Various Sources of Heavy Metals Contamination, Including Industrial Activities, Mining, Agriculture, and Urbanization
Sumit Mishra, Asmita De
Abstract
Heavy metals are widely recognized as environmental pollutants due to their toxicity, persistence in the environment and capacity to accumulate in living beings. Heavy metals are characterized by high atomic weight and high density. Heavy metals originate from both geogenic and anthropogenic sources. Rapid industrialization and globalization lead to contamination of natural resources with harmful emissions, and untreated wastewater effluents. Prolonged release of heavy metals from the source exceeds its concentration beyond permissible limits of environmental quality and health. They gradually accumulate in the body over a long period of time. These heavy metals can cause significant environmental degradation and ecological pollution owing to their high toxicity and non-biodegradable characteristics. This chapter discusses the various sources of heavy metal contamination in the environment and ways to control heavy metal contamination.