soil contamination

Ecologa

2022

We explain what soil pollution is and what its causes and consequences are. Some examples and possible solutions.

Prevention and responsibility in human activities is the right path.

What is soil pollution?

When we talk about soil contamination, as in the cases of the Water and of the atmosphere, we refer to the loss of its natural quality due to the presence of substances alien or toxic, which change its chemical properties and make it incompatible with life, both natural (wild fauna and flora) like the human (farming, gardening, etc).

These polluting substances can be of the type liquid, solid or even gaseous, and usually cause chemical reactions unpredictable or uncontrollable, contrary to the stability necessary for the development of life. Some of these pollutants are usually the Petroleum, pesticides and agrochemicals, industrial waste or garbage, when not radioactive substances or metals heavy, the result of the industrial and energy work of the human being.

Some of the common symptoms of air pollution I usually have to do with the physical and observable presence of debris, but above all with the absence of plant life (and sometimes animal), the destruction of the upper layers of the Earth crust or degradation of scenery. All these symptoms usually lead to the deterioration of the Health of the inhabitants of the area, when not to extinctions or migrations animals.

On the other hand, soil contamination usually spreads to other elements, such as water and soil. air, given that the rains "wash" the soil, taking all the polluting substances to the rivers, seas and underground waters that will then deteriorate other ecosystems.

Causes of soil contamination

As has been said, soil contamination usually responds to the poor disposal of processed waste from the industrial, commercial or energy activity of the human being, What plastics, chemicals, toxins or solvents. The extraction of hydrocarbons (and especially methods aggressive like fracking) is also an important source of soil damage and contamination.

In many cases, the origin of these substances is military, such as the mines of war or the material spread by bombs of all kinds (explosive, incendiary, atomic, etc.), beyond the physical damage generated by the impact.

Other possible, although minor, sources of contamination that are not linked to human work are Volcanic eruptions, geological faults that expose heavy subsurface materials, or impacts from meteorites.

Consequences of soil contamination

Soil contamination affects its absorptive capacity causing flooding.

The main consequence of soil contamination has to do, as we said, with the loss of its fertility and its incompatibility with animal, plant and human life. Contaminated soils often remain barren and empty for as long as it takes for nature and the elements clean the toxic substances or break them down into other harmless elements, and even then the recovery of the soil will take time.

On the other hand, contaminated soils can see their water absorption capacity adulterated, producing unexpected floods or, on the contrary, withered soils and pH unsustainable (very acid or very basic), which in the presence of water give rise to toxic and deadly substances.This often leads to the devastation of landscapes.

Solutions for soil contamination

Depending on the specific case, contaminated soils can be decontaminated, either by allowing time to pass until the harmful elements are dissolved by the rain or dragged to other geographies, or by actively applying materials that counteract the toxic effect. Many of them are biological in nature, such as microorganisms either floors, capable of fixing or degrading pollutants.

In general, however, prevention and responsibility in human activities is the best remedy for this matter.

Examples of soil contamination

Some examples of soil contamination are:

  • After the explosion of the nuclear reactor of the city Chernobyl in 1986, the winds spread radioactive particles throughout the field, which transmitted the poison to the flora and all agricultural crops. Layers of radioactive soil had to be buried in huge pits to keep them away from life on the surface. There are still uninhabitable and uncultivable areas, such as the city of Pripyat, Ukraine.
  • Brazilian illegal miners, called garimpeiros, deteriorate the soil of the Amazon Rainforest in search of gold to sell. To do this, they use large jets of water that liquefy the soil and also amounts of mercury, which poison the soil and the water.
  • In the Collstrop region of Denmark, entire segments of soil were contaminated and rendered unusable by arsenic and chromium between 1963 and 2007, when the issue was remedied using waste water treatment.
!-- GDPR -->