Malicious Diseases Caused by Land & Soil Pollution

Land pollution or soil contamination is the degradation and deterioration of the earth’s crust due to the abnormal and excessive concentration of toxic substances. The diseases caused by land pollution are jeopardising human health more and more each day. As a result, it has =become one of the most important environmental concerns in recent times.

Read through to know about the wrath of land pollution on human health!

Land pollution offers a broad spectrum of threats to plants, animals and human health. The pollutants alter the soil composition, creating an unhealthy soil environment that leads to multiple infectious diseases.

Contaminants present in soil result in long term diseases like -

1. Cancer

Lung cancer can result from inhaling asbestos over a long time. Asbestos is a common soil contaminant. Inhaled asbestos reaches lungs, accumulating in the lung tissue for a long time which causes severe ailments like lung carcinoma, parenchymal asbestosis and pleural mesothelioma. Furthermore, dioxins are also responsible for contracting cancer.

2. Arsenicosis

Consuming arsenic for a long time results in chronic arsenic poisoning. Excess intake of arsenic also leads to gastrointestinal tract, liver, heart damage.

Drinking impure water is the primary source of arsenic. In addition, chronic exposure to it results in skin lesions like hyperpigmentation, keratosis etc.

3. Skeletal Fluorosis

Skeletal Fluorosis is a disease caused by land pollution. Fluoride present in the soil accumulates in the bone over a long time. Early symptoms include pain and stiffness in the joint. Crippling skeletal fluorosis includes osteosclerosis, calcification of tendons and ligaments and other bone deformities.

4. Kidney and Liver Damage

Presence of heavy metals like cadmium that reaches the human food chain causes kidney and liver damage. It also results in low bone density.

Cadmium ruptures the kidneys, resulting in excessive production of protein in urination. Consuming mercury also leads to liver and kidney damage and affects the central nervous system and our gastric system.

Furthermore, contaminants like dioxin, arsenic are toxic and carcinogenic, leading to reproductive and developmental damage. Developing fetuses are vulnerable to dioxin exposure and are highly affected by it. The presence of lead in the soil affects the nervous system, specifically that of children.

In addition to these, there are several short term effects of these harmful chemicals on the human body, including headaches, nausea and vomiting, irritation of skin and eyes, fatigue and weakness.

Pollutants are undesirable substances found in the environment resulting from natural phenomena and reckless human activities. Types of pollutants that degrade the land are as follows:

1. Arsenic

It is primarily available in the form of arsenic sulphide, arsenide on the earth’s crust. Arsenic is released in the environment through natural phenomena like volcanic eruptions and exudates from vegetation—human activities including metal smelting, mining, pesticide production. Furthermore, mass production of antifungal wood preservatives is a massive industrial source of arsenic that pollutes the soil.

2. Lead

Leads are produced in the environment via multiple ways like petrol, paint, and several industrial processes. Lead has hazardous health effects.

Petrol containing lead is the primary source of lead pollution. Humans inhale lead-laden atmospheric air; excess inhalation results in increased blood lead levels.

3. Mercury

It is primarily available in the form of methyl mercury. Prolonged exposure to it affects brain development and reduces one’s IQ level.

Mercury emissions can result from natural phenomena, such as forest fires. Moreover, mining and smelting, cement production add to the emission of mercury in the environment.

4. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon

These organic compounds contain one carbon and hydrogen atom. It is available in the form of naphthalene, phenalene. Extended exposure to these also results in cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Through vehicle emission, shale oil extraction, etc, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are spread in our environment.

5. Pesticides

Uncontrolled application of pesticide poisons the soil: pesticides damage soil biomass and microorganisms like bacteria, earthworms present in it.

Pesticides include insecticides, fungicides and herbicides, which kill and control weeds, insects and unwanted plants. However, these pesticides affect our central nervous system, cause diseases in the immune system and cancer.

On the whole, contaminants like heavy metals (arsenic, antimony, thallium etc.) and  organic pollutants contribute majorly to degrading the soil and thereby spreading infectious diseases. Some of the xenobiotics contribute to land pollution.

Land pollution has a disastrous effect on the environment and human life. The harmful effects are as follows -

• Young children, while playing in the ground, come in close contact with the soil and are likely to consume it. Once consumed, the contaminants will get into the digestive system; then affect the liver, which can have an adverse health effect.

• While working amidst polluted ground, workers inhale these pollutants, which in turn affects the lungs.

• Land pollution can act as a breeding ground for rodents and mosquitoes and spread diseases like malaria, dengue etc.

• It affects the environment on multiple levels. One of the most alarming effects of soil pollution is water pollution. These pollutants seep into the ground or wash into water bodies, affecting aquatic and human life. 

• Moreover, soil pollution contributes to air pollution as the cumulus fume from the dumped waste is highly hazardous to the environment affecting human health, resulting in lung and breathing trouble.

Soil pollutants exist in all three forms (solid, liquid and gaseous) and can enter the human body via several passages and result in perilous consequences.

The risk factors for contracting the above-mentioned diseases caused by land pollution varies depending on one’s age; people with pre-existing ailments are more susceptible to contracting severe conditions and have severe health issues. It depends on the route of exposure and the time for which a person experiences exposure to pollutants.

Soil pollution is a global threat; therefore, we need to adhere to specific preventive measures to curb diseases caused by land pollution -

• We must limit the use of plastic bags and shift to degradable alternatives like paper and cloth. 
• Treat sewage properly before using it in agricultural land.  
• Similarly, plan a dumping ground away from residential areas to remote, uninhabited regions.
• Responsible individuals should dump biomedical waste separately and incinerate them in proper incinerators.
• Furthermore, expediting reforestation will bind soil and increase soil's fertility. Moreover, it helps in regenerating soil health.

On the whole, soil acts as a natural sink for pollutants. These contaminants are precarious to human health. Cumulative effects are observable after long term exposure to the pollutants. It’s high time to consider the disastrous outcome of soil pollution. Education and preventive measures are the only way to reduce diseases caused by land pollution.