Environmental issues

Environmental pollution is the water, air or food contamination in a manner to cause potential
harm to the health of humans and other living and non-living organisms (Peirce et al., 1998). The
impact of human beings on the natural systems is the main cause of these environmental issues
e.g. solid-waste management problems, water pollution and air pollution. Solid waste refers to
the waste produced by the public during household chores such as garbage, sludge, trash and
other disposals of solid waste (Haron et al., 2005). In developing countries, solid waste
produced is about 55-80% from household chores while 10-30 % is generated from commercial
areas (Abdel-Shafy et al., 2018). Recycling composting and landfill-like methods used to treat
solid wastes. (Haron et al., 2005). The increase in solid waste production has negative impacts
on the environment. The municipal solid waste sector is the fourth-largest supplier of global
emissions of non-CO2 GHGs. It contributes approximately 5.5–6.4% methane emission annually
in air pollution. (Maria et al., 2019). Approximately, 20% of the solid contents of an “average”
wastewater comprise the colloidal fraction of domestic wastewater. (Muralikrishna & Manickam,
2017).

Table 1.1: Most polluted countries in the World (2019 & 2020)
 Table 1.2: Rate of pollution in Pakistan (updated list at Nov, 2021) by IQ Air

Air pollution can be defined as the introduction of particulate matters, chemicals or biological
materials into the atmosphere. They may cause discomfort to human beings and other living
organisms or may cause damage to the natural or built environment. Air pollution is one of the
problems associated with the growing population of various cities. Air pollution has increased
with urbanization, industrial development and growth in mobility. These factors are affecting the
air quality and intensifying air pollution, in populated areas (Fagorite et al., 2021). Another
source of environmental pollution is the textile sector, which carries an extensive list of
pollutants. This industry is the main source of producing NOx, SOx, dust, volatile organic
compounds and particulate matters, resulting in air pollution (Bhatia & Dhevraj, 2017).
Smokeless zones (for household use), low-emission zones (for heavy vehicles) and low
registration charges (for low-emission vehicles) help to reduce air pollution (Robinson, 2005).

Water pollution consists of contamination of water bodies and heavy metals. It does not only
destroy agricultural areas by causing different biotic and abiotic stresses to crops but it is also
one of the disease-causing factors. It produces many water-borne diseases (e.g. typhoid, cholera
and diarrhea). These diseases severely influencing human fitness all over the world. In addition,
it is also affecting aquatic life. The main source of water pollution is the uncontrolled discharge
of chemical substances (toxic dyes) from factories and industries (Noreen et al., 2019). The
marble industries are providing socio-economic conditions such as employment to many people
(Ahmad et al., 2019). Despite this, the marble sector carries 70 % of discharge wastewater
during processing e.g. polishing, mining etc (Gazi et al., 2012). The main damage caused by the
textile sector in the environment is the discharge of effluents (untreated ones) into water bodies
(Bhatia & Dhevraj, 2017).
 Figure 1.1: Effects of pollution on human health (Tripodi, 2013)

Synthetic colors release uncontrollably into natural water sources, as well as bacterial pollution,
which have posed major ecological and environmental risks in our daily lives. Lack of clean
water and inadequate sanitation process is promoting the spread of microbes. Among them,
bacteria are becoming another threat to human. They are microorganisms having single-cell and
are present in a variety of shapes and sizes. Bacteria are present in all sorts of environments
including; water bodies, soil and in (or on) human bodies. Some bacteria can survive under
exposer to extreme temperature or radiation. Many bacteria are not harmful to us but some of the
bacteria founds are very hazardous. For example, bacteria present in our digestive tract help to
digest food but sometimes it can enter our bodies to cause an infection (Whitworth & Seladi-
Schulman, 2019):

Table 1.3: Some infections caused by bacteria

Clostridium Urinary tract Pneumococcal Food Meningitis

Whooping Botulism Cellulitis Vaginosis Gonorrhea

Anthrax Chlamydia Syphilis Tuberculosis Cough

Lyme disease Strep throat Cholera Tetanus Diarrhea