Invisible to the Eye

human activity might cause permanent damage to the environment was not widely recognized. Little heed was then paid to the environmental risks posed by the operations of industrial plants, or by the large quantities of harmful waste they generated. This began to change in the mid-1970s, when the first provisions were enacted to regulate the activities of industrial plants, in terms of both environmental hazards and waste management. In Poland, such processes began in an organized manner with the enactment of the Environmental Protection Law in 2001. However, the lack of concern for the environment in the early stages of industrial development has left behind a devastating aftermath: more than 340,000 DMITRIY KANDINSKIY/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM