What are pollutant agents

Really small -scale pollution has always been among living beings. There are studies that make evident that high levels of contamination by the fires made. There was also contamination by metals at the hands of ancient civilizations such as China, Greek and Roman. Even so, this pollution did not put the balance of the planet at risk because it was very small and located.

The first contamination records that are a Environmental problem and the functioning of ecosystems are given Shortly after starting the first industrial revolution. These records have not stopped growing to this day due to the increase in factories, burning of fossil fuels, increased waste due to overpopulation, chemical spills, etc. Given this, what awaits us in the future?

When we talk about polluting agents we refer to those substances that are in the natural environment and that cause harmful effects in the same environment and on the health of living beings that inhabit it. We can find Three types pollutant agents: physical, chemical and biological.

• Chemical pollutants: They are substances that can be natural or of artificial, organic or inorganic origin, which is present in the natural environment and can be absorbed by the body of living beings causing harmful effects, both in the short and long term. In this other post you can learn more about chemical pollution: what is, causes and consequences.
• Physical pollutants: These with their single presence in the environment, modify the quality of its components. They are characterized by exchanging energy between the environment and living beings. Some examples of this type of contamination are: noise, radiation, thermal agents, among others.
• Biological pollutants: They are organisms capable of causing air degradation, water, soil and food while performing their life cycle. They are a danger to many living beings, since they can generate infectious or parasitic diseases. Some examples of types of biological pollutants are viruses and pathogenic bacteria.

If you are interested, you can consult this other article about the types of environmental pollutants to learn more about it. Next, those pollutants of the environment will be shown, classified as pollutants of water, soil, air and food.

The groundwater and superficial waters, as well as all bodies of fresh and salty water, are affected by different types of pollutants. The main water pollutant agents are:

• Sewage: These are loaded with toxic substances, organic matter, heavy or chemical metals. It should be treated in purifying plants, although the reality is that many industries and populations do not have plants to treat them or because they find it cheaper not to treat them, they end up seeing rivers and seas. If you want to learn more about this problem, you can consult this other post about what the wastewater is and how they are classified.
• Heavy metals: They are very toxic and can induce diseases such as cancer or mutations. Among them we find cadmium, chromium, mercury, copper, silver and lead. These metals are related to mining and industrial activity. Here we tell you much more about how heavy metal contamination occurs in the water.
• Pesticides: Agricultural activity needs pesticides to face insect pests, in addition to using them in livestock to avoid infections and diseases in animals. These are a danger to groundwater, since they reach them by leaching, some of them have prohibited themselves with the passage of time since they are very harmful to human health.
• Pathogenic microorganisms: These may already exist naturally in the water, although the contamination of water by wastewater can increase their number. These microorganisms can cause diseases such as infections, diarrhea and even death.
• Hydrocarbons: Among these are gasoline, diesel or oil, they are transported in ships, which can produce the sea by accidents or leaks. They are very difficult to eliminate, in addition to being very toxic by destroying numerous habitats.
• Emerging pollutants: These refer to the presence of medicines, drugs, hygiene products, microplastics, cleaning products, etc. They are those pollutants that could not be detected before, but thanks to technological advances now they can be detected, or that a few decades ago they did not exist. Know more about emerging pollutants: definition, examples and how they affect us.
• Radioactive agents: Mainly the origin comes from nuclear plants, due to an accident or escape, sometimes radioactive waste has also been able to be illegally, to get rid of them. Perhaps it is one of the most dangerous pollutants, since it is very difficult to contain and eliminate. Here you can learn more about radioactive contamination: causes, consequences and solutions.

If you seek to expand your knowledge about water pollution more, we encourage you to read this other articles related to this issue: what are the pollutants of water.

The soil can be very contaminated by people’s actions. These are the main soil pollutant agents:

• Pesticides: All pesticide products such as insecticides, herbicides or fungicides used in agricultures and livestock, seriously harms the ground.
• Heavy metals: The accumulation of these metals in the soil, above all, of the mining activity. They are very harmful to the organism of living beings.
• Garbage accumulation: The accumulation in landfills, makes it begin to produce the fermentation of organic waste, causing infiltrations in the soil of toxic substances.

Expand this information by consulting our article on what are the contaminating agents of the soil.

We could make a long list of all polluting agents that affect the air. In short, we can say that these are the air or atmosphere pollutants:

• Suspension particles: These are very small and that is why they are so harmful to living beings, since they can penetrate more easily into their organism, causing them diseases. An example of these particles is nitrogen dioxide.
• Greenhouse gases: such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, CFC or chlorofluorocarbons, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane. Ozone comes from chemical reactions from other components such as hydrocarbons. The CFC was used to produce aerosols, refrigerators and air conditioners, although its use was prohibited for being very dangerous. Methane has its main focus on livestock and other gases, proceed mainly due to combustion activities. Some of them such as CO2 or CH4 were already in the atmosphere naturally, the problem comes when they begin to increase by anthropic activities. Discover more about what gases produce the greenhouse effect and where they come with this other article.

To learn more about this topic, we recommend you take these other interesting articles:

• Types of air pollution.
• That that an air pollutant.
• What are the pollutants of the air.

These are the Food pollutant agents:

• Living organisms: Bacteria, fungi and other parasites can begin to appear in food at a given time, for not being well preserved or leaving them too long without eating from the moment we acquire them. Currently, this is completely controlled if food hygiene and conservation guidelines are followed. However, surely, you will have ever seen a small worm in a fruit or a small insect in a vegetable.
• Natural pollution: They are toxins that are found naturally in food and that if we do not eat them correctly they can be harmful to living beings. For example, eating raw potato is dangerous for the human being, it already contains a toxic substance called Solanine just below the skin, so when we eat potato we must do it when it is cooked and without skin.
• Pesticides and pesticides: The use of these in agriculture and livestock make food contaminated, which in the end end in the trophic chain reaching animals and humans.

Learn more about this topic with this other post about the types of contamination in food.

If you want to read more articles similar to What are pollutant agentswe recommend that you enter our pollution category.