ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT TOXICITY

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT TOXICITY

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT TOXICITY

Environmental Pollution

As people industry expected the negative impact of highly developed enough to prevent negative, leading to the three global crises: the shortage of resources, environmental pollution and ecological damage. Human constant discharge of pollutants into the environment. However, due to air, water, soil, diffusion, dilution, oxidation-reduction, bio- degradation effect. Pollutant concentration and toxicity of natural decrease, a phenomenon called the environmental self-purification. If the discharge to the environment than the self-purification capacity, adverse changes in environmental quality will occur, endangering human health and survival, which occurred in environmental pollution.

There are various categories of environmental pollution:

Divided by environmental factors: air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution.

Divided by human activities: industrial pollution, urban environmental pollution, agricultural pollution.

Environmental pollution caused by nature, source: chemical pollution, biological contamination, physical pollution (noise pollution, radiation, electric magnetic wave) of solid waste pollution, energy pollution.

Hydrocarbons (Hydrocarbons) is composed entirely of carbon and hydrogen compounds. They are a subset of organic compounds. Hydrocarbons from methane too many types of polymers such as polystyrene products. As carbon and carbon bonding is the most powerful of all chemical substances, the most durable long-chain carbon, its use is quite extensive. Hydrocarbons have different forms, such as gas (methane and propane), liquids (n-hexane and benzene), waxes (paraffin) or polymers (polyethylene and polystyrene) and so on. Hydrocarbons can be made into plastic (Pojman, 2005)

There are four main types of hydrocarbons: saturated hydrocarbons is a simple one-touch binding carbon atoms; double bonds of unsaturated hydrocarbons; naphthenic ring by carbon and carbon-bound; aromatic hydrocarbons are called aromatic ring contains a chemical structure, benzene is the most typical example. Earth's major source of fossil fuel hydrocarbons, such as coal, oil and natural gas. This is also the main source of energy for modern society. 85% of world electricity is generated by burning hydrocarbons, and hydrocarbon fuels often used in cars, trucks, trains, aircraft and ships (Pojman, 2000).

Human Toxicity

In a recent two hundred years, has become a very successful hydrocarbon fuel source, but also reduce the increasing use of voice. Burning hydrocarbons produce smoke and soot, and cause environmental pollution, such as acid rain. More seriously, the hydrocarbons release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere will burn, causing global warming. In addition, the endless exploitation of hydrocarbons cannot be made to the current use of speed, does not take a few centuries will dry up. All these factors require the development of modern humans to find new sources of energy. Such as wind and nuclear energy (McNeill, 2000).

The characterization of the toxicity of chemicals to humans, animals or the environment, based on epidemiological data and experimental studies. Extrapolating the results of these studies to estimate the impact from contact of pollution on health is delicate, because it is usually from exposure to toxic long term at very low concentrations, in addition, to consider the possibility of combined effects of several pollutants (Lawrence, 2007).

Pollution is the degradation of the natural environment by foreign substances, ...