Air Pollution

I Breathe What?

Chemicals

Exhaust

Pollen

Dirt

Dust Storms

Can Dirt in the Air be a Good Thing?

Facts About Breathing

• You breath about 26,000 times a day (16-18 breaths per minute)

• That is about 150 full bathtubs of air

• We breath in over a billion small particles a day (1,000,000,000)

• The average house collects about 2 pounds of dust a week

How does your body filter out the particles?

Mucus

Dried Mucus forms when mucus traps dirt in the nose

Nasal Hair

Nose hairs filter most of the dirt in the air.

Sneezing

Coughing

Pollutants accumulate in the air. • Pollution is any undesirable

factor added to the air, water, or soil.

• Smog is one type of air pollution.– sunlight interacts with pollutants in

the air– pollutants produced by fossil fuel

emissions– made of particulates and ground-

level ozone

Examples of Smog

Primary & Secondary Pollutants

• Primary—put directly into the air by human activity (soot from smoke).

• Secondary—when a primary pollutant comes in contact with other primary pollutants or with naturally occurring substances such as water vapor and a chemical reaction takes place (ground level ozone).

Ground-level Ozone

• Emission from cars, trucks, and natural sources react with ultraviolet rays of the sun and then mix with the oxygen in the atmosphere.

How does Ozone Layer differ?

• The ozone layer shield the Earth from ultraviolet radiation.

• Ozone near the Earth’s surface forms from the combination of pollutants, heat and sunlight. It may harm human and wildlife health.

Primary Air Pollutants

• Carbon Monoxide (CO)—cars

• Nitrogen Oxide (NO)—burning fossil fuels

• Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)—burning fossil fuels

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)-comes from buring fuels.

• Particulate matter (PM)—comes from construction, agriculture, fires.

2009 Air Quality of Goddard/Wichita

• CO emissions 90-100%

• NO emissions 90-100%

• SO2 emissions 80-90%

• Air Quality index 50-60%

• Ozone 1-hr concentration 30%

• Days in exceedence of national air quality standards for ozone 40%

What are the risks?

• Kansas is ranked nationally as second lowest—20% of USA

• But in Kansas, Sedgwick Co is ranked dirtiest county in CO, NO and SO2

• Sedgwick County is ranked 5th in the state for added risk for cancer (1 in 10,000) from Hazardous Air Pollution (HAP)

Air Quality Index for KS

• Air Quality Index:• Percentage of days with good air quality:

83%• Percentage of days with moderate air

quality: 16%• Percentage of days with unhealthful air

quality for sensitive populations: 1%• Percentage of days with unhealthful air

quality: 0%

Motor Vehicle Emissions

• Clean Air Act 1970

gives the EPA

the authority

to regulate

vehicle emissions

in the USA

Industrial Air Pollution

• Clean Air Act requires many industries to use scrubbers to remove more harmful substances that would otherwise pollute the air.

Temperature Inversion

• Trapped pollution near the surface when air temperatures decrease with height but the air above is warmer than the air below.

Grand Canyon Temp Inversion

Indoor Air Pollution• Sick Building Syndrome—

poor air quality

Sources:• Household cleaners• Air fresheners• Faulty furnace• Radon 222• Dirty air ducts• Formaldehyde from furniture,

carpeting, particleboard and foam insulation

• Tobacco smoke

Radon GasRadon is a cancer-causing natural radioactive gas that you

can’t see, smell or taste.  Its presence in your home can pose a danger to your family's health. 

Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. 

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in America and claims about 20,000 lives annually. 

RADON GETS IN THROUGH:

• Cracks in solid floors • Construction joints • Cracks in walls • Gaps in suspended

floors • Gaps around service

pipes • Cavities inside walls • The water supply

Asbestos

• Asbestos is the name given to a number of naturally occurring, fibrous silicate minerals mined for their useful properties such as thermal insulation, chemical and thermal stability, and high tensile strength.

• Asbestos is commonly used as an acoustic insulator, and in thermal insulation, fire proofing and other building materials. Many products in use today contain asbestos.

Noise Pollution

ISSUES

• TRAFFIC NOISERoad Traffic : Major concern in our country. Increasing vehicle population Planners lack of concern at the time

of planning for residential areas and other use zones vis-à-vis roads

Lack of driving discipline Indiscriminate use of horns.

Air Traffic : Air traffic is increasing at the rate of

about 25% in our country and is expected to cause major concern of noise pollution in coming years.

Rail Traffic: Is of concern where trains passes by

residential and other sensitive areas.

ISSUES

• LOUD SPEAKERS / PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMSUse of loud speakers / public address systems in functions, meetings, religious places in open areas is a source of serious nuisance.

• FIRECRACKERSUse of firecrackers with high noise level may harm the human hearing system. specially sensitive are small children.

• CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

Noise from construction of roads, buildings etc. near residential and silence zones needs to be controlled by effective starategies.

•

• The sound tube in Melbourne, Australia, designed to reduce roadway noise without detracting from the area's aesthetics.

People continuously exposed to noise experience:

• elevated stress levels

• mood swings

• hypertension, depression

• lost sleep and productivity.

• In children, it results in slowed learning.

Light Pollution

• Any adverse effect of artificial light including sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy waste

Light Pollution• obscures the stars in the night sky for city dwellers• interferes with astronomical observatories• like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has

adverse health effects.

Light pollution can be divided into two main types: 1) annoying light that intrudes on an otherwise natural or low-light

setting 2) excessive light (generally indoors) that leads to discomfort and

adverse health effects.

Since the early 1980s, a global dark-sky movement has emerged, with concerned people campaigning to reducethe amount of light pollution.

Light Pollution

• Biggest problem is inefficient lighting is energy waste

• Billboards• Exterior lighting of

buildings• Poor street lights