Radiation Pollution

What is Radiation Pollution/Radioactive Pollution?

The term 'radiation' can refer to a wide variety of forms of energy moving around as waves or particles. It can mean x-rays, or it can mean microwaves. It can also refer to infrared light and even visible light. Radioactive pollution refers to the release of ionizing radiation into the environment as a result of human activity.

Ionizing radiation is the form of radiation that has a short wavelength and a high frequency. In short, it's the form of radiation that's commonly thought of as being high energy and thus harmful to living things.

Causes of Radiation Pollution

The following list of radioactive pollution could give an insight into what usually causes these radioactive bio hazards.

Ø  Dumping of solid and liquid radioactive wastes.

Ø  Pollution due to underwater nuclear weapon testing and explosions.

Ø  Radioactive pollution caused due to water streams and other water run offs from nuclear testing sites.

Ø  The atmospheric radioactive fallout mainly due to cosmic particle shower or due to entry of extra-terrestrial materials from deep space.

Ø  Radioactive pollution that are caused due to the accidents in deep sea weapon testing, nuclear tipped weapon loss, radioactive emission from thermos-electrical generators, falling satellites with radioactive materials on board, and finally aircrafts and ships carrying nuclear materials.

Adverse Effects of Radioactive Pollution

Ø On the Environment

§  When soil is contaminated by radioactive substances, the harmful substances are transferred into the plants growing on it. It leads to genetic mutation and affects the plant's normal functioning. Eating any part of the contaminated plant, primarily fruits, poses serious health risks. Since plants are the base of all food chains, their contamination can lead to radioactive deposition all along the food web. Similarly, when radioactive waste is washed up in a water source, it can affect the entire aquatic food web. 

Ø On Human Beings

§  The impact of radioactive pollution on human beings can vary from mild to fatal; the magnitude of the adverse effects largely depends on the level and duration of exposure to radioactivity. Low levels of localized exposure may only have a superficial effect and cause mild skin irritation. Effects of long, but low-intensity exposures include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of hair, bruises due to subcutaneous bleeding etc. 

§  Long-term exposure or exposure to high amounts of radiation can have far more serious health effects. Radioactive rays can cause irreparable damage to DNA molecules and can lead to a life-threatening condition. Prolonged exposure leads to a large number of molecules in the body being ionized into free radicals. Free radicals promote the growth of cancerous cells, i.e. tumors, in the body. People with heavy radiation exposure are at a very high risk for cancers. Skin cancer, lung cancer and thyroid cancer are some of the common types of cancers caused by radiation. 

§  The effects of genetic mutation are passed on to the future generations as well. In other words, if the parents are exposed to nuclear radiation, their child could have severe congenital birth defects, both physical and mental. This is tragically illustrated in the case of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the aftereffects of nuclear radiation were carried on for generations, and thousands of children were born with physical abnormalities and mental retardation.