Secondary Air Pollutants

Objectives:
● To define secondary air pollutants
● To identify the types of secondary air pollutants
● To explain the formation (mechanisms) of TWO secondary air pollutants
● To describe the environmental impacts of 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

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(NO​2​ 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
▪ 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.