AIR POLLUTION

Samet Saglam Ramazan Isik

The Air Around Us

The air around us is contamined to some degree by smoke, haze, dust, odors, corrosive, gases, noise and toxic compounds. Air pollution is generally the most widespread and obvious kind of environmental damage. Total worlwide emissions of these pollutants are around 2 billion metric tons per year. Over the past twenty years, air quality has improved significantly in most cities in Western Europe, North America and Japan. Our succes in controlling some of the most serious air pollutants give us hope for similiar progress in other environmental problems.

Natural Sources Of Air Pollution

There are many natural sources of air quality degredation. Volcanos spew out ash, acid mists, hydrogen sulfide and other toxic gases. Sea spray and decaying vegetation are major sources of reactive sulfur compounds in the air. Forest fires create clouds of smoke that blanket whole continents. Pollen, spores, viruses, bacteria and other bits of organic material in the air cause widespread suffering from allergies and airborne infections

Human Caused Air Pollution

Primary and Secondary Pollutants Primary pollutants are those released directly into the air in a harmful form. Secondary pollutants, by contrast, are modified to a hazardous form after they enter the air or are formed by chemical reactions as components of air mix and interact.

Human Caused Air Pollution

Conventional or Criteria Pollutants Conventional or criteria pollutants contribute the largest volume of air quality degredation and also are considered the most serious threat of all air pollutants to human health and welfare. These are the most important pollutants: Sulfur Compounds Nitrogen Cpmpounds Carbon Oxides Metals and Halogens - Particulate Material - Volatile Organic Compounds - Photochemical Oxidant

Human Caused Air Pollution

Unconventional Pollutants Unconventional or noncriteria pollutants are considered especially toxic or hazardous. For example, asbestos, benzene, beryllium, mercury and vinly chloride. Most of these materials have no natural sources in the environment. Aesthetic degradation includes any undesireable changes in the physical characteristics or chemistry of the atmosphere. Noise, odors and light pollution are examples of atmospheric degredation that may not be life threatening but reduce the quality of our lives.

Human Caused Air Pollution

Indoor Air Pollution Indoor concentrations of toxic air pollutants are consistently higher than outdoors. Furthermore, people generally spend more time inside than out and therefore are exposed to higher doses of these pollutants. Smoking is without doubt the most important air pollutant. Other major indoor air pollution health hazards include asbestos, formaldehyde, vinly chloride, radon and combustion gases.

Effects of Air Pollution

Human Health
The EPA estimates that people in the most polluted cities in the united States are 15 to 17 percent more likely to die prematurely than those in cities with the cleanest air.Heart attacks,respiratory diseases and lung cancer all are significantly higher in people who breathe dirty air,compared to matching groups incleaner environments. You are much more likely to be at risk if you are very young,very old or already suffering from someone respiratory diseases exacerbated by air pollution.

How does air pollution cause these health effects?

The most common route of exposure to air pollutants is by halation,but direct absorption through the skin or contamination of food and water also are important pathways.Because they are strong oxidizing agents,sulfates,SO2,NO and O3 act as irritants that damage delicate tissues in the eyes and respiratory passages.Some important chronic health effects of air pollutants include bronchitis and emphysema. Smoking is undoubtedly the largest cause of obstructive lung disease and preventable death in the world.The World Health Organization says that tobacco kills some 3 million people each year.

Plant Pathology
In the early days of industrilization,fumes from furnaces,smelters,refineries and chemical palnts often destroyed vegetation and created desolate,barren landscapes around mining and manufactoring centers. There are two probable ways that air pollutants damage palnts.They can be directly toxic,damaging sensitive cell membrans much as irritants do in human lungs.Within a few days of exposure to toxic levels of oxidants,mottling(discolating) occours in leaves due to chlorosis and then necrotic(dead) spots develop.If injury severe the whole plant is killed.

Sometimes these symptoms are so distinctive that positive identification of the source of damage is posible. Another mechanism of action is exhibited by chemicals,such as ethylene,that act as metabolic regulators or plant hormones and disrupt normal patterns of growth and development.The concentration of ethylene around highways and industrial areas often high enogh to cause injury to sensitive plants. Pollutant levels too low to produce visible symptoms of damage may still have important effects.Field studies using open-top chambers and charcoal-filtered air show that yields in some sensitive crops,such as soybeans,may be reduced as much 50 percent by currently existing levels of oxidants in ambition air.

Acid Deposition
It was known that pollutant,including atmospheric acids,could be transported long distance by wind currents.This was thought to be an only academic curiosity until it was shown that precipitation of these acids can have far-reaching ecological effects. Effects; *pH and Atmospheric Acidity *Aquatic Effects *Forest Damage *Buildings and Monuments *Visibility Reduction

Air Pollution Control

What can we do about air pollution?In this section we will look at some of techniques that can be used to avoid creating pollutants or to clean up effluents before they are released. Moving Pollution to Remote Areas Among the earliest techniques for improving local air quality was emissions with smokestacks.These approaches has exemplify the attitude that dulition is the sollution to pollution.

Particulate Removal Filters remove particles physically by trapping them in a porous mesh of cotton cloth,spun glass fibers ,or asbetos-cellulose,which allows air to pass through but holds back solids.Collection efficiency is relatively insensitive to fuel type,fly ash composition,particle size,or electrical properties. Sulfur Removal It is important to reduce sulfur loading.This can be done either by using low-sulfur fuel or by removing sulfur from effluents. Fuel Switching and Fuel Cleaning Limestone Injection and Fluidized Bed Combustion Fuel Gas Desulfurization Sulfur Recovery Processes

Nitrogen Oxide Control

Undoubtely the best way to prevent nitrogen oxide pollution is to avoid creating it.A substantial portion of the emissions associated with mining,manufacturing, and energy production could be eliminated through conservation. Staged burners,in which the flow of air and fuel are carefully controlled,can reduce nitrogen oxide formation by as much as 50 percent.This is true for both internal combustion engines and industrial boilers.

Hydrocarbon Controls
Hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds are produced by incomplete combustion of fuels or solvent evaporation from chemical factories,painting,dry cleaning,plastic manufactturing,printing and other industrial processes that use a variety of volatile organic chemicals. Modification of carburetor and fuel systems prevents evaporation of gasoline.In the same way,controls of fugitive losses from valves,pipes and storage tanks in industry can have a significant impact on air quality. Careful monitoring of air-fuel inputs and oxygen levels in exhaust gases can minimize all these pollutants.