This topic has been addressed in this recent question

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_somebody_give_an_example_of_pollutant_that_is_not_a_contaminant

Generally, a contaminant is an undesired material although it does not have to be harmful. Pollution ; is the presence of any substance or material that may cause a harmful effect on human, animal and plant. If there is no harm, then it is called contaminant.

Thanks@Sylvester Peter Antai

I disagree with Dr Sylvester Peter Antai, that contaminants are considered not to be harmfull. Microbiological contamination can certainly be harmfull!

I just got this from somewhere-

'A pollutant refers to a substance which increases in quantity due to human activity and adversely affects the environment eg CO. Meanwhile, a contaminant is a substance which is not present in nature but released during human activity eg malathion. A contaminant however, is regarded as a pollutant when it exerts detrimental effects'.

I think the difference here is that one is already present in nature but its concentration is increased by human activity (pollutant) while the other is not present but introduced into nature by the activities of man (contaminant).

Furthermore, a contaminant can be free of adverse effect to the environment but when it exerts adverse effect, it could be refered to as 'a pollutant'.

We hear the words like "air pollution" and "water/soil contamination". I don't remember hearing "contaminated air" or "polluted soil". At times i heard of polluted water. Can we draw any conclusions from these words??

Inside houses your air can be contaminated with micro-organismes or solvents.

Soil can be polluted by oil.

CONCLUSION??

in my opinion, these are same, however, the word "pollutant" meant for gases and contaminant meant for liquid

liquid and soil

GESAMP, the IMO/FAO/Unesco/WMO/WHO/IAEA/UN/UNEP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution, has defined marine pollution in the following way: "Pollution means the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment (including estuaries) resulting in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities including fishing, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities".

Contamination pertains to the introduction of impurities in an otherwise pure substance, state or process.

in short: no. Having said that and having read the above comments, I believe it is helpful to refer to synthetic or man-made chemicals (e.g. some but not all pesticides and pharmaceuticals) and natural chemicals (e.g. inorganics Pb, Cd, U or organic substances such as nicotine or some PAHs). Sometimes it is about chemicals occurring naturally that are transferred to places in the environment where they do not occur in such quantities.

A contaminant is any foreign component present in another substance, while a pollutant is a substance, organism, or energy form present in amounts that impair or threaten an ecosystem to the extent that its current or future uses are precluded (source: Pankratz, T.M., Environmental engineering dictionary and directory. CRC Press, 2000).

For instance, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) defines "contaminant" as any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter in water. Drinking water may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. Some contaminants may be harmful if consumed at certain levels in drinking water. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk (source: https://www.epa.gov/ccl/definition-contaminant).

All pollutants are contaminants, but not all contaminants are pollutants (source: Chapman. P.M., 2007, Environ. Int., 33(4), 492-501). A contaminant can be considered a pollutant when it is perceived to have an adverse effect on health or environment.

By definition 'Contaminant' are chemicals that are found at levels judged to be above those that would normally be expected.

“Pollutants” carries the connotation of the potential to cause harm, whereas contaminants are not by definition harmful.

Refer to the discussion below for information

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_term_do_you_like_better_when_describing_environmental_issues_1pollutant_2ecotoxicant_3contaminant

Dear Precious Adejoh Idakwoji

Contamination is just the presence of a substance where it should not be or at concentrations above background. Pollution is contamination that results in or can result in adverse biological effects to resident communities.

Regards

Please, read the discussions here:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_difference_between_pollution_and_contamination3#view=5e729f7ed55e9d23b739dd4e

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_diffenrence_between_resource_pollution_and_resource_contamination2

Contaminants are defined as inputs of alien and potentially toxic substances into the environment; not all contaminants cause pollution, as their concentrations may be too low. Pollutants are defined as anthropogenically-introduced substances that have harmful effects on the environment.

Pollutant: a substance that pollutes something, especially water or the atmosphere.

e.g. chemical pollutants

Contaminant: a polluting or poisonous substance that makes something impure. we can mention many examples chemical contaminants, microbial contaminants

Pb is a toxic element (metal) and affect organisms

DDT an insecticide and banned based on its risks to biodiversity

CO is a gas form due to incomplete combustion of fuels or during wild fires or cigarette smoking

Malathion is a pesticide/insecticide (organophosphate)

Contaminants are unwanted materials in a substance that may not necessarily be harmful to human health, while Pollutants are unwanted materials in a substance that can cause harm to human health.

Pollution is particularly dealing with waste materials which harm our air, water, soil, and space.  It occurs when the contaminants reach an alarming number.

Contaminant are substances which may or may not be harmful owing to their presence in lesser amounts however, as their amounts tend to increase beyond their permissible limits, they necessarily cause harm and are then, terms as pollutants.