Role of an individual in prevention of pollution - Pollution case studies - Social Issues and the Environment - From Unsustainable to Sustainable development - Urban problems related to energy

 18

Role of an individual in prevention of pollution - Pollution case studies - Social Issues and the Environment - From Unsustainable to Sustainable development - Urban problems related to energy

Role of an individual in prevention of pollution

There are a host of environmental problems caused by human actions on the environment. If we are to respond to these problems we have to recognize that each of us is individually responsible for the quality of the environment we live in. Our personal actions can either worsen or improve our environmental quality. Several people may feel that environmental problems can be solved with quick technological fixes. While a majority of individuals would want a cleaner environment, not many of them want to make major changes in their lifestyle that could contribute to a cleaner environment. Decisions and actions taken by individuals to a very large extent determine the quality of life for everyone. This necessitates that individuals should not only be aware of various environmental issues and the consequences of their actions on the environment but should also make a firm resolve to develop environmentally ethical lifestyles.

With the help of solar energy, natural processes developed over billions of years can indefinitely renew the topsoil, water, air, forests, grasslands and wildlife on which all forms of life depend, but only as long as we do not use these potentially renewable resources faster than they are replenished. Some of our wastes can be diluted, decomposed and recycled by natural processes indefinitely as long as these processes are not overloaded. Natural processes also provide services of flood prevention, erosion control at no costs at all. We must therefore learn to value these resources and use them sustainably.

Concepts that help individuals contribute towards a better quality of our environment and human life.

• Develop respect or reverence for all forms of life.

• Try to plant trees wherever you can and more importantly take care of them. They reduce air pollution.

• Reduce the use of wood and paper products wherever possible. Manufacturing paper leads to pollution and loss of forests which releases oxygen and takes up carbon dioxide. Try to recycle paper products and use recycled paper wherever possible.

• Do not buy furniture, doors, window frames made from tropical hardwoods such as teak and mahogany. These are forest based.

• Help in restoring a degraded area near your home or join in an afforestation program.

• Use pesticides in your home only when absolutely necessary and use them in as small amounts as necessary. Some insect species help to keep a check on the populations of pest species.

• Reduce the use of fossil fuels by either walking up a short distance using a car pool, sharing a bike or using public transport. This reduces air pollution.

• Don’t use aerosol spray products and commercial room air fresheners. They damage the ozone layer.

Do not pour pesticides, paints, solvents, oil or other products containing harmful chemicals down the drain or on the ground.

• Buy consumer goods that last, keep them as long as possible and have them repaired as far as possible instead of disposing them off. Such products end up in landfills that could pollute ground water.

• Buy consumer goods ages in refillable glass containers instead of cans or throwaway bottles.

• Use rechargeable batteries.

• Try to avoid plastic carry bags. Use your own cloth bag instead.

• Don’t use throwaway paper and plastic plates and cups when reusable versions are available.

•Set up a compost bin in your garden or terrace and use it to produce manure for your plants to reduce use of fertilizers.

• Try to lobby and push for setting up garbage separation and recycling programs in your localities.

• Choose items that have the least packaging or no packaging.

• Start individual or community composting or vemicomposting plants in your neighborhood and motivate people to join in.

•Take care to put trash into dustbins or bring it back home with you where it can be appropriately disposed.

Pollution case studies

A case study of groundwater pollution in India

An example of groundwater pollution caused by excessive extraction is that fluoride contamination. Fluorisis is not a localized problem. It has spread across 19 states and across a variety of ecological regions ranging from the Thar desert, the Gangetic plains and the Deccan plateau. Each of these regions are distinct in terms of rainfall, soil type, groundwater recharge regime, climatic conditions and hydrology. High fluoride concentration in groundwater is a natural phenomenon in several countries such as China, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Spain, Holland, Italy and Mexico. Experts claim that a fluoride belt stretches across the Middle East across Pakistan and India and then into Southeast Asia and the South of China. According to a report of the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water mission, the bedrock of the Indian peninsula consists of a number of fluoride bearing minerals. When the bedrock weathers the fluoride leaches into water and the soil. Although the Indian peninsular bedrock has always been the same, this problem has only surfaced during the last three decades. This is related to the over extraction of groundwater which has resulted in the tapping of aquifers with high fluoride concentrations.

The beginnings of this phenomenon can be traced back to the 1970s and the 1980s when there was massive state investment in rural water development for irrigation as well as for drinking. Encouraged by state subsidies on diesel and electricity, people invested in diesel and submersible pumps in a bid to extract groundwater through borewells. This policy aggravated the fluoride problem.

Fluoride mainly enters the human body through drinking water where 96 to 99 percent of it combines with the bones as it has an affinity for calcium phosphate in the bones. Excess intake of fluoride can lead to dental fluorosis, skeletal fluorosis or non-skeletal fluorosis. Dental fluorosis is characterized by discoloured, blackened, mottled or chalky white teeth. Skeletal fluorosis leads to severe and permanent bone and joint deformities. Non-skeletal fluorosis leads to gastro-intestinal problems and neurological disorders. Fluoride can damage the foetus and adversely affect the IQ of children.

A case study of pesticide pollution in India

One of the most terrifying effects of pesticide contamination of ground water came to light when pesticide residues were found in bottled water. Between July and December 2002, the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory of the New Delhi based Center for Science and Environment (CSE) analysed 17 brands of bottled water both packaged drinking water and packaged natural mineral water commonly sold in areas that fall within the national capital region of Delhi. Pesticide residues of organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides which are most commonly used in India were found in all the samples. Among organochlorines, gammahexachlorocyclohexane (lindane) and DDT were prevalent while among organophosphorus pesticides, Malathion and Chlorpyrifos were most common. All these were present above permissible limits specified by the European Economic Community, which is the norm, used all over Europe.

Currently the manufacturing plants of most brands are situated in the  midst of agricultural fields. Most companies use bore wells to pump out water from the ground from depths varying from 24m to even 152 m below the ground. The raw water samples collected from the plants also reveled the presence of pesticide residues. This clearly indicated that the source of pesticide residues in the polluted groundwater are used to manufacture the bottled water. This is despite the fact that all bottled water plants use a range of purification methods. Thus obviously the fault lies in the treatment methods used.

These plants use the membrane technology where the water is filtered using membranes with ultra-small pores to remove fine suspended solids and all bacteria and protozoa and even viruses. While nanofiltration can remove insecticides and herbicides it is expensive and thus rarely used. Most industries also use an activated charcoal adsorption process, which is effective in removing organic pesticides but not heavy metals. To remove pesticides the plants use reverse osmosis and granular activated charcoal methods. Thus even though manufacturers claim to use these process the presence of pesticide residues points to the fact that either manufacturers do not use the treatment process effectively or only treat a part of the raw water.

The low concentration of pesticide residues in bottled water do not cause acute or immediate effect. However repeated exposure even to extremely miniscule amounts can result in chronic effects like cancer, liver and kidney damage, disorders of the nervous system, damage to the immune system and birth defects.

Similarly six months after CSE reported pesticide residues in bottled water it also found these pesticides in popular cold drink brands sold across the country. This is because the main ingredient in a cold drink or a carbonated nonalcoholic beverage is water and there are no standards specified for water to be used in these beverages in India.

There were no standards for bottled water in India till on September 29, 2000 the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a notification (no759(E)) amending the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules, 1954. The BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification mark became mandatory for bottled water from March 29, 2001. However the parameters for pesticide residues remained ambiguous. Following the report published by CSE in Down to Earth,  a series of Committees were established and eventually on 18th July 2003 amendments were made in the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules stating that pesticide residues considered individually should not exceed 0.0001mg.lit and the total pesticide residues will not be more than 0.0005 mg/lit that the analysis shall be conducted by using internationally established test methods meeting the residue limits specified herein. This notification came into force from January 1, 2004.

A case study of river pollution in India

Almost all the rivers in India are polluted. The causes of pollution may also be more or less similar. This is a case study of the river Damodar as reported in Down to Earth. The 563 km long Damodar river originates near Chandwa village in the Chhotanagpur hills in Bihar’s Palamau district. It flows through one of the richest mineral belts in the world before draining into the Hooghly, about 50 km south of Calcutta. Indian industry depends heavily on this region as 60 percent of the coal consumed in our country comes from the Chhotanagpur belt. Coal based industries of all types dot the area because of locational advantages and the easy availability of water and power. In addition various industries such as the steel, cement, fertilizer and explosive plants are also located here. The river Damodar is polluted with minerals, mine rejects and toxic effluents. Both its water and its sand are infested by coal dust and waste from these industries. There are seven thermal power plants in the Damodar valley. The states of Bihar and West Bengal depend almost entirely on this area for their power requirements. These power plants not only consume a lot of water but also dump ash in the valley.

Mining

As underground mines cannot keep pace with the rising demand, 60 percent of the coal extracted from the area comes from open cast mines which are responsible for serious land degradation. The disposal of rock and soil extracted along with the coal only adds to the problem.

Industries

 The industries in the area do not have proper effluent treatment plants. Among the big coal based industries the washeries account for the bulk of the pollution in terms of the total suspended solids (TSS), oil and grease. About 20 percent of the coal handled goes out in the form of slurry which is deposited in the ponds outside. After the slurry settles, coalfine (the sediment) is collected manually. Due to inadequate retrieval methods very often the water discharges into the river from the pond carries high amounts of fine coal particles and oil thus polluting the river. The other major coal based polluters are the coke oven plants that heat coal to temperatures as high as 1100 ^oC in the absence of oxygen to prepare it for use in blast furnaces and foundries. The volatile components in the coal are removed, leaving hot, non-volatile coke in the oven which is washed with huge quantities of water. This water that contains oil and suspended particles is then discharged into the river.

Flyash from the thermal power plants

Only one of the thermal power plants has an electrostatic precipitator to collect the fly ash while the other just make do with mechanical dust collectors. As most of these plants are located on the banks of the river the fly ash eventually finds its way into the river. The bottom ash from the boilers is mixed with water to form a slurry which is then drained into ash ponds. Most of the ponds are full and in several cases the drainage pipes are choked. The slurry is therefore directly discharged into the river.

Effects

The river and its tributaries are the largest source of drinking water for the huge population that lives in the valley. On April 2, 1990 about 200,000 litres of furnace oil spilled into the river from the Bokaro Steel Plant. This oil traveled 150 km downstream to Durgapur. For a week after the incident five million people drank contaminated water in which the oil levels were 40 to 80 times higher than the permissible value of 0.03 mg/l.

The Damodar Action Plan an end-of-the pipe pollution treatment scheme seeks to tackle effluents. One viable option could be to switch to less polluting industries and cleaner technology. This would need strong Government initiative and also a mass movement by people.

Urban center use enormous quantities of energy. In the past, urban housing required relatively smaller amounts of energy than we use at present. Traditional housing in India required very little temperature adjustments as the material used, such as wood and bricks, handled temperature changes better than the current concrete, glass and steel of ultra-modern building.

Cities are the main centres of economic growth, trade, education, innovations and employment. Until recently a big majority of human population lived in rural areas and their economic activities cantered on agriculture, cattle, rearing, fishing, hunting or some cottage industry.

It was some two hundred years ago with the dawn of industrial era the cities showed rapid development. Now about 50% of the world population lives in urban areas and- there is increasing movement of rural folk to cities in search of employment.

The urban growth is so fast that it is becoming difficult to accommodate all the industrial, commercial and residential facilities within a limited municipal boundary. As a result there is spreading of the cities into the sub-urban or rural areas too, this phenomenon is known as “urban sprawl”.

In developing countries too urban growth is very fast and in most of the cases it is uncontrollable and unplanned growth. In contrast to the rural set up, the urban set up is densely populated, consumes a lot of energy and materials and generates a lot of waste.

Energy use is closely related to development in industry, transport, communication, commercial, household and agricultural activities. The energy requirement of urban population is much higher than that of rural ones. This is because urban people have a higher standard of life and their lifestyle demands more energy inputs in every sphere of life.

In urban areas the need of energy is increasing by leaps and bounds. Moreover, countries use energy in an uneven manner in the world. In developed countries the amount of energy used is much more compared to developing countries.

Industrialised developed countries use energy for these purposes:

(i) Residential and commercial

(ii) Industrial

(iii) Transportation.

The two sources of energy are renewable and non-renewable energy sources. Optimal usage shall be the ideal mode for energy conservation. For an integrated management system we should have renewable energy as well as non-renewable energy sources.

At local level, biomass energy tapping, use of solar cooker, solar water heaters and solar photovoltaic cells must be encouraged. This shall be utilised besides the conventional energy from fossil fuels, hydel, thermal and nuclear power resources.

Due to high population density and high energy demanding activities, the urban problems related to energy are much more magnified as compared to rural population.

There are several hurdles that play havoc in energy conservation. They are:

(i) Lack of awareness

(ii) Attitude

(iii) Lack of technical knowledge

(iv) Market distortion

(v) Capital shortages.

Regardless of the level of economic development, it is essential to realize sustainable growth of the economies in order to maintain a world order, and restrictions on energy supply which may hinder a sustainable economic development should be avoided at all costs. At the same time, however, inefficient final energy consumption which may result in aggravation of the global environmental problems should not be allowed.

Social Issues and the Environment

Global warming and climate change

The carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere has already exceeded 400 parts per million (NOAA) (with total "long-term" GHG exceeding 455 parts per million) (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report). This level is considered a tipping point. "The amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is already above the threshold that can potentially cause dangerous climate change.

Major current environmental issues may include climate change, pollution, environmental degradation, and resource depletion etc. The conservation movement lobbies for protection of endangered species and protection of any ecologically valuable natural areas, genetically modified foods and global warming.

Solutions

Sustainability is the key to prevent or reduce the effect of environmental issues. There is now clear scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainably, and that an unprecedented collective effort is needed to return human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits. For humans to live sustainably, the Earth's natural resources must be used at a rate at which they can be replenished (and by limiting global warming).

Concerns for the environment have prompted the formation of green parties, political parties that seek to address environmental issues. Initially these were formed in Australia, New Zealand and Germany but are now present in many other countries.