What are the pollutant agents of the water

To start, as a scheme or summary, we give a List of the main agent pollutants of waterboth groundwater and surface and both sweet and salted.

• Sewage.
• Heavy metals
• Radioactivity
• Pesticides
• Hydrocarbons
• Pathogenic microorganisms.
• Emerging pollutants.

In the following lines, we talk in detail of each of these Types of aquatic pollutant agents.

Most human activities generate wastewater that cannot be returned to aquatic ecosystems without first treating them. These waters can have from abundant amounts of organic matter, oils or fats to very toxic and harmful substances for the environment such as heavy or chemical metals from the industry.

Although normally, the sewage They are collected to water treatment plants, in many cases the treatments are not enough. In other cases, populations and industries pour wastewater directly to rivers or other aquatic ecosystems because they do not have treatment plants, either because it is cheaper to get rid of the waste without treating it or by possible spills or leaks.

One of the most important consequences is Eutrophicization of the waters due to the increase in nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus (detergents, for example) and the amount of organic matter.

Its presence is closely related to industry and mining. Within the Pollution with heavy metals Metals such as chrome, copper, cadmium, mercury, lead and silver are found; and metalloids such as arsenic or selenium. Its existence in water can endanger health human and that of other living beings for their extreme toxicity. They can have neurotoxic, mutagenic, teratogenic effects and, in addition, can induce cancer and congenital defects, among other results.

To learn more about this topic we recommend reading this other ecology article in which we talk about how heavy metal contamination occurs in the water.

It is mainly due to leaks or accidents in nuclear plants or nuclear energy plants, or for the intentional undone of radioactive wastereferring to waste in nature without control, not to nuclear cemeteries in which, in principle, it is controlled.

It is a rare type of pollution but Very dangerous If it happens, it is extremely difficult to contain and repair the damage caused.

Keep in mind that the harmful effects of this pollutant will depend on several factors such as the dose or amount of radioactive material, the sensitivity of each person or animal, as well as exposure to this material, both in distance and in greater or lesser protection.

It can produce from acute and less serious effects, such as general discomfort, vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss and skin burns, until they are guilty of serious health problems and long term or chronic, such as malformations of the fetus, different types of cancer (especially thyroid and leukemia cancer), injuries that do not cure or sores, produce abortions due to the poisoning of the mother and the fetus, among many others It produces changes in the structure of cells exposed to pollution.

However, it is important to note that The dose and the type of exposure are keybecause these are the negative effects of great exposure or quantity, it is true that radioactivity is present in our environment in different ways, it is used as a treatment for cancer (radiotherapy) and is also used in radiographs, something very common.

In addition, here we relate it to being a pollutant of water, but if there is an accident or discharge it becomes a pollutant of the entire environment in a more or less concrete area.

Pesticides include a wide range of Insecticides, herbicides and fungicides. They are usually used in agriculture to combat insect pests, but are also used in farms and domestic animals to prevent infections and other diseases. These substances can reach rivers, lakes and groundwater by leaching, by superficial runoff especially after raining or for infiltration in the field. Many of these pesticides have been prohibited due to their dangerous effects on human health such as organochlorine insecticides and organophosphorus (for example, DDT).

Although others have developed that To Prori They could be less harmful to health and ecosystems because of their specificity (pyrethroids, neonicotinoids), the truth is that many of its effects are yet to be discovered. The same way, They could be toxic and damage health of aquatic ecosystems and living beings, including human beings.

Hydrocarbons Like gasoline, diesel or oil, among others, they are very polluting. They can reach ecosystems by spillslike the one that occurred in Galicia in 2002 when an oil ship (the Prestige) sank against the coast releasing tons of oil; Thus, these discharges, accidental or not, becomes a natural disasters caused by man. On the other hand, when it rains, the water cleans the streets and roads and, therefore, can drag the hydrocarbon spots that may be in them.

Depending on the type of hydrocarbon (volatile, light or heavy), this may be more or less difficult to eliminate, but CONSEQUENCES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT They are very harmful and ecosystems need a lot of time to recover, in many cases overcoming the ten years. They can have different Toxic effects In organisms depending on the type and amount of hydrocarbon and can even die by suffocation in the case of black tides, but it is not only the damage to the organisms, numerous habitats are also destroyed and can even affect the socio -economic activities of the affected areas.

In water there are also natural microorganisms that can be toxic to human beings.

However, activities such as intense livestock or wastewater pollution can increase the number of Pathogenic microorganisms in watersuch as coliform bacteria and enterobacteria. Its presence in the water indicates that there has been a Pollution by feces and/or animal and human waste. Water consumption contaminated with these types of organisms can lead to serious health problems such as diarrhea, infections and even death as happens, unfortunately, in many poorly developed countries.

Emerging pollutants are those unknown pollutants so far or not recognized as such. The presence in the environment of emerging pollutants, in many cases is not new, but are at such low concentrations that in the past were not possible to detect. Currently, with the development of new analytical techniques and methods, its detection and quantification in the middle is possible.

Among emerging pollutants are everyday products. These are some Examples of emerging pollutants:

• Drugs (ibuprofen, paracetamol, antibiotics).
• Perflined compounds (nonstick pans, papers for wrapping food, cleaning products, anti-capital foams).
• Hormones
• Abuse drugs.
• Care and personal hygiene products.
• To this list have recently added nanoparticles and microplastics.

Nanoparticles

The nanoparticles They are microscopic, of the order of a millmillonese part of one meter and usually measure between 1 and 100 nanometers. Currently, these occur from different materials and with different purposes. They can be found in clothes for athletes in order to prevent bad odors to permeate the tissues, in suns or sunscreens, in the construction industry, as well as in the automotive industry or also have great potential to become a vehicle to serve to transport drugs that improve the effectiveness of treatment. Nanoparticles can be of natural origin (organic matter or volcanic materials), can come from human activity (diesel or fume emissions) or have been able to be specially manufactured as carbon nanomaterials (fullerene, nanotubes) or metallic (gold nanoparticles, silver, metal oxides). The latter have increased considerably in recent years and have been found even in domestic wastewater.

Microplastics

Finally, The microplasticseither those that come from the degradation of other plastics or manufactured thus (glitter, particles in cosmetics, etc.) are those that have a size less than 1 mm. They have been detected both in marine and sweetacuícol ecosystems. They can affect the endocrine system of fish, they can obstruct the respiratory tract and digestive systems of many animals, can produce wounds and infections, and also accumulate pollutants that are present in the environment aggravating the problem of the existence of plastics in the environment.

Here we explain more about what microplastics are: definition and types.

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