The Effects Of Arsenic Contamination On Soil Quality, Fertility And Productivity

A major source of controversy when it comes to biodiesel and other biofuels such as ethanol is what ingredient are used to make the fuel. When oils from crops are used, a number of problems can arise. For instance, biodiesel and other biofuels are often touted as environmentally friendly since they are typically made from plants, which suck the global warming gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to grow. However, the land may be damaged in order to grow these crops as demand for biofuels grow for example, in Indonesia, biodiesel may be causing deforestation, as native forests are destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. The chemicals from agricultural fertilizers and pesticides may also upset ecosystems.

Deposition of the various wastes from the excavation process has a significant effect on the composition of micro-organisms on the environment. The remains are composed of biocides and heavy metal which have a significant effect on the environment and its inhabitants. Natural gases that escape such as methane mix with vapor from the environment, resulting in increased acidity of the soil. This reduces the productivity of land as crops do very poorly under such saline conditions (DiGiulion, Wilkin, Miller & Oberley, 2011). The acid levels leak to the earth’s surface changing the oxygen and bacterial contents of the soil structure. This in return results in the plants being unable to fix nitrogen, the consequence being the reduced hydration capability if the plant hampering the formation of cellulose hence weak and contaminated plants will be

Arsenic is an invisible killer that many people may be drinking as I write this article. It was such a problem for the United States, that in 2001, the US Environmental Protection Agency had to lower the maximum level of arsenic allowed in drinking water from 50 micrograms per liter (ug/L) to 10 micrograms per liter (ug/Liter) (Ryker, 2001). Despite this change in policy, this issue of arsenic contamination continues, and is even more widespread in many more places outside of the United States. Unlike the U.S., underdeveloped countries like India, Cambodia, and Bangladesh cannot rely on the usual testing’s more developed countries are accustomed to. For example, a study in Bangladesh (2009) showed 13% (1,883) of their findings (14,492 samples) had an arsenic concentration that exceeded 50 ug/Liters (Rodrigues et al, 2016). The old maximum stated by EPA back in 2001. Information like this is then used, in hopes that it creates more of an importance

This paper is about the effects of offshore drilling particularly it discusses “oil spills caused by offshore drilling in California”. These oil spills that are caused by offshore drilling affect the environment in the long run. Even some of these impacts on the environment by oil spills last for decades (Larry West). For example when an oil slick arrives at the beach from a huge oil spill then it sticks to each grain of the sand and every rock. So if this oil is absorbed by the forests or fibrous plants etc. then it can make the whole area unsuitable for wildlife. Moreover if this oil spills stops and sinks in the surface of the water then these oil spills damage the fragile ecosystems under water and can prove extremely dangerous to marine life (Jennifer Horton).

There are many sources of contamination from oil and gas production wells. Production wells are used to extract oil and natural gas from deep rock formations. To drill a well, a bit is drilled into the deep rock formations that contain natural gas and oil. As the bit is lowered, fluid and mud that contain chemical additives, is shot down with it to keep it cool. Rock debris, known as cuttings, are created and pulled up along with fluids to the surface. At the surface they are flared. Air contamination comes from exhaust fumes from the equipment as well as venting and flaring of natural gas. Soil contamination comes from on-site storage pits holding onto cuttings/mud. Sludge pits can leach out and cause water contamination nearby.

In this essay the advantages and limitations of bioremediation, biostimulation, and biofermentation with regard to environmental factors will be discussed and evaluated. Ship pollution is a huge source of ocean pollution, the most devastating effect of which is oil spills ("Causes and Effects of Ocean Pollution”). Ship contamination is a gigantic wellspring of sea contamination, the most crushing impact of which is oil Spills. Unrefined petroleum goes on for a considerable length of time in the ocean and is amazingly lethal to marine life, regularly choking out marine creatures to death once it ensnares them. Raw Petroleum spills are extremely hard to clean up, when it is separated it is there to remain. What 's more, numerous boats lose a huge number of boxes every year because of tempests, crises, and mischances. This results in noise pollution, algae, and ballast water.

This is the creation of acetic acid from ethanol and a bacteria called Acetobacter aceti (NIST, 2014). The Acetic acid in the gas tanks under gas stations has lead to a faster than projected corrosion of the walls of gas tanks under gas stations (NIST, 2014). This increased corrosion will create holes in the walls of gas tanks letting the gas spill out into the ground around the tank. This could pollute groundwater in the surrounding area and kill plant life. The walls of gas tanks are typically made of cast iron or steel, which the acetic acid will eat through at a rate of about 1mm per year (NIST, 2014). This is not only much faster than expected, but a reason for research on a better metal to use for gas storage

During the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill, millions of gallons of oil were dispersed in the Gulf of Mexico in the same area known as the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone. The hypoxic zone along the Gulf Coast contains less than the normal amount of dissolved oxygen, at two parts per million. The little to no oxygen is theorized to be caused by excess nutrients from the Mississippi River along with the stratification of the Gulf waters. The excess nutrients create a growth of primary consumers and when decomposing at the bottom, uses the oxygen. The layering of the water does not allow for the water to mix the top and bottom layers, leaving a lack of oxygen at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone and an oxygen-plenty top layer. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the petroleum, generally accepted to have mutagenic and carcinogenic effects, and are mainly from anthropogenic sources and are considered environmental pollutants. The nonpolar organic molecular are insoluble in the water, and are considered to be of utmost importance in terms of environmental hazards. The combination of the burning of petroleum on the top of the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone created a deadly effect, as evidenced by the several deaths of animals and an unbalanced food web as secondary and tertiary consumers died

Oil, also known as petroleum, is an insoluble and non-renewable sources of energy used by a significant amount of people all around the world. According to the Energy Information Administration, U.S. Petroleum Consumption in 2001 mostly consist of gasoline (used to fuel cars), heating oil (used to heat buildings), diesel fuel, propane, residual fuel oil (powering factories, fueling large ships, and making electricity), and items that we come across every day (such as clothing, furnitures, kitchen items, cars, and even food). Although oil plays an important role in the human society, that does not prevent it from not causing problems. The environmental issue we will be discussing relates to oil spills, which is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment as a result of human activity. Every year, an innumerable number of spills occur and cause a massive ecological harm. America’s oil and gas industry averaged at least 20 spills per day in 2013. I believe that the prevention of such spills is essential for the wellbeing of all living specie on Earth. Companies must care for our environment and protect all living animals, plants, and human, since the petroleum’s chemical constituents are poisonous. The main reason why I chose to talk about oil spills is because both the immediate and long-term damage costs us lives, properties, and public natural resources; and that will have an economic impact all around the world.

The story of bioremediation and its recent development as an oil spill response technology provides an interesting example of how a new environmental technology comes into being. Based on the U.S. experience (highly influenced by the Exxon Valdez oil spill), the history of bioremediation in spill response can be divided into three development periods (after Hoff, 1993): the ‘courtship’ period until 1989, the ‘honeymoon’ period from 1989 until 1991, and the ‘establishment’ period since 1992.

Scientific explanation- Palm oil is extracted from the fruit of the oil palm tree, Elaeis guineensis, which prospers in fairly humid tropical climates. Most Palm oil production occurs in just two countries, Malaysia and Indonesia, but now is spreading all over the tropics, including Africa. To produce these plantations, deforestation has to occur and this process results in a loss of biodiversity and a loss of habitat. The Human act of deforestation affects the water systems too, as rainforests produce 30% of the planet's fresh water. When forestry is demolished water isn't expelled into the atmosphere and the stability is lost. This leads to a drier climate and soil because there are no trees to transpire to the ground.

Industrial pollution has been identified as a major problem in Egypt and is addressed under the National Pollution Prevention Program (NIPPP). (Abou Elela, 2002). Fertilizers industry is considered a sub-sector of the chemical industries which is based on the usage of numerous types of chemicals in large quantities. Increase in fertilizer use has become unavoidable to achieve maximum agricultural harvest. For instance, due to increasing population pressure, the use of chemical fertilizers has become essential in increasing crop production efficiency and meets the high needs for agricultural products in countries with a growing population. Waste from fertilizer factories usually ends up in sediments and soils. This waste may disturb the health of soil ecosystems. Soil quality and productivity in these areas have been dramatically reduced. Heavy metals contamination due to the emission of fertilizer industry is significant problem, which leads to negative influence on soil characteristics and limitation of productive and environmental functions (Kassir et al., 2012). A number of field studies have described the reaction of microarthropods on heavy metal pollution (e.g. Bengtsson and Rundgren, 1988; Hågvar and Abrahamsen, 1990; Rabitsch, 1995; Russell and Alberti, 1998). Soil organisms may play an important role in the transfer of metals through the ecosystem in metal-polluted environments (Janssen et al., 1991). The most numerous groups of microarthropods

There are metal substances which have mixed up with the river water of Bangladesh. The substance is known as Arsenic in Bangladesh. It was first found in the West Bengal ten years ago (1995-96). Arsenic is both toxic and carcinogenic. It is in inorganic forms, dissolved in drinking water which is the most significant forms of natural exposure. Organic forms of arsenic that may be present in food are much less toxic to humans. Clinical manifestations of arsenic poisoning begin with various forms of skin diseases, which lead to damage of internal organs, ultimately to cancer and death.

Petroleum E & P Activities are characterized by all forms of environmental impacts at different levels of its operations ranging from exploration, development and production, transportation and distribution, marketing, decommissioning and rehabilitation. At the exploration phase, there are the disturbances of forest and ground surface from related activities such as site clearance, construction of roads, tank farms, brine pits and pipelines and other land modifications necessary for the drilling of exploration and production wells and construction of production facilities (Kharaka and Dorsey 2005). According to Christen (2004) some of the environmental problems associated with petroleum E & P activities include oil spills, gas flaring and venting, discharges of petroleum derived chemicals wastes, contamination of controlled water sources, contamination of soil and sediments, the destruction of the farmland and the marine environment. The major environmental issues arose primarily from the improper disposal of large volumes of petroleum derived hazardous waste streams, such as oil and toxic sludge (Eweje, 2006 and Aniefiok et al 2013), equipment failure, oil spills/operational discharges and sabotage of petroleum facilities (Asthana and Asthane 2003). All these have grave effects on all aspects of the environmental media, creating lots of

Soil properties are shown in Table 2.1. These soils had a loamy texture with different contents of clay, sand and silt. pH values ranged from 4.45 to 7.73. TC was in the range of 1.6 to 8.37 % without significant amounts of TN and TS detected. TOC varied between 1.48 and 8.37% whilst DOC showed a wide range from 106 to 400 mg kg-1. CEC values ranged from 2.9 to 17.9 cmol kg-1. Concentrations of Fe oxide, Al oxide, and Mn oxide were 0.28-12.49 g kg-1, 0.5-12.6 g kg-1 and 0.0252-0.302 g kg-1, respectively. Total concentrations of As and Cd in control and spiked soil after one-year aging were listed in Table S1 (Appendix 2). The difference between the spiked concentrations and measured ones may be due to the particle size (spiked soils were sieved to < 250 μm particle size was used for all measurements.