Types of pollutants
Sediment
Inorganic nutrients
Heat (Thermal pollution)
Disease-producing microorganisms
Exotic species
Toxic organic chemicals
Heavy metals
Oxygen-demanding organic wastes
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Industrial Pollution
In the United States industry is the greatest source of pollution, accounting for more than half the volume of all water pollution and for the most deadly pollutants. Some 370,000 manufacturing facilities use huge quantities of freshwater to carry away wastes of many kinds. The waste-bearing water, or effluent, is discharged into streams, lakes, or oceans, which in turn disperse the polluting substances. In its National Water Quality Inventory, reported to Congress in 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that approximately 40?f the nation's surveyed lakes, rivers, and estuaries were too polluted for such basic uses as drinking supply, fishing, and swimming. The pollutants include grit, asbestos, phosphates and nitrates, mercury, lead, caustic soda and other sodium compounds, sulfur and sulfuric acid, oils, and petrochemicals.
In addition, numerous manufacturing plants pour off undiluted corrosives, poisons, and other noxious byproducts. The construction industry discharges slurries of gypsum, cement, abrasives, metals, and poisonous solvents. Another pervasive group of contaminants entering food chains is the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, components of lubricants, plastic wrappers, and adhesives. In yet another instance of pollution, hot water discharged by factories and power plants causes so-called thermal pollution by increasing water temperatures. Such increases change the level of oxygen dissolved in a body of water, thereby disrupting the water's ecological balance, killing off some plant and animal species while encouraging the overgrowth of others.
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Industrial Pollution
There are all of types of pollution. Industrial pollution is the air, water, and chemical pollution caused by industries. There has always been pollution. Industrial pollution began when our country went through the Industrial Revolution. Most all parts of the world are affected in some way by industrial pollution. Big cities with steel mills, power plants, heating plants, or railroad stations feel the direct effects of industrial pollution. The smog, smell, and contamination of food or water are some direct effects. Remote areas of the world are affected indirectly by industrial pollution. Even though the people in these communities may not live near any factories, plants, etc. they still are affected. The air pollution caused by the industries can carry for many miles (World Book 338).
In the 1700's and early 1800's coal powered most industries. The burning of coal fills the air with smoke and soot. Coal was a very efficient way of powering industries. It was also a big problem. The Industrial Revolution created lots of jobs for people. In fact, this period was characterized by the overcrowding of cities with factory workers. It also increases the products being made in the U.S. Steel, clothes, coal, power
. . .
There is also The Permanent Pollution Prevention Program or P4. Clothes industries have made the expense of clothes cheaper and the availability of clothes more widespread (World Book 338).
�Green Watchdog or Industrial Poodle. Every year Britain's largest factories release more than 10,000 tons of cancer-causing chemicals. Dumping chemicals into rivers and not having filters on smokestacks are just a few of the ways they pollute the environment. This program hopes to build industry, business, and governmental cooperation. People living near these plants certainly won't be celebrating the Environmental Agency's birthday and many of them have lost confidence in the Agency. P4 helps facilities start their own in-house permanent pollution prevention program to reduce pollutants and generate cost savings. It supports technology transfer between different industries. By the end of this program not only will the participants have started their own pollution prevention program but already developed most of their Source Reduction and Waste Minimization Plan required by the Waste Reduction Policy Act of 1991
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http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/638.html -----------------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollutant