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The Effects Of Pollutants On The Environment

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The behaviour of pollutants in the environment can depend on the type and use of the pollutant, for example, atmospheric pollutants, such as oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, will behave differently than water pollutants, such as petroleum from an oil spill, because their compounds and the environment in which they pollute are different. Every pollutant has a source, pathway and sink. The source determines where the pollutant came from, the pathway is the route that the pollutant takes to reach different parts of the environment and the sink is the place of distribution or accumulation (Holdgate, 1979). A pollutant can have a single source or multiple sources and could take several pathways. Pollutants can have acute or chronic effects, which depend on the concentration and type of pollutant and also the duration in which an organism has been exposed to the pollutant. The pollutants effects, such as asbestos, could take a long time to arise, for example, a person exposed to asbestos could develop a chronic lung condition as the asbestos could accumulate in their lungs and the effects of this could occur for a long time (Doll and Peto, 1985). In comparison, a pollutant, for example, could have a severe but brief effect. Ultimately the material properties of the pollutant determine the pollutants behaviour, especially in regards to where the pollutant travels and for how long the pollutant acts, for example, Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in water have low solubility and are

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