Environmental Science 3(3+0)

Soil pollution

• Soil is the loose and unconsolidated outer layer of earth’s crust that is powdery in nature and made up of small particles of different sizes. Soil ecosystem includes inorganic and organic constituents, and the microbial groups. Soil microorganisms are the active agents in the decomposition of plant and animal solid wastes and said to be nature’s garbage disposal system.
  


• The soil microbes keep our planet earth free of unwanted waste materials and recycle the elements (C, N, and P) through mineralization. Soil microbes decompose a variety of compounds, cellulose, lignin, hemi cellulose, proteins, lipids, hydrocarbons etc. The soil microbial community has little or no action on many man-made synthetic polymers. The persistent molecules that fail to be metabolized or mineralized have been termed as recalcitrants.


• An undesirable change in the physical, chemical or biological characterization of soil may harmfully affect the life or create a potential health hazard of any living organisms.Soil pollution could result from a whole range of situations, and can have lasting effects on all types of ecosystems and human health. Soil may become contaminated through dry deposition or by toxins becoming integrated into in the ground water.