Land Pollution: Cntd

Land pollution is the degradation of the Earth's land surface through misuse of the soil by poor agricultural practices, mineral exploitation, industrial waste dumping, and indiscriminate disposal of urban wastes. It includes visible waste and litter as well as pollution of the soil itself.

Abandoned or neglected waste disposal sites are a particularly difficult and expensive problem for society. Sometimes, hazardous waste is disposed of illegally and in an even more dangerous manner because the owner cannot find a cheap way to get rid of it. If chemical waste materials are deposited in an unsafe area, they could be hazardous as the chemicals might harm the people living near them. Because of their toxicity, flammability, explosive potential, radiation or other dangerous properties, there is a possibility that living organisms nearby, especially humans, will suffer health problems, especially cancer.
The following measures can be used to control land pollution:

• anti-litter campaigns can educate people against littering;
• organic waste can be dumped in places far from residential areas;
• inorganic materials such as metals, glass and plastic, but also paper, can be reclaimed and recycled.