Pollution

Pollution & pollutants – from Petrochemicals to Nano Materials and from Green Slime to Grey Goo.

Pollution of our natural environment weakens the very fabric of the interconnected biological processes that sustain us - and everything else - in all ways. All the elements are already polluted – earth, air, water. Even the underworld is polluted through seepage!

Pollutants can include chemicals, gasses, radioactive waste, the electromagnetic spectrum, alien invasive species and biological agents – as in germ warfare agents or genetically engineered organisms. Giving pollution a life of its own!

Novel, emerging pollutants are increasing in scale and risk. Nanomaterials are invisible, able to transit cell boundaries and may be the new asbestos. There is no uniform protocol to even regulate the handling of nano-material waste, let alone production.

The ultimate pollution bogeyman is probably grey goo, a self replicating mixture of nanomaterials, genetic engineering and implanted programming using electronic or biological memory. If this self replicating material establishes a niche through an ability to mutate it could spread uncontrollably and rapidly, eventually smothering all life on earth. That’s the theory anyway.

Whatever the issue, whether pollution be petrochemicals, their products – detergents, fuels, agricultural pesticides, nuclear contamination, fertilisers, solvents, paints – or other new, emerging threats, we need to firstly recognise the challenges posed by each pollutant or group of pollutants and then put proper mechanisms into place that enable us to control and manage the risks related to both existing and emerging pollutants.

Here we examine these Pollution Issues in more depth.

• Toxic Teflon - Lessons From A Teflon Frying Pan.

• Green Homes In South Africa - How To Make Your Home Green & Pollution Free.

• Pollution In South Africa. There are over 80, 000 chemicals in daily use around the world, with over 5000 new compounds entering our environment annually..

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