SECONDARY AIR

POLLUTANTS
 Secondary air pollutants
▪ When primary pollutants undergo additional
reactions in the atmosphere (with other primary
pollutants or atmospheric element) producing
harmful compounds.
▪ Some examples of secondary air pollutants:
Photochemical smog
Industrial smog
Asian Brown Cloud, ABC
Acid rain
Ozone
Nitrogen dioxide
Sulphuric and Nitric acid
 Smog and Brown clouds
▪ Smog is the combination for smoke and fog.
▪ There are two categories of smog:
Industrial (L.A) smog/ gray air smog
■ Formed from the combustion of coal and oil. Consists
mainly of sulphur dioxide, suspended droplets of
sulphuric acid and suspended solid particles . Problem
persist in developing countries like China, India,
Ukraine.
Photochemical smog
South Asian Brown Clouds
▪ Is a 3 Km thick mobile mass of clouds that
covers an area about the size of the US
continent.
▪ It contains small particles of dust, smoke, ash
resulting from drought , clearing and burning
of forest for planting crops, particles of soot
from burning wood, emission from vehicle
exhaust and coal burning power plants and
toxic particles (mercury from waste
incinerators, smelters).
WHAT IS PHOTOCHEMICAL
SMOG?
▪ A mixture of primary and secondary pollutants
formed under the influence of UV radiation from
the sun.
▪ It is a noxious mixture of the following air
pollutants:
nitrogen oxides(NO2 and NO)
tropospheric ozone (ground level ozone)
volatile organic compounds(VOCs)
peroxyacyl nitrates (PAN)
▪ Photochemical smog production increases as
temperature increases.
Photochemical Smog
Formation
▪ Nitrogen oxide is an essential ingredient of
photochemical smog that is produced during
the high temperatures associated with
combustion of vehicle’s engines.
Nitrogen oxides = nitric oxide + nitrogen dioxide
Nitrogen oxide = nitric oxide
Photochemical Smog
Formation
▪ Hydrocarbons are a major component of
motor vehicle emissions.
▪ Hydrocarbon emissions react with other
compounds in the atmosphere to produce
photo-chemical smog.
▪ Gasoline, diesel, LP and natural gas are all
hydrocarbon compounds.
▪ Gasoline needs to evaporate easily to burn
properly in an internal combustion engine.
But this property also means it evaporates
easily into the atmosphere at ordinary
temperatures and pressures.

▪ When a vehicle is being refuelled,

hydrocarbon vapors can escape from the filler
neck into the atmosphere. When the vehicle
is left in the sun, its temperature increases,
and fuel evaporates from the tank and, if
there is a carburetter, from it as well.