PPt. – 4. Env.

Air Pollution
Environmental Science -III Sem.
BMLT - B.I.T.

Dr. Shambhu Sharan Kumar

B.I.T. Mesra, Ranchi
• Pollution- Any undesirable change in the physical, chemical and
biological properties of air, water and soil that adversely affects the
“Life”, is called pollution. The pollution occurs due to human
activities, natural incidents & ecosystems. Many natural incidents
contaminate (pollute) the air, water and soil by storms, forest fire,
volcanoes, floods, earth quakes, and hazardous natural processes
(methane from marshy lands). Man-made pollutants threaten the
integrity & balance of the nature.
• Environmental pollution is defined as "the contamination in the
physical, chemical and biological components on the earth or in
atmospheric system to such an extent that the normal environmental
processes are adversely affected."
• Pollution is the incorporation of contaminants into the natural
environment that causes adverse change. Pollution can take place in
the form of undesirable chemical substances or energy, such as
excessive noise, hazardous things, heat & light. Pollutants, the
components of pollution, can be either foreign substances or energies
or naturally occurring contaminants.
• The various types of pollutions are classified based on the
environment, based on sources of pollutants or nature of pollutants.

• Based on the environment : they are classified as Air pollution,

Soil pollution and Water pollution.
• Based on sources of pollutants : they are classified as automobile
pollution, agricultural pollution and industrial pollution (tanneries,
distilleries, nuclear power plants, chemical industries, etc).
• Based on nature of pollutants : pollution is classified as pesticide
pollution, plastic pollution, heavy metal pollution, radiation pollution,
oil pollution, sewage pollution, noise pollution, etc.
• Modern society is also concerned about specific types of pollutants,
such as light, heat, noise, radiation pollution etc. Pollution of all kinds
can have negative effects on the environment, plants, and wildlife and
often impacts human health and well-being.
• Any substance present in concentrations high enough to cause
adverse effect in the environment and on living organisms.
Substances that cause pollution are called pollutants.
• A pollutant is a waste material that pollutes air, water, or soil and
affects adversely the environment. Three factors determine the
severity of a pollutant: its chemical nature, its concentration, and the
area affected by the pollutant.
• Environmental pollutants have various adverse health effects from
early life; some of the most important harmful effects are parental
disorders, infant mortality, respiratory disorders, allergy,
malignancies, cardiovascular disorders, increase in stress oxidative,
endothelial dysfunction, mental disorders, and various types of
adverse effects on plants life.
• Pollutant, as any solid, liquid or gaseous substances present in
such a concentration as may be, or tend to be hazardous &
injurious to environment.
•
• There are three types of Pollutants:
• Degradable or non-persistent pollutants: These are rapidly broken
down by natural processes, e.g., Domestic sewage, discarded vegetables
etc.
• Slowly degradable or persistent pollutants: These take decades to
degrade and are harmful to the environment, e.g., DDT (Pesticides) and
most plastics.
• Non-degradable pollutants: These can’t be degraded by natural
processes and have harmful effect on human health and environment for
several decades, e.g., Toxic substances like lead or mercury and nuclear
wastes.
• Air Pollution - The presence of unwanted natural and artificial
substances in the atmospheric environment, that affect human health &
well- being, or the well-being of any other organism, plant, etc, is called
air pollution.
• Air pollution causes respiratory diseases, cancer and death also. It is also
one of the main reasons for ozone depletion & global warming.
• Air pollution refers to the release of pollutants into the air that are
harmful & hazardous to animals, human’s health, plants, aesthetic
effects, and the planet as a whole. Air pollution occurs when
harmful or excessive quantities of unwanted substances are
introduced into the atmosphere.
• Sources of Air Pollution:- Many types of pollutants are released
into the air from various sources. The major sources of air pollution
are - automobiles, industries, burning of garbage and brick kilns.
These sources release pollutants such as oxides of carbon, oxides of
sulphur, oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons, ozone,
chloroflouromethane etc.
• Automobile Pollution:- Vehicles are mainly responsible for more
than 80% of total air pollution. The major pollutants released from
automobiles, locomotives, aircraft etc include carbon monoxide, un-
burnt hydrocarbons and nitrogen monoxide. Fuel combustion in
automobiles also automobiles also produce nitrogen dioxide.
• Sources of air pollution include harmful gases (such as ammonia,
carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane, chlorine
gas, chlorofluorocarbons), finely divided particulates (both organic
and inorganic), soot, dust, smoke, smog and finely dispersed liquid
aerosols, and biological molecules.
• It may cause diseases, allergies and even death of humans; it may also
cause harm to other living organisms such as animals, plants and food
crops, and may damage the natural or built environment. Both human
activity and natural processes can generate air pollution.
• Pollutants emitted into the atmosphere by human activity include:
• Carbon dioxide (CO2), Sulfur oxides (SOx), Nitrogen oxides (NOx),
Carbon monoxide (CO),
• Volatile organic compounds (VOC):-- methane (CH4) or
• Non-methane Volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs):-- the aromatic
NMVOCs benzene, toluene and xylene are suspected carcinogens and
may lead to leukemia with prolonged exposure. 1,3-butadiene is another
dangerous compound.
• Particulate matters (Atmospheric Aerosol Particles),
• Radioactive Pollutants – produced by nuclear explosions,
• Persistent free radicals (airborne fine particles),
• Ammonia – emitted mainly by agricultural waste,

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – these are harmful to the ozone layer;

emitted from products are currently banned from use. These are
gases which are released from air conditioners, refrigerators, aerosol
sprays, etc. On release into the air, CFCs rise to the stratosphere.
Here they come in contact with other gases and damage the
ozone layer. This allows harmful ultraviolet rays to reach the earth's
surface. This can lead to skin cancer, eye disease and can even cause
damage to plants.
• The air pollutants can be classified in many ways as shown
below:-
According to origin: The air pollutants are classified into:
• Primary pollutants: The pollutants that are emitted directly from
identifiable sources produced by natural events
(e.g., dust storms and volcanic eruptions) and human activities (e.g.,
emissions from vehicles, industries etc.) are called primary
pollutants, e.g., smoke, dust, oxides of sulphur & nitrogen,
hydrocarbons and particulate matter etc.
• Secondary pollutants: The pollutants that are formed in the
atmosphere by chemical interactions between primary pollutants and
atmospheric constituents are known as secondary pollutants, e.g.,
Sulphur dioxide & trioxide, ozone, ketones, sulfuric acid, nitric acid,
carbonic acid etc.
• According to state of matter: The pollutants are classified into:-
Gaseous air pollutants:
• These pollutants exist in a gaseous state at normal temperature and
pressure. They are carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur oxides
etc.
• Particulate air pollutants: These are not gaseous substances. They are
suspended droplets, solid particles or mixtures of the two.
• According to sources: Pollutants originate from
Natural sources: These include volcanic eruptions, deflation of sand
and dust, forest or wild fires of natural vegetation, sulphur springs,
natural geysers, organic and inorganic decays, vegetative decays,
marsh gases, cosmic dust, pollen grains of flowers, photochemical
reactions, soil debris etc..
• Man-made sources: These include human activities such as industries,
factories, urban centers, aircraft, nuclear experiments, automobiles,
agriculture, domestic burning of wood and burning of fossil fuels,
deforestation, mining, waste treatment plants and power plants.
• Secondary pollutants include:
• Particulates created from gaseous primary pollutants and compounds in
photochemical smog. Smog is a kind of air pollution. Classic smog
results from large amounts of coal burning in an area caused by a mixture
of smoke and sulfur dioxide. Modern smog does not usually come from
coal but from vehicular and industrial emissions that are acted on in the
atmosphere by ultraviolet light from the sun to form secondary pollutants
that also combine with the primary emissions to form photochemical
smog.
• Ground level ozone (O3) formed from NOx and VOCs. Such Ozone is
formed in the troposphere. It is also an important constituent of certain
regions of the stratosphere commonly known as the “Ozone layer.”
Photochemical and chemical reactions involving it in driving many of the
chemical processes that occur in the atmosphere by day and by night. At
abnormally high concentrations it happens by human activities (largely
by the combustion of fossil fuel), it is a pollutant and a constituent of
smog.
• Peroxy-acetyl nitrate (C2H3NO5) – similarly formed from NOx and VOCs.
• Causes of Air Pollution- Most air pollution comes from “use of
energy” and “production”. Burning fossil fuels releases gases and
chemicals into the air. Air pollution not only contributes to climate
change but is also exacerbated by it. Air pollution in the form of carbon
dioxide and methane raises the earth’s temperature. Another type of air
pollution is then worsened by that increased heat: Smog forms when
the weather is warmer and there’s more ultraviolet radiation.” Climate
change also increases the production of allergenic air pollutants
including mold (thanks to damp conditions caused by extreme weather
and increased flooding) and pollen (due to a longer pollen season and
more pollen production). Toxic air pollutants cause different risks to
health depending on the specific pollutant, including cancer related to
lung, kidney, bone, stomach etc.
• Air pollution can also harm to the nervous system and brain, kidneys,
liver, and other body organs. Some scientists suspect air pollutants
cause birth defects also. Long-term health effects from air pollution
include heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.
• Control measures of Pollutions (Pollution control processes)
• The presence of environmental pollution raises the issue of
pollution control. Great efforts are made to limit the release of
harmful substances into the environment through
air pollution control, wastewater treatment, solid-waste management
, hazardous-waste management, and recycling. Unfortunately,
attempts at pollution control are often surpassed by the scale of the
problem, especially in less-developed countries. Noxious levels of
air pollution are common in many large cities, where particulates
and gases from transportation, heating, and manufacturing
accumulate and linger. The problem of plastic pollution on land and
in the oceans has only grown as the use of single-use plastics has
burgeoned worldwide. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions, such
as methane and carbon dioxide, continue to drive global warming
and pose a great threat to biodiversity and public health.
• A very effective way of controlling air pollution is by diluting the
air pollutants. The last and the best way of reducing the bad effects
of air pollution is tree-plantations. Plants and trees reduce a large
number of pollutants in the air.
• Air Quality Control Systems (AQCS): Electrostatic Precipitators
(ESP)-
• Electrostatic precipitators (ESP) collect dust in the flue gas
produced by boiler, etc. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS)
contributes to air pollution control at thermal power plants, steel
plants , and various industrial plants.
• A high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode, generating a
corona discharge that produces minus ions. The electrically charged
dust is accumulated on the collecting electrode by an electrical
field.
• The accumulated dust is removed by rapping hammer (dry ESP),
scraping brush (dry ESP), or flushing water (wet ESP).
• ESP -
• A bag-house, also known as a bag-house filter, bag filter, or
fabric filter is an air pollution control device and dust collector that
removes particulates or gas released from commercial processes out
of the air.
• Bag-house filters, operate on relatively simple processes compared
with ESP and have better particulate removal efficiency. They work
on the principle of vacuum cleaners (Nicol, 2013); the flue gas
passes through a filter, which rejects particles that are too large to
pass through. Fly ash is collected by the bag/filter itself, or by the
accumulated fly ash on the filter (called filter cake).
• Bag-houses, also called fabric dust collectors or fabric filters, are air
pollution control devices designed to use fabric filter tubes,
envelopes, or cartridges to capture or separate dust and other
particulate matter (PM). Their applications range from small
household workplaces to large industrial facilities such as coal-fired
power plants and cement plants.
•
• Compared to other types of Air-pollution control (APC) equipment,
bag-houses are incredibly versatile and can be engineered for
almost any dust producing application by varying size and bag
types. They are very efficient when properly maintained and are also
rugged enough to handle rough applications. However, they
typically require a lot of maintenance and a relatively dry
environment to operate effectively. Their use is also limited to
certain operating temperatures and chemical conditions.

• A Catalytic Converter is an exhaust emission control device that

reduces toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an
internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a
redox reaction (an oxidation and a reduction reaction).
• Catalytic converters are usually used with
internal combustion engines fueled by either gasoline or diesel
including lean-burn engines as well as kerosene heaters and stoves.
• These "two-way" converters combine oxygen with carbon monoxide
(CO) and unburned hydrocarbons (CₙHₙ) to produce carbon dioxide
(CO2) and water (H2O). Two-way catalytic converters were rendered
obsolete by "three-way" converters that also reduce
oxides of nitrogen (NOx), however, two-way converters are still used
for lean-burn engines. This is because three-way-converters require
either rich or stoichiometric combustion to successfully reduce NOx.
•
• Although catalytic converters are most commonly applied to
exhaust systems in automobiles, they are also used on
electrical generators, forklifts, mining equipment, trucks, buses,
locomotives, and motorcycles. They are also used on some wood
stoves to control emissions.[5] This is usually in response to
government regulation, either through direct environmental regulation
or through health and safety regulations.
• How to reduce Air Pollution-
• “The less gasoline we burn, the better we’re doing to reduce air
pollution and harmful effects of climate change”.
• “Make good choices about transportation; you can walk, ride a bike,
or take public transportation. For driving, choose cars that get better
miles per gallon of gas or choose an electric car.”
• You can also investigate your power provider options—you may be
able to request that your electricity be supplied by wind or solar.
• Buying your food locally cuts down on the fossil fuels burned in
trucking or flying food in from across the country. And perhaps
most important, “Support leaders who push for clean air and water
and responsible steps on climate change”.
• Smog and soot
• These two are the most prevalent types of air pollution. Smog, or
“ground-level ozone,” as it is more wonkily called, occurs when
emissions from combusting fossil fuels react with sunlight.
• Soot, or “particulate matter,” is made up of tiny particles of
chemicals, soil, smoke, dust, or allergens, in the form of gas or
solids, that are carried in the air.
•
• The sources of smog and soot are similar. “Both come from cars and
trucks, factories, power plants, incinerators, engines—anything that
combusts fossil fuels such as coal, gas, or natural gas,” Walke says.
The tiniest airborne particles in soot—whether they’re in the form of
gas or solids—are especially dangerous because they can penetrate
the lungs and bloodstream and worsen bronchitis, lead to heart
attacks, and even hasten death.
• Thanks, God bless all of us.