Pollution of the surrounding area. Pollution of nature, its types and their impact on humans

This type of pollution is also called

mechanical

One of the most insidious types of environmental pollution is mechanical pollution. It would seem that there is nothing irreversible and dangerous in it: this is the entry of dust into the atmosphere, and the silting of water bodies with soils, and waste dumps. In fact, the danger is not so much the phenomenon of mechanical pollution as its scale. It is because of these huge scales that in recent years, various environmental problems have increasingly arisen, the elimination of which sometimes requires huge financial costs.

biological

Experts divide this type of pollution into bacterial and organic.

In the first case, pathogenic microorganisms are to blame, which contribute to the spread of many diseases, but the sources of organic pollution of the environment can be water pollution, waste disposal, and neglect of sewerage cleaning measures.

Bacterial contamination is the most dangerous for a person, since many pathogens of serious infectious diseases appear in this case.

geological

Geological pollution is mainly caused by the actions of the person himself: as a result of certain types of activity, landslides or landslides, flooding, subsidence of the earth's surface, and drainage of territories can form. The main reasons why this happens:

• mining;
• construction;
• vibration impact of transport;
• impact on the soil of waste and sewer waters.

Chemical

This is another serious form of pollution that results from the release of various pollutants, and such pollutants can be a variety of substances, from heavy metals to synthetic and organic compounds.

The main sources of chemical pollution are industrial enterprises and various industries, transport, and agriculture.

Pollution fee

In accordance with the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection”, enterprises, institutions, foreign citizens are charged a fee, an environmental fee. If the fee is not paid, then a fine is imposed, which can reach up to 100,000 rubles. This is written in the law. Rosprirodnadzor controls the introduction of the environmental fee.

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I would like to add and clarify at the expense of ionizing radiation. The most dangerous of course is gamma radiation. These rays have tremendous destructive power and penetrating power. A person can protect himself from them only in a deep bunker with concrete walls ten meters thick. The source of such radiation is, most often, a nuclear reactor. For comparison, it is fashionable to protect yourself from beta rays with a thin sheet of metal or a piece of thick clothing, and an ordinary thin sheet of paper will save you from alpha radiation!

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION- the introduction of new physical, chemical and biological agents that are not characteristic of it or the excess of their natural level.

Any chemical pollution is the appearance of a chemical in a place not intended for it. Pollution arising from human activity is the main factor in its harmful impact on the natural environment.

Chemical pollutants can cause acute poisoning, chronic diseases, and also have carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. For example, heavy metals can accumulate in plant and animal tissues, causing a toxic effect. In addition to heavy metals, especially dangerous pollutants are chlordioxins, which are formed from chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons used in the production of herbicides. Sources of environmental pollution with dioxins are also by-products of the pulp and paper industry, waste from the metallurgical industry, and exhaust gases from internal combustion engines. These substances are very toxic to humans and animals even at low concentrations and cause damage to the liver, kidneys, and immune system.

Along with pollution of the environment with synthetic substances new to it, great damage to nature and human health can be caused by interference in the natural cycles of substances due to active industrial and agricultural activities, as well as the formation of household waste.

In the beginning, the activities of people affected only the living substance of the land and the soil. In the 19th century, when industry began to develop rapidly, significant masses of chemical elements extracted from the bowels of the earth began to be involved in the sphere of industrial production. At the same time, not only the outer part of the earth's crust, but also natural waters and the atmosphere began to be affected.

In the middle of the 20th century some elements began to be used in such quantity, which is comparable with the masses involved in natural cycles. The low efficiency of most modern industrial technology has led to the formation of a huge amount of waste that is not disposed of in related industries, but is released into the environment. Masses of polluting waste are so great that they pose a danger to living organisms, including humans.

Although the chemical industry is not the main source of pollution (Fig. 1), it is characterized by emissions that are most dangerous for the environment, humans, animals and plants (Fig. 2). The term "hazardous waste" is applied to any kind of waste that may harm health or the environment when stored, transported, processed or disposed of. These include toxic substances, flammable wastes, corrosive wastes and other reactive substances.

Depending on the characteristics of mass transfer cycles, the pollutant component can spread to the entire surface of the planet, to a more or less significant area, or be local. Thus, environmental crises resulting from environmental pollution can be of three types - global, regional and local.

One of the problems of a global nature is the increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as a result of man-made emissions. The most dangerous consequence of this phenomenon may be an increase in air temperature due to the "greenhouse effect". The problem of breaking the global cycle of carbon mass transfer is already moving from the field of ecology to economic, social and, finally, political spheres.

In December 1997 in Kyoto (Japan) was adopted Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(dated May 1992) (). The main thing in Protocol– quantitative obligations of developed countries and countries with economies in transition, including Russia, to limit and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily CO 2 , into the atmosphere in 2008–2012. Russia's allowed level of greenhouse gas emissions for these years is 100% of the 1990 level. For the EU countries as a whole, it is 92%, for Japan - 94%. The USA was supposed to have 93%, but this country refused to participate in the Protocol, because the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions means a decrease in the level of electricity generation and, consequently, the stagnation of the industry. October 23, 2004 The State Duma of Russia decided to ratify Kyoto Protocol.

Pollution on a regional scale includes many industrial and transport wastes. First of all, it concerns sulfur dioxide. It causes the formation of acid rain, affecting plant and animal organisms and causing disease in the population. Technogenic sulfur oxides are distributed unevenly and cause damage to certain areas. Due to the transfer of air masses, they often cross the borders of states and end up in territories remote from industrial centers.

In large cities and industrial centers, the air, along with carbon and sulfur oxides, is often polluted with nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emitted by car engines and chimneys. Smog is often observed. Although these pollutions are local in nature, they affect many people who live compactly in such areas. In addition, the environment is damaged.

One of the main environmental pollutants is agricultural production. Significant masses of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are artificially introduced into the system of circulation of chemical elements in the form of mineral fertilizers. Their excess, not assimilated by plants, is actively involved in water migration. The accumulation of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in natural water bodies causes increased growth of aquatic vegetation, overgrowth of water bodies and contamination with dead plant residues and decomposition products. In addition, the abnormally high content of soluble nitrogen compounds in the soil leads to an increase in the concentration of this element in agricultural food and drinking water. It can cause serious illness in humans.

As an example showing changes in the structure of the biological cycle as a result of human activities, we can consider the data for the forest zone of the European part of Russia (table). In prehistoric times, this entire territory was covered with forests, now their area has almost halved. Their place was taken by fields, meadows, pastures, as well as cities, towns, and highways. The decrease in the total mass of some elements due to the general decrease in the mass of green plants is compensated by the application of fertilizers, which involves much more nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in biological migration than natural vegetation. Deforestation and plowing of soils contribute to increased water migration. Thus, the content of compounds of certain elements (nitrogen, potassium, calcium) in natural waters increases significantly.

Water pollutants are also organic waste. Their oxidation consumes an additional amount of oxygen. If the oxygen content is too low, the normal life of most aquatic organisms becomes impossible. Aerobic bacteria that need oxygen also die, and bacteria develop instead that use sulfur compounds for their vital activity. A sign of the appearance of such bacteria is the smell of hydrogen sulfide - one of the products of their vital activity.

Among the many consequences of the economic activity of human society, the process of progressive accumulation of metals in the environment is of particular importance. The most dangerous pollutants include mercury, pigs and cadmium. The technogenic inputs of manganese, tin, copper, molybdenum, chromium, nickel, and cobalt also have a significant impact on living organisms and their communities (Fig. 3).

Natural waters can be contaminated with pesticides and dioxins, as well as oil. Oil decomposition products are toxic, and the oil film, which isolates water from air, leads to the death of living organisms (primarily plankton) in the water.

In addition to the accumulation of toxic and harmful substances in the soil as a result of human activities, land damage is caused by the burial and dumping of industrial and domestic waste.

The main measures to combat air pollution are: strict control of emissions of harmful substances. It is necessary to replace toxic starting products with non-toxic ones, switch to closed cycles, improve gas cleaning and dust collection methods. Of great importance is the optimization of the location of enterprises to reduce transport emissions, as well as the competent application of economic sanctions.

International cooperation is beginning to play an important role in protecting the environment from chemical pollution. In the 1970s, a decrease in the concentration of O 3 was found in the ozone layer, which protects our planet from the dangerous effects of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. In 1974, it was established that ozone is destroyed by the action of atomic chlorine. One of the main sources of chlorine entering the atmosphere are chlorofluoro derivatives of hydrocarbons (freons, freons) used in aerosol cans, refrigerators and air conditioners. The destruction of the ozone layer occurs, perhaps, not only under the influence of these substances. However, steps have been taken to reduce their production and use. In 1985, many countries agreed to protect the ozone layer. The exchange of information and joint research into changes in the concentration of atmospheric ozone continue.

Carrying out measures to prevent the ingress of pollutants into water bodies includes the establishment of coastal protective strips and water protection zones, the rejection of poisonous chlorine-containing pesticides, and the reduction of discharges from industrial enterprises through the use of closed cycles. Reducing the risk of oil pollution is possible by improving the reliability of tankers.

To prevent pollution of the Earth's surface, preventive measures are needed - to prevent contamination of soils with industrial and domestic sewage, solid domestic and industrial wastes, and sanitary cleaning of the soil and the territory of populated areas where such violations have been identified.

The best solution to the problem of environmental pollution would be non-waste industries that do not have sewage, gas emissions and solid waste. However, waste-free production today and in the foreseeable future is fundamentally impossible; for its implementation, it is necessary to create a cyclic system of matter and energy flows that is uniform for the entire planet. If the loss of matter, at least theoretically, can still be prevented, then the environmental problems of energy will still remain. Thermal pollution cannot be avoided in principle, and so-called clean energy sources, such as wind farms, still damage the environment.

So far, the only way to significantly reduce environmental pollution is low-waste technologies. Currently, low-waste industries are being created, in which emissions of harmful substances do not exceed the maximum permissible concentrations (MAC), and waste does not lead to irreversible changes in nature. The complex processing of raw materials, the combination of several industries, the use of solid waste for the manufacture of building materials are used.

New technologies and materials are being created, environmentally friendly fuels, new energy sources that reduce environmental pollution.

Elena Savinkina

by pollution any undesirable anthropogenic change to an ecological system is considered. Pollution can be mechanical, chemical, osmophoric, biological, physical, biocenotic, landscape.

Mechanical pollution- is carried out by relatively inert physical and chemical waste of human activity: polymeric materials in the form of various types of packages and containers, used tires, construction and household waste, solid waste from industrial production, aerosols, etc.

The air can be polluted with aerosols (dusts) of disintegration, condensation and secondary suspended solids formed during the combustion of liquid and gaseous fuels, as well as during gas-phase and photochemical reactions in the atmosphere. The lifetime of aerosol particles in the air and the degree of their impact on humans depend on many factors, primarily on the size of the particles.

Currently, the earth's atmosphere contains more than 20 million tons of aerosols, which, according to one of the classifications, can be conditionally divided into three groups:

Dust, which are solid particles dispersed in the air and formed in disintegration processes;

Smokes - condensed highly dispersed particles of solids that occur during combustion, evaporation of melts, solutions, chemical reactions, etc.;

Fog is an accumulation of liquid particles in a gaseous medium.

The particle size of aerosols in the air ranges from 0.01 to 100 microns. Large particles with a size of more than 10 microns are quickly deposited from the atmospheric air, and small particles with a particle size of 0.01-0.1 microns, as a rule, are carried into higher layers of the atmosphere and washed out of it with precipitation.

The degree of impact of aerosols on the human body depends on the amount (dose) of dust that has entered it and is determined by its penetrating ability (Table 4.1).

Table 4.1. Penetration of aerosols into the human body

Clogging environment is one of the forms of mechanical pollution, it significantly worsens the aesthetic and recreational qualities of the environment. This type of pollution also includes the clogging of near-cosmic space. According to modern data, there are already more than 3,000 tons of space debris in near space.

The problem of mechanical pollution of the environment, and primarily with waste, is extremely acute for the entire world community. The vital activity of cities and agricultural settlements generates piles of garbage, liquid drains, aerosols, which literally turned all the structural levels of the biosphere into a colossal dump. Up to 1.0-1.5 billion tons of harmful production and 400-450 million tons of municipal waste(KO). Each inhabitant of the Earth accounts for an average of 0.12 tons of consumption waste per year, 1.2 tons of all production products, i.e., "delayed" waste, and about 14 tons of raw material processing waste.

If up to 7% of industrial waste in developed countries is recycled, then municipal waste and its processing are currently an intractable problem. The annual global growth of CR is about 3%, and in some countries it reaches 10%.

World experience shows that for the burial of 1 ton of KO, about 3 m 2 of area is required, therefore landfills occupy hundreds of thousands of hectares of land all over the world, practically withdrawn from agricultural use. It is known that for the disposal of waste products every year more and more land areas are required, for example, for cities with a population of up to 350 thousand people, with a waste storage height of 10 m, 5 hectares are needed; 350-700 thousand - 10 hectares; 700 thousand-1 million - 13.5 hectares; for cities with a population of more than 1.1 million inhabitants, more than 18 hectares of land are needed.

chemical pollution It is formed as a result of a change in the natural chemical properties of the environment when reactive chemicals that are not characteristic of it or in concentrations exceeding the background ones enter. The most massive chemical pollutants are oxides of carbon, sulfur and nitrogen, hydrocarbons, salts of acids and alkalis, compounds of sulfur, fluorine, phosphorus, phenols, etc.

According to the nature of their impact on human health, chemical pollutants are divided into the following groups: toxic, irritant, sensitizing, carcinogenic, mutagenic, affecting reproductive function. Currently, more than 3 million chemical compounds are known, more than 100,000 new substances are synthesized annually, as a result of this, humanity is under the threat of exposure to 40-50 thousand chemical compounds of various classes that are not characteristic of natural environmental conditions.

Interestingly, people themselves are sources of more than 20 pollutants released into the air - anthropotoxins (carbon dioxide, ammonia, ketones, hydrogen sulfide, etc.). In small, poorly ventilated rooms (school classrooms, classrooms, offices, etc.), with a large crowd of people, the content of anthropotoxins can reach levels that are permissible only for industrial buildings. The potential for high concentrations of pollutants to form in indoor air has led to the concept of "sick building syndrome".

Close in nature to the chemical is osmophoric pollution. It is carried out by odorants (odorants) in such low concentrations that they cannot have a chemical resorptive effect on a person, but can cause reflex reactions of the body.

At high concentrations of odorants, they must be considered as chemical pollutants. The body's response to osmophoric pollution is manifested in the sensation of smell, changes in the bioelectrical activity of the brain, light sensitivity, etc. Smell is the most perceptible form of environmental pollution that we detect with the help of smell. About 50% of all public complaints about air pollution are associated with the sensation of unpleasant or heavy odors.

The primary reaction of a person to an unpleasant odor is a feeling of discomfort, anxiety; secondary effects associated with exposure to high concentrations of the odorant are manifested in the form of vomiting, sleep disturbance, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and pain from the main organs. In addition, the influence of unpleasant odors can be expressed in a headache, a state of fatigue, increased drowsiness, or, conversely, agitation, salivation, etc.

Therefore, the concept of "unpleasant smell" acquires a certain sanitary and hygienic meaning. About 20% of chemicals have an unpleasant odor, and the number of substances recognizable by smell is close to 100,000.

biological pollution is carried out by living organisms and/or products of their vital activity that are uncharacteristic for a given ecosystem, which worsen the conditions for the existence of natural biotic communities or negatively affect human health and the results of its economic activity.

At present, due to mass urbanization, a significant increase in population density in cities, the intensive development of the pharmaceutical, food, and especially microbiological industries, biologically active substances play an increasingly important role in biosphere pollution. The main factors of adverse environmental impact are living and dead cells of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, spirochetes, fungi, protozoa) and their metabolic products. Their negative effect is the occurrence and development of various allergic reactions and infectious diseases. Most often, diseases such as aspergillosis, candidiasis and mycoses occur. They are most dangerous for people with reduced body resistance.

One clear example of diseases that can occur in "sick buildings" is the so-called "legionnaires' disease". It was first described in 1976 in Philadelphia, when, after a regular congress of the American Legion organization, out of 4,400 participants, 221 fell ill with an unknown flu-like illness, and 34 of them died. This new disease is called "legionnaires' disease". It is characterized by the development of pneumonia, intoxication, fever, and damage to the central nervous system (CNS), gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and kidneys. The causative agents of the disease are microorganisms - legionella, which remain viable at temperatures from +4 to +65 ° C. With air or polluted water, Legionella enters air conditioning systems, where they find a favorable environment for their reproduction and spread. The air from the air conditioning systems, contaminated with legionella, enters the premises and leads to mass diseases of the people there.

Sources of biological pollution can also be facilities for biochemical wastewater treatment of enterprises and cities, hospitals, clinics, municipal and industrial waste dumps, pig farms, cattle farms, poultry farms, etc.

Microorganisms adsorbed on aerosol particles can spread over long distances. Studies show that viable cells of microorganisms in some cases rise to a height of 3,000 m. There are known cases of biological pollution of the environment, which led to massive gastrointestinal diseases (salmonellosis, hepatitis), nosocomial persistent infections. It has been reliably proven that the diseases of children living near antibiotic factories are 1.5-3 times higher than the average incidence for this locality.

A feature of many residential premises is a high level of biological pollution, which leads to allergization of people living in them. House dust contains microscopic saprophytic mites, the secretions of which are the cause of human allergization. Ticks can live in bedding, carpets, upholstered furniture, clothes.

House dust also contains epidermal allergens from wool, dander and saliva of cats, dogs, other pets, feathers and excrement of birds (pigeons, parrots, canaries, etc.). The chitinous cover and excrement of cockroaches, the epidermis of the lower crustaceans of daphnia, used as dry food for fish, have a high sensitizing activity.

House dust is a sorbent and accumulator of spores of various mold fungi, which are also active allergens and lead to a decrease in the body's immunity, bronchial asthma, allergic alveolitis and other diseases.

The danger is being raised genetic pollution environment. The risk of this type of biological contamination associated with genetic engineering is becoming more and more real. There are fears that artificially created microorganisms, once released into the environment, can cause imbalances in natural ecosystems, as well as epidemics of unknown diseases that people will find it difficult to cope with. In addition, due to manipulation of genes, genetic erosion– loss of a part of the genome and replacement of genes or their loci with foreign genetic material that comes with genetic engineering products, obtained, in particular, on the basis of the mammalian genome. Rare and endangered species, whose populations are at the stage of degradation, are at the greatest risk of genetic pollution.

In some cases, animals or plants accidentally transferred to new ecosystems can cause great harm to agriculture and forestry (macrobiological pollution). This happened, for example, in Europe with the American Colorado potato beetle, which has become a massive pest of nightshade crops (potatoes, tomatoes, etc.) here. In turn, Europe “repaid” America by accidentally introducing the gypsy moth into oak forests, which quickly multiplied, finding its ecological niche here, and became a dangerous pest.

Medicinal pollution should be included in a separate group. Some drugs have adverse effects on the human body, even at therapeutic doses. For example, drugs such as amidopyrine, phenacetin are prohibited from production, because. are prominent carcinogens. Antibiotics of the tetracycline series have an ototoxic effect. With the wrong dose, they, affecting the auditory nerve, cause deafness in newborns. In addition, many antibiotics violate the intestinal biocenosis and other internal environments of the body, causing dysbacteriosis and candidiasis.

Physical types of pollution environment - radioactive, acoustic, vibrational, electromagnetic, thermal and light pollution.

Nuclear pollution- this is physical pollution associated with an increase in the natural radioactive background and the level of content of radioactive elements and substances in the environment. In the presence of radioactive substances, it can also be considered as chemical contamination. The main sources of radioactive contamination of the environment are nuclear weapons tests, nuclear reactors and installations, nuclear industry enterprises, technological, medical, scientific instruments and equipment, ash, slag and dumps containing radioactive substances, radioactive waste burial sites, etc.

An active increase in the concentration of radioactive substances in the environment began approximately from 1933, the year of the beginning of systematic work on the study of radioactive elements.

When ionizing radiation of radioactive substances is absorbed in the body, various morphological and functional disorders are observed, leading to the development of acute or chronic forms of radiation sickness, malignant neoplasms, blood diseases and genetic changes. In addition, radiation enhances the impact on the human body of chemical pollutants such as hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, etc.

Natural background radiation is created by cosmic radiation and natural radioactive substances contained in environmental objects. In this case, the unstable nuclei of atoms (nuclides) spontaneously decay with the formation of atoms of other elements and the release of energy. Radioactive transformations are characteristic only of individual substances that contain radionuclides. The decay of natural radionuclides of the thorium, uranium, actinium and other groups is accompanied by the emission of a special type of radiation called radioactive, which can be corpuscular and quantum. Corpuscular radiation is a flux of α- and b-particles and neutrons, and quantum radiation is c-quanta and X-rays.

People everywhere in the world encounter ionizing radiation every day. This is, first of all, the radioactive background of the Earth, which consists of three components:

Cosmic radiation (contribution to the average annual human exposure dose 15.1%);

Emissions from natural radioactive elements contained in soil, building materials, air and water (68.8%);

Radiation from natural radioactive substances that enter the body with food and water, are fixed by tissues and stored in the human body throughout his life (15.1%);

Other sources (1%).

The average total annual dose of public exposure from natural sources is approximately 2 mSv (sievert), which is mainly due to the influx of radon and tritium from soils, building materials, water, natural gas, and air. In addition, a person encounters sources of artificial radiation, including radionuclides that are widely used in economic activities.

At radiation doses of about 0.1 mSv, no pathological changes are observed in the organs and tissues of the human body. A dose of 0.1 Sv determines the allowable one-time emergency exposure of the population, 0.05 Sv is the allowable exposure of medical personnel and NPP workers under normal operating conditions per year, 0.25 Sv is the one-time allowable exposure of personnel working with radioactive agents. An irradiation dose of 1 Sv determines the lower level of development of radiation sickness; 4.5 Sv - inevitably causes a severe (lethal) degree of radiation sickness. At present, it is considered that the total lifetime exposure dose to the population on the territory of Belarus is 0.35 Sv. This includes all doses of radiation received by a person during his lifetime. For example, daily viewing of all TV programs during the year provides a dose of 0.01 mSv; flight by plane over a distance of 2,400 km - 0.02-0.05 mSv; one fluorography procedure - 3.7 mSv; fluoroscopy of the tooth - 0.03 mSv; fluoroscopy of the stomach (local) - 0.336 mSv.

Acoustic (noise) pollution characterized by exceeding the level of natural background noise. Noise is one of the forms of physical (wave) pollution of the environment, the adaptation of organisms to which is practically impossible. The most powerful and common sources of noise, especially in cities, are road and rail transport, industrial enterprises, aviation, household appliances (refrigerators, tape recorders, radios, etc.). Transport accounts for 60-80% of all noise penetrating into people's places of residence. It is known that in cities the noise level rises by about 1 dBA per year and has increased by 10-12 dBA globally over the past 10 years.

Noise is a general biological irritant and, under certain conditions, affects all organs and systems. First of all, noise affects the central nervous system, causing a person to feel nervous tension, anxiety and irritation, the appearance of neuroses in 30% of cases, and headaches in 80%. As a result of prolonged exposure to elevated noise levels, cardiovascular diseases develop, primarily vascular dystonia. Gastritis, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, other chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract are also characteristic of people who have been in a noisy environment for a long time. There is a reliable relationship between noise exposure and metabolic disorders in the body, a decrease in hearing and vision acuity. In varying degrees, noise affects the adrenal cortex, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, sex glands. Noise contributes to an increase in overall morbidity by 10-12%. According to scientists, noise exposure reduces human life expectancy in big cities by 8-12 years.

Noise has a cumulative effect, i.e. acoustic irritation, accumulating in the body, increasingly depresses the nervous system. Despite the apparent habit to noise, a complete physiological and biochemical adaptation of a person to noise is impossible. This means that the noise performs its destructive effect, even if a person is used to it and, as it were, does not notice it.

Inaudible sounds can also have harmful effects on the human body. So, infrasounds, which can penetrate into rooms even through the thickest walls, can affect the mental sphere of a person, while all types of intellectual activity are difficult, mood worsens, a feeling of horror, confusion, anxiety, fear appears. It is believed that it is infrasounds that cause many nervous diseases of urban residents.

Studies have proven the impact of noise on plant organisms. Thus, plants near airfields, from which jet planes continuously start, experience growth inhibition, and even the disappearance of individual species is noted.

A number of scientific works have shown the depressing effect of noise (about 100 dB with a sound frequency from 31.5 to 90 thousand Hz) on tobacco plants, where a decrease in the intensity of leaf growth was found, primarily in young plants. The attention of scientists is also attracted by the effect of rhythmic sounds on plants. Studies on the effect of music on plants (corn, pumpkin, petunia, zinnia, calendula), conducted in 1969 by the American musician and singer D. Retolak, showed that plants responded positively to Bach's music and Indian musical melodies. Their habitus, dry weight of biomass were the highest in comparison with the control. And, what is most surprising, their stems really stretched to the source of these sounds. At the same time, green plants responded to rock music and continuous drum rhythms with a decrease in the size of leaves and roots, a decrease in mass, and they all deviated from the sound source, as if they wanted to get away from the destructive effect of music.

Plants, like people, react to music as an integral living organism. Their sensitive "nerve" conductors, according to a number of scientists, are phloem bundles, meristem and excitable cells located in different parts of the plant, interconnected by bioelectric processes. This fact is probably one of the reasons for the similarity of reactions to music in plants, animals and humans.

vibration pollution- one of the types of physical pollution associated with the impact of mechanical vibrations of solid bodies on environmental objects. This impact can be local(vibrations from hand tools and equipment transmitted to individual parts of the body) and general(vibrations are transmitted to the whole organism as a whole). The most dangerous frequency of general vibration lies in the range of 6-8 Hz, since it coincides with the natural frequency of vibrations of the internal organs of a person; as a result of the addition of these vibrations, resonance phenomena can occur with disruption of the organs or even their destruction.

On fig. 4.1 shows a model of a person, consisting of concentrated masses, elastic connections (springs) and dissipative losses, represented in the diagram by dampers.

Rice. 4.1 Resonance model of systems and some human organs

It can be seen from the diagram that resonant phenomena can occur with different parts of the human body at different frequencies. With vertical vibration, the resonance of the abdominal organs is observed at frequencies of 4-8 Hz, the head - 25 Hz, at higher frequencies of 30-80 Hz, the resonance of the eyeball occurs. For example, in the first flights of American cosmonauts, when vibrating at a frequency of 50 Hz, they could not read instrument readings due to the resonant vibration of the eyes.

The subjective sensation of vibration by a person depends on age, general condition of the body, fitness, individual tolerance, emotional stability, neuropsychic status, as well as vibration characteristics (vibration velocity, vibration acceleration, vibration displacement, frequency and amplitude).

Vibration causes a change in the pulse rate and blood pressure, affects the endocrine system, causes a violation of various metabolic processes, the functions of the vestibular and visual apparatus.

The impact of vibration on the human body depends on the amplitude and frequency of oscillations (Table 4.2).

Table 4.2. Characteristics of the impact of vibration on the human body

The greatest number of complaints about discomfort and painful conditions during vibration exposure is made by persons aged 31 to 40 years (65.5% of those who applied to medical institutions), which indicates the presence of increased vibration sensitivity of this age category of the population.

Electromagnetic pollution also refers to the physical forms of environmental pollution and occurs as a result of changes in its electromagnetic properties, leading to global and local geophysical anomalies and changes in the subtle biological structures of living organisms.

The electromagnetic background of the planet is determined mainly by the electric and magnetic fields of the Earth, atmospheric electricity, radio emission from the Sun and the Galaxy, as well as an overlay on the natural background of fields from artificial sources (power lines, radio and television, industrial high- and microwave installations, antenna fields, ground-based systems). and satellite communications, radar, telemetry and radio navigation, other sources). The intensity of the Earth's electromagnetic field varies depending on the distance to the planet's surface: at a height of 0 km it is 130 V/m; 0.5 km - 50 and 12 km - 2.5 V / m.

In the process of evolutionary development, all living organisms on Earth adapted to certain natural electromagnetic fields and were forced to develop not only protective mechanisms in relation to them, but, to one degree or another, include them in their life activity. Therefore, changing the parameters electromagnetic field(EMF) in relation to the natural can cause microorganic shifts in living beings, which in some cases develop into pathological ones.

The energy absorbed by a unit of mass per unit of time serves as the basis for dosimetric evaluation - the so-called specific absorbed power(SAR), measured in watts per kilogram. If the wavelength is commensurate with the dimensions of the irradiated biological object or its individual organs, then the phenomena of resonance and standing waves are observed, which leads to an increase in electromagnetic absorption.

The biological effect of electromagnetic irradiation depends on the frequency, duration and intensity of exposure, the area of ​​the irradiated surface, the general state of human health, etc. In addition, the development of pathological reactions of the body is influenced by:

EMF generation modes, including amplitude and angle modulation;

Environmental factors (temperature, humidity, increased noise level, x-rays, etc.);

Some other parameters (a person's age, lifestyle, health status, etc.);

Area of ​​the body exposed to radiation.

The most sensitive to the effects of EMF are people with poor health, in particular, those suffering from allergic diseases or having a tendency to form tumors. Very dangerous electromagnetic exposure during embryogenesis and in childhood.

In the general case, EMF can have a thermal and informational effect on living organisms.

As the absorbed energy increases (or the energy flux density of the acting EMF is higher than 10 mW / cm 2), the protective mechanisms that regulate temperature (thermogenic effect) are violated, which leads to an uncontrolled increase in body temperature. In this case, tissues with poor blood circulation and thermoregulation (the lens of the eye, seminal glands, gallbladder, parts of the gastrointestinal tract) are the most vulnerable. At the same time, headaches, irritability, drowsiness, memory loss and chronic lesions appear (in men, a decrease in testosterone in the blood, impotence, in women - toxicosis of pregnancy, pathology of childbirth).

Many scientists explain the effect of EMF on people by violations of information and management processes in the body, causing the redistribution of energy, the launch of programs stored in the body, and other information impact.

Non-thermal (informational) effects include:

1. Changes in the ion permeability of cell membranes under the influence of low-intensity electromagnetic fields, which can cause cancer, in particular leukemia (blood cancer).

On fig. Figure 4.2 shows the dependence of the risk of leukemia on the distance to the TV tower (the graph reflects the results of a 12-year survey of the population living in Birmingham (Great Britain) near a 240 m high TV tower broadcasting on 8 TV channels with a total power of 1000 kW and on three stereo radio channels with a total power of 250 kW).

2. Adverse effects of low-intensity EMF on the central nervous system. There are three degrees of exposure: mild, which is characterized by the initial manifestation of asthenic and neurocircular syndromes; middle, when the symptoms of these syndromes are intensified and combined with the initial manifestations of endocrine disorders; severe, in which the symptoms of violations of the functions of the central nervous, cardiovascular and endocrine systems of a person are enhanced and a variety of mental abnormalities appear.

3. Influence on the cardiovascular system, including lowering blood pressure and slowing the heart rate (bradycardia).

4. Demodulating action. Changes in electroencephalograms and electrocardiograms under the influence of high-frequency radiation were observed.

Rice. 4.2. Risk of leukemia depending on distance

to the television tower (the vertical indicates how many times the number of

diseases compared to the average)

RF EMF can cause changes in the human body in the nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive systems, blood, metabolism and some functions of the endocrine glands. The biological effect of electromagnetic fields of radio frequencies depends on the frequency of the wave oscillation. With increasing frequency, i. e. By decreasing the wavelength, the biological effect of EMF becomes more pronounced. Thus, long-wave EMFs have a less intense effect on the body than short and ultrashort waves.

The EMF intensity near power lines with a voltage of 500 kV is 7.6-8.0 kV/m, 750 kV - 10-15 kV/m. Adverse effects on the body can already appear at a voltage of 1,000 V/m. With prolonged exposure to microwave radiation, changes in the blood formula, clouding of the lens of the eye (catarrhal phenomena), trophic changes (hair loss, brittle nails, an increase in malignant neoplasms, weight loss, etc.) are noted.

The effect of EMF on the body is primarily manifested by the central nervous system. Psychoneurological symptoms are expressed by constant headache, increased fatigue, memory loss, blanching of the skin, anemia and fainting. Back in 1986, a court in the US state of Texas ordered the Houston Electric Company to pay $25 million in damages to a private school. On the basis of scientific data, the court concluded that the high-voltage power line passing over the territory of the school posed a threat to the health of children, and demanded its transfer along with compensation for damage to the children's health.

thermal pollution is a form of physical pollution of the environment and is characterized by a periodic or prolonged increase in the temperature of the environment above the natural level.

Thermal pollution occurs mainly due to fuel combustion. Every year, a huge amount of fossil fuels are burned in the planet's thermal units. This is accompanied by an annual release into the atmosphere of more than 22 billion tons of carbon dioxide, over 1 billion tons of other solid, gaseous and vaporous compounds and the release of 2 10 20 J of free heat. It is known that carbon dioxide, together with nitrogen oxides, methane, water vapor, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), ozone and other substances, belongs to greenhouse gases- gases that delay the infrared (thermal) radiation of the Earth and create the danger of an increase in average annual temperatures near the surface of our planet due to the so-called greenhouse effect.

It is believed that by the middle of the XXI century. the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will double, which will inevitably affect global climate warming, which is estimated at 1.5 to 4°C. At the same time, a strip of arid climate will stretch across the south of Europe from Spain to Ukraine. But north of the 50th latitude in North America and Eurasia, the amount of precipitation will increase as it warms. Desertification rates, currently around 6 million hectares per year, will increase in both Asia and Africa.

At present, there are quite serious reasons to believe that the source of greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen oxide, is not only the combustion of fossil fuels. Recent calculations showed that the predominant source of greenhouse gases was the disruption of the vital activity of microbial communities in the soils of Siberia and part of North America, associated with intensive economic activity in these regions, global atmospheric pollution, and some other factors.

The process of global warming is likely to be significantly influenced by the discovery in the 80s of the last century global darkening of the atmosphere. It occurs due to the entry of aerosols (soot, dust of inorganic compounds, etc.) into the atmospheric air, which are formed during the combustion of any fuel. Dust particles form a screen in the upper atmosphere that traps some of the solar energy that reaches Earth. Space studies show that this phenomenon cools the surface of the ocean in the Northern Hemisphere of the planet and other regions. This leads to a change in atmospheric processes, droughts have already begun in Africa and powerful monsoon floods in Asia.

Climatologists warn that a global darkening of the atmosphere could lead to a doubling of global warming, with all the ensuing consequences.

In addition, American and British experts came to the conclusion that the Earth's climate is also changing due to an increase in air humidity. Over the past 30 years, the humidity of the surface layer of air has increased by 2.2%. According to experts, with a general warming of the climate by one degree, humidity will increase by 6%. Using temperature forecasts from the International Commission on Climate Change, scientists have found that by 2100 the humidity on the planet will increase by 24%. With an increase in humidity, heat exchange between living organisms and the environment worsens, which is fraught with serious consequences for the entire biosphere.

Thermal pollution of the environment can lead not only to global, but also to local negative consequences. The most striking example of local thermal pollution of the atmosphere is the thermal pollution of large cities, where in winter the temperature in the city center is 3-4°C higher than on its outskirts. Local thermal pollution is also characteristic of large water bodies, where warm cooling waters from the state district power station, large enterprises, and urban wastewater treatment plants are discharged, which can lead to serious changes in the biosphere.

light pollution is a form of physical pollution associated with the periodic or prolonged excess of the illumination level of the area due to the use of artificial light sources.

The main source of light energy on Earth is the Sun, whose total radiation in the middle latitudes is 4.6 kJ/cm 2 per day. Solar radiation coming to the earth's surface creates a certain light regime for its inhabitants, the components of which are direct and diffused light. The ratio between them naturally changes depending on the geographic latitude of the area. In the polar regions, scattered radiation predominates, constituting about 70% of the radiant flux, and in the equatorial regions it does not exceed 30%. This is due to the greater penetration of direct radiation rays through a thinner layer of the atmosphere.

The following light parameters are ecologically significant: duration of exposure (longitude of the day), intensity (in energy units), qualitative composition of the radiant flux (spectral composition). All living organisms subtly react to changes in the duration of light exposure, they are able to feel completely insignificant changes in the ratio of light and dark periods of the day. This ability of organisms is realized in such a general biological phenomenon as photoperiodism, which is associated with the phenomenon of the biological clock, forming an easily adaptable mechanism for regulating body functions in time. Photoperiodism is manifested in the division of living beings into two large groups according to the time of activity - day and night; long and short day organisms. Daylength affects the duration of menopause for insects; seasonality in plants and the dynamics of their growth; development of winter fur cover in animals; cyclicity of sexual activity, fertility, migration, etc.

Light intensity governs the entire biosphere, affecting the primary production of organic matter by producer organisms. Qualitative indicators of light in ecological terms are very significant. Depending on the height of the Sun above the horizon, direct radiation contains from 28 to 43% photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). It is much larger in diffused light, where the PAR reaches 50-60% in a cloudy sky and 90% in a cloudless one, mainly due to an increase in the proportion of blue-violet rays scattered by the atmosphere. In general, approximately half of the solar energy reaching the Earth's surface is accounted for by PAR in the 0.38-0.72 µm wavelength range. The other half of it is not absorbed or assimilated in the process of photosynthesis.

The spectral region of absorption of solar radiation by green leaves and other living organisms includes ultraviolet, visible and infrared rays. The visible part of the spectrum caused the appearance of a number of important adaptations in animals and plants. In green plants, a light-absorbing complex has formed, with the help of which the process of photosynthesis is carried out, a bright color of flowers has arisen; animals developed color vision, coloring of integuments and individual parts of the body.

The light factor clearly determines the morphological, physiological and other characteristics of living organisms, vertical and diurnal migrations, and their behavioral responses.

Ultraviolet rays are almost completely absorbed by the first layers of cells of integumentary tissues and contribute to the synthesis of vitamin D in the body. However, prolonged and powerful exposure to large doses of ultraviolet radiation can cause destruction of integumentary cells, induce increased formation of melanin pigment and promote the development of malignant neoplasms.

Infrared, or thermal, rays carry the bulk of thermal energy. The heating of the organism occurs mainly due to the good absorption of thermal energy by water, the amount of which in a living organism is quite large.

Atmospheric pollution by emissions from industry and vehicles has led to a significant change in the intensity of the light flux, and the destruction of the ozone layer as a result of irreversible chemical reactions in the atmosphere has led to an intensification of ultraviolet radiation. These phenomena cause global disturbances at all levels of the biosphere, which will be discussed in more detail in the relevant chapters.

To biocenotic pollution , or rather, the violation includes a change in the balance of the population, disturbance factors, accidental or directed introduction and acclimatization of species, uncontrolled capture, shooting, poaching, etc.

landscape pollution associated with deforestation, regulation of watercourses, quarrying and mining of minerals, road construction, soil erosion, land drainage, forest and steppe fires, urbanization and other factors.