AIR POLLUTION

1. Air Pollution
SUBMITTED BY :
Divya Jacob
Physical Science

2. • Air pollution is the addition of gases, chemicals, and particle matter
into the atmosphere. Air pollution primarily comes from burning
fossil fuels such as natural gas, petroleum, and coal. A study has
listed air pollution as the cause of four percent of the deaths in the
United States
• Humans are the main cause of air pollution. Industry, including
factories and power plants, burn large quantities of fuel. Burning
coal and petroleum releases sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxide into
the air. Airplanes, boats, and cars burn petroleum, releasing carbon
monoxide and carbon dioxide.
• Some air pollution is not directly caused by humans: for example,
animals emit carbon dioxide when they breathe, and volcanoes
release sulfur oxide. However, most air pollution is linked directly or
indirectly to human activity. This means that air pollution can be
best controlled by modifying human activity to burn a smaller
quantity of fossil fuels.

3. Industry, including factories and power plants,
burn large quantities of fuel.
Burning coal and petroleum releases sulfur
oxides and nitrogen oxide into the air.
Airplanes, boats, and cars burn petroleum,
releasing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
The waste in landfills releases methane.
Animals emit carbon dioxide when they breathe,
and volcanoes release sulfur oxide.
EXAMPLE OF AIR POLLUTION

4. EXAMPLE OF AIR POLLUTION
Combustion of gasoline and other hydrocarbon fuels in
cars, trucks, and airplanes
Burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and dinosaur bones)
Insecticides
Herbicides
Everyday radioactive fallouts
Dust from fertilizers
Mining operations
Livestock feedlots

5. SOURCES OF POLLUTION

8. • Different engines and fuel
combinations give out
different emissions in
different quantities.
• Some engines have catalysts
which effectively remove
part of the harmful gases.

9. SMOG
• particulates (especially lead)
• nitrous oxides
• potassium
• Carbon monoxide
• Other toxic chemicals

10. ACID RAIN
• Recent and current policies to reduce acid precipitation and
• Nitrogen emissions are shifting the problem from one area
• to another
• While emissions are remaining stable or decreasing in already
• Heavily impacted areas, they are increasing in formerly
• “clean” or relatively unimpacted areas
• (including other countries!)
- Nitrogen is only one compound important in acid rain and
• pollutant emissions to the atmosphere
• sulfur – SOx – has been a relative success story
• mercury is not an acid forming element, but is extremely
• toxic and is still increasing

13. HUMAN EMISSIONS
FERTILIZERS COMBUSTION
• NOx
• N2 +O2 --> 2NO
• Forms in high temperatures of
combustion engine
• Converted in the atmosphere to
HNO3 - nitric acid
• N2 +Energy H+--> NH3
• Formed by the Haber process
• Added to fields all over the world,
but often lost after harvest

14. HOUSEHOLD AIR POLLUTION

15. HEALTH PROBLEMS
• Air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting the
developing and the developed countries alike.
• The effects of air pollution on health are very complex as there are
many different sources, and their individual effects vary from one to
the other.
• It is not only the ambient air quality in the cities but also the indoor
air quality in the rural and the urban areas that are causing concern.
In fact in the developing world the highest air pollution exposures
occur in the indoor environment.
• Air pollutants that are inhaled have seriousimpact on human
health affecting the lungs and the respiratory system; they are also
taken up by the blood and pumped all round the body. These
pollutants are also deposited on soil, plants, and in the water,
further contributing to human exposure. As you read on you can
learn about health impacts of specific air pollutants.

16. DISEASES
• Respiratory and lung diseases including:
– Asthma attacks
– Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease –COPD
– Reduced lung function
– Pulmonary cancer – caused by a series of carcinogen chemicals that through inhalation
– Mesothelioma – a particular type of lung cancer, usually associated with exposure to asbestos (it usually
occurs 20-30 years after the initial exposure)
– Pneumonia
• Leukemia – a sort of blood cancer usually associated to exposure of benzene vapors (through
inhalation)
• Birth defects and immune system defects
• Cardiovascular problems, heart diseases and stroke (an increased risk especially due to particulate
matter)
• Neurobehavioral disorders - neurological problems and developmental deficits due to air toxins
such as mercury (which is the only volatile metal in elemental form)
• Liver and other types of cancer – caused by breathing carcinogenic volatile chemicals
• Premature death

17. REMADIAL MEASURES
• Owners of the industrial units should be forced to install
pollution control devices in factories and disciplinary action
including fines should be imposed against the errants.
• Manufacturers of the automobiles should follow euro and
euro II norms, install latest pollution control devices in the
vehicles.
• Diesel driven vehicles should be wise replaced by CNG and
battery-driven vehicles.