Eichornia plants in a pond

The Problems of Waste in our surrounding

Biology

What happens when we add our waste to the Environment?

Substances that are thrown out to some place due to their uselessness or excreted out of our body are called as waste substances.

In today’s world mass of wastes is increasing day by day due to which we see wastes here and there.

Solid wastes pollute the environment and cause dangers to the community health. When mixed with water, they pollute it as well. On the other hand liquid wastes pollute water bodies, ground water and sea water, and cause serious pollution.

According to nature there are two types of waste- biodegradable and non-biodegradable.

Biodegradable Substances

Substances that can be broken down or decomposed into simpler substances by the activities of microorganisms like bacteria, fungi and insects are called as biodegradable substances.

Most of the organic substances like dung, urine, wastes of plants and animals are biodegradable. These substances can be decomposed by microorganisms.

Non-biodegradable Substance

Substances that cannot be broken down by microorganisms are called as non-biodegradable substances.

The heaps of these substances go on increasing and their disposal is a great problem. Plastics, many insecticides and fungicides are some examples of these substances.

The accumulation of waste substances causes origin, development and spread of disease causing microorganisms.

These pollute water and soil as well and interrupt bio-geo-chemical cycles. Therefore proper disposal of wastes is essential.

Some non-biodegradable substances like insecticides get absorbed by plants through food-cycles and accumulate in the fatty tissues of consumers.

Since man is the top most consumers these substances finally accumulate in the bodies of human beings and their concentration goes on increasing.

Accumulation of non-biodegradable substances in the fatty tissues of man and other organisms is called as Biomagnifications. Bio magnification is a very dangerous condition as it is a cause of many serious diseases.

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