Soil Pollution Diseases

Land or soil pollution diseases are those diseases caused by pollutants from the land/dirt/soil. The pollutants may enter the soil/land via:

While exposure to soil pollutants is generally less problematic than exposure to air and water pollution, it might still have serious effects on children who usually play on the soil. Being in closer proximity to potential pollution, children could accidentally swallow soil particles while playing on the ground.

Soil pollutants, including chemicals and pathogens, have interchangeable liquid, solid or gaseous forms that mix until an equilibrium is reached between the three. The solid forms are absorbed or mixed with soil particles, liquids fill the voids made of pores between soil particles, and the gaseous forms surround the air between soil particles. This means that we can be exposed to gaseous, liquid and solid forms of soil pollution separately or together at the same time. Soil pollution may enter our bodies directly - through the inhalation of soil dust or soil particles, or through skin contact, or indirectly - through the consumption of food, especially vegetables grown in contaminated soil, or by inhaling the toxic vapors of volatile chemicals polluting the soil.

The exposure to environmental pollution caused by soil contaminants may result in an increased risk for developing a series of conditions. 

Short Term Diseases and Symptoms

The exposure to environmental pollution caused by soil contaminants may result in an increased risk for developing a series of conditions. One of the most frequently encountered effects of toxic contamination is a series of symptoms that appear immediately after the exposure.

The most common symptoms that appear after direct exposure to soil contaminants are the following:

Along with the symptoms listed above, other conditions may appear after direct or indirect contact with soil contaminants.

Long Term Diseases

The inhalation of soil particulate matter and the ingestion of contaminated food can potentially result in serious conditions, of which the most common include: