Sources of Pollutants

A pollutant is any substance that, when added to the environment, has a negative impact on the environment and the organisms that depend on it for survival. Five types of pollution include water pollutants, air pollutants, soil pollutants, light pollutants and noise pollutants.

Water Pollution
Water pollution may result from a variety of sources. Common sources of water pollution include oil spills, waste dumped at sea or runoff from agricultural or industrial sites. Oil spills harm wildlife including birds and sea mammals such as otters. Waste, including plastic bags, fishing line and other trash items dumped at sea can accumulate in areas and can cause animals to become entangled and die. Runoff from agricultural sites may introduce pesticides or fertilizers into water sources. Pesticides can lead to fish kills; fertilizers can lead to algal blooms that choke out naturally occurring plants, thus reducing the diversity of organisms in the water source. Other sources of water pollution include the introduction of raw sewage, which can lead to severe intestinal problems and disease in those who drink the contaminated water.

Air Pollution
Two major sources of air pollution are emissions from vehicles and industrial sources. The burning of fossil fuels (carbon-based fuels, including coal and petroleum) introduces particulates into the air, thus reducing overall air quality. These particulates may form a hazy layer called smog that hangs over many industrial cities. Air pollution can lead to severe respiratory problems including asthma, lung cancer and other chronic lung ailments.

Soil Pollution
Soil pollution may result from the improper disposal of hazardous waste, industrial chemicals and/or the overuse of pesticides or insecticides. Underground storage tanks, or USTs, if improperly constructed or installed, can rupture and introduce their contents into the soil. Runoff from industrial and agricultural sources can also lead to soil pollution.

Light Pollution
Light pollution refers to the excessive use of lighting fixtures used to illuminate places at night. Large urban areas are particularly vulnerable to light pollution. This type of pollution obscures the night sky and impacts the nocturnal activities of many animal species, including migrating birds.

Noise Pollution
Noise pollution refers to excessive or disruptive human-made noises. Similar to light pollution, noise pollution is particularly a problem in urban or heavily industrial areas. In addition to potentially affecting human hearing, noise pollution also affects the activities of many animal species, including the movement of marine mammals and the nesting activities of songbirds.

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What Are Source Pollutants?

Two types of pollution dominate the planet. The first kind is source pollution, a type that occurs directly at the source where the pollutant enters the soil, water or atmosphere. The second kind is nonpoint source pollution, the type of pollution created by dumping waste created elsewhere into water resources or drifting air pollution caused by vehicles or fires. Source pollution and point source pollution refer to the same kind of environmental degradation.

Vehicles
Vehicles in large cities generate source point air pollution, particularly when the cities experience weather inversions or stagnant air conditions. Cars and trucks burning hydrocarbons emit less source point pollution than in the past, and air quality has improved in problematic cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix due to cleaner-burning vehicles. Boats tethered in harbors that leak gasoline or oil into the water are also source point polluters. Sometimes carbon monoxide collects in or near boat motors, creating a hazardous point source pollution for unsuspecting boaters.

CAFOs
Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) produce a great deal of source pollution that ranchers need to treat either on-site or transport to a treatment center before releasing the treated waste into a body of water or using the material as composted manure. Prior to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) intervention, the wastes eventually made their way into water tables, rivers, lakes and streams, degrading the water quality and quality of life for plants and fish, along with other animals.

Water Runoff
Rain creates point source pollution when storm runoff collects in storm drains and goes to lakes, rivers and streams. Some cities do not have storm drain systems but rely on retention basins. The runoff that collects in them eventually percolates into the ground water table. All the oil leaks or spilled gasoline residues from streets and driveways, chemical fertilizers and herbicides collect in the rainwater, eventually making their way into the ground water table. Some Southern California cities collect rainfall in storm sewer systems, where the water eventually flows into the Pacific Ocean, resulting in point source pollution at the end of the drainage pipe.

Fires
Forest fires create point source pollution as they burn and emit smoke in the direct vicinity of the burn. As the smoke plume moves through the atmosphere, it creates nonpoint source pollution. Cooking fires also create point source pollution. According to the World Health Organization, indoor air pollution from cooking fires is responsible for 1.6 million deaths a year. Many of these deaths occur in third world countries where wood and dung provide fuel for cooking in huts over unvented stoves. Women and small children are the most vulnerable.

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