5 harmful ways in which Industrial pollution degrades the environment

There are four major elements of the environment. They are air, water, land and sound (noise). When all the four elements become polluted, the environment automatically becomes polluted, in other words, degraded.

Industrial pollution degrades the environment in the following ways:

(i) Industries emit smoke and pollute air and water very badly.

(a) Undesirable gases like carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide cause air pollution.

(b) Air pollution affects human health, animals, plants, materials and the atmosphere.

(ii) Industrial effluents are discharged into the rivers. They include both organic and inorganic matters like coal, dyes, soaps, pesticides and fertilisers, plastic and rubber. These are the major pollutants of water,

(iii) Industrial water contains toxic metals that pollute land and soil.

(iv) Unwanted loud noise or sound also causes pollution. Noises cause hearing impairments.

(v) Sometimes the solid industrial wastes containing harmful substances are dumped in isolated pockets of land. This results in pollution of land and soil in the nearby regions.