How environmental pollution affects humans

The environmental pollution is the issue of physical and chemical agents, or biological , or a combination thereof, to the environment , which are toxic or harmful to the environment.

Its origin is mainly due to the action of man for reasons such as:

• The exploitation of natural resources.
• Indiscriminate logging.
• The emission into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases.

Although many believe that it began with the Industrial Revolution, the truth is that environmental pollution predates this period. In fact, the first record of environmental contamination due to human action dates from the year 1540 and is found in the Peruvian Andes of South America. It is a glacier known as Quelccaya that shows traces of metallic elements, such as bismuth, due to mining activity and the production of silver in the Inca empire after the Spanish conquest. The investigations explain how the wind could drag the contamination to the northwest of Peru, reaching the Quelccaya Glacier.

The environmental pollution is due to many factors among which we highlight:

• The use of fossil fuels: the exploitation of coal, oil and natural gas is a source of pollution, not only at the atmospheric level but also affects the environment in which the activity takes place.
• The use of pesticides and chemical products: some products used in the field of agriculture such as fertilizers, pesticides and pesticides release greenhouse gases and in turn, pollute the soil and can even contaminate some water sources and remain in nature during years.
• Industrial and domestic waste and discharges: the incorrect management of waste and waste causes the accumulation of garbage remains in landfills or on beaches, rivers and other natural places. In addition, the massive consumption that exists in our society promotes the generation of waste and the creation of industrial factories that are born with the objective of producing without worrying about the protection of the environment.

Environmental pollution has harmful effects on our health, depending on the type of pollution to which we are exposed, we can suffer from allergies or practically insignificant irritations to diseases that, in the worst case can be fatal. At pollution we explain the effects of environmental pollution on human beings :

• In the case of air pollution , people are exposed to the inhalation of gases and other particles, many of which are carcinogenic, so that these pass into their respiratory system and, due to their size or characteristics, many of them do not they manage to be expelled so they accumulate in our body, giving rise to respiratory problems, fatigue, irritations to the eyes or mucous membranes, cough or the development of chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
• On the other hand, water pollution causes the entry of chemical or microbial pollutants into our body, since all human beings need this valuable resource to survive and hydrate, causing problems in our health in the short or long term, such as liver damage or infections in the digestive system.
• The effects caused by soil contamination are similar. Pollutants are absorbed by plants through their roots and can reach humans due to the ingestion of these plants, affecting their health. There are studies in which it has been detected that people exposed, for example, dioxin in the soil have suffered from diabetes, endocrine and even cardiovascular problems.

It is necessary to highlight that the urban population is more prone to suffer these effects due to its greater exposure to environmental pollution.

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