THE SOIL POLLUTION

Good morning to the honourable judges, teachers, and friends. Welcome to my presentation. First, let me
express my gratitude to you all for attending today. My name is
………………………………………………., and I will be speaking to you today on “The Soil
Pollution.”

Ladies and gentlemen,

Soil is a thin layer made up of organic as well as inorganic materials. These materials cover the
rocky surfaces of Earth. Also, the organic portion, which is derived from the decayed remains of animals
and plants. While the inorganic portion is made up of rock fragments. This portion was formed over a
thousand years of chemical and physical weathering of bedrock. Productive soils are useful for agriculture
in order to supply the world with the required food.

Soil pollution can be defined as persistent of chemicals, salts, toxic compounds, radioactive
materials, that have adverse effects on animal health and plant growth. There are many ways through
which soils can get polluted. These are from the discharge of industrial waste into the Earth surfaces,
seepage through a landfill, underground storage tanks getting ruptured, formation of contaminated water
into the soil, solid waste seepage and chemicals like heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, and
pesticides.

Ladies and gentlemen,

A soil pollutant is a factor that is used for deterioration of soil due to texture, mineral, or quality
content of soil being reduced. Also, this disturbs the biological balance of the organisms dependent on the
soil. Additionally, there are adverse effects of soil pollution on the growth of plants. Usually, soil
pollution is caused due to the presence of man-made applications like percolation of contaminated surface
water, pesticides, fuel dumping, oil dumping, etc.

Additionally, there are other activities like leaching of waste from landfills, direct discharge of industrial
wastes into the soil, etc. Also, the most common chemicals involved here are solvents, petroleum
hydrocarbons, lead, pesticides, and various heavy metals. So, the phenomena occurring has a high
correlation with the intensities and industrialization of chemical usage.

Some of the main causes of soil pollution are:

 Increasing use of fertilizers

 Indiscriminate use of insecticides, herbicides, and pesticides

  Dumping of solid wastes

 Deforestation

Ladies and gentlemen,

Some radioactive pollutants from sources such as nuclear reactors, explosions, hospitals, science
labs, and etc. go very deep into the soil, stay there for a long time and cause soil pollution.

False agricultural practices using advanced agro-technology mean the use of enormous amounts of toxic
fertilizers including herbicides, weedicides, pesticides, etc. increases soil fertility but gradually decreases soil
physio-chemical and biological properties. Municipal trash heap, food processing waste, mining methods,
and many more are other sources of soil pollution.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In conclusion, because toxic chemicals enter the body through the food chain and disturb the entire
inner body system, soil pollution is very dangerous to health. In order to decrease and limit soil pollution, the
individuals particularly industrialists should follow all efficient control measures including environmental
protection laws. People should promote the recycling and reuse of solid waste and maximum feasible tree
plantation.

That’s all from me. Thank you very much.