The term industrial pollution must not be new to you. You must have come across it in the newspapers, magazines and TV. Even children in school are taught about industrial pollution, its causes and effects.
You must know industry is the widest source of pollution but to our bad, industries have become the core of our society. Industry develops as the man progresses in terms of technology and it is the leading characteristic of modernity. Therefore, it becomes mandatory to establish industries.
The industry has contributed to environmental pollution in a number of ways. Industry gives out a lot of air pollutants, major ones being carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and the ozone. Then there are water pollutants too, like petroleum and oil spills in the water bodies, harmful radiations and dangerous heavy metals. These pollutants disrupt the ecosystem and life on earth by making the living conditions unfit for humans to survive.
Industrial pollution leads to global warming due to the emission of harmful greenhouse gases like the CH4 and the CO2. Global warming leads to a number of environmental hazards like melting of the glaciers and the snow covered mountains. This would increase the level of the water bodies and cause the havoc of floods. It also poses various health issues for human life, like malaria, cholera and others. The air pollution caused by the industries due the emission of harmful gases like the CO2, sulphur, and nitrogen causes hazards like the acid rain leading to many skin problems in humans. The industrial waste that is dumped in the water bodies contaminates the water and disturbs the aquatic life. Some other effects of the industrial pollution include deterioration of the buildings and the monuments and occupational hazards like asbestosis, pneumoconiosis and the like.
A segment of environment toxicology called the industrial toxicology assesses the toxic effects of the chemicals and raw materials used in the industries. It suggests the amount of these industrial requisites that are safe to use. A toxic substance is the one that demonstrates the potential to induce cancer, tumors and neoplastic effects in man or animals.
In today's society which is technology driven, where we cannot start our day without the laptops and the cellular phones and where we do not care about the needs of the environment to drive around in the most luxurious cars, the industrial pollution is not easy to control. Most of us forget that the environment is the lone savior of mankind and we are doing our every bit to deteriorate it. There should be no law to enforce the rules of environment protection rather it should be a realization from within. We all, as humans should endeavor to make this planet worth living in by making smart decisions to let a healthy environment and the industry develop hand in hand.
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