Sources of Pollution

There are two main factors in the spread of pollution. These are rapid industrialization and population growth.

Sixty percent of our pollution problem is caused by people while 22-40 percent is cause by industry.

Among the major air pollutants are vehicles, cement, decaying plants, quarries, or open excavations, aggregate processors of cigar and cigarette factories, sawmills, power plant chemicals and fertilizer plants.

Motor vehicles pollute the air when their carbon fuels do not burn completely and so produce a colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas called carbon monoxide. Every day we breathe 416 tons of this deadly gas, including 26-32 tons of unburned hydro-carbon and 6.5-18.5 tons of nitrogen oxides.

Electric utilities and industrial plants also produce large amounts of sulfur oxides and smog oxidants; for instance, cement manufacturing plants emit dangerous tin dust and chemicals. These increase diseases and mortality rates especially among the older and less healthy sectors of the population.

In a similar manner, water is directly polluted by domestic sewage, indiscriminate disposal of refuse, and untreated wastes coming from industrial plants which have no anti-pollution devices.

Most of the bacteria generated in septic tanks eventually find their way into the river. Waste matter is continually coming from industrial plants, processing plants, slaughter houses, and markets located near river banks. These do not only destroy fish life in the vicinity, they clog rivers and spread pollution.