Pollution contamination of the environment as a result of human activities. During the 20th cent. Pollution problems have arisen in all industrialized areas as well as in various inland and coastal waters and stretches of ocean. The capacity of the biosphere to disperse, degrade, and assimilate human wastes is in question . An early sign of environmental limits was the air pollution of the industrial revolution, brought on by the burning of coal to run mills …showed first 75 words of 397 total…

…showed last 75 words of 397 total…such as cancer; birth defects; genetic changes; chronic headaches, fatigue, and irritability; and digestive disorders. By the 1970s many organizations and governments were seeking means of controlling pollution . In the u.s., Congress established the environmental protection agency and passed numerous laws for pollution control. Waste disposal, long considered routine, has also become an increasingly complex science and a major industrial challenge. Waste disposal specialists seek solutions to the safe disposal of many hazardous substances.