Impact of brick kiln emissions on soil quality and human health in Bahawalpur district of Punjab

It becomes clear that urbanization, conveyance and brick furnace emanation, are playing the leading role in diminishing the surrounding in esteem of human health problems, decrease of crop production and air pollution. This will also clue to global warming. Thus, decided that ambient air pollution due to brick furnace in the countryside areas is a genuine problem to vegetation and human health. The valuation on the method of brick manufacture showed that this method is very energy severe. Most of the emanations to the surrounding are recognized to the energy consumption, nonstop at the place with the burning of oil in furnace and diesel burning in transportation. Brick making has been a symbol of development of a society, archeological remains of the ancient times like those found in the Indus Valley civilization indicate the climax of development. While according to some scholars, one of the causes of the downfall of this civilization was brick making. It is believed that huge forests were cut to obtain fuel wood for use in brick making. The brick production sector in Pakistan depends upon fuel wasting units and techniques, which contribute to air pollution and emission of greenhouse gases, thus generating negative economic and environmental impacts. Coal, woody biomass and gas are the main fuels used in brick kilns while used Brick manufacturing is the fastest-growing industrial area in developed and developing countries and among the top three segments, along with suspended road dust and vehicle exhaust contributing to the health problems and air pollution. Fuels like coal and rubber are frequently used for brick burning. However, both coal and rubber contain heavy metals. In a field survey soil and plant and dust samples was collected from four different brick kilns in Uch Sharif, Tehsil Ahmed Pur, and District Bahawalpur. Plant and soil samples was taken from around each brick kiln at various radiuses along with dust samples. Plant samples was air dried and then oven dried and ground. Plant and soil samples was digested by following referred methods and analyzed for inorganic air pollutants such as Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), Manganese (Mn), Lead (Pb) and Cadmium (Cd). The heavy metals contamination was high in north direction as compared to south direction because maximum air direction in Bahawalpur district in north as compared to south direction. The fuels use in four bricks kilns like rubber, waste tires, wood, plastics and coal increase the concentration of heavy metals in soil, plants, dust and badly effect the human health Studies on the environmental impacts of brick kilns in Pakistan are scarce while data on emissions from brick kilns is not available. Traditionally brick kilns had been located at a distance from human habitations but fast rising urbanization has brought residential areas in near proximity to brick kilns. There are many reports of health hazards of brick kilns emissions. Efforts are underway to bring state of the art brick making technology in Pakistan while the need to undertake scientific studies on the environmental impacts of brick kilns are needed in a big way to discern fact from fiction. We need to explore the possibilities of reducing the hazards of brick kilns so that the industry can flourish while maintaining an environmental responsibility.