htm Freshwater Pollution Costs US At Least $4.3 Billion A Year], Science Daily, 17 November 2008[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/30/the-human-cost-of-chinas-untold-soil-pollution-problem The human cost of China's untold soil pollution problem], The Guardian, Monday 30 June 2014 11.53 EDT Manufacturing activities that cause air pollution impose health and clean-up costs on the whole of society. A manufacturing activity that causes air pollution is an example of a negative externality in production. A negative externality in production occurs "when a firm's production reduces the well-being of others who are not compensated by the firm."{{Cite book|last=Jonathan.|first=Gruber|title=Public finance and public policy|date=2013|publisher=Worth Publishers|isbn=978-1-4292-7845-4|edition=4th|location=New York|oclc=819816787}} For example, if a laundry firm exists near a polluting steel manufacturing firm, there will be increased costs for the laundry firm because of the dirt and smoke produced by the steel manufacturing firm.{{Cite book |author=Kolstad, Charles D. |title=Environmental economics|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-973264-7|edition=2nd|location=New York|oclc=495996799}} If external costs exist, such as those created by pollution, the manufacturer will choose to produce more of the product than would be produced if the manufacturer were required to pay all associated environmental costs. Because responsibility or consequence for self-directed action lies partly outside the self, an element of externalization is involved. If there are external benefits, such as in public safety, less of the good may be produced than would be the case if the producer were to receive payment for the external benefits to others. Goods and services that involve negative externalities in production, such as those that produce pollution, tend to be overproduced and underpriced since the externality is not being priced into the market.

Pollution can also create costs for the firms producing the pollution. Sometimes firms choose, or are forced by regulation, to reduce the amount of pollution that they are producing. The associated costs of doing this are called abatement costs, or marginal abatement costs if measured by each additional unit.{{cite web|title=Abatement and Marginal Abatement Cost (MAC)|url=http://www.econport.org/content/handbook/Environmental/pollution-control-revised/Abatement-MAC.html|access-date=7 March 2018|website=www.econport.org|language=en}} In 2005 pollution abatement capital expenditures and operating costs in the US amounted to nearly $27 billion.{{cite web |title=Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures: 2005 Survey |url=https://www.epa.gov/environmental-economics/pollution-abatement-costs-and-expenditures-2005-survey|access-date=7 March 2018|website=US EPA|date=31 March 2016|language=en}}

The Pure Earth, an international non-for-profit organization dedicated to eliminating life-threatening pollution in the developing world, issues an annual list of some of the world's most polluting industries. Below is the list for 2016:{{cite web|title= 2016 World's Worst Pollution Problems|url=http://www.worstpolluted.org/docs/WorldsWorst2016.pdf |publisher=Pure Earth, Green Cross Switzerland |website=WorstPolluted.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223181158/http://www.worstpolluted.org/docs/WorldsWorst2016.pdf |archive-date= 23 February 2024 }}{{Update inline|date=April 2025}}

• Lead–acid battery recycling
• Mining and extractive metallurgy
• Lead smelting
• Tanning
• Artisanal mining
• Landfills
• Industrial parks
• Chemical industry
• Manufacturing
• Dyeing

A 2018 report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and GRAIN says that the meat and dairy industries are poised to surpass the oil industry as the world's worst polluters.{{cite news|last=Gabbatiss|first=Josh|date=18 July 2018|title=Meat and dairy companies to surpass oil industry as world's biggest polluters, report finds|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/meat-dairy-industry-greenhouse-gas-emissions-fossil-fuels-oil-pollution-iatp-grain-a8451871.html|access-date=29 June 2019}}

{{Excerpt|Chemical waste|Textile industry}}

Outdoor air pollution attributable to fossil fuel use alone causes ~3.61 million deaths annually, making it one of the top contributors to human death, beyond being a major driver of climate change whereby greenhouse gases are considered per se as a form of pollution {{see above|above}}.{{Cite journal|title=Effects of fossil fuel and total anthropogenic emission removal on public health and climate|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=116 |issue=15 |pages=7192–7197 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1819989116 |last1=Lelieveld |first1=J. |last2=Klingmüller |first2=K. |last3=Pozzer |first3=A. |last4=Burnett |first4=R. T. |last5=Haines |first5=A. |last6=Ramanathan |first6=V. |s2cid=85515425|pmc=6462052 |pmid= 30910976 |date= 25 March 2019 |bibcode=2019PNAS..116.7192L|doi-access=free}}

{{See also|Right to a healthy environment}}

Society derives some indirect utility from pollution; otherwise, there would be no incentive to pollute. This utility may come from the consumption of goods and services that inherently create pollution (albeit the level can vary) or lower prices or lower required efforts (or inconvenience) to abandon or substitute these goods and services. Therefore, it is important that policymakers attempt to balance these indirect benefits with the costs of pollution in order to achieve an efficient outcome.{{cite journal|title=18.1 Maximizing the Net Benefits of Pollution {{!}} Principles of Economics|url=https://open.lib.umn.edu/principleseconomics/chapter/18-1-maximizing-the-net-benefits-of-pollution/|access-date=7 March 2018|website=open.lib.umn.edu|date=17 June 2016|language=en-US}}{{additional citation needed|date=July 2022}}

File:Pollution- A Negative Externality in Production.png

It is possible to use environmental economics to determine which level of pollution is deemed the social optimum. For economists, pollution is an "external cost and occurs only when one or more individuals suffer a loss of welfare". There is a socially optimal level of pollution at which welfare is maximized.{{Cite book|last=William)|first=Pearce, David W. (David|title=Economics of natural resources and the environment|date=1990|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|others=Turner, R. Kerry.|isbn=978-0-8018-3987-0|location=Baltimore|oclc=20170416}} This is because consumers derive utility from the good or service manufactured, which will outweigh the social cost of pollution until a certain point. At this point the damage of one extra unit of pollution to society, the marginal cost of pollution, is exactly equal to the marginal benefit of consuming one more unit of the good or service.{{Cite book|last=R.|first=Krugman, Paul|title=Microeconomics|date=2013|publisher=Worth Publishers|others=Wells, Robin.|isbn=978-1-4292-8342-7|edition=3rd|location=New York|oclc=796082268}}

Moreover, the feasibility of pollution reduction rates could also be a factor of calculating optimal levels. While a study puts the global mean loss of life expectancy (LLE; similar to YPLL) from air pollution in 2015 at 2.9 years (substantially more than, for example, 0.3 years from all forms of direct violence), it also indicated that a significant fraction of the LLE is unavoidable in terms of current economical-technological feasibility such as aeolian dust and wildfire emission control.{{cite journal |last1=Lelieveld |first1=Jos |last2=Pozzer |first2=Andrea |last3=Pöschl |first3=Ulrich |last4=Fnais |first4=Mohammed |last5=Haines |first5=Andy |last6=Münzel |first6=Thomas |title=Loss of life expectancy from air pollution compared to other risk factors: a worldwide perspective |journal=Cardiovascular Research |date=1 September 2020 |volume=116 |issue=11 |pages=1910–1917 |doi=10.1093/cvr/cvaa025 |pmid=32123898 |pmc=7449554 |issn=0008-6363}}

In markets with pollution, or other negative externalities in production, the free market equilibrium will not account for the costs of pollution on society. If the social costs of pollution are higher than the private costs incurred by the firm, then the true supply curve will be higher. The point at which the social marginal cost and market demand intersect gives the socially optimal level of pollution. At this point, the quantity will be lower and the price will be higher in comparison to the free market equilibrium. Therefore, the free market outcome could be considered a market failure because it "does not maximize efficiency".

This model can be used as a basis to evaluate different methods of internalizing the externality, such as tariffs, a Pigouvian tax (such as a carbon tax) and cap and trade systems.

{{Further|History of environmental pollution| Legacy pollution}}

Air pollution has always accompanied civilizations. Pollution started from prehistoric times, when humans created the first fires. According to a 1983 article in the journal Science, "soot" found on ceilings of prehistoric caves provides ample evidence of the high levels of pollution that was associated with inadequate ventilation of open fires."{{cite journal|last1=Spengler|first1=John D.|last2=Sexton|first2=K. A.|year=1983|title=Indoor Air Pollution: A Public Health Perspective|journal=Science|volume=221|issue=4605|pages=9–17 [p. 9]|bibcode=1983Sci...221....9S|doi=10.1126/science.6857273|pmid=6857273}}

Metal forging appears to be a key turning point in the creation of significant air pollution levels outside the home. Core samples of glaciers in Greenland indicate increases in pollution associated with Greek, Roman, and Chinese metal production.{{cite journal|last=Hong|first=Sungmin|display-authors=etal|year=1996|title=History of Ancient Copper Smelting Pollution During Roman and Medieval Times Recorded in Greenland Ice|journal=Science|volume=272|issue=5259|pages=246–249 [p. 248]|bibcode=1996Sci...272..246H|doi=10.1126/science.272.5259.246|s2cid=176767223}}File:DARK CLOUDS OF FACTORY SMOKE OBSCURE CLARK AVENUE BRIDGE - NARA - 550179.jpg

The burning of coal and wood, and the presence of many horses in concentrated areas made the cities the primary sources of pollution. King Edward I of England banned the burning of mineral coal by proclamation in London in 1306, after its smoke became a problem;{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Sarah Anne |title=The first environmental law was passed in 1306. |url=https://historyfacts.com/world-history/fact/the-first-environmental-law-was-passed-in-1306/ |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=History Facts |language=en-US}} the fuel was named sea-coal at the time, getting its name from the fact that it was delivered form overseas (as opposed to charcoal, which was referred to as "coal").

The Industrial Revolution gave birth to environmental pollution as we know it today. London also recorded one of the earliest extreme cases of water quality problems with the Great Stink on the Thames of 1858, which led to the construction of the London sewerage system soon afterward. Pollution issues escalated as population growth far exceeded the ability of neighborhoods to handle their waste problem. Reformers began to demand sewer systems and clean water.Lee Jackson, Dirty Old London: The Victorian Fight Against Filth (2014)

In 1870, the sanitary conditions in Berlin were among the worst in Europe. August Bebel recalled conditions before a modern sewer system was built in the late 1870s:

{{blockquote|Waste-water from the houses collected in the gutters running alongside the curbs and emitted a truly fearsome smell. There were no public toilets in the streets or squares. Visitors, especially women, often became desperate when nature called. In the public buildings the sanitary facilities were unbelievably primitive....As a metropolis, Berlin did not emerge from a state of barbarism into civilization until after 1870.Cited in David Clay Large, Berlin (2000) pp 17-18}}

The primitive conditions were intolerable for a world national capital, and the Imperial German government brought in its scientists, engineers, and urban planners to solve the deficiencies and forge Berlin as the world's model city. A British expert in 1906 concluded that Berlin represented "the most complete application of science, order and method of public life," adding "it is a marvel of civic administration, the most modern and most perfectly organized city that there is."{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Berlin |volume= 03 |last= Phillips |first= Walter Alison |author-link= Walter Alison Phillips| pages = 785–791; see page 786 |quote= Dr A. Shadwell (Industrial Efficiency, London, 1906) describes it as representing "the most complete application of science.... "}}

The emergence of great factories and consumption of immense quantities of coal gave rise to unprecedented air pollution, and the large volume of industrial chemical discharges added to the growing load of untreated human waste. Chicago and Cincinnati were the first two American cities to enact laws ensuring cleaner air in 1881. Pollution became a significant issue in the United States in the early twentieth century, as progressive reformers took issue with air pollution caused by coal burning, water pollution caused by bad sanitation, and street pollution caused by the three million horses who worked in American cities in 1900, generating large quantities of urine and manure. As historian Martin Melosi notes, the generation that first saw automobiles replacing horses saw cars as "miracles of cleanliness".Patrick Allitt, A Climate of Crisis: America in the Age of Environmentalism (2014) p 206 By the 1940s, automobile-caused smog was a significant issue in Los Angeles.{{cite book|author1=Jeffry M. Diefendorf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeVqitbSP_AC&pg=PA44|title=City, Country, Empire: Landscapes in Environmental History|author2=Kurkpatrick Dorsey|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8229-7277-8|pages=44–49}}

Other cities followed around the country until early in the 20th century when the short-lived Office of Air Pollution was created under the Department of the Interior. The cities of Los Angeles experienced extreme smog events and Donora, Pennsylvania, in the late 1940s, serving as another public reminder.{{cite web|last1=Fleming|first1=James R.|last2=Knorr|first2=Bethany R.|title=History of the Clean Air Act|url=http://www.ametsoc.org/sloan/cleanair/|access-date=14 February 2006|publisher=American Meteorological Society}}

Air pollution would continue to be a problem in England, especially later during the Industrial Revolution, and extending into the recent past with the Great Smog of 1952. Awareness of atmospheric pollution spread widely after World War II, with fears triggered by reports of radioactive fallout from atomic warfare and testing.Patrick Allitt, A Climate of Crisis: America in the Age of Environmentalism (2014) pp. 15–21 Then a non-nuclear event – the Great Smog of 1952 in London – killed at least 4000 people.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/9/newsid_4506000/4506390.stm 1952: London fog clears after days of chaos] (BBC News) This prompted some of the first major modern environmental legislation: the Clean Air Act of 1956.

Pollution began to draw significant public attention in the United States between the mid-1950s and early 1970s, when Congress passed the Noise Control Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.{{cite web|author=John Tarantino|title=Environmental Issues|url=http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/environmental-issues/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111153436/http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/environmental-issues/|archive-date=11 January 2012|access-date=10 December 2011|publisher=The Environmental Blog}} File:Air-pollution-taiwan.JPG]]

Severe incidents of pollution helped increase consciousness. PCB dumping in the Hudson River resulted in a ban by the EPA on consumption of its fish in 1974. National news stories in the late 1970s – especially the long-term dioxin contamination at Love Canal starting in 1947 and uncontrolled dumping in Valley of the Drums – led to the Superfund legislation of 1980.Judith A. Layzer, "Love Canal: hazardous waste and politics of fear" in Layzer, The Environmental Case (CQ Press, 2012) pp. 56–82. The pollution of industrial land gave rise to the name brownfield, a term now common in city planning.

The development of nuclear science introduced radioactive contamination, which can remain lethally radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. Lake Karachay – named by the Worldwatch Institute as the "most polluted spot" on earth – served as a disposal site for the Soviet Union throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Chelyabinsk, Russia, is considered the "Most polluted place on the planet".Lenssen, "Nuclear Waste: The Problem that Won't Go Away", Worldwatch Institute, Washington, D.C., 1991: 15.

Nuclear weapons continued to be tested in the Cold War, especially in the earlier stages of their development. The toll on the worst-affected populations and the growth since then in understanding the critical threat to human health posed by radioactivity has also been a prohibitive complication associated with nuclear power. Though extreme care is practiced in that industry, the potential for disaster suggested by incidents such as those at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima pose a lingering specter of public mistrust. Worldwide publicity has been intense on those disasters.{{cite journal|last1=Friedman|first1=Sharon M.|year=2011|title=Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima: An analysis of traditional and new media coverage of nuclear accidents and radiation|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|volume=67|issue=5|pages=55–65|bibcode=2011BuAtS..67e..55F|doi=10.1177/0096340211421587|s2cid=145396822}} Widespread support for test ban treaties has ended almost all nuclear testing in the atmosphere.Jonathan Medalia, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Background and Current Developments (Diane Publishing, 2013.)

International catastrophes such as the wreck of the Amoco Cadiz oil tanker off the coast of Brittany in 1978 and the Bhopal disaster in 1984 have demonstrated the universality of such events and the scale on which efforts to address them needed to engage. The borderless nature of the atmosphere and oceans inevitably resulted in the implication of pollution on a planetary level with the issue of global warming. Most recently, the term persistent organic pollutant (POP) has come to describe a group of chemicals such as PBDEs and PFCs, among others. Though their effects remain poorly understood owing to a lack of experimental data, they have been detected in various ecological habitats far removed from industrial activity, such as the Arctic, demonstrating diffusion and bioaccumulation after only a relatively brief period of widespread use.

File:Litter.JPG on the coast of Guyana|300x300px]]

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a concentration of plastics in the North Pacific Gyre. It and other garbage patches contain debris that can transport invasive species and that can entangle and be ingested by wildlife.{{Cite web |date=21 March 2024 |title=Garbage Patches |url=https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/discover-marine-debris/garbage-patches#:~:text=So%20far%2C%20we%20know%20that,fishing%20nets%20are%20especially%20dangerous. |access-date=8 June 2024 |website=NOAA Marine Debris Program}} Organizations such as 5 Gyres and the Algalita Marine Research Foundation have researched the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and found microplastics in the water.{{Cite web |last=Hoare |first=Rose |date=22 May 2012 |title=Research ship finds the world's oceans are 'plasticized' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/05/21/world/asia/algalita-eco-solutions |access-date=8 June 2024 |website=CNN}}

Pollution introduced by light at night is becoming a global problem, more severe in urban centres, but contaminating also large territories, far away from towns.{{Cite journal|last1=Falchi|first1=Fabio|last2=Cinzano|first2=Pierantonio|last3=Duriscoe|first3=Dan|last4=Kyba|first4=Christopher C. M.|last5=Elvidge|first5=Christopher D.|last6=Baugh|first6=Kimberly|last7=Portnov|first7=Boris A.|last8=Rybnikova|first8=Nataliya A.|last9=Furgoni|first9=Riccardo|date=1 June 2016|title=The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness|journal=Science Advances|language=en|volume=2|issue=6|pages=e1600377|arxiv=1609.01041|bibcode=2016SciA....2E0377F|doi=10.1126/sciadv.1600377|issn=2375-2548|pmc=4928945|pmid=27386582}}

Growing evidence of local and global pollution and an increasingly informed public over time have given rise to environmentalism and the environmental movement, which generally seek to limit human impact on the environment.

• Biological contamination
• Brain health and pollution
• Chemical contamination
• Environmental health
• Environmental racism
• Hazardous Substances Data Bank
• Overpopulation
• Neuroplastic effects of pollution
• Pollutant release and transfer register
• Polluter pays principle
• Pollution haven hypothesis
• Regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act
• Pollution is Colonialism
• Sacrifice zone

{{Reflist}}

• [https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?rev_t=20110629084344&url=http%3A%2Fwww.oehha.ca.gov%2Fprop65%2Fprop65_list%2FNewlist.html#federation=archive.wikiwix.com OEHHA proposition 65 list]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120222011524/http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/ National Toxicology Program] – from US National Institutes of Health. Reports and studies on how pollutants affect people
• [https://www.nlm.nih.gov/toxnet/index.html TOXNET] – NIH databases and reports on toxicology
• [https://www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/Environ-Cultural/TRI%20and%20Superfund%20Environmental%20Maps%20%20TOXMAP.htm TOXMAP] – Geographic Information System (GIS) that uses maps of the United States to help users visually explore data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxics Release Inventory and Superfund Basic Research Programs
• [https://www.epa.gov/superfund EPA.gov] – manages Superfund sites and the pollutants in them (CERCLA). Map [https://web.archive.org/web/20101002082045/http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/main/index.jsp the EPA Superfund]
• [https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program Toxic Release Inventory] – tracks how much waste US companies release into the water and air. Gives permits for releasing specific quantities of these pollutants each year.
• [https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/index.html Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry] – Top 20 pollutants, how they affect people, what US industries use them and the products in which they are found
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080104003923/http://www.logtv.com/films/chelyabinsk/index.htm Chelyabinsk: The Most Contaminated Spot on the Planet] Documentary Film by Slawomir Grünberg (1996)
• [https://niemanreports.org/articles/tracking-toxics-when-the-data-are-polluted/ Nieman Reports | Tracking Toxics When the Data Are Polluted]

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Category:Environmental toxicology

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