Environmental Science & Green Technology

DR. NOOPUR

A S S I S TA N T P R O F E S S O R

DEPTT OF HUMANITIES SOCIAL SCIENCES AND MANAGEMENT

IIIT RANCHI

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Lecture Objectives
Discuss soil pollution

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Structure of the Earth

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Lithosphere
• The solid outer part of the planet that comprises of continental crust ,ocean crust and upper
brittle

portion of mantle
• Span of up to a depth of 100km to 150km

• Continental crust has an average depth of 90km

• Oceanic crust is of thickness up to 11km

• Crust is a treasure of various types of minerals, stones and sand

• Interaction between the huge plates of lithosphere is called tectonic activity

• Top part of the crust contains the fertile soil that supply micronutrients for plants to
grow

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 Soil
Soil is the loose surface material that covers the earth’s surface.

It consists of inorganic particles, organic matter, air, water and numerous
microorganisms
Branch of science deals with the study of soil is called pedology

Soil is a
 Medium For Plant Growth
 Means Of Water Storage, Supply and Purification
 Modifier of Earth’s Atmosphere
 Habitat for Living Organisms
 Inevitable Abiotic Component of the Ecosystem

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Soil formation(pedogenesis)
Soils vary greatly in their chemical and physical properties.

 Processes such as leaching, weathering and microbial activity combine to make a

whole range of different soil types
Weathering can be physical, chemical or biological

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Factors affecting soil formation

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Soil Composition

Mineral compounds are found in the

form of sand, silt and clay

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Soil Characteristics
Structure

Colour

Texture

Depth

Soil structure

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Soil Texture
•Gravel — particles greater than 2mm in diameter

•Coarse sand — particles less than 2mm and greater than

0.2mm in diameter

•Fine sand — particles between 0.2mm and 0.02mm in

diameter

•Silt — particles between 0.02mm and 0.002mm in diameter

•Clay — particles less than 0.002mm in diameter.

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Soil colour
High organic matter
Dark brown
content

Black Humus

•Presence of iron
•Phosphorous may be
Red less available to the
plant
•Free draining

•Moist conditions
Yellow •Restrictive drainage
•Less weathering

•Poor drainage
Grey, Blue/Green hues
•Waterlogging
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Soil air

Relative humidity of soil air is 100%

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Soil water
Water enters the soil through large pores (macropores) and is stored in many small pores
(micropores). Porous soils have a balance between macro and micro pores.

To understand how much water is held in soil, the following terms are important:
• Field capacity—the amount of water held in the soil after it has been fully wet and free
drainage has stopped. Water applied above this limit will make the soil saturated and
water will drain quickly or will be lost as runoff.
• Permanent wilting point—the soil moisture condition at which the plant could not
obtain water and has wilted and died. The crop cannot be revived by an irrigation or
rainfall event.
• Plant available water capacity (PAWC) - the amount of water between field capacity
and permanent wilting point that is available to a plant. This requires careful management
and depends on soil texture, structure and organic matter in the soil.

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Soil Profile
The soil profile is a vertical section of the soil that depicts all of its distinct layers.

Distinct layers are called horizons

It extends from the soil surface to the parent rock material.

There are 5 master horizons in the soil profile.

Not all soil profiles contain all 5 horizons and so, soil profiles differ from one location to
another.

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Soil horizons
O The O horizon is a surface horizon that is comprised of organic material at various stages of
decomposition. It is most prominent in forested areas where there is the accumulation of debris fallen from
trees.

A: The A horizon is a surface horizon that largely consists of minerals (sand, silt, and clay) and with
appreciable amounts of organic matter. This horizon is predominantly the surface layer of many soils in
grasslands and agricultural lands.

E: The E horizon is a subsurface horizon that has been heavily leached. Leaching is the process in which
soluble nutrients are lost from the soil due to precipitation or irrigation. The horizon is typically light in color.
It is generally found beneath the O horizon.

B: The B horizon is a subsurface horizon that has accumulated from the layer(s) above. It is a site of
deposition of certain minerals that have leached from the layer(s) above.

C: The C horizon is a subsurface horizon. It is the least weathered horizon. Also known as the saprolite, it is
unconsolidated, loose parent material.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEShY_S_KGc 15
Soil horizons

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Soil Horizons Examples

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Soil Pollution
Soil pollution is defined as the presence of toxic substances (pollutants or
contaminants) in soil, in high enough concentrations to pose a risk to human
health and/or to the ecosystem.
The chemicals within soil cause reactions with other chemicals that go within it,
which could lead to soil contamination or pollution.
Even if the contaminant is a natural component of the soil, it could still cause soil
pollution if the concentration is too high.

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Types of Soil Contaminants

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Chemical sales

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 Sources of contaminants
I. Industrial Activity

II. Agricultural Activity

III. Urban waste disposal

IV. Oil Spills

V. Acid Rain

VI. Radioactive substances

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Industrial activity
Major industries that cause soil pollution

 MINING , QUARRYING AND OIL EXTRACTION INDUSTRY

 MANUFACTURING AND RECYCLING INDUSTRY
 ENERGY INDUSTRY
 CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
 TRANSPORATION INDUSTRY

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Mining, Quarrying and Oil Extraction
Mining, quarrying and oil extraction involves three different stages

Exploration and assessment in the concerned site

Excavation of the raw material or the substance

Extraction of the desired product from the raw material

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Mining Industry and pollution
Mining is a potential source of trace elements

Large-scale gold mining is responsible for some 2700 tons of mercury entering the soil each year

Rather than mining operation, extraction process such as tailing, smelting and waste
rock deposits contribute greater damage
Tailings refer to liquid slurries made of water and fine mineral particles that are created when mined
ore is crushed, ground and processed
The main pathways for soil pollution are cases where the tailings dam fails or from wind erosion

Release of toxic waste rich in arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc accumulates in soil and may
reach surface water.
Smelting is a process that involves roasting an ore to release the metal it contains and
it may release Sulphur dioxide and associated flue gases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDU1tS5zUwI 24
Mining Process example

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 Environmental impact
While the extractions are underway, the landscape is visibly disfigured and habitat loss can be
extensive.
The mining operations themselves and the accompanying spoil heaps cause a drastic change
in the location with direct destruction of habitat and blocking or burying nearby bodies of water.
Mining can often affect local hydrology, causing changes in the water flow as well as quality.
The pits left behind by large mining operations often fill with groundwater, which become
polluted
It can take many years for vegetation to become re-established at a former mine site.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/mining-and-quarrying-
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impacts#:~:text=Mining%20and%20quarrying%20can%20be,and%20local%20populations%20at%20risk.
Environmental impact
Fires occurring in underground mines are another environmental impact.

These can be difficult to extinguish and may actually burn for many years.

 There are hundreds of such mine fires around the world, in China, the United States, Russia,
and India
They emit a substantial amount of methane and Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, thereby
adding to the green house effect
Smelting often releases sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere to create acid precipitation,
including acid rain.

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Quarrying
Quarrying is the cutting or digging of stone, and related materials, from an excavation site or pit

Gravel, clay, sand, and limestone are quarried in vast quantities for use in building materials
like concrete, cement, and glass.
Crushed stone from quarries is used in large amounts to build roads. A mile of a motorway
could require nearly a quarter of a million tons of crushed stone.
Quarrying usually leaves behind a large hole in the ground.

Quarry wastes (aggregates), blasted materials (fly rocks), chemicals (explosives

used for blasting) and dust (granite powder) generated from activity are spread and
settled in the surrounding area.

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Quarrying

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Crude Oil Extraction Process
Crude oil is a complex mix of hydrocarbons including carbon, hydrogen, sulphur,
nitrogen, oxygen and metals,

Oil was formed millions of years ago from animal and plant remains deposited in
sand and silt, and pressurized by layers of sedimentary rock.

Oil reserves can be classified mainly into two – Conventional oil and
Unconventional oil

Conventional Oil is in liquid state at ambient temperature and pressure and can
be extracted using drilling and pumping methods

Unconventional oil can be extracted using oil sands mining, in situ recovery,
steam assisted gravity drainage, cyclic steam simulation etc

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Oil extraction and pollution
There are approximately 40,000 oil fields globally and 6 million people that live
or work nearby. Oil extraction can impact local soil, water, and air, which in turn
can influence community health
Spread of oil into soil affects the growth of microorganisms and earthworms

Oil pollution might affect soil physical properties. Pore spaces might be clogged,
which could reduce soil aeration and water infiltration and increase bulk density,
subsequently affecting plant growth.
Oil denser than water might reduce and restrict soil permeability

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Manufacturing and Recycling
Leather Manufacturing

Plastic manufacturing

Agrochemical Manufacturing

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Textile Manufacturing

PFA Manufacturing

Food Manufacturing

Lead Acid Battery Recycling

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Leather manufacturing
 Leather manufacture and tanneries produce large amounts of solid and liquid by-products that are
responsible for significant pollution of soil and water
The tanning process involves a transformation of the skin to hide through the use of different
chemicals followed by a second process that converts hide to leather with trivalent chromium
compounds or tannins, mineral salts and colours (Alvarez-Bernal et al., 2006).
The untreated effluents from tanning industries contain a high concentration of contaminants
including chromium compounds, dyes, chlorides, dissolved solids, nitrogen and suspended solids
(Bosnic, Buljan and Daniels, 2000; Ramasamy and Naidu, 1998).
The tanning process can oxidize trivalent chromium to its much more toxic hexavalent state

A study of the soil in Dhaka, Bangladesh, surrounding a tannery plant observed an accumulation of
trivalent chromium at 28 000 mg/kg at 1 km distance from the waste disposal area, and an irregular
distribution of hexavalent chromium, reaching 1 mg/kg, with other trace elements in the soil
subsurface.

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Tanning Process

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Agrochemicals and
Pharmaceuticals
The pesticide manufacturing industry has left a legacy of hazardous waste produced as by-products in the
manufacturing process.
Residues of banned agrochemicals remain in soil surrounding the manufacturing and application areas

The manufacturing process of lindane is extremely inefficient, producing about 6-10 tons of by-products,
mainly the alpha and beta Hexa –chloro- cyclo Hexane, for every ton of active lindane
Pharmaceutical industries are responsible for pollution due to releases into the environment of substances
containing active pharmaceutical ingredients(API) and other related chemical substances via atmospheric
emissions, effluents and solid wastes
The release of antimicrobials and by-products of antimicrobial production into the environment are a major
concern for the development of antimicrobial resistance
China and India are the countries where most of the APIs are manufactured and are reported to have
extensive point-source pollution with APIs and the development of drug resistance
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References
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-soil-pollution.php

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/soil-pollution-risk-our-health-and-foo
d-security

https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/zero-pollution/health/soil-pollution

https://www.fao.org/3/cb4894en/online/src/html/chapter-03-5.html

https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/mauisoil/a_profile.aspx#:~:text=The%20soil%20pro
file%20is%20a,the%20solum%20and%20the%20saprolite
.

https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/management/soil/soil-properties/
water#:~:text=Soil%20water%20contains%20nutrients%20that,between
%20macro%20and%20micro%20pores.
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