SOME COMMON POLLUTANTS

Air Pollution: Harmful substances in the air

Pollutant

1) carbon monoxide, CO

Comes From - When fuels like petrol and diesel are burnt in an internal combustion engine, the amount of oxygen present is limited, so carbon monoxide gas is formed, instead of carbon dioxide gas. - Unburnt hydrocarbons - forest fires

Hazards - Combines with heamoglobin when inhaled, which produces carboxyhaemoglobin that reduces efficiency of heamoglobin to transport oxygen. - Cells then die.

Prevention - Install catalytic converters in cars - Reduce number of cars on road - Create efficient engines in cars to ensure complete hydrocarbon combustion

2) sulphur dioxide, SO2

- Combustion of fossil fuels containing sulphur impurities - volcanic eruptions

- Lung irritant - eye irritant - acid rain

- Prevent using fuels containing sulphur impurities, e.g. coal - Reduce the sulphur impurities inside fossil fuels - Spray exhaust gases from factories with water/hydrated CaO/alkalis to absorb sulphur dioxide before its released into the atmosphere - Add CaO to soil and rivers to neutralize acid rain

3) oxides of nitrogen, NO

- Lightning activity - forest fires - internal combustion engines (as nitrogen oxides are formed by oxygen and nitrogen under high temperature) --> Poisonous oxides of nitrogen are also formed from the electrical spark which passes through the air/petrol mixture. - power stations

- Eutrophication - lung damage - acid rain

- Install catalytic converters in cars - Design car engines which run at lower temperatures

CHEMISTRY NOTES

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SOME COMMON POLLUTANTS

- Decomposition of vegetable matter - rice field - cattle ranching - natural gas - mines - Internal combustion engines - Because of the limited supply of air inside the engines some of it remains unburnt and escapes as gaseous hydrocarbons. - It is formed when an electrical spark passes through air. This is because it reacts with the UV radiation in sunlight to produce a 'photochemical smog'. - It is an allotrope (two/three different forms of a pure element) of oxygen having structural formula O3 having characteristic odour. - High up in the atmosphere ozone is beneficial as it helps to filter out high levels of UV radiation - building work - mining activities - forest fires - incomplete combustion of fuels - Combustion of leaded petrol in car engines - lead compounds are added to petrol to make it heavier so that it does not ignite too soon. - Cattle and other ruminant animals should be given improved diet - Animal manure and rotting vegetation can be used as biomass fuel - Install catalytic converters in cars - Reduce number of cars on road - Create efficient engines in cars to ensure complete hydrocarbon combustion

4) Methane

- highly flammable - greenhouse gas

5) Unburnt hydrocarbons

- Carcinogenic - forms photochemical smog - can act as greenhouse gases contributing to global warming.

6) Ozone

- It reacts with unburnt hydrocarbons to form photochemical smog that causes headache, eye, nose and throat irritation. - It corrodes and kills plants and trees

- Dont use CFCs/replace it with HCFCs which destroys faster.

7) Dust and Smoke

irritate lungs, causing bronchitis and other lung-related diseases.

8) Lead compounds

- when breathed in can build up inside the body and are toxic and poisonous - Causes lead poisoning which leads to brain damage.

CHEMISTRY NOTES

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SOME COMMON POLLUTANTS

CHEMISTRY NOTES

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