IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION ON CHEMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL HEALTH AND BIODIVERSITY OF PEDOECOSYSTEM.

Soil pollution is a major problem in the presnt scenario of environmental degradation. Industrial effluents are directly or indirectly disposed to soil system and gradually hamper chemical and biological health of soil. They contain many inorganic chemicals including heavy metals like cadmium, chromium, copper, calcium, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, mercury, nickel, potassium and zinc. Besides these chlorides, cyanides, sulphates, sulphides and phenolic compounds, synthetic dye, petrochemicals and nanoparticles are also generated from industries which cause soil pollution. It has been observed that effluent disposal makes soil brittle, infertile, barren and fluffy and produces bad smell and causes adverse impacts on faunal communities. Effluents cause detrimental effects on soil system and fauna inhabiting there in. Many arthropods and annelids are affected with hazardous industrial effluents in polluted sites as compared to the non-polluted one. Soil fauna were more affected near to the disposal sites as compared to the distant places. Virtually industrial pollution greatly affects the belowground faunal biodiversity and inhibits function of ecosystem to provide goods and services. In most of the cases, the population of soil fauna either declines or shows absence in the polluted sites. In contrast, population of certain fauna in soil increased in response to effluent pollution. Whereas few soil faunal population remained unaffected. These selective impacts of industrial effluents may be assigned to the differences in food availability, faunal and soil characteristics and their interactions in polluted pedoecosystem. Industrial effluents alter the pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, organic matter, ammonical nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, soil respiration, soil dehydrogenase activity and carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N ratio) of soils. Soil respiration and dehydrogenase activity decreased substantially indicating a remarkable decline in microbial activity in polluted soil. Effluent disposal also increases C/N ratio of polluted soil as compared to non-polluted one, which make the soil unfit for uptake of nutrients by plants. The pollution associated increase in C/N ratio and decrease in microbial activity may lead to a significant reduction in below-and above-ground biodiversity in long run. Since the soil fauna earthworms have a great ability to remove toxicants and mitigate soil pollution, they can be used for ameliorative purpose. The present observations embark the need to restore the soil faunal biodiversity by preventing disposal of untreated effluents in river, water bodies, soil and agricultural farms. In addition, bioremediation and other land reclamation technologies should be popularized to save soil system and environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]