Question

Write difference between pollution and pollutants.

Answer 1

Hint: One of them is the causative agent of the other. Both of them are topics of major concern for the wellbeing of our planet. They only have negative impacts on earth and the organism living on it.

Complete Answer:
Pollution is any undesirable change in the constituents of a substance. It can be in the form of chemicals (that can be either solid, liquid or gas) or it can be in the form of energy like sound, light, heat etc. The major forms of pollution are air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, radioactive pollution, soil pollution etc.

Pollutant on the other hand, is the substance that causes pollution. It is this pollutant that contaminates a substance, changes its constituents and makes the substance impure. It can be of all forms depending on the substance that it is contaminating. A solid pollutant can pollute other solids or liquid substances. It may also pollute the air if the solid particles are very fine (for e.g. dust particles in air).

Air Pollution: It is the contamination of the atmosphere with harmful gases, dust particles, smoke or any other undesirable chemical substance. The most common pollutants that pollute the air are carbon monoxide (which is a poisonous gas), chlorofluorocarbons (chemicals that deplete the ozone layer), oxides of nitrogen and sulfur (released from factories and vehicles respectively).

Water Pollution: It is the contamination of water bodies with chemical wastes from industries, solid wastes from human interferences and organic wastes from improper sewage systems. Solid pollutants can be separated from water by means of filtration. The liquid or chemical pollutants have to be treated by using other chemicals or through a series of physicochemical processes. The organic pollutants can be removed by using microbes to digest them.

Note: In India, the biggest issue regarding pollution is that of the air. New Delhi, the capital of the country itself has the most polluted air out of all the capital cities in the world.
The fifty most polluted cities in the world are from India and China.
- In India, the main cause of air pollution are the constructions, and burning of wastes.
- It is well known around the world that almost all products, from electronics and clothes to toys and machineries, are manufactured in China. Hence, the pollution in China is due to all the factories that it has.