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Find out the disease and risks of pollution you may have been exposed! Fill out the form below for more environmental pollution information!
SOIL POLLUTION - information about polluted soil and its effects on human health
AIR POLLUTION - air and gas contamination are the most dangerous form of pollution
WATER POLLUTION - health can be seriously affected by existing pollutants from the water we drink daily
RADIATION POLLUTION - information on the most common radiation contaminants
FOOD POLLUTION - also known as food intoxication, food pollution has severe consequences affecting your health
CHEMICAL POLLUTION - learn what happens when chemical waste is illegal or improperly disposed
Water Pollution Causes
The causes of water pollution vary and may be both natural and anthropogenic. However, the most common causes of water pollution are the anthropogenic ones including:
- Agriculture runoff - carrying fertilizers, pesticides/insecticides/herbicides and other pollutants into water bodies such as lakes, rivers, ponds). The usual effect of this type of pollution consists in algae growing in affected water bodies. This is a sign of increased nitrates and phosphates in water that could be harmful for human health.
- Storm water runoff – carrying various oils, petroleum products and other contaminants from urban and rural areas (ditches). These usually forms sheens on the water surface.
- Leaking sewer lines – may add trihalomethanes (such as chloroform) as well as other contaminants into groundwater ending up contaminating surface water, too. Discharges of chlorinated solvents from Dry Cleaners to sewer lines are also a recognized source of water pollution with these persistent and harmful solvents.
- Mining activities – mining activities involve crushing the rock that usually contains many trace metals and sulfides. The left material may easily generate sulfuric acid in the presence of precipitation water. Please, read more at Mining Sites.
- Foundries – have direct emissions of metals (including Hg, Pb, Mn, Fe, Cr and other metals) and other particulate matter into the air. Please, read more at Foundry.
- Industrial discharges – may add significant pollution to water bodies, but are usually regulated today. Please, read more at Industrial Sites.
- Accidental leaks and spills – associated with handling and storage of chemicals may happen anytime and, although they are usually contained soon after they occur, the risk of polluting surface and groundwater exist. An example are ship accidents such as Exxon Valdez disaster which spilled large amounts of petroleum products into the ocean;
- Intended/illegal discharges of waste – while such occurrences are less common today, they may still happen due to the high cost of proper waste disposal; illegal waste discharges into water bodies were recorded all over the world;
- Burning of fossil fuels – the emitted ash particles usually contain toxic metals (such as As or Pb). Burning will also add a series of oxides including carbon dioxide to air and respectively water bodies.
- Transportation – even though Pb has been banned in gasoline in the U.S. and many other countries, vehicle emissions pollute the air with various tailpipe compounds (including sulfur and nitrogen compounds, as well as carbon oxides) that may end up in water bodies via deposition with precipitation water.
- Construction activities – introduce a series of contaminants into the ground that may eventually end up in groundwater. Please, read more at Construction Sites.
- Plastic materials/wastes in contact with water – may degrade slowly releasing harmful compounds for both human health and ecosystem.
- Disposal of personal care products and household chemicals (including detergents and various cleaning solutions) – this is a serious problem since the releases to water are unpredictable and hard if not impossible to control. It is up to each of us to minimize this contribution to water pollution by controlling our consumption and disposal of such products as well as trying to recycle as much as we can!
- Improper disposal of car batteries and other batteries – may add metals
- Leaking landfills – may pollute the groundwater below the landfill with a large variety of contaminants (whatever is stored by the landfill).
- Animal wastes – contribute to the biological pollution of water streams.
Basically, anything that can cause air or the soil pollution, may also affect water bodies. Please read more about Air Pollution Causes and Soil Pollution Causes.
SEARCH BY YOUR LOCATION
Sites with recognized pollution problems as well as sites with potential to generate pollution may be close to your home or workplace. Being aware of such locations will guide you in choosing your future home and evaluating your current exposure risk. Here is a list, organized by states, with the most common locations that could have affected you and your health. Please note that there could be sites that we have not yet find out about and you should contact us immediately for a better assistance.
Click here to find out if you are at risk based on your location?
June 24th, 2010 - Breaking News – Danger for Humans from Polluted Seafood
June 20th, 2010 - Issues Raised by BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
May 27, 2010 - Updates on BP spill in Gulf of Mexico: Environmental Monitoring
May 26, 2010 - Updates on BP spill in Gulf of Mexico: Cleanup approaches
May 4, 2010 - Massive Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico – One of the Worst U.S. Ecological Disasters
March 10, 2010 - Nitrobenzene May be Listed by California’s EPA as Known to Cause Reproductive Toxicity
March 9, 2010 - Potential Widespread Environmental Distribution of Perchlorate - a Chemical Disturbing Thyroid Function
March 8, 2010 - Lead (from Bullets) Pollution of Lake Michigan Pointed out by a Petition Filled before the U.S. Supreme Court
March 2, 2009 - Regulators Concerned for Air Quality around Schools
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