Soil Pollution

• Soil is one of the most valuable natural resources.
• It can get polluted by various means, including careless human activities.
• Necessary measures should be adopted to control soil pollution.
• Soil pollution is defined as the addition of unwanted components or removal of essential components from the soil due to human activities that can affect the survival of organisms.
• It can also be defined as the presence of materials in the soil which are harmful to the living organisms when they cross their threshold concentration levels.

Sources of soil pollution:

• Acid rain.
• Effluent water from factories, mines, and industries.
• Improper dumping of garbage and sewage wastes in soil.
• Excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers, which get accumulated in soil.
• Waste materials such as plastic and metals which do not decay easily.
• Spilling or leakage of chemicals.

Control of Soil Pollution:

• Waste management should be proper. Solid wastes should not be dumped on land. They should be recycled and proper measures for disposal of sewage should be adopted.
• Animal and domestic wastes should be used to produce biogas (an eco-friendly fuel).
• Instead of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, organic pesticides should be used.
• Liquid wastes from factories and mines should be properly treated before they are released into water bodies such as rivers and lakes.