Pollution effects...

Pollution effects are indeed many and wide-ranging.
There is no doubt that excessive levels of pollution are causing a lot of damage to human & animal health, plants & trees including tropical rainforests, as well as the wider environment.
All types of pollution – air, water and soil pollution – have an impact on the living environment.
The effects in living organisms may range from mild discomfort to serious diseases such as cancer to physical deformities; ex., extra or missing limbs in frogs.
Experts admit that pollution effects are quite often underestimated and that more research is needed to understand the connections between pollution and its effects on all life forms.

Environmental Pollution Effects on Humans

We know that pollution causes not only physical disabilities but also psychological and behavioral disorders in people.
We are discussing the effects of air pollution and specific air pollutants in more detail in the Air Pollutants article.
The following pollution effects on humans have been reported:
Air Pollution Effects (1, 2)
• Reduced lung functioning
• Irritation of eyes, nose, mouth and throat
• Asthma attacks
• Respiratory symptoms such as coughing and wheezing
• Increased respiratory disease such as bronchitis
• Reduced energy levels
• Headaches and dizziness
• Disruption of endocrine, reproductive and immune systems
• Neurobehavioral disorders
• Cardiovascular problems
• Cancer
• Premature death

Water Pollution Effects (3)
Waterborne diseases caused by polluted drinking water:
• Typhoid
• Amoebiasis
• Giardiasis
• Ascariasis
• Hookworm

Waterborne diseases caused by polluted beach water:
• Rashes, ear ache, pink eye
• Respiratory infections
• Hepatitis, encephalitis, gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, vomiting, and stomach aches

Conditions related to water polluted by chemicals (such as pesticides, hydrocarbons, persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals etc):
• Cancer, incl. prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Hormonal problems that can disrupt reproductive and developmental processes
• Damage to the nervous system
• Liver and kidney damage
• Damage to the DNA
• Exposure to mercury (heavy metal):
o In the womb: may cause neurological problems including slower reflexes, learning deficits, delayed or incomplete mental development, autism and brain damage
o In adults: Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and even death
Other notes:
• Water pollution may also result from interactions between water and contaminated soil, as well as from deposition of air contaminants (such as acid rain)
• Damage to people may be caused by fish foods coming from polluted water (a well known example is high mercury levels in fish)
• Damage to people may be caused by vegetable crops grown / washed with polluted water (author’s own conclusion)

Soil Pollution Effects (4)
• Causes cancers including leukaemia
• Lead in soil is especially hazardous for young children causing developmental damage to the brain
• Mercury can increase the risk of kidney damage; cyclodienes can lead to liver toxicity
• Causes neuromuscular blockage as well as depression of the central nervous system
• Also causes headaches, nausea, fatigue, eye irritation and skin rash
Other notes:
• Contact with contaminated soil may be direct (from using parks, schools etc) or indirect (by inhaling soil contaminants which have vaporized)
• Soil pollution may also result from secondary contamination of water supplies and from deposition of air contaminants (for example, via acid rain)
• Contamination of crops grown in polluted soil brings up problems with food security
• Since it is closely linked to water pollution, many effects of soil contamination appear to be similar to the ones caused by water contamination