ESS - Topic 6

6.3 Photochemical Smog

State the source and outline the effect of tropospheric ozone.

When fossil fuels are burned, two of the pollutants emitted are hydrocarbons (from unburned fuel) and nitrogen
monoxide (nitric oxide, NO). Nitrogen monoxide reacts with oxygen to form nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a brown gas
that contributes to urban haze. Nitrogen dioxide can also absorb sunlight and break up to release oxygen atoms
that combine with oxygen in the air to form ozone. Ozone is a toxic gas and an oxidizing agent. It damages
crops and forests, irritates eyes, can cause breathing difficulties in humans and may increase susceptibility to
infection. It is highly reactive and can attack fabrics and rubber materials.

In the high temperatures at which petrochemicals are burned in the combustion engines of cars
various pollutants are formed. These include VOCs (volatile
organic compounds) and oxides of nitrogen, carbon and sulphur.
Nitrogen monoxide (NO) can absorb sunlight energy and release
an atom of oxygen. This atom of oxygen then reacts with
molecular oxygen (O2) to form ozone (O3).

Source:
http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/umweltatlas/e_abb/ea306e06.gif;

Ozone in the lower troposphere is toxic and an oxidising agent.

"High concentrations of ozone cause plants to close their stomata.

[...] This slows down photosynthesis and plant growth", thus
reducing primary productivity. "Ozone may also enter the plants
through the stomata and directly damage internal cells."1

Source: http://buylow.com/trees/ozone_plants.jpg

In animals, ozone irritates eyes, can cause breathing difficulties in humans and may increase
susceptibility to infection. Environmental monitoring bodies, such as the EPA in the US, monitor
levels of ozone in the lower atmosphere and give alerts if ozone levels are above recommended safe
levels. Children, elderly people, and those suffering from asthma are particularly prone to high levels
of ozone pollution.

As ozone is highly reactive it can also attack fabrics and rubber materials. making them become
brittle and crack. In fact ozone is actually used in the fashion
industry to deliberately degrade textiles.

Source (LHS): http://www.japantrends.com/en/wp-

content/uploads/2008/09/ecobleachjeans.jpg

Source (RHS):
http://www.timcorubber.com/images/materials/butyl-
rubber-aging.jpg

Ozone is also a greenhouse gas in the upper troposphere and is included in the Kyoto protocol and in
the IPCC's reports.

1 http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_7_1.htm
ESS - Topic 6

Outline the formation of photochemical smog.

Photochemical smog is a mixture of about one hundred primary and secondary pollutants formed under the
influence of sunlight. Ozone is the main pollutant. The frequency and severity of photochemical smogs in an
area depend on local topography, climate, population density and fossil fuel use. Precipitation cleans the air and
winds disperse the smog. Thermal inversions trap the smogs in valleys (for example, Los Angeles, Santiago,
Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Beijing) and concentrations of air pollutants can build to harmful and
even lethal levels.

Photochemical smog is created when

the products of fossil fuel combustion
(primary pollutants), usually from
transport, react with strong sunlight
to form an array of secondary
pollutants. This mix can contain about
one hundred different chemicals but
ozone is the main pollutant and
nitrous oxides form the brown haze
typical of this type of smog. The
primary pollutants are at their highest
concentrations in the morning and
evening rush-hours, but the
photochemical smog is at its
maximum in the early afternoon
when the sunlight has been strongest.

The accumulation of the smog is greatest when there is strong sun so cities suffer most on hot clear
days. Low winds will prevent the pollution from being dispersed and rain washes the pollution out of
the air.

Thermal inversions are when a layer of air sits on top of an area

preventing the slightly cooler air below from rising and dispersing. In
some areas this is typical of fine winter days when the amount of
radiation from the earth may exceed that from the winter sun but it can
occur at other times of the year too. It is also caused when warm moist
heavy air, associated with a warm front moves across an area and is
sometimes associated with oceanic upwellings such as the one off the
Californian coast.

Source: http://dnr.wi.gov/air/images/Air_Matters/AM200802B.jpg
ESS - Topic 6

The topography of a region will affect the amount of air movement and so some cities are
particularly prone to photochemical smog as the air tends to be trapped over the city and not
dispersed. Los Angeles has a Mediterranean climate, lies on the Californian coast where an upwelling
occurs and to the east is surrounded by mountains. Los Angeles also has a very poor public transport
infrastructure and a high use of cars, creating the precursors for photochemical smog accumulation.

Other cities to suffer from photochemical smog regularly include Santiago, Chile, Mexico City, Rio de
Janeiro, São Paulo, and Beijing.

" Santiago de Chile | Lingering smog trapped in the thermal inversion

created by Los Andes" Source: http://www.pre-
office.com/storage/santiago__chile__by_layfan.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_C
ACHEVERSION=1259179687458

Photochemical Smog in Hong Kong

Source: http://deenaguzder.com/wp-
content/uploads/2009/06/browncloud.jpg

Read: http://deenaguzder.com/newly-published-
articles/time-magazine/asias-brown-cloud

Photochemical smog reduces lung function, irritates

the respiratory tract and can induce asthma, coughs
and poor concentration. As it contains ozone it also
has the same effects as ozone.

NB: It should be noted that the killer smogs in London which brought about clean air acts were a
completely different type of pollution. These occurred in cold temperatures and were a combination
of a natural fog with smoke from the burning of fossil fuels for heating, power generation and
industry. Smoke particles and sulphur dioxide were the main primary pollutants.
ESS - Topic 6

Describe and evaluate pollution management strategies for urban air pollution.

Measures to reduce fossil fuel combustion should be considered, for example, reducing demand for electricity
and private cars and switching to renewable energy. Refer to clean‑up measures, for example, catalytic
converters.

Measure Evaluation Environmental

Viewpoint