AIR

Dr. Nijil R S
Lecturer, Dept. of Swasthavritta
• Air is a mixture of gases, mainly nitrogen (78%), oxygen
(21%) and carbon dioxide (0.03%), remaining by other gases
such as argon, neon, helium, xenon, etc. strictly speaking
there is no pure air.
• CHANGES IN THE AIR DUE TO HUMAN OCCUPANCY
• Due to human occupancy, the air in the room is vitiated. The changes that take
place in the air of such an occupied room are:
• Physical changes are:
• 1. Rise in temperature
• 2. Rise in relative humidity
• 3. Decrease in the air movement
• 4. occurrence of unpleasant odours
• Chemical changes:
• 1. Increase in the CO2 Concentration
• 2. Decrease in the O2 Concentration
• Effects of vitiated air
• Acute effects are lassitude, headache, nausea, vertigo, vomiting and even
collapse. Death may occur in extreme cases.

• Chronic effects are anaemia, debility, digestive disturbances, nutritional and

metabolic disorders, lowered vitality and decreased resistance to infections.
Air pollution
• Air pollutants:
• These may be chemical or biological

• Chemical pollutants
• Particulate matter: dust, smoke, soot, sand, grit, etc.
• Gases: CO, CO2, H2S, CH4, NO2, SO2, MIC (Methyl isocyanide), fluorohydrocarbons,
etc.
• Metals: arsenic, beryllium, copper, zinc, lead etc.

• Biological pollutants
• These include pathogens (microbes), spores, etc.
• Sources of air pollution
• Domestic sources: burning of fire wood, kerosene oil, coal, etc.

• Industrial sources: factories of iron and steel, paper, cement, fertilizers,

thermal power plant etc.

• Vehicular sources: motor vehicles, railways, ships etc.

• Miscellaneous: tobacco smocking, nuclear explosions, forest fires, dust storm

etc.
 • Hazards of Air Pollution
• Immediate and Acute Effects
• There will be irritation of conjunctiva, nose, throat and respiratory mucous
membrane resulting in conjunctivitis, allergic rhinitis, acute pharyngitis, acute
bronchitis and episodes of bronchial asthma (acute attacks).

• It may result in suffocation and death.

• For example, London disaster in England and Bhopal gas tragedy in India.
• Delayed and Chronic Effects
• These are chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, emphysema, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchial asthma and even
lung cancer.
• Global Effects of Air Pollution
• i. Acid rain: It is the end result of several processes occurring in the
atmosphere.

• Sulfur dioxide emitted from combustion of coal produces sulfuric acid by getting
dissolved in water vapor of the atmosphere.

• Trees killed by acid rain results in deforestration, desertification and erosion of

soil, thus, disturbing the ecosystem.

• Acidification of water bodies destroys aquatic life including fish.

• Destruction of food crops effects food production also.

• ii. Global warming: It is a phenomenon occurring in the troposphere.

• Normally, the atmospheric gasses have a ‘green-house effect’, i.e. like the
glass of a green-house, allow light and warmth to reach the earth but they do not
allow warmth to be lost, thus maintaining life on earth.

• With air pollution, the gasses like carbon-dioxide, methane and

chlorofluorocarbons and accumulation of ozone, all in the troposphere elevate
the global temperature beyond the desirable level resulting in global warming
and affecting the ecosystem.
• In the past 10 years, a rise of 0.3 to 0.6 Celsius has been noticed. This results in the
following effects:
• • Increase in the dryness of the climate
• • Reduction in the world food production
• • Increase in sea level resulting in floods
• • Smog formation
• • Increased incidence of skin cancer and cataract
• Effects of depleted ozone shield: Normally, ozone layer of the earth, filters the
harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun and prevents them from reaching the surface of the
earth.
• Because of air pollution, ozone layer begins to thin out and results in the following
effects:
• • Inhibition of photosynthesis, (due to burning of leaves, retardation of growth of plants,
fall in the crop yield, ageing of plants etc, all due to air pollution).
• • Disruption of marine food chain.
• Impairment of human immune mechanism, predisposing for infections.
• • Ocular damage (cataract).
• • Skin cancers (melanotic and nonmelanotic).
• • Ultraviolet rays also cause damage of small forms of life such as plankton,
pollen grains and nitrifying soil bacteriae.
• On animals: Cattle become weak and cachexic.
• Yield of animal products become less.
• v. Miscellaneous hazards: (Socioeconomic hazards)
• • Damage to buildings, like old monuments.
• • Damage to metals, alloys, textiles, rubber and works on wood, bronze and stone
(like painting, carvings).
• • Repairs of these cost millions of rupees. (Thus, time, money and energy are
wasted).
• Carbon monoxide:
• It is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon containing materials, such as
automobiles, industrial process, heating facilities and incinerators. Estimate man
made carbon monoxide emission vary from 350 to 600 million tonnes per annum.

•
• Sulphur dioxide:
• SO2 is a colourless gas with a sharp odour, results from the combustion of sulphur
containing fossil fuel, the smelting of sulphur containing ores, and other industrial
processes.
• Domestic fires, power generation and motor vehicles can also produce emissions
containing sulphur dioxide.
• SO2 can affect the respiratory system and the functions of lungs, and causes
irritation of eyes.
• Inflammation of respiratory tract causes coughing, mucus secretion, aggravation
of asthma and chronic bronchitis, and makes people more prone to infections of
respiratory tract.
• Carbon dioxide:
• This is not commonly regarded an air pollutant, although man generates
enormous amount of it in combustion process using coal, oil and gas.

• It is a natural constituent of air. It does not take part in any chemical reactions
with other substances in the air. However its global concentration is rising above
the natural level by an amount that could increase global temperature enough to
affect climate remarkably.
• Prevention and control of air pollution
• 1. Engineering technology:

• Location of industries: must be located far away from the human

habituation

• Within the industry, the process causing air pollution should be replaced by
the process preventing air pollution, ex: using electricity instead of fuels,
using LPG in place of coal, etc.

• Increasing the height of smoke ventilation etc.

• 2. Legislation measures:
• To control air pollution, govt. of India has enacted some acts like Indian Factories
Act, prevention and control of air pollution act, Smoke nuisances Act, etc.

• 3. General measures;

• Control of traffic by construction of bypass roads

• Maintenance of vehicle by periodical servicing, mixing of petrol and oil in proper

proportions

• Population stabilization
VENTILATION
• VENTILATION

• Ventilation means not only the replacement of vitiated air (stagnant, warm and

moist air) by the drier, cooler and moving air but also control of quality of

incoming air with reference to temperature, humidity and purity in order to

provide comfortable environment without the risk infection.

• Systems of ventilation:
• 1. Natural ventilation

• This depends on three factors:

• A. Perflation and aspiration of the wind:

• Perflation means blowing of the air through a room, when the doors and
rooms are open, which is natural result of air movement. When air is moving, it
drives the air before it, lessens the pressure around it and causes the surrounding
air to move towards it by aspiration
• B. Effects of difference of temperature:
• Air always moves from high density to low density. Outer cooler air of high
density, rushes in through every opening of the room.

• The greater the difference of temperature between the outer cooler air and the
inner warmer air, greater will be the velocity of the incoming air, until the
temperature of both outside and inside air become equal. Since the incoming air
gets warmed up, a constant current is maintained. This is the basis of natural
ventilation.
• C. Diffusion of gases: this means passing of the air through the smallest
openings or spaces such as cracks and crevices. As a ventilating agent, it is of little
value.
• Artificial ventilation:
• These are of four types,
• 1. Vacuum system: foul, vitiated air is extracted or exhausted to the outside
by using exhaust fans, operated electrically, so that vacuum is created and fresh
air enters in and fill its place.
• They are usually provided in large halls, auditorium, and cinema halls and are
fixed near the roof, because the vitiated air warmer and moves up.
• 2. Plenum ventilation: fresh are is pushed or propelled or blown into the
room by centrifugal fans or high pressure fans. This creates a positive pressure
and displaces the vitiated air.

• 3. Balanced system: there is a combination of both exhaust and plenum

systems of ventilation. This is used in large halls with extensive sitting capacity.
• 4. Air-conditioning: the outer air is conditioned or controlled with reference
to physical and chemical conditions, such as cleaning (free from pathogens, dirt
and dust), adjustment of temperature (to cool or warm it), adjustment of
humidity, which will be the comfortable and then letting into room without
producing draught and exhausted through ducts.

• These are increasingly used in operation theatres of the hospitals, in hotels,

restaurants, offices etc.

•
• Thermal comfort
• It is defined as “ a state of mind in humans that expresses

satisfaction with the surrounding environment.

• In simple words, is the comfortable condition where a person is not
feeling too hot or too cold.
• INDICES OF THERMAL COMFORT
• Measurement of thermal comfort levels are complex and many indices have been
proposed over the years. They are:
• Air temperature
• Initially the air temperature as measured from a dry bulb thermometer was
taken as the indicator of thermal comfort.
• But it was found to be a unsatisfactory measure as comfort levels depended
on other factors too.
• Relative humidity
• Measured by both wet bulb and dry bulb thermometer
• Air movement
• Measured by anemometer or kata thermometers
• Mean radiant temperature
measured by globe thermometer.
Mountain air sickness