Ozone exposure

A team of scientists says the risk of dying from respiratory problems is more than 30% greater in metropolitan areas with the highest ozone concentrations than areas where ozone levels were the lowest.

Ground-level ozone, along with particulate matter, is a major component of smog. Ozone is a naturally occurring gas most prevalent high in the atmosphere, where it protects against harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. However, ozone at ground level is produced when exhaust from cars, power plants, and other sources reacts chemically in sunlight. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, ground-level ozone can irritate breathing, decrease lung function, inflame airways, and worsen lung conditions such as asthma and emphysema.

People who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or certain other lung conditions often take their medications using devices called a metered dose inhaler (MDI) or a dry powder inhaler (DPI). If you have COPD, your doctor will prescribe the medication you need to use in an MDI or DPI.

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Plastic bag sideeffect

Every once in a while the government here passes out an order banning shop keepers from providing plastic bags to customers for carrying their purchases, with little lasting effect. Plastic bags are very popular with both retailers as well as consumers because they are cheap, strong, lightweight, functional, as well as a hygienic means of carrying food as well as other goods. Even though they are one of the modern conveniences that we seem to be unable to do without, they are responsible for causing pollution, killing wildlife, and using up the precious resources of the earth.

About a hundred billion plastic bags are used each year in the US alone. And then, when one considers the huge economies and populations of India, China, Europe, and other parts of the world, the numbers can be staggering. The problem is further exacerbated by the developed countries shipping off their plastic waste to developing countries like India.

Harmful effect of plastic bag:

Plastic bags litter the landscape. Once they are used, most plastic bags go into landfill, or rubbish tips. Each year more and more plastic bags are ending up littering the environment. Once they become litter, plastic bags find their way into our waterways, parks, beaches, and streets. And, if they are burned, they infuse the air with toxic fumes.

Plastic bags kill animals. About 100,000 animals such as dolphins, turtles whales, penguins are killed every year due to plastic bags. Many animals ingest plastic bags, mistaking them for food, and therefore die. And worse, the ingested plastic bag remains intact even after the death and decomposition of the animal. Thus, it lies around in the landscape where another victim may ingest it.

Plastic bags are non-biodegradable. And one of the worst environmental effects of plastic bags is that they are non-biodegradable. The decomposition of plastic bags takes about 1000 years.

Petroleum is required to produce plastic bags. As it is, petroleum products are diminishing and getting more expensive by the day, since we have been using this non-renewable resource increasingly. Petroleum is vital for our modern way of life. It is necessary for our energy requirements – for our factories, transport, heating, lighting, and so on. Without viable alternative sources of energy yet on the horizon, if the supply of petroleum were to be turned off, it would lead to practically the whole world grinding to a halt. Surely, this precious resource should not be wasted on producing plastic bags, should it?

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Air pollution cleaned by fog

While it hassles commuters, morning mist removes a lot of airborne particles which are hazardous for people with respiratory health problems. The water droplets inside morning fog are of just the right size to collect and hold onto tiny air pollutant particles floating in the air. Once the fog settles back to the ground, it takes the air pollution particles with it.

A dreary, foggy morning may wreak havoc on your morning commute. But now, scientists reveal that not all thick, foggy air is bad. Some of it may be helping to clean up our polluted skies.

Commuting to work in the morning is already a long trek for Emilie Lorditch. But add in a blanket of thick, dense fog, and the drive worsens. "It can be really scary," she says.

Atmospheric chemists say poor visibility and traffic tie-ups have given fog a bad rap. Now, new research shows fog is actually good at clearing up something bad -- dust and dirt particles in the air.

Different kinds of fog appear across the country. But, the kind responsible for air pollution cleanup is called radiation fog. It occurs mostly in the morning.

"Radiation fog forms when the atmosphere is very stable and the skies are clear," Collett says. "And so the ground tends to radiate heat away to the sky."

On a clear night, heat from the ground radiates into space, leaving cool air just above the ground. Once the air reaches a specific temperature, water droplets form, surrounding pollution particles and creating radiation fog. When the sun comes up, it evaporates the water droplets, cleaning the particles out of the air, and leaving dirt and dust on the ground.

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Atmospheric pollution

Although atmospheric pollution can have natural sources, for example volcanic eruptions, the term is usually used to refer to the gaseous by-products of man-made processes such as energy production, waste incineration, transport, deforestation and agriculture. During the last 200 years, mankind has begun to significantly alter the composition of the atmosphere through pollution. Although air is still made up mostly of oxygen and nitrogen, mankind, through its pollution, has increased the levels of many trace gases, and in some cases, released completely new gases to the atmosphere. Some of these trace gases, present in elevated concentrations, can be harmful to both humans and the environment.

Air pollution can result in poor air quality, both in cities and the countryside. Some air pollutants make people sick, causing breathing problems and increasing the likelihood of cancer. Others are harmful to plants, animals, and the ecosystems in which they live. Some air pollutants return to Earth in the form of acid rain, which corrodes statues and buildings, damages crops and forests, and makes lakes and streams unsuitable for fish and other plant and animal life.

Man-made air pollution is also changing the Earth's atmosphere so that it lets in more harmful radiation from the Sun. Although we have now banned products which can harm the Earth's ozone layer, ozone holes over Antarctica and the Arctic still form every year. At the same time, mankind is releasing more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, preventing heat from escaping back into space and leading to a rise in global average temperatures. Global warming will raise sea levels and change climates all over the world. Some places will become hotter and drier, others wetter. The incidence of severe storms and flooding is likely to increase. Global warming will also affect food supply and increase the spread of tropical disease.

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Asia pollution

The grey, sulphur-laden skies overlying parts of Asia have a bright side — they reflect sunlight back into space, moderating temperatures on the ground. Scientists are now exploring how and where pollution from power plants could offset, for a time, the greenhouse warming of the carbon dioxide they emit.

A new modelling study doubles as a thought experiment in how pollution controls and global warming could interact in China and India, which are projected to account for 80% of new coal-fired power in the coming years. If new power plants were to operate without controlling pollution such as sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX), the study finds, the resulting haze would reflect enough sunlight to overpower the warming effect of CO2 and exert local cooling.

But this effect would not be felt uniformly across the globe and would last only a few decades. In the long run, CO2 would always prevail, and the world could experience a rapid warming effect if the skies were cleaned up decades down the road.

The study, which is under review at Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, builds on a well-established idea. Global temperatures were relatively stable in the decades leading up to the 1970s, even as fossil-fuel consumption shot up. Then industrialized countries began curbing SO2 and NOX to reduce acid rain and protect public health — and temperatures increased rapidly. The latest work, led by Drew Shindell at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, looks at how the climate effects of air pollutants and greenhouse gases could play out over time and geography.

The study analysed a suite of scenarios for the years 2000 to 2080, mixing annual rates of power-plant growth from 5% to 10% with various controls on SO2 and NOX pollution. SO2 is a precursor to sulphate aerosols and dominates the cooling effect, which varies depending on when plants adopt pollution controls. The sooner controls are put in place, the sooner the warming potential of CO2 kicks in.

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Ocean pollution

From plastic bags to pesticides - most of the waste we produce on land eventually reaches the oceans, either through deliberate dumping or from run-off through drains and rivers. This includes:

-oil
-fertilizers
-solid garbage
-sewage
-toxic chemicals

More oil from land than from spills
Oil spills cause huge damage to the marine environment - but in fact are responsible for only around 12% of the oil entering the seas each year. According to a study by the US National Research Council, 36% comes down drains and rivers as waste and runoff from cities and industry.

Seas of garbage
Solid garbage also makes its way to the ocean. Plastic bags, balloons, glass bottles, shoes, packaging material - if not disposed of correctly, almost everything we throw away can reach the sea.

Fertilizer woes
Fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns is a huge problem for coastal areas. The extra nutrients cause eutrophication - flourishing of algal blooms that deplete the water's dissolved oxygen and suffocate other marine life. Eutrophication has created enormous dead zones in several parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Baltic Sea.

Sewage disposal
In many parts of the world, sewage flows untreated, or under-treated, into the ocean. For example, 80% of urban sewage discharged into the Mediterranean Sea is untreated.

This sewage can also lead to eutrophication. In addition, it can cause human disease and lead to beach closures.

Toxic chemicals
Almost every marine organism, from the tiniest plankton to whales and polar bears, is contaminated with man-made chemicals, such as pesticides and chemicals used in common consumer products.

Some of these chemicals enter the sea through deliberate dumping. For centuries, the oceans have been a convenient dumping ground for waste generated on land. This continued until the 1970s, with dumping at sea the accepted practise for disposal of nearly everything, including toxic material such as pesticides, chemical weapons, and radioactive waste.

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Pollution solutions

objectives:

Students will understand the following:

1. The threat to water ecosystems is a complex problem because many factors contribute to their pollution and destruction.
2. The following factors all play major roles in the pollution and destruction of water ecosystems: PCBs, DDT, metylmercury chloride, sewer sludge, thermal effluents, radioactive wastes, destruction of marshlands, and beach erosion.
3. Methods to combat the above factors exist.
4. More methods are being developed and need to be developed.


Equipments :


For this lesson, you will need:
• Research materials about water ecosystems and factors that contribute to their pollution or destruction
• Computer with Internet access

Procedures :


1. Ask students to name some water ecosystems. (They might mention oceans, rivers, ponds, lakes, marshlands.)
2. Now ask them to mention any factors they know of that contribute to the pollution and destruction of water ecosystems. List their suggestions on the chalkboard, including the following: PCBs, DDT, metylmercury chloride, sewer sludge, thermal effluents, radioactive wastes, destruction of marshlands, and beach erosion.
3. Divide your class into groups, and have each group research one of the factors you have listed. Groups should focus their research on how their factor affects water ecosystems, particularly those in your area, if applicable, and the methods that are being employed to counter it.
4. When their research is complete, each group should choose one water ecosystem that has been affected by the factor they have been assigned and prepare an environmental-impact statement about it. Each statement should include four elements:
a description of the current environmental status of the ecosystem
a description of the way or ways in which the factor affects the ecosystem
a description of the existing methods that are being used to combat the factor
suggestions for future methods of combating the factor

5. When the statements are complete, invite groups to share their findings with the class.

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oil pollution

An oil spill is a release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term often refers to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters. Oil spills include releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their by-products, and heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil. Spills may take months or even years to clean up.

The oil penetrates up the structure of the plumage of birds, reducing its insulating ability, and so making the birds more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. It also impairs birds' flight abilities to forage and escape from predators. As they attempt to preen, birds typically ingest oil that covers their feathers, causing kidney damage, altered liver function, and digestive tract irritation. This and the limited foraging ability quickly causes dehydration and metabolic imbalances. Hormonal balance alteration including changes in luteinizing protein can also result in some birds exposed to petroleum.[4] Most birds affected by an oil spill die unless there is human intervention.

Marine mammals exposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways as seabirds. Oil coats the fur of Sea otters and seals, reducing its insulation abilities and leading to body temperature fluctuations and hypothermia. Ingestion of the oil causes dehydration and impaired digestions. Because oil floats on top of water, less sunlight penetrates into the water, limiting the photosynthesis of marine plants and phytoplankton. This, as well as decreasing the fauna populations, affects the food chain in the ecosystem. There are three kinds of oil-consuming bacterial. Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) and Acid Producing Bacteria are anerobic, while General Aerobic Bacteria (GAB) are aerobic. These bacteria occur naturally and will act to remove oil from an ecosystem, and their biomass will tend to replace other populations in the food chain.

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Land pollution

The contamination of land usually results from its commercial or industrial usage or from the spillage or dumping of waste, including landfill. These activities may have left elevated levels of heavy metals, hydrocarbons and other compounds on the land, and possibly in the groundwater. These may have the potential to cause harm to people or to the environment. The environmental quality team is responsible for inspecting sites in the borough for sources of contamination.

Land pollution the action of environmental contamination with man-made waste on land. Americans generate five pounds of solid waste every day, furthermore creating one ton of solid waste each year. (Kaufman and Franz) In an average day in the United States, people throw out 200,000 tons of edible food and throw 1 million bushels of litter out of their automobiles. (Kaufman and Franz) The main human contributor to pollution are landfills. Approximately half of our trash is disposed in landfills. (Dubay et al) Only 2% of our waste is actually recycled.

It is possible that land pollution might also contaminate the air and/or the water or vice versa. In the picture above, for example, some of the trash may end up getting washed into the lake adjacent to it. In another situation, chemical waste may not be disposed of properly and toxic substances may seep into the ground. These seeping chemicals can potentially contaminate a local body of water. It is also possible that these chemicals may give off a toxic vapor, thereby contributing to air pollution as well.

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Indoor air pollution

Basically we only think of air pollution as being outdoors, but the air in your office or house could also be polluted.

The sources of indoor pollution include:

• Biological contaminants like pollen and mold.


• Tobacco smoke


• Pesticides and household products.


• Gases such as carbon monoxide and random.


• Materials used in the building such as lead, formaldehyde and asbestos.
  

Sick building syndrome occurs when several people are affected, but no specific source of the illness and disease are found. Indoor air quality problems usually only cause discomfort, and most people feel better as soon as they eliminate the source this pollution. However, some pollutants can cause diseases that show up much later, such as respiratory diseases or cancer. Making sure that your building is well-ventilated and eliminating pollutants can improve the quality of your indoor air.

The pollutants that can affect air quality in a home fall into the following categories:-
Particulate matter includes dust, smoke, pollen, animal dander, tobacco smoke, particles generated from combustion appliances such as cooking stoves, and particles associated with tiny organisms such as dust mites, molds, bacteria, and viruses.
Gaseous pollutants come from combustion processes. Sources include gas cooking stoves, vehicle exhaust, and tobacco smoke. They also come from building materials, furnishings, and the use of products such as adhesives, paints, varnishes, cleaning products, and pesticides.

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Climate change and urban health in the kathmandu valley

Extreme weather events are being witnessed in the Kathmandu valley as a result of climate change. Global warming is resulting in an increased length of summers with warmer days, more days with higher intensity of rainfall per day, and fewer days of rainfall.

As mentioned earlier, climate change and rapid urbanization is resulting in the emergence of new vectors and viruses. A study has shown the existence of at least 12 types of mosquitoes of culex and anopheles species in the Gokama area, a suburban area of Kathmandu. Aedes aegypti a vector responsible for dengue fever, was also found in Kathmandu in June 2009. Japanese encephalitis cases have been reported from hilly districts of Nepal since 2004. The cause of acute encephalitis in hill and mountain districts is noted to be consistent.

Lalitpur districts is located in the west and south of the Kathmandu valley, and 13 cases of malaria were detected in this districts in 2006; out of these, two were confirmed cases of indigenous malaria.

Bacterial diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever and food poisoning are also gradually increasing in the valley because of poor quality of drinking water, deteriorating sanitary conditions and problems linked to the solid waste disposal system; increases in temperature due to climate change can lead to the widening of the geographic range of vectors.

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Water quality issues

Unaccounted for water is very high in developing countries. A recent study by the south-east asian water utilities network in 40 water utilities showed unaccounted for water ranging from 10% to 48%. Leakages in poorly piped water systems and excessive use of water in the industrial sector, in residential sector, in residential areas and for recreational purposes have resulted in cities like Bankok, Chennal and Manila experiencing aquifer dropa of between 10 and 50 meters.

There are some water quality issues. There is ample evidence that massive urban growth and industralization are accomplished by serious contamination of water resources. One of the major water quality problems is microbiological contamination; cross-contamination of sewage into broken water pipes is one example. About 76% of the urban population has access to an improved sanitary facility, but most of the sewage systems in cities are old and overloaded. Many sewage treatment plants do not function properly or at all. Untreated or partially treated sewage finds its way into water source. In kathmandu, out of the five waste water treatment plants operated by the Nepal water supply corporation, only one was found functional in 2008.

About 45 million people in urban areas in the region still practices open defection, which can also lead to water pollution. In addition, there is chemical contamination from industrial wastewater, pesticides from agriculture and leachate from landfill sites.

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Ozone pollution

In our atmosphere ozone is a positive or negative layer depending on where it is found. Depending upon the distance above the planet's surface the atmosphere of the earth is divided into four layers, with ozone important in the two levels - the stratosphere and the troposphere. The level that contain the air we breath, ozone is a damaging pollutant in the troposphere. The stratosphere which lies 15-50 km above the ground contains a protective layer of ozone which filters out the harmful rays of the sun.

Ozone(o3) occurs naturally in the lowest layer of our atmosphere i.e troposphere and the second layer of the atmosphere i.e. stratosphere. Tropospheric ozone is also considered as a greenhouse gas contributing to global warming.

When volatile organic pollutants such as hydrocarbons react in the atmosphere to form oxygenated products such as aldhydes, the problem occurs.Oxygen in these molecules allows NO to form NO2, without breaking down ozone, thus ozone accumulates. The ozone build-up therefore depends upon the realtive concentrations of nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and other pollutants, and sunlight. It takes time for the ozone to accumulate as the chemical reactions involved are little slow ozone builds up in polluted air masses. This takes several days and is favoured by low windspeeds and prolonged sunnny weather. Polluted air masses often come from continental Europe, therefore ozone episodes are more frequent in southern England.

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Solid waste management

Rapid urbanization presents enormous solid waste management problems. The generation of waste is often linked to income level and lifestyles. The lack of solid waste management leads to water, land and air pollution, putting people and the environment at risk. A particular health concern is that hospital waste, which is very infectious and hazardous, is often dumped with general waste in landfill sites. Scavengers looking for recyclable items are exposed to infection and other hazards.

Solid waste generated in Asian cities ranges from 0.2-1.7 kg/capita/day. Biodegradable wastes dominates the bulk of municipal solid waste, followed by plastics, paper, metals and other material. Electronic waste is emerging as a new and significant waste stream, especially in urban areas. Mobile phones are one of the main items of "e-waste". Toxic link estimated that about 35 million phones are discarded in India every year. There is an urgent need to find ways of disposing of these wastes in a safe and environment friendly manner.

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Acidification and eutrophication

The two environmental problems eutrophication of terrestrial and coastal ecosystem and acidification of soil and water are caused by the same pollutants. Acidification main cause is the airborne deposition of sulphur
Nitrogen compounds such as nitrogen oxides and ammonia are the dominant cause of eutrophication of eutrophication of manu ecosystems on land and at sea which also contribute increasingly to acidification.
The main cause of acidification problem is the airborne deposition of sulphur, nitrogen oxides and ammonia. Harvesting is also of some importance. The most important cause of acidification is sulphur deposition which is in the form of sulphuric acid. Basically sulphur comes from burning coal and oil , during that th sulphur in the fuel is converted into sulpher dioxide. Man-made emission of sulphur in Europe rose sharply from the end of the second world war until the end of the 1970s. Emission from land-based sources in Europe fell by almost 75 per cent - from 53 to 14 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide a year, in between 1980 and 2003. However at the same time emission from international shipping in European waters have nearly doubled, from 1.7 to 3 million tonnes a year.
The main cause of acidification is the atmospheric deposition of nitrogen compounds, which is due to emission of nitrogen oxides and ammonia. During combustion nitrogen oxides are produced. In Europe about half the emissions come from the transport sector and most the rest from combustion plants. A large part of the emission reduction from land-based sources has been offset by rising emissions at sea, in case of nitrogen oxides. Agriculture is the main source of ammonia emissions. During storage and spreading, the amount of ammonia that evaporates depends on how the manure is handled.

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Smog

Smog is also a kind of air pollution which is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. From vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes, modern smog which is a type of air pollution is derived that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine with the primary emission to form photochemical smog. Smog is also caused by large amount of coal burning in a place caused by a mixture of sulfur dioxide and smoke.

A new type of smoke known as photochemical smog was first described in the 1950s. When sunlight hits various pollutants in the air this type of smog forms by a mix of inimical chemicals that can be very dangerous.

A photochemical smog is the chemical reaction of nitrogen oxides, sunlight and volatile organic compounds in this atmosphere which leaves airborne particles and ground-level ozone.

In the atmosphere Nitrogen oxides are released by nitrogen and oxygen reacting together under temperature such as in the exhaust fossil-fuel-burning engines in cars, coal power plants, trucks and industrial manufacturing factories.

From man-made sources VOCs are released, such as gasoline or pertrol, paints, solvents, pesticides, and biogenic sources, such as pine and citrus tree emission.

Following matters are produces from noxious mixture

Aldehydes

Nitrogen oxides, such as nitrogen dioxide

Peroxyacyl nitrates

Tropospheric ozone

Volatile organic compounds

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Effects of noise exposure and control

The effects of noise exposure are of two types: auditory and non-auditory.
Auditory fatigue appears in the 90 dB region and greatest at 4000Hz. It may be associated with side effects such as whistling and buzzing in the ears. Deafness is the most serious pathological effect. The victum is generally unware of it in early stages. The hearing loss may be temporary or permanent.
Nonauditory effects are interference with speech, annoyance, effeciency and physiological changes.
A variety of approach may be needed control noise. These include :
1. Careful Planning of cities : In planning cities the following measures should be taken to reduce noise-

• division of the city into zones with separation of areas concerned with industry and transport.
• the separation of residental areas from the main streets by means of wide green belts.
• widening of main streets to reduce the level of noise penetration into dwellings.

2. Control of vehicles

3. To improve acoustic insulation of building

4. Industries and railways

5. Protection of exposed persons

6. Legislation

7. Education

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Disposal of wastes

Disposal of wastes is now largely the domain of sanitarians and public health engineers. However, health professionals need to have a basic knowledge of the subject since improper disposal of wastes consitutes a health hazard. Further the health professional may be called upon to give advice in some special situations, such as camp sanitation or coping with waste disposal problems when there is a disruption or breakdown of community health services in natural disasters.
The 'solid waste' term includes garbage rubbish demolition products, sewage treatment residue, dead animals, manure and other discorded material.
Solid waste, if allowed to accumulate, is a health hazard because:

• it decomposes and favours fly breeding.
• it attracts rodents and vermin.
• the pathogens which may be present in the solid waste may be conveyed back to man's food through flies and dust.
• there is a possibility of water and soil pollution, and
• heaps of refuse present an unsightly appearance and nuisance from bad odours.

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Radiation

Radiation is a part of man's environment. The sources of radiation to which man is exposed are divided into two groups:

1.Natural

• cosmic rays
• environmental (terrestrial, atmospheric)
• internal (potassium-40, carbon-14)

2.Man-made

• medical and dental (x-rays, radioisotopes)
• occupational exposure
• nuclear (radioactive fallout)
• miscellaneous (television sets, radioactive dial watches, isotope tagged products, luminious markers)

The term "ionizing radiation" is applied to radiation which has the ability to penetrate tissues and deposit its energy within them. The amount of radiation received from outer space and background radiation has been estimated to be 0.1 rad a year. Apparently, this doesnot at present constitute a hazard. The additional permissible dose from man-made sources should not exceed 5 rad a year. Of the man made sources, the X-rays constitute the greatest hazard . In routine fluoroscopy, a dose of 4 rad is delivered to a part of the body in about one minute.This implies that unnecessary x-ray examinators should be avoided, especially in the case of children and pregnant women .Radiation protection is the youngest branch of hygiene, and is called radiation-hygience. The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have been active in this field.

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Environment and health

The key to man's health lies largely in his environment. In fact, much of man's illhealth can be traced to adverse environmental factors such as water pollution , soil pollution, air pollution, poor housing conditions, presence of animal reserviours and insect vectors of diseases which pose a constant threat to man's health. Often man is responsible for the pollution of his environment through urbanization, industrialization, and other human activities. In 1972 the UN conference on the human environment focussed world-wide attention on the environmental hazards that threaten human beings. To facilitate work in this area, WHO has compiled a wide ranging survey of environmental hazards to human health.
Sanitation is the science of safeguarding health. The term environmental sanitation had been defined by WHO as the control of all those factors in man's physical environment which excercise a deleterious effect on his physical development, health and survival.
The purpose of environmental health is to create and maintain ecological conditions that will promote health and thus prevent disease. One of the essential public health care element is safe drinking water and sanitation. The high death rate, infant motality rate, sickness rate and poor standards of health are infact largely due to defactive environmental sanitation. Improvement of environmental sanitation is therefore crucial for the prevention of disease and promotion of health of individuals and communities.

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Industrial pollution

By various sectors including government, NGO and INGO few attempts have been made in addressing the problem of industrial pollution in Nepal, such one-off efforts have been effective because of the absence of a collectively mobilized and collaborative efforts involving all concerned stakeholders in dealing with the problem.

Furthermore, without scientific study of the problem itself, most activities have been undertaken. As such, WATO-Nepal is adopting a scientific and multi-stakeholders approach to bring about sustainable change in addressing the problem of industrial pollution in the area of Dhobikhola river. In more organized and broad-based manner it is to build upon previous endeavors and initiatives of other organization.

In Kathmandu valley Dhobikhola is one of main river flowing and most rivers face the problem of industrial pollution. So, the initiative is also set to serve as a model for possible replication in other similarly situated areas in Kathmandu.
Dhobikhola is one of many rivers flowing through the Kathmandu valley and most rivers face the problem of industrial pollution. Therefore, the initiative is also set to serve as a model for possible replication in other similarly situated areas in Kathmandu.
Prevention:

* In the river area development of a digital map demarcating industries.
* Inventory of industries with their nature of pollutants.
* Lab testing of Dhobikhola.
* Health sampling of locals.
* Cleaner production implementation.
* Community awareness on industrial pollution along its health impacts.
* Meetings of multi-stakeholder and workshops.
* Increase awareness on industrial effluent standard of Nepal, Environmental act and regulations, set by Ministry of Population and environment,Nepal, among concerned stakeholders.
* Among the government bodies building consensus, locals and industries on adopting a scientific approach as to minimum the pollution impact through local awareness programs ans interaction between all the concerned stakeholders.

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Groundpollution

The change in the properties of groundwater due to contamiated by microbes, chemicals, hazardous,

Groundwater pollution is a change in the properties of groundwater due to contamination by microbes, chemicals, hazardous substances and other foreign particles. It is a major type of water pollution. The sources of groundwater pollution are either natural (mineral deposits in rocks) or man-made. Natural sources are less harmful compared to hazardous chemicals generated by human activities. Any chemical present on the surface can travel underground and cause groundwater pollution. The seepage of the chemical depends on the chemical type, soil porosity and hydrology.

The main cause of groundwater pollution is poor installation and maintenance. The disposal of household chemicals, such as paint thinner, into system can also cause ground pollution. Some other causes are:

• Overloading the system with a garbage disposal unit.
• Use of septic tank cleaning additives.
• In a limited area too many closely-spaced septic system.

Some prevention technique of groundwater pollution are:

• Avoid dispose of household chemicals into the system.
• Proper installation.
• Inspection and cleaning in every 2 to 4 years, annually if garbage disposal used.
• Avoid hazardous cleaning additives for septic system.
• Develop local septic system codes.
• Public information and education.
  

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Sea pollution

In Finland at a conference Northern European nations have discussing pollution in the Baltic Sea. In the world the most polluted waterways is the Baltic sea. Nine nations which are brought together by the Baltic Sea Action Summit, share the coastline, and was chaired by the Finnish President Tarja Halonen.

'Today some of the richest and most environmentally-conscious countries on earth live on the shore of the world's most polluted seas. What a tragedy. It is clear that something has to be done and quickly": she said.

The Baltic is a vulnerable sea which is almost enclosed, very shallow, and fed by numerous rivers. Around 90 million people live around its shore, many of them depending on the sea on some way or other for their livelihoods, but waste from industry, agriculture and daily life ends up in the sea.

The oceans and seas receive the brunt of human waste, whether it is by deliberate dumping or by natural run-off from the land. 80% of all marine pollution comes from land-based activities and many pollutants are deposited in estuaries and coastal waters. The pollutants enter marine food chains, building up their concentrations until they reach to the toxic levels. In Minimata in Japan many people died as a result of a pollutant building up in food chains. Methyl mercury was discharging from a factory in low concentration into the sea and as this pollutant passed through food chains it became more concentrated in the tissues of marine organisms until it reached toxic levels. Where 649 people died from eating fish and shellfish contaminated with mercury and 3500 people suffered from mercury poisoning.

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Pollution by liquid waste

Two bioreactors have been launched by microbial solutions, that can be enlarged or reduced in size for disposal of hazardous metalworking fluids and associated oil-contaminated materials.

MSL Microcycle Technology uses a biorector unit and 'friendly bacteris' to turn toxic, exhausted metalworking fluids and oils into grey water which is safe to dispose of straight into the sewerage system.

The disposal processes such as vacuum evaporation and ultra filtration which produce toxic oily waste residues are replaced by this technology.

Microbial solutions also offers a diagnostics service for components of used metalworking fluids like mycobacteria and endotoxins.

These continuous-flow and modular bioreactors are rapidly adjustable in capacity and can cope with increase or decrease in the production of waste metalworking fluids in line with clients.

Bioreactor cells are allowed to be added or removed by this modular design as capacity requirements change.

The continuous flow design allows for a stream of waste metalworking fluid to be fed into the bioreactor and the treated effluent to be discharged continuously, where there is a requirement to treat a waste stream on a continuous flow basis, such as a waste metal-working fluid production rate that is continuous or of high annual volume.

Improved effluent quality characteristics is offered by MSL's continuous-flow bioreactors when compared with existing bioreactors.

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Light pollution

When we talk about pollution, at first we think about sound pollution, air pollution, water pollution, land pollution but we can rarely think about light pollution.The adverse effect of artificial light causes light pollution.

Different types of light pollution are light trespass, glare, and sky glow.

Trespass: When unwanted light enters into one's property from a source of outside's property light tresspass occurs.When the light enters the window of one's home causing problems like sleep deprivation or the blocking of an evening view, a common light trespass problem occurs.
Glare: Over lighting or badly placed light where the light shines directly into the eye causes glare. Glare can be categorised into different types, which are as below:

• Blinding glare is caused by staring into the sun. It leaves temporary or permanent vision deficiencies and is completely binding.


• The effect described by disability glare is such as being blinded by oncoming car lights, or light scattering in fog or in the eye, reducing contrast, as well as reflection from print and other dark areas that render them bright, with significant reduction in sight capabilities.


• The discomfort glare does not typically cause a dangerous situation in itself, though it is annoying and irritating at best. If experienced over extended periods, it can potentially cause fatigue.

The 'glow' effect that can be seen over populated areas refers skyglow. Mainly it is the combination of all light reflected from what it has illuminated escaping up into the sky and from all of the badly directed light in that area that also escapes into the sky, being redirected by the atmosphere back towards the ground. When the air is very clear the wavelength of light is strongly related with this scattering. Rayleigh scattering dominates in such clear air by making the sky to be appear blue in the daytime. When there is significant aerosol, the scattered light has less dependence on wavelength, making a whiter daytime sky. Due to this Rayleigh effect, and because of the eye's increased sensitivity to white or blue-rich light sources when adapted to very low light levels, white or blue-rich contributes significantly more to sky-glow than an equal amount of yellow light. To astronomers sky glow is particularly irritation, because it reduces contrast in the night sky to the extent where it may even become impossible to see any but the brightest stars.

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Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is caused by the unpleasent sound created by human, animal or machine, that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life. The displeasing sound can damage physiological and psychological health. Sound pollution can cause annoyance and aggression, high stress levels, hearing loss, sleep disturbances, and other harmful effects. Which in turn stress and hypertension leads to health problems. Tinnitus can lead to forgetfulness, severe depression and at time panic attacks.
Animals can also have detrimental effect by noise which can cause stress, increasing risk of death by changing the delicate balance in pridator/prey detection and avoidance, and by interfering with their use of sounds in communication especially in relation to reproduction and in navigation. Animals can suffer from temporary or permanent loss of hearing due to acoustic
overexposure.

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soil pollution

Soil pollution causes from the build of contiminants, toxic compounds, radioactive materials, salts, chemical and cancer-causing agent. Hydrocarbons, heavy metals(cadmium, lead, chromium, copper, zinc, mercury and arsenic), herbicides, pesticides, oils, tars, PCBs and dioxins are most common soil pollutants.

Agriculture processes can also cause air pollution. Around farm centers high level of radionuclides like nitrogen and phosphorus can be found. Pesticides applied to plants can seep into ground, leaving lasitng effects. In soil heavy metal can arrive using polluted water to wet crops and by using mineral fertilizers.

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Global Warming

When the temperature rises up, the earth heats up and there occurs global warming .The temperature increases when the greenhouse gases(carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitrous oxide, and methane) trap heat and light from the sun in the earth's atmosphere. By this many people, animals, and plants get hurt. Many creatures cannot take change so they die

Global warming is affecting the environment. Due to the global warming, the sea rises, and when the sea rises, the water covers many low land islands. In future this creates a big problem for many of the plants, animals and people on islands.

Global warming affecting people as well as animals and plants. Algae are being killed and it is destroying many huge forests. Acid rain is the main cause of pollution for global warming. Global warming causes many more fires that wipe out whole forests.

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water pollution

Due the increase in population, pollution has been increased nowadays. Among different types of pollutants, water pollution is one.

Pure uncontiminated water does not occurs in nature. it contains impurities of vairous kinds- natural and manmade. a more serious aspect of water pollution is that caused by human activity-urbanization and industrialization. The sources of pollution resulting from these are sewage, industrial and trade wastes, agricultural pollutants, physical pollutants.

Man's health may be affected by the ingestion of contiminated water either directly or through food and by the use of the contiminated water for the purpose of personal hygiene and recreation.

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air pollution

As the time goes on and there is a development of different machines and machinaries and there occurs pollution. Pollution usually refers to the unwanted, undesirable substances present in the environment.

In this modern society air pollution is a major problem. In urban areas pollutants contiminate air include various gases and tiny particles that can harm human health and damage the environment. Pollution occurs in different levels:personal, national, and global.

The major types of pollutions are gaseous pollutants, greenhouse effect, acid rain, damage to ozone layer, particulate matter, climatic effects.

How does air pollution affect human health?
There is a direct link of human lungs functions and heart attacks with the increase in pollution. Increase in air pollution decreases lung function and increases heart attacks. High level of air pollution directly affect people with asthama and other types of lung or heart disease. In the last 20 years overall air quality has improved but urban areas are still a concern.

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