What do you call the stuff that causes pollution?

Answer 1

Pollutants.

a-Stock pollutants

Pollutants that the environment has little or no absorptive capacity are called stock pollutants[2](e.g. persistent synthetic chemicals, non-biodegradableplastics, and heavy metals). Stock pollutants accumulate in the environment over time. The damage they cause increases as more pollutant is emitted, and persists as the pollutant accumulates. Stock pollutants can create a burden for future generations by passing on damage that persists well after the benefits received from incurring that damage have been forgotten.[2]

[edit]b-Fund pollutants

Fund pollutants are those for which the environment has some absorptive capacity. Fund pollutants do not cause damage to the environment unless the emission rate exceeds the receiving environment's absorptive capacity (e.g. carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by plants and oceans).[2]Fund pollutants are not destroyed, but rather converted into less harmful substances, or diluted/dispersed to non-harmful concentrations.[2]

[edit]Notable pollutants

Notable pollutants include the following groups:

• Heavy metals
• Persistent organic pollutants POP
• Environmental Persistent Pharmaceutical Pollutants EPPP
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• Volatile organic compounds
• Environmental xenobiotics