By: Burhan Omar Qader Al-Jabari

Body of Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health

The environment in its broad linguistic sense indicates to the location that human being belong to by turning it to his home and living there. The connection between environment and the meaning of home or house has a clear indication; undoubtedly, this indication illustrates the attachment of the creature’s heart with the home and to reside there. From this point, one of the ascertained commitments is that the environment in its broader meaning, should meet the individual's aim and interests, similar to the homes and houses which fulfill the aims, interests and concerns of the individuals.  The simple definition of pollution which is understood by any one of us is: “basically the thing is not clean” which causes some damages and problems to the human’s health, or even to the whole organisms and in the entire world. While, if we focus on the concept of environmental pollution from a more practical and precise perspective: it could be described as a change in the environmental surrounding organisms through human's behaviors and its daily activities which lead to the emergence of some resources  which do not fit with the organisms' locations  and leading to its unbalance.  Basically, the human being is the main factor who controls the Contaminants by turning it either to useful resources or harmful ones.  For example, the animal’s biological offal could be a useful resource if it is exploited as fertilizers for agricultural soil. While in the case of its disposal in the waters, it will spread various diseases and epidemics. For this purpose, this attempt is directed to contribute in the recognition of the problem, selection of its types, reasons, and the purpose of the preventive measures and proposed solutions for addressing the pollution in a various methods.

CHAPTER I

Definition of Environment and Pollution (Types and Causes)

Section I: Causes of Environmental Pollution:

Human being is the main and basic cause of the pollution process occurrence in environment, and the emergence of all types of contaminants, as the following:

Human - Industrial expansion – Technological development – Misuse of resources – Population explosion.

Human is the one who invent, who create, who use, who is the main component of population. 

Section II: Types of Pollution

2-1. Soil Pollution:

The soil which is considered as the main source of welfare and crop, is the most misused element by human in the environment. The human being deals harshly with the soil without realizing its importance as the sole basic source of his family’s food. Non-realizing and understanding the fact leads to the emergence of the human’s negligence as well.

2-1-1: Causes of Soil Pollution:

Soil salinity and water saturation, excessive use of irrigation water and poor sanitation cause damage to the soil. The Desertification phenomenon leads to minimize the rain, and wind which bring the sand to the agricultural lands.

-Use of pesticides and chemicals excessively

- The expansion of the urban construction, which led to bulldozing and sweeping away the agricultural lands.

- Pollution by sedimentation of substances into the air of the industrial areas.

-Pollution by radioactive materials.

-Pollution by heavy metals.

-Pollution by organisms.

2-1-1-1. Pollution of Wastes:

Among the types of environmental pollutions, there is the pollution of waste, which includes:

First: Garbage

Second: Radioactive Wastes

First: Garbage:

It means what human leaves behind them of residues during their daily life activities. It is noticed that its share is increasing in developing countries, especially in the context of population inflation. This high percentage of waste coupled with the absence of health awareness, as well as a weak collection and disposal systems, is causing serious damages, as the following:

-Spread of foul odors

-Occurrence of flames and fires

-A breeding environment for insects such as flies, mosquitoes and mice.

-Proliferation of microbes that cause infection of: Diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, amoebiasis, hepatitis, tetanus, tuberculosis, visual disorders, spread of diseases the cattle spores.

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