Air Pollution

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 Overview
o Types and Sources of Air Pollution
• Major Classes of Air Pollutants
• Sources of Outdoor Air Pollutants
• Urban Air Pollution
o Effects of Air Pollution
o Controlling Air Pollution

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o Air Pollution
• Chemicals added to the
atmosphere by natural
events or human activities
in high enough
concentrations to be
harmful

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 AQI: Air Quality Index
•Indicates whether pollutant
levels in air may cause health
concerns.
•Ranges from 0 (least concern) to
500 (greatest concern)

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 Air Quality
Air Quality Protect Your Health
Index
Good 0-50 No health impacts are expected when air
quality is in this range.

Moderate 51-100 Unusually sensitive people should consider

limiting prolonged outdoor exertion.

Unhealthy 101-150 Active children and adults, and people with

for respiratory disease, such as asthma,
Sensitive should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
Groups
Unhealthy 151-200
Active children and adults, and people with
respiratory disease, such as asthma,
should limit prolonged outdoor exertion,
everyone else, especially children should
limit prolonged outdoor excertion.

Very 201-300 Active children and adults, and people with

Unhealthy respiratory disease, such as asthma,
(Alert) should limit prolonged outdoor exertion
everyone else, especially children, should
limit outdoor exertion.
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o Two categories
• Primary Air Pollutant
• Harmful substance that is emitted
directly into the atmosphere

• Secondary Air Pollutant

• Harmful substance formed in the
atmosphere when a primary air
pollutant reacts with substances
normally found in the atmosphere or
with other air pollutants
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Major Air Pollutants

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Major Classes of Air Pollutants

o ParticulateMaterial
o Nitrogen Oxides
o Sulfur Oxides
o Carbon Oxides
o Hydrocarbons
o Ozone
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 Particulate Material
o Thousands of different solid or liquid
particles suspended in air
• Includes: soil particles, soot, lead,

asbestos, sea salt, and sulfuric acid

droplets
o Dangerous for 2 reasons
• May contain materials with toxic or

carcinogenic effects
• Extremely small particles can become
lodged in lungs E.A.S
 Nitrogen and Sulfur Oxides
o Nitrogen Oxides
• Gases produced by the chemical interactions
between atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen at
high temperature
• Problems
• Greenhouse gases
• Cause difficulty breathing
o Sulfur Oxides
• Gases produced by the chemical interactions
between sulfur and oxygen
• Causes acid precipitation
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 Carbon Oxides and Hydrocarbons
o Carbon Oxides
• Gases carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon
dioxide (CO2)
• Greenhouse gases
o Hydrocarbons
• Diverse group of organic compounds that
contain only hydrogen and carbon (ex: CH4-
methane)
• Some are related to photochemical smog and
greenhouse gases
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 Ozone
o Tropospheric Ozone
• Man- made pollutant in the lower
atmosphere
• Secondary air pollutant
• Component of photochemical smog
o Stratospheric Ozone
• Essential component that screens out UV
radiation in the upper atmosphere
• Man- made pollutants (ex: CFCs) can
destroy it E.A.S
SOURCES OF
AIR
POLLUTION

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 Sources of Indoor Air Pollution
Kerosene heater Gas stove

www.chemistryland.com www.sispropane.ca

Fireplace

Gas heater Car exhaust from

E.A.Sgarage
www.homeinteriorszone.com Sims2.puskala.org www.3planesoft.com
 Sources of Indoor Air Pollution
Particle board Plywood Paneling

www.vgtrading.com.ar www.cof.orst.edu

www.germes-online.com

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www.californiapaints.com www.vintageagainsoutheast.com Img.epinions.com
 Dust mites

Aura.gaia.com

Dust Mite Feces

www.buttercuppuppies.com E.A.S
www.sciencephoto.com Enhs.umn.edu
Dust Mite

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S. Kaulitzki/Dreamstime
 Pollen Fungal spores

specialcomment.wordpress.com
www.,materials.drexel.edu

Viruses
Bacteria

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www.scharfphoto.com www.healthinitiative.org Static.howstuffworks.com
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Geoscape.nrcan.gc.ca
Radioactive Decay Emission

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Mineral Asbestos

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Pancaketom/Dreamstime
 Asbestos
Chrysotile Chrysotile

Amosite

Crocidolite

www.enviraz.co.uk
Robert Grieshaber

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 Asbestos
Ship insulation
Attic insulation Lamp wicks
www.technicaon-asbestos.co.uk
Mine
Fire blanket Home insulation

Pipe insulation

Brake pads

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Locomotive insulation Roofing products
oraclesolutionsltd.co.uk
 Health Effects of Asbestos
Lung cancer: 4800 deaths/yr US
Mesothelioma: 2500/yr Cancer of mesothelial membrane lining: lungs
Asbestosis: 1400/yr US: Slow, debilitating lung disease
Gastro-intestinal cancer: 1200 deaths/yr

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Reports.ewg.org
 Libby, Montana
Vermiculite mine, which produced 80% of the world’s
vermiculite, opened in 1918. W.R. Grace Co. owned the mine
from 1963-1990, during which 192 deaths and 375 lung
injuries due asbestos were reported.

Closed Libby vermiculite facility Libby contaminated soil covered

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www.bitsofnews.com www.home-air-purifier-expert.com
Environmental Tobacco Smoke
Mainstream smoke
Exhaled smoke

Sidestream smoke
Emitted from burning cigarette

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) = second-hand smoke

Combination of mainstream and sidestream smoke.
Contains more than 4000 particle components and gases,
over 50 of which are known carcinogens. ETS may cause
17% of lung cancers of nonsmokers.

Concentrations
One pack of cigarettes ≈ 20 mg m-3 of particles in room over
24 hours. Near smoker, concentrations 500-1000 mg m-3
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Mainstream/Sidestream Smoke

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Indoor Cookstove

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Kacpura/Dreamstime
Indoor Workplace Standards

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www.ipmsafety.com
 Sources of Outdoor Air Pollution

o Two main
sources
• Transportation
• Industry
o Intentional
forest fires is
also high
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 Urban Air Pollution
o Photochemical Smog (ex: Los Angeles
below)
• Brownish-orange haze formed by chemical
reactions involving sunlight, nitrogen oxide,
and hydrocarbons

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Formation of Photochemical Smog

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Case-In-Point Air Pollution in Beijing
and Mexico City

o Beijing (left)
o Mexico City (above)
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 Effects of Air Pollution

o Low level exposure

• Irritates eyes
• Causes inflammation of

respiratory tract
o Candevelop into chronic
respiratory diseases
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 Health Effects of Air Pollution
o Sulfur Dioxide and Particulate material
• Irritate respiratory tract and impair ability of
lungs to exchange gases
o Nitrogen Dioxides
• Causes airway restriction
o Carbon monoxide
• Binds with iron in blood hemoglobin
• Causes headache, fatigue, drowsiness, death
o Ozone
• Causes burning eyes, coughing, and chest
discomfort
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 Children and Air Pollution
o Greater health threat to children
than adults
• Air pollution can restrict lung
development
• Children breath more often than

adults
o Children who live in high ozone
areas are more likely to develop
asthma E.A.S
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 Ozone Depletion in Stratosphere
o Ozone Protects earth from UV radiation
• Part of the electromagnetic spectrum with
wavelengths just shorter than visible light

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 Ozone Depletion in Stratosphere

o Ozone thinning/hole
• First identified in
1985 over
Antarctica
o Caused by
• human-produced
bromine and chlorine
containing chemicals
• Ex: CFCs E.A.S
 Ozone Depletion in Stratosphere
o Hole over Antarctica requires two
conditions:
• Sunlight just returning to polar region
• Circumpolar vortex- a mass of cold air
that circulates around the southern
polar region
• Isolates it from the warmer air in the
rest of the planet
o Polar stratospheric clouds form
• Enables Cl and Br to destroy ozone
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 Effects of Ozone Depletion

o Higher levels of UV-

radiation hitting the
earth
• Eye cataracts
• Skin cancer
(Weakened immunity)
o May disrupt
ecosystems
o May damage crops
and forests
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 Recovery of Ozone Layer
o Montreal Protocol (1987)
• Reduction of CFCs
• Started using HCFCs (greenhouse gas)
o Phase out of all ozone destroying
chemicals is underway globally
o Satellite pictures in 2000 indicated
that ozone layer was recovering
o Full recovery will not occur until
2050 E.A.S
 Acid Deposition
o Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide
emissions react with water vapor in the
atmosphere and form acids that return
to the surface as either dry or wet
deposition
o pH scale

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How Acid Deposition Develops

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 Effects of Acid Deposition
o Declining Aquatic
Animal Populations
o Thin-shelled eggs
prevent bird
reproduction
• Because calcium is
unavailable in acidic soil
o Forest decline
• Ex: Black forest in
Germany (50% is
destroyed)
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Acid Deposition and Forest Decline

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Air Pollution Around the World
o Air quality is deteriorating
rapidly in developing countries
o Shenyang, China
• Residents only see sunlight a few
weeks each year
o Developing countries have older
cars
• Still use leaded gasoline
o 5 worst cities in world
• Beijing, China; Mexico City, Mexico;
Shanghai, China; Tehran, Iran; and
Calcutta, India
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 Controlling Air Pollution

o Smokestacks with
electrostatic precipitator
(right)

Without
Electrostatic
precipitator

With Electrostatic
precipitator

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Controlling Air Pollution

o Smokestacks with
scrubbers (right)
o Particulate
material can also
be controlled by
proper excavating
techniques
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 Controlling Air Pollution
o Phase I Vapor Recovery System for
gasoline

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 REPUBLIC ACT 8749 PHILIPPINE
CLEAN AIR ACT OF 1999

o The law aims to achieve and

maintain clean air that meets
the National Air Quality
guideline values for criteria
pollutants, throughout the
Philippines, while minimizing
the possible associated
impacts to the economy.
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 Other Ways to Improve Air Quality

o Reduce sulfur content in gasoline from

its current average of 330 ppm to 30
ppm
• Sulfur clogs catalytic converters
o Require federal emission standards for
all passenger vehicles
• Including SUVs, trucks and minivans
o Require emission testing for all vehicles
• Including diesel
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