Pollution

• Write a note on Bhopal Gas Tragedy

  • It was the worst industrial accident that happened on 3rd December, 1984
  • 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked into the atmosphere from Union Carbide's pesticide factory in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh
  • 3500 people were killed and 40000 affected
  • the gas leak engulfed the city blinding people, choking their breathing and suffocating them.
  • the gas affected the tissues of their eyes and lungs and attacked nervous system.
  • women lost their unborn children
• Eutrophication

  Due to water pollution, the process of photosynthesis is obstructed. This leads to Eutrophication. The process of addition of substances in a water body through fertilizers or sewage. It causes depletion of oxygen and reduces the quality of water.
• Bioaccumulation

  The phenomenon of concentrated toxic deposition at the higher trophic level.
• Biomagnification

  The increase in concentration of toxic substances along the food chain. Toxic substances at the level of primary producers get concentrated at each trophic level as they move up the food chain.
• Mercury:

  • Damages the nervous system, liver, eyes, and causes deformities in infants
  • Causes insomnia, tremors, and gingivitis
• Methyl mercury:

  • Causes Minamata disease, a form of mercury poisoning
  • Disturbs the sensory and auditory nerves
  • Causes muscular rigidity and involuntary movement
  • In severe cases, leads to death
• Fluoride:

  • Causes fluorosis
  • Can cause humpback, knock knee, etc.
• Arsenic:

  • Causes nausea, unconsciousness, vomiting, stomach burns, gastroenteritis, black foot, etc.
• Pesticides:

  • Causes tumors, chromosomal alterations, brain damage, impotency, and cancer
• Minamata disease was announced as an outcome of a pollution disease caused by the Chisso Co. Ltd, Japan
• Chisso Corporation dumped 27 tonnes of mercury compounds into Minamata Bay
• Thousands of people whose diet included fish from the bay developed symptoms of methyl mercury poisoning
• Minamata Disease was caused by eating large quantities of fish and shellfish polluted by methyl mercury in factory waste water
• The methyl mercury that enters the body attacks the nervous system, leading to symptoms such as:

  • Numbness
  • Unsteadiness in legs and hands
  • Ringing in ears
  • Narrowing vision
  • Loss of hearing
  • Slurred speech
  • Headaches
  • Loss of smell and taste
  • Forgetfulness
• Congenital Minamata disease patients were born with handicaps after being exposed to methyl mercury while in the wombs of their mothers who consumed polluted fish