Chemicals in the Water: A Serious Concern for the Humans and Aquatic Life

Abstract

Water is an essential element for life without which the life cannot sustain on the earth. The earth’s major part is covered with water which carry maximum biodiversity. The humans, animals and plants of the terrestrial ecosystem depend on freshwater sources which are less than 3% of the total water available on the earth while marine water sources have saline water available in oceans, seas and saline lakes. Both these sources are suffering from contamination by different chemicals. The majority of chemical contamination in water is due to human activities. Human population growth is directly proportional to the degradation of the environment which means mismanaged human activities are causing different types of environmental problems. Out of all environmental problems, contamination of water and degradation of water quality is a big problem for the water resources. It is evident that water has high levels of harmful chemicals like heavy metals, pesticides and volatile organic compounds. These chemicals are now getting accumulated in the plants, humans and animals. In humans, these chemicals get deposited in the tissues and are responsible for the different types of life-threatening diseases. The studies on different water sources including poles and glaciers have shown the presence of different harmful chemicals, and even at some places these are found in high concentration. The people from different parts of the world are suffering from various diseases like arsenic poisoning, fluorosis, itai–itai, mercury poisoning, liver failure, nervous system failure and many more. Some of these chemicals are carcinogenic and mutagenic too which is responsible for the different types of cancer and mutation in the body. Therefore, the proper treatment of waste, awareness of people and following the standard guidelines strictly are only the way to reduce the chance of contamination of different water sources by chemicals.