Soil Pollution - Practice Questions & MCQ

The sol or earth has been recognised as the mother of all plants, animals and human beings. It is very essential either directly or indirectly for the survival and maintenance of various biological species including man, as it produces food for all. The chief components of the soil are inorganic matter(90-95%) and organic matter(5-10%). Besides, the soil contains water and air. The composition of soil varies considerably from place to place.
The soil has become the dumping ground of most of the waste products, i.e, domestic, human, animal, industrial and agricultural. Every year the solid wastes dumped into the soil are increasing at an alarming rate all over the world. Different kinds of poisonous materials are being used these days and the whole earth is increasingly being poisoned and polluted as a consequence. The problem of soil pollution has aggravated by the use of agrochemicals such as pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, fertilizers and manures. Besides, these, the soil is polluted by deadly pathogenic organisms.
Soil pollution is different from air and water pollution in the following respects:
(i) Soil pollutants do not get dispersed unlike air and water pollutants. The pollution is localised unlike air and water pollution.
(ii) The pollutants remain at a particular place for relatively longer periods.

Industrial wastes: Industrial wastes are the major cause of soil or land pollution. These wastes are mostly toxic due to the presence of cyanides, chromates, acids, alkalies, metals like nickel, cadmium, mercury, lead, etc. It is estimated about 50% of the raw materials used by the industries become waste products which are either thrown into water or dumped into the soil. The wastes are discharged from textile industry, paper and pulp industry, food processing industry, metal processing industries, glass, cement and engineering industries. The industrial wastes contain huge amounts of materials which are non-biodegradable and posing a serious threat to humanity.