AIR POLLUTION Common Air Pollutants and their Sources
The air that we breathe today is full of toxic and hazardous pollutants. Pollution in the environment could leave mother Earth sapped of its beauty and biodiversity. Each year millions of people die all around the world due to different pollution related problems. The key to live a healthy life is to identify the sources of air pollution and implement practical ways so that we can help stop air pollution. This article is going to suggest different ideas that can contribute to stop air pollution in the world around us.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE
So, I will posting articles related to air pollution and steps we can take to prevent it for better living.
Common Air Pollutants and their Sources
1. Carbon Monoxide: Generated by cigarettes, combustion engines, gas and fuel appliances, incinerators.
2. Lead from aircraft fuel metal processing plants, incineration and battery acid production
3. Ozone produced by car exhausts, factory processing, electric utilities, power plants, chemical solvents.
4. Nitrogen Dioxide from car engines, airplane engines, factories, and power plants.
5. Sulfur Dioxide -locomotives, ships, planes, and other equipment produce huge volumes of Sulfur Dioxide. Industrial processes, particularly ore extraction and purification, are also producers of the gas.
6. Particulate Matter: produced by nearly every single process involving chemicals and fuels, farming and construction.
Effects of Common Air Pollutants
EFFECTS ON HUMANS
- Coughing and shortness of breath, Asthma and sometimes premature deaths,
- Lung cancer
- IQ loss and impacts on learning, memory, and behavior in children due to damage to the developing nervous system,
- Heart disease
- kidney effects
- Anemia
EFFECTS ON ENVIRONMENT - FLORA AND FAUNA
- Lead can cause damage to flora and fauna.
- Ozone is a dangerous substance for most living organisms and multiple ecosystems on land and in the sea.
- Acid rains produced by Nitrogen Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide are extremely destructive to the soil, plants and animals,
- Particulate Matter is harmful to animals, mammals being more affected