Physics 1003

Lecture 22
Air Pollution

Outline
1. Air pollutants and their health effects
1. Primary and Secondary
2. Particulate matter
3. Smog
2. Air pollution in HK and PRD
1. Regional emissions vs Local emissions
2. Air Quality in HK

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http://www.chp.gov.hk/en/content/9/460/3557.html
 1. Air Pollutants and their health effects
1.1 Primary and Secondary

• Primary pollutants are

those emitted from a
source directly into the
atmosphere, such as
Ground level ozone NOx, SO2, CO,
Aerosols or PM particulates, etc.
• Secondary pollutants
are formed in the
atmosphere by a series
of chemical reactions
between NOx, volatile
organic compounds
(VOCs), CO, etc and
oxygen in the presence
of sunlight.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11oawjSncYM 1:28
 Air Pollutants
• Natural air is not just a simple mix of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and
inert gases. It also includes microorganisms, particles and other gases
generated by natural activity of atmospheric photochemistry.
• Air pollution is the addition to natural air of substances produced by human
activity and naturally occurring events. Some of these substances endanger
human life. Some of the pollutants present in the air which have adverse
health effects are:

 Oxides of nitrogen
 Sulphur dioxide
 Carbon monoxide
 VOCs
 Ozone
 Particulate matter (aerosols)
 Radioactive substances
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 Oxides of Nitrogen

• Exhaust of • Acid rain

vehicles, vessels, • Ozone and smog
• Burning of coal, oil, • Irritate eyes, nose,
and natural gas, throat, and lungs,

Sulfur oxides or Sulfur dioxide

• A nasty, sharp smell

• Acid rain
• Burning of coal
• Sulfate aerosols
(50%),
and smog
• Heating of oil (25-
• Irritate eyes, nose,
30%)
throat, and lungs,
• Roasting metal
sulfide ores

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 Carbon monoxide
• Road traffic emissions • Reduce oxygen delivery to blood cells
• Survives in the atmosphere • Shortness of breath, chest pain,
for about one month headaches, and loss of co-ordination

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 Secondary pollutants
http://www.intechopen.com/books/the-impact-of-
air-pollution-on-health-economy-environment-
and-agricultural-sources/emerging-air-pollution-
issues-in-changing-pearl-river-delta-of-south-china

• The most significant secondary

pollutant is ground-level ozone.

M is a passive reaction site such as a nitrogen molecule.

• Ozone may remain in the atmosphere for several days before breaking down and
can be transported downwind, thereby causing high concentrations to build up in
rural areas.

• Repeated exposure to ozone may cause permanent damage to the lungs. Even
when ozone is present in low levels, inhaling it can trigger a variety of health
problems including chest pains, coughing, nausea, throat irritation, and congestion.
• In urban areas, ozone is broken down rapidly by other pollutants to form other
secondary pollutants such as secondary sulfate.
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 Environmental Effect of Ozone
• Ozone damages plant. It interferes with the ability of plants to produce and
store food, making them more susceptible to disease, insects, other
pollutants, and harsh weather.
• The black areas on the leaves of the watermelon plant shown below are
damage caused by exposure to ozone.

http://www.njaqinow.net/App_Files/2010/ozone%202010.pdf
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1.2 Particulate Matter
• Particulate matter (PM) –
solid or liquid particles in the
air as pollutants.
• Variety of sizes
• Many types of materials and
chemicals.
• Particulate matter is formed as
secondary pollutant from
precursors such as SO2, NOx
and VOC in the atmosphere.

• PM has traditionally been classified by size. In

general, the smaller the particle, the stronger its Secondary sulfate
potential impact on human health because it can aerosols
be more easily inhaled.
Coarse particles (PM10):
2.5 μm  diameters ≤ 10 μm
Fine particles (PM2.5): 9
diameters ≤ 2.5 μm
A Finer Classification of Particulate Matters

Source: Science 307 (2005) 1859

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Coarse particles, PM10-2.5 Fine particles, PM2.5
• smoke, dirt and dust
• emitted from factories
(crushing and grinding of
materials), farming, and
vehicles on unpaved roads
• stay in the air for minutes or
hours
• travel as little as a hundred
meter or as much as 50 km
• toxic organic compounds and heavy
metals
• emitted by all types of combustion,
including motor vehicles, power
plants, residential wood burning,
forest fires, agricultural burning, and
some industrial processes.
• stay in the air for days or weeks
• travel hundreds of km
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 Automated SEM-EDS Analysis
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
• particle morphology – shape and size
X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS)
• chemical composition from X-ray spectra

They can handle

computer-programmed
analysis of thousands or
even tens of thousands of
particles.

SEM with built-in EDS

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 Chemical and Physical Properties of Particulate Matter

• Unlike other air pollutants

which are defined by
aggregated simple chemical
coal ash
compositions, airborne
particulate matter (PM)
soil fly ash has a variety of chemical
composition, a large
range of size and very
different shapes.
• The particles may be
spheres, platelets, rods,
CaSO4 irregular lumps, and
sulfur iron gypsum
various aggregated
shapes.

• PM covers sulfate (SO4), nitrate (NO3), ammonium (NH4), elemental carbon

(EC), organic carbon (OC) or organic matter (OM), toxic As, and metals
including Pb, Cd, K, Ni, V, Al, Fe and Ca.
Source: Air Qual Atmos Health 2 (2009) 123-131 13
 Where does particulate matter go?

• The larger a particle

is, the more likely it
is deposited into the
upper part of the
respiratory system.
• The smaller a
particle is, the
deeper it can get
into the respiratory
system.

Particle deposition as a function of particle diameters in

various regions of the respiratory system. 14
Source:http://www.seas.harvard.edu/projects/weitzlab/jeanresearch/particledep.gif
 1.3 Smog
• Smog – smoke + fog is simply airborne pollution which obscure vision,
which consists of fine particles and ground level ozone .
• Smog can be extremely harmful, with it being responsible each year for
elevated rates of death and respiratory illnesses.

http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/air/prob_solutions/vocs_smog.html 15
 Formation Mechanism of Smog

Winter’s
Noon
Earth Sun

• Certain weather conditions and geography affect the location and severity of
smog. A temperature inversion, in which upper air is warm enough to inhibit
vertical motion, can cause smog.
http://thebritishgeographer.weebly.com/urban-climates.html
http://www.marlborough.govt.nz/Environment/Air-Quality/Smoke-and--Smog.aspx
2. Air pollution in HK and PRD
• Hong Kong faces two different types of air pollution:
• Local roadside pollutions caused by vehicles;
• Regional smog caused by a combination of pollutants from
vehicles, shipping, industry, and power plants both in Hong
Kong and in the Pearl River Delta region.

Pearl River Delta (PRD)

Area ~ 42,000 km2

Population ~ 49 million plus
many migrant
workers

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http://www.landsd.gov.hk/mapping/en/paper_map/image/Enlargement/prd/PRDM250S_2016_4_THUMB.jpg
Rapid Urbanization of the Pearl River Delta

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mainland
2.1 Regional emissions vs. Local emission

“Relative Significance of Local vs. Regional

Sources: Hong Kong’s Air Pollution”
Alexis Lau, Andrew Lo, Joe Gray, Zibing Yuan
Institute for the Environment, HKUST,
Christine Loh
Civic Exchange

• Two traditional approaches

– one based on total emissions in terms of tonnage
– another based on receptor source apportionment in terms of
mass concentration.
• New approach: time-based perspective.
How many days air quality is affected by regional pollutants?
How many days air quality is affected by local emissions? 20
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 Number of Days in a Year when HK is most affected
2006

• SO2 concentration below 20 μg/m3 is referred to as low pollution days.

• Hong Kong people are exposed longer to local pollution than regional pollution in a
year (Remark: this just refers to the time, not the amount of pollutants!).
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2.2 Air Quality in Hong Kong General Stations
Air Quality Monitoring Central/Western
Eastern
Kwun Tong
Sham Shui Po
Kwai Chung
Tsuen Wan
Tseung Kwan O
Yuen Long
Tuen Mun
Tung Chung
Tai Po
Sha Tin
Tap Mun

Roadside Stations
Causeway Bay
Central
Mong Kok
• Poor roadside air quality • Vulnerable to shipping emissions

http://www.aqhi.gov.hk/en/monitoring-network/air-quality-monitoring-network.html 25
http://www.enb.gov.hk/en/files/New_Air_Plan_en.pdf
 “Street Canyons” a Serious Health Hazard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIjdjO5VIAE 0:30
“Street canyon" - where the presence of numerous tall buildings prevents free
circulation of air and traps pollutants at ground level. 26
Spatial distribution of ocean going vessels SO2 emission(2008)

http://www.enb.gov.hk/en/files/New_Air_Plan_en.pdf 27
 Air Quality Health Index
http://www.aqhi.gov.hk/en/what-is-aqhi/about-aqhi.html

The AQHI informs you of the short-term health risk of air pollution and helps you
take precautionary measures to protect your health.

The AQHIs are reported on a scale of 1 to 10 and 10+ and are grouped into five
health risk categories as shown below.

The AQHIs are reported hourly at each ambient (“General AQHI”) and
roadside (“Roadside AQHI”) station.

Real time AQI and AQHI for Hong Kong can be found:
http://aqicn.org/city/hongkong/ http://www.aqhi.gov.hk/en.html
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