Air Pollution

What Causes Air Pollution?

• Air pollution is the contamination of the atmosphere by wastes from sources such as industrial burning and automobile exhausts.

• Substances that pollute the air can be in the form of solids, liquids, or gases.

• Most air pollution is the result of human activities, but some pollutants are natural, including dust, pollen, spores, and sulfur dioxide from volcanic eruptions.

• A primary pollutant is a pollutant that is put directly into the atmosphere by human or natural activity. An example would be soot from smoke.

• A secondary pollutant is a pollutant that forms in the atmosphere by chemical reactions with primary air pollutants, natural components in the air, or both. An example would be ground-level ozone.

• Ground level ozone forms when the emission from cars react with the UV rays of the sun and then mix with the oxygen in the atmosphere.

Primary and Secondary Pollutants

• Household products, power plants, and motor vehicles are sources of primary pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

• Vehicles and coal-burning power plants are the major sources of nitrogen oxide emissions. Power plants, refineries, and metal smelters contribute much of the sulfur dioxide emissions. Vehicles and gas stations make up most of the human-made emissions of VOCs.

Sources of Primary Air Pollutants

http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/indoorair/voc/index.htm

• Particulate matter can also pollute the air and is usually divided into fine and coarse particles.

• Fine particles enter the air from fuel burned by vehicles and coal-burning power plants.

• Sources of course particles are cement plants, mining operations, incinerators, wood-burning fireplaces, fields, and roads.

Sources of Primary Air Pollutants

• Air pollution can cause serious health problems, especially for people who are very young, very old, or who have heart or lung problems.

• Air pollution adds to the effects of existing diseases such as emphysema, heart disease, and lung cancer.

Air Pollution

• The short-term effects of air pollution on people’s health include headache; nausea; irritation to the eyes, nose and throat; coughing; tightness in the chest; and upper respiratory infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia.

• Pollution can also make the conditions of asthma and emphysema worse for certain individuals.

Short-Term Effects of Air Pollution on Health

• Long-term effects on health that have been linked to air pollution include emphysema, lung cancer, and heart disease.

• Long-term exposure to air pollution may worsen medical conditions suffered by older people and may damage the lungs of children.

Long-Term Health Effects of Air Pollution

• The quality of air inside a home or building is sometimes worse than the quality of air outside.

• Plastics and other industrial chemicals are major sources of pollution.

• These compounds can be found in carpets, building materials, paints, and furniture, particularly when these items are new.

Indoor Air Pollution

• Sick-building syndrome is a set of symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, eye irritation, and dizziness, that may affect workers in modern, airtight office buildings.

Indoor Air Pollution

• Radon gas is colorless, tasteless, odorless, and radioactive.

• Radon is one of the elements produced by the decay of uranium, a radioactive element that occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust.

• Radon can seep through cracks and holes in foundations into homes, offices, and schools, where it adheres to dust particles.

Radon Gas

• When people inhale the dust, radon enters their lungs. In the lungs, radon can destroy the genetic material in cells that line the air passages.

• Such damage can lead to cancer, especially among people who smoke.

• Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States.

Radon Gas

• Asbestos is any of six silicate minerals that form bundles of minute fibers that are heat resistant, flexible, and durable.

• Asbestos is primarily used as an insulator and as a fire retardant, and it was used extensively in building materials.

• However, for all of its uses, the government banned the use of most asbestos products in the early 1970s.

Asbestos

• That was because exposure to asbestos in the air is very dangerous.

• Asbestos fibers can cut and scar the lungs, causing the disease asbestosis.

• Victims of the disease have more and more difficulty breathing and may eventually die of heart failure.

Asbestos

• • Tremolite Asbestos (Image Source: U.S. Geological Survey)

• Why Do You Need to be Concerned About Asbestos?• Asbestos is a mineral fiber that has been used commonly in a variety of building

construction materials for insulation and as a fire-retardant. Because of its fiber strength and heat resistant properties, asbestos has been used for a wide range of manufactured goods, mostly in building materials (roofing shingles, ceiling and floor tiles, paper products, and asbestos cement products), friction products (automobile clutch, brake, and transmission parts), heat-resistant fabrics, packaging, gaskets, and coatings.

• When asbestos-containing materials are damaged or disturbed by repair, remodeling or demolition activities, microscopic fibers become airborne and can be inhaled into the lungs, where they can cause significant health problems.

• Most Common Sources of Asbestos Exposure:• Workplace exposure to people that work in industries that mine, make or use

asbestos products and those living near these industries, including: – the construction industry (particularly building demolition and renovation activities), – the manufacture of asbestos products (such as textiles, friction products, insulation, and

other building materials), and – during automotive brake and clutch repair work

• Deteriorating, damaged, or disturbed asbestos-containing products such as insulation, fireproofing, acoustical materials, and floor tiles.

Air Pollution Quick Review

1. List 3 examples of air pollutants

2. Where does most of the air pollution originate?

3. What are some illnesses related with air pollution?

Word Sort

• Write the following pollutants to the correct description. CO, NO, SO, VOCs and PM

1. Burning Fossil Fuels2. Produces Haze or smog3. Produces acid rain4. Plowing a field 5. New Carpet6. Can change the pH in a lake7. Can cause death in high concentrations8. Course particles9. Pollen and Mold spores

CO, NO, SO, VOCs

NO

SO and NO

PM

VOCs

SO and NO

CO

PM

PM