Air pollution

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Jump to: navigation, search "Bad air quality" redirects here. For the obsolete medical theory, see Bad air. "Air quality" redirects here. For the measure of how polluted the air is, see Air quality index. Not to be confused with Qualities of air.

Air pollution from a World War II wartime production plant Air pollution is the introduction into the atmosphere of chemicals, particulates, or biological materials that cause discomfort, disease, or death to humans, damage other living organisms such as food crops, or damage the natural environment or built environment. The atmosphere is a complex dynamic natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on planet Earth. Stratospheric ozone depletion due to air pollution has long been recognized as a threat to human health as well as to the Earth's ecosystems. Indoor air pollution (see Airlog) and urban air quality are listed as two of the Worlds Worst Toxic Pollution Problems in the 2008 Blacksmith Institute World's Worst Polluted Places report.[1]

significant impacts on human health and the environment.

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Controlled burning of a field outside of Statesboro, Georgia in preparation for spring planting

Sources of air pollution refers to the various locations, activities or factors which are responsible for the releasing of pollutants into the atmosphere. These sources can be classified into two major categories which are
Emission factors[edit] Main article: AP 42 Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors

Industrial air pollution emissions

Air pollutant emission factors are representative values that people attempt to relate the quantity of a pollutant released to the ambient air with an activity associated with the release of that pollutant. These factors are usually expressed as the weight of pollutant divided by a unit weight, volume, distance, or duration of the activity emitting the pollutant (e.g., kilograms of particulate emitted per tonne of coal burned). Such factors facilitate estimation of emissions from various sources of air pollution. In most cases, these factors are simply averages of all available data of acceptable quality, and are generally assumed to be representative of long-term averages. There are 12 compounds in the list of POPs. Dioxins and furans are two of them and are intentionally created by combustion of organics, like open burning of plastics. The POPs are also endocrine disruptor and can mutate the human genes.

. Air quality[change]
Even "clean" air is not really clean. It has many pollutants (things that pollute the air) from natural sources. These pollutants include dust, sea salt, volcanic ashes and gases, smoke from forest fires, pollen, and many other materials.[1] In fact, there are many more natural pollutants than pollutants that humans make.[1] However, humans have adapted to most of these natural pollutants.[1]

Types of air pollution[change]

Ash from volcanic eruptions is an example of primary pollutants.

Air pollutions are usually described as either primary pollutants or secondary pollutants. Primary pollutants are pollutants that are put directly into the air by humans or natural sources. Examples of primary pollutants are exhaust fumes (gas) from cars, soot from smoke, dust storms and ash from volcanic eruptions (as seen in the picture on the left).[1] Secondary pollutants are pollutants that are made from chemical reactions when pollutants mix with other primary pollutants or natural substances like water vapor.[1] Many secondary pollutants are made when a primary pollutant reacts with sunlight. Ozone and smog are secondary pollutants. Ozone is a gas that is helpful and takes in harmful rays from the sun. When it is near the ground, though, ozone is a dangerous pollutant that influences the health of all organisms.[1]