Pesticides used in agriculture and by the health services are toxic and interfere with breeding of mammals and birds. Toxic metals which are produced by industry are health and life threatening. Fertilizers used in agriculture cause eutrophication. Oil spills from tankers smother marine plants and animals. Plastics in the sea causes the death of marine animals.
Pesticides used in agriculture and by the health services also causes the death of sea life.
However, pollution levels have increased so much in amount and toxicity that this approach is no longer acceptable. An alternative approach is source reduction, i.e. a reduction in the amount of pollution where produced. Common examples are veld fires, motor vehicle emissions, fertilizer runoff, sediment from construction and erosion, plastic packaging, and gases from aerosol cans. This principle is difficult to apply when the source of pollution cannot be identified, as is often the case with atmospheric pollution. The principle can be usefully applied following a pollution disaster, such as an oil spill from a tanker.