Pollution

Everyone suffers the effects of pollution. The most vulnerable people - like children, older people and those with heart and respiratory conditions - are most affected. People living in deprived areas are also more affected by poor air quality, partly because these areas are often near busy roads.

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be chemical substances, energies or naturally occurring contaminants. In 2015, pollution is estimated to have brought an early death to 9 million people worldwide.

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Immigrant children picking through rubbish on waste ground looking for scrap to sell. Tower Hamlets Winter 1992-3.

ICI Wilton, Middlesborough. Flue gas emissions here have been responsible for a number of uncontrolled chemical leaks forcing the evacuation of the neighbouring residential areas.

Women's enviromental network block road at Highbury Corner, London in protest at pollution caused by traffic.Summer 1994.

1062-514 Women's enviromental network block road at Highbury Corner, London in protest at pollution caused by traffic.Summer 1994.

Rubbish dumped on 'playground area' of housing estate, East London.

Wasteland 1

1.0614/520 Drums of industrial waste stored awaiting incineration at the Rechem plant, Fawley, Southampton. 1993.

1.0614/647 Domestic rubbish being compacted on landfill site, Calvert, Bucks.

asbestos removal Hackne

Stolen car burned out & dumped by joy riders on Cooling Marshes near Cliffe on the Kent coast.Thames Estuary, UK.

Bare Fields Suffolk

Fly dumping, Bow, London.A mixture of old car parts, tyres, oil and waste from a food preparation factory are dumped on waste land opposite a housing estate in this run down & derelict area.

Cromer, North Norfolk Coast 1989. Take an unspoilt stretch of coastline and cover it with cheap caravans. High density tourim causes pollution and associated activities totally alter the nature of local habitats.

1.0614/648 Domestic rubbish being compacted on landfill site, Calvert, Bucks.

Algae and flotsam on the River Lea, east London.

Romney marsh, Kent.Standing water in this drainage ditch is completely covered by algae. Romney marsh, Kent. Standing water in this drainage ditch is completely covered by algae fed by by nutrients lost from runoff from the fields.

1.06-139 Outfall from Sturge Biochemicals factory into River Ouse, Yorkshire.

Easington, Durham 1989.British coal dump colliery waste directly into the sea smothering life on the sea bed & blackening beaches.Unemployed ex miners scratch a living collecting coal washed up on beach.

River Ouse near Selby, Yorks.Discharge from unknown source.

1.0605-97 Industrial and domestic rubbish accumulate at side of canal near Gent, Belgium.

Waste water outlet from Amylum factory in Aalst town centre.

Rubbish in Grand Union canal, London 2004.

Domestic sewage & industrial waste pours into the riverTees at Portrack, Teeside.

106-484 Port Talbot Steelworks, South Wales, 14 December 1990.

1.0614/556 Flare stack burning off excess methane produced from the decomposition of household rubbish in the landfill site at Bletchley, Bucks. Used to generate electricity in some sites here it has to burnt to avoid dangerous buildup of explosive gases.

Chemical factory flare stack, Antwerp industrial complex on the River Schelde. Thick clouds of unburnt hydrocarbons & other chemicals drift in the wind to fall over nearby city, farmlands & waterways.

Pulp mill, western Vancouver Island. Half of Canada's forest product exports leave the country in relatively unprocessed low value form. Despite the environmental loss little profit is made for Canada.

Drax Power Station, Selby, Yorks. One of least polluting coal fired generators in the UK it is now being fitted with flue scrubbers to reduce sulphur emissions.

Smog from traffic pollution hangs heavily over Mexico City. Situated in a valley this area suffers from severe air pollution.

1.0605/222 Flare stack, Antwerp industrial complex on River Schelde. Unburned hydrocarbons, waste chemicals and particulates drift in the wind. In the background is Doel nuclear power station.

1.076/242 Metal refinery pours smoke, pollutants and heavy metal particles into the fishing port, Muros, Galicia, Spain 1992.

1.076/245 Metal refinery pours smoke, pollutants and heavy metal particles into the pretty fishing port, Muros, Galicia, Spain 1992.

Private company employed by local council in Tower Hamlets to test residential land for soil contamination.

1.0614-786 Taking samples for analysis from lagoon of leachate draining from landfill site, Essex.