ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND IT'S EFFECTS ON OUR HEALTH
Daily, while I walk through the streets, board vehicles that would convey me from one place to another and stop by to do certain things at some locations, I notice how Unbothered many people are about their environment and it's cleanliness. It saddens me to see people eat foods in a very dirty, unhealthy and irritating environments and still come out boldly to say "chai, iya Nkechi's food too sweet and e dey full belle". Really????
Growing up as a child, one thing my parents doesn't stop themselves from scolding us thoroughly for is if they slightly find out how untidy and dirty we've been for some time. It causes a stir in the family, till we began to understand that there's nothing next to cleanliness and being conscious of our environment.
As a matter of fact, my just concluded IT in a food production company and because I was privileged to work in the microbial laboratory for a while increased my understanding about so many microorganisms that affects our body systems, some kills faster while some takes their time to reproduce and spreads all over the body systems to do more harm than we could ever imagine. And currently, according to medical researchers and scientists, microorganisms are now very resistant to antibiotics, which makes them thrive in the human body.
This brings us to learning about our environment today, and I wanna enjoin us all not to just read and but also put whatever you've learnt here into practice so we can live in an healthy environment with good health.
WHATS IS ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION??
Environmental pollution is an unwarranted mass or energy discharge into the planet's natural resource pools, such as the air, water, or land, causes long- or short-term harm to the environment, which has a detrimental effect on the health of all living things both quantitatively and qualitatively. Environmental pollution is a measurement of the contamination of the physical and biological (living and nonliving) components of the earth in a way and to a degree that has a negative impact on the normal, ideal environmental processes. Pollutants can cause either main or secondary harms, with the former being quantifiable and its effects being tracked. On the other hand, the secondary harm results in a minor disruption to the delicately balanced biological food web pyramid.
The water, air, and soil of the environment have changed as a result of several pollution sources that have been discovered over the last few decades. Pollutants are substances that contribute to pollution. A pollutant can be any chemical (toxic metals, radionuclides, organophosphorus compounds, gases), geochemical (dust, sediment), biological organism or product, or physical (heat, radiation, sound wave) substance that is released into the environment by humans either intentionally or unintentionally and has actual or potential negative, harmful, unpleasant, or inconvenient effects. These unwanted impacts could be direct (affecting man) or indirect, mediated by resource organisms or climate change. Pollution may be classed in the following ways depending on the types of pollutants used and how those pollutants affect other environmental elements. They include;
1 . Pollution of the Air: The health of people is negatively impacted by high emissions of gaseous pollutants. Through human activity, the atmosphere is polluted to the tune of almost a billion tonnes. The bronchitis, chest congestion, and wheezing that are most frequently and severely impacted by gaseous pollutants. By lowering exposure to contaminants, these impacts can be mitigated.
2 . Pollution of the water: Throughout the water supply systems, drinking water contains chemical pollutants in concentrations that range from barely perceptible to those that may be dangerous to human health. Since scientists are still learning how chemicals interact with the body to harm cells and create disease, it is challenging to determine the health impacts of these contaminants. Nausea, lung irritation, skin rash, vomiting, dizziness, and even death are a few acute health impacts of water pollution.
3 . Soil/land pollution: Soil is the foundation of agriculture. It is necessary for all crops grown for both human and animal consumption. In some ways, the rapid corrosion is causing us to lose this valuable natural resource. In addition, massive amounts of sludge and other waste products from brand-new waste treatment facilities, as well as contaminated water, are contributing to or directly causing soil pollution. Control procedures must be implemented in a herculean manner in order to sustain the soil's fertility and productivity, consequently enhancing the health of all living things.
4 . Radioactive pollution: Radiation exposure has a variety of effects on health, depending on the energy, kinds, and quantity of radiation, the person's age, and the portion of the body that is exposed. The following biological effects in people may be brought on by ionizing radiation.
Carcinogenic effects: This means that Ionizing radiation makes most cancers more likely.
Mutagenic effects: The genetic material is altered as a result of mutagenic effects, and the mutations are passed on to the progeny.
Teratogenic effects: Birth abnormalities originate from this, which interfere with the embryo's ability to develop normally.
LOVE, LIGHT ✌️
