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| Pollution and Pollutants |
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| Pollution is defined as an 'undesirable change in the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of air, water and land brought about by man's activities that may harmfully affect living organisms and other resources'. |
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| Man, in his quest for a better life and more conveniences, is getting more and more dependent on technology and industries. These industries and the modern lifestyle are together making life easier and convenient for man. However, the same factors are also contributing towards the pollution of environment. Based on the component of environment being polluted, we have air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution. |
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| The substances that actually cause pollution are called the pollutants. They may be the industrial gases, industrial effluents let out into the rivers, soap water, domestic wastes, medical wastes, etc. |
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| Pollutants may be classified into two types based on bacterial activity. They are: |
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| Biodegradable pollutants |
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| Non-biodegradable pollutants |
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| Biodegradable pollutants get broken down under natural conditions due to the action of micro-organisms. Therefore they are considerably less harmful. They behave as pollutants only in very large quantities. Example: excreta, sewage, pollen grains, etc. |
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| Non-biodegradable pollutants cannot be broken down under natural conditions by the action of micro-organisms or they take an extremely long time to be broken down. |
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| Example: Common plastics, DDT, metal wastes such as lead, mercury, arsenic, etc. |
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| Based on the environmental component being polluted the following types of pollution are commonly addressed: |
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 Air pollution |
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Water pollution |
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Soil pollution |
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