Air & Air Pollution

Air Pollution
• Air Pollution is defined as the presence of chemicals in
the atmosphere in quantities and duration that are
harmful to human health and the environment
• Natural Sources of Air Pollution
• Anthropogenic Air Pollutants
 Natural Sources of Air Pollution
• Volcanoes 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
• Trees and bushes emit millions of tons of volatile organic
compounds (terpenes and isoprenes)
• Pollen, spores, viruses, bacteria, and other small bits of
organic materials in the air cause widespread suffering from
allergies and airborne infections
• Storms in arid regions raise dust clouds that transport millions
of tons of soil and can be detected half a world away
• Bacterial metabolism of decaying vegetation in swamps and of
cellulose in the guts of termites and ruminant animals is
responsible for as much as two-thirds of the methane (natural
gas) in the air
 Anthropogenic Air Pollutants

• Pollutants according to their source

• Pollutants according to their content
Pollutants according to their source
– Primary pollutants - products of natural events (like
fires and volcanic eruptions) and human activities
added directly to the air
– Secondary pollutants - formed by interaction of
primary pollutants with each other or with normal
components of the air
– Fugitive emissions are those that do not go through a
smokestack. By far the most massive example of this
category is dust from soil erosion, strip mining, rock
crushing, and building construction
 Pollutants according to their content
• The U.S. Clean Air Act of 1970 designated seven major
pollutants (sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particulates,
hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, photochemical oxidants,
and lead) for which maximum ambient air (air around us)
levels are mandated
• These seven conventional or criteria pollutants
contribute the largest volume of air-quality degradation
and also are considered the most serious threat of all air
pollutants to human health and welfare