Air Pollution

Air Pollution

Air Pollution is mixing of some substances in the ambient air in such concentrations that a situation
arises in which man and his environment is badly affected. (WHO)

The atmoshere is a comlex natural gaseous system that is essential to suort life on !arth. "f the
natural roortional amounts of the constituents of air become changed due to various reasons or
if some substances# such as dust articles# smo$e# gases orvaours# coarse or fine articulate
matters including solid or li%uid articles get mixed with air in such amounts and concentrations
that the functional activities of flora and fauna in the ecosystems of the earth are disturbed and
badly affected# then that air may be termed as olluted.
Air Pollution& 'lassification

Air Pollution by Gaseous Substance&

'arbon monoxide#sulhurdioxide# oxides of nitrogen and different hydrocarbons.
Other oisonous gases ( ammonia# hydrogensulhide# chlorine# fluorine# etc.

Air Pollution by Particulate Matter&

)ust articles# fly ash# articles of metals or their comounds# different tyes of carbon articles etc.

Air Pollution by Radioactivity&

)ue to accidental lea$ages from nuclear ower sources or nuclear wastes
Sources

Anthropogenic (man-made) sources:These are mostly related to the burning of multile tyes of fuel.

Stationary sourcesinclude smo$e stac$s ofower lants# factories and waste incinerators# as well as
furnaces and other tyes of fuel+burning heating devices. "n develoing and oor countries# traditional
biomass burning is the ma,or source of air ollutants- traditional biomass includes wood# cro waste and
dung.

Mobile sourcesincludemotor vehicles# marine vessels# and aircraft.

Fumesfromaint#hair sray#varnish#aerosol sraysand other solvents

Military resources# such asnuclear weaons#toxic gases# etc.

ontrolled burnractices in agriculture and forest management. 'ontrolled burning stimulates

thegerminationof some desirable foresttrees# thus renewing the forest. .omecones# such as
those of/odgeole Pineand.e%uoia# areserotinous# meaning they re%uire heat from fire to oen
cones to diserse seeds.

!aste depositioninlandfills# which generatemethane. 0ethane is highly flammable and may form
exlosive mixtures with air. 0ethane is also anashyxiantand may dislace oxygen in an enclosed
sace. Ashyxia or suffocation may result if the oxygen concentration is reduced to below 12.34 by
dislacement.
Sources

"atural sources:

)ustfrom natural sources# usually large areas of land with few or no vegetation

0ethane#emittedby thedigestionof food byanimals# for examle cattle

5adongas fromradioactive decay (rocess by which anucleusof an unstableatomloses energy by

emittingioni6ing radiation)within the!arth7s crust. 5adon is a colorless# odorless# naturally occurring#
radioactivenoble gas(a grou ofchemical elementswith similar roerties& understandard conditions# they are
all odorless# colourless# monatomicgases with very lowchemical reactivity) that is formed from the decay of
radium. "t is considered to be a health ha6ard. 5adon gas from natural sources can accumulate in buildings#
esecially in confined areas such as the basement and it is the second most fre%uent cause of lung cancer#
aftercigarettesmo$ing

.mo$eandcarbon monoxidefromwildfires

8egetation# in some regions# emits environmentally significant amounts of 8olatile Organic

'omounds (chemicals that can easily evaorate into the air we breathe and affect air
%uality) li$e methanol# ethanol# ethylene on warmer days. These 8O's react with rimary
anthroogenic ollutants 9secifically# oxides of nitrogen (:o
x
)# sulhur dioxide (.O
;
)# and
anthroogenic organic carbon comounds 9 to roduce a seasonal ha6e of secondary
ollutants (troosheric o6one# smog etc.).

8olcanicactivity# which roducessulfur#chlorine# and ash articulates

Air Pollution !xosure

Air ollution ris$ is a function of the ha6ard of the ollutant and the exosure to that ollutant.

Air ollution exosure can be exressed for an individual# for certain grous (e.g. neighborhoods or children
living in a county)# or for entire oulations. <or examle# one may want to calculate the exosure to a
ha6ardous air ollutant for a geograhic area# which includes the various microenvironments and age grous as
well as inhalation exosure.

This would account for daily exosure in various settings (e.g. different indoor micro+environments and
outdoor locations).

The exosure to an air ollutant must integrate the concentrations of the air ollutant with resect to the
time sent in each setting and the resective inhalation rates for each subgrou for each secific time
"mact of Air Pollution On Health

"t is estimated that globally some = million remature deaths may be attributed to air
ollution (WHO)."ndia has the highest death rate due to air ollution.

Around the world# children living in cities with high exosure to air ollutants are at increased
ris$ of develoing asthma# neumonia and other lower resiratory infections.

5esearch has demonstrated increased ris$ of develoing asthmaand 'OP)

.
from increased
exosure to traffic+related air ollution. Additionally# air ollution has been associated with
increased hositali6ation and mortality from asthma and 'OP)
" mac t of Ai r Pol l ut i on On Heal t h

A review of evidence regarding whether ambient air ollution exosure is a ris$ factor
for cancer in ;>>= found solid data to conclude that long+term exosure to P0 ;.3
(fine articulates) increases the overall ris$ of/ung 'ancer.

Air ollution is also emerging as a ris$ factor for stro$e# and cardiovascular diseases
li$e heart failure# articularly in develoing countries where ollutant levels are
highest.
"mact on Weather and 'limate

Greenhouse #$$ect and Global !arming&

?reen House effect is the henomenon whereby the earth7s atmoshere tras solar radiation# and is mediated
by the resence in the atmoshere of gases such as carbon dioxide# methane that allow incoming sunlight
to ass through# but absorb the heat radiated bac$ from the earth7s surface.
Thus the ?reen house gases (?H?s) rovide a blan$eting effect in the lower strata of the earth@s atmoshere#
and this blan$eting effect is being enhanced because of the human activities li$e burning of fossil fuels etc.
?lobal warming is defined as an increase in the average temerature of the !arthAs atmoshere# esecially a
sustained increase great enough to cause changes in the global climate@.
"mact on Weather and 'limate

.tratosheric O6one )eletion& 'hlorofluorocarbons ('<'s) and hydrochlorofluorcarbons (H'<'s)#

carbon tetrachloride and methyl chloroform# Halons are mainly resonsible for stratosheric
o6one deletion.

.mog& /imits visibility# causes resiratory roblems and bronchial related deaths

Acid 5ains& Acid rain is caused by emissions ofsulfur dioxideandnitrogen oxide# which react with
thewatermolecules in the atmoshere to roduce acids. Acid rain has been shown to have
adverse imacts on forests# freshwaters and soils# $illing insect and a%uatic life+forms as well as
causing damage to buildings and having imacts on human health.
0easures to 'ontrol Air Pollution

Activated carbon is one of the most oular

forms of air ollution control. This tye of
control involves the use of a ollution filter#
carbon# to reduce the amount of ollutants that
are allowed to escae into the air. When in use#
these filters absorb ollutants heling to cleanse
the air of any ossible toxins.
0easures to 'ontrol Air Pollution

Biofiltration is another effective tye of air ollution control. "t uses

microorganisms# often bacteria and fungi# to dissolve ollutants. "ndustries that
emloy biofiltration systems include food and waste lants# harmaceutical
comanies# and wastewater management facilities.
0easures to 'ontrol Air Pollution

'hange in <uel& This techni%ue involves the use of less olluting fuel to reduce air ollution. !.g. Cse
of low sulfur fuel instead of high sulfur fuel. The other choice can be the use of natural gas as a fuel.

"ntroduction of comressed natural gas# roane# ethanol and oxygenated fuels for automobiles
have heled in the reduction of air ollutants.

The emissions from the lant should be assed through a control device before releasing to
atmoshere. The ollutants are removed# destroyed or transformed in the control device before
discharging into ambient air.