Environmen

tal
Engineering
Air Pollution
& Control
 Book & Author
0 Book: Environmental Engineering Handbook,
Chapter 5
0 Author: Larry W. Canter
 INTRODUCTIONS
0 Any Change in natural composition of Air is called the air pollutions
SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION
0 Air pollutant sources can be categorized according to the type of source, their number and spatial
distribution, and the type of emissions.
0 Categorization by type includes natural and manmade sources.
0 Natural air pollutant sources include plant pollens, wind-blown dust, volcanic eruptions, and lightning-
generated forest fires.
0 Manmade sources include transportation vehicles, industrial processes, power plants, municipal
incinerators, and others.
Point, Area, And Line Sources
0 Source categorization according to number and spatial distribution includes single or point sources
(stationary), area or multiple sources (stationary or mobile), and line sources.
0 Point sources characterize pollutant emissions from industrial process stacks and fuel combustion facility
stacks.
0 Area sources include vehicular traffic in a geographical area as well as fugitive dust emissions from open-
air stock piles of
resource materials at industrial
plants.
0 Line sources include heavily
travelled highway facilities
and the leading edges of
uncontrolled forest fires.
0 This organization of source
categories is basic to the
development of emission
inventories.
 INTRODUCTION
Primary And Secondary Sources Of Air Pollutants
1. Primary air pollutants These are pollutants in the atmosphere that exist in the same form as in
source emissions. Examples of primary air pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and
total suspended particulates.
2. Secondary air pollutants These are pollutants formed in the atmosphere as a result of reactions
such as hydrolysis, oxidation, and photochemical oxidation. Secondary air pollutants include acidic
mists and photochemical oxidants.
0 In terms of air quality management, the main strategies are directed toward source control of
primary air pollutants. The most effective means of controlling secondary air pollutants is to achieve
source control of the primary air pollutant; primary pollutants react in the atmosphere to form
secondary pollutants.
EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION
0 The effects are manifested in humans, animals, plants, materials, or climatological variations.
0 The potential effects of air pollution can be categorized in many ways. One approach is to consider
the type of effect and identify the potential air pollutants causing that effect. Another approach is to
select an air pollutant such as sulfur dioxide and list all potential effects caused by sulfur dioxide.
0 The types of potential air pollutant effects include aesthetic losses, economic losses, safety hazards,
personal discomfort, and health effects.
0 Aesthetic effects include loss of clarity of the atmosphere as well as the presence of objectionable
odors. Atmospheric clarity loss can be caused by particulates and smog as well as by visibility
reductions due to nitrate and sulfate particles.
0 Objectionable odors encompass a range of potential air pollutants; the majority are associated with
the gaseous form. Examples of odorous air pollutants include hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and
mercaptans. Mercaptans are thio alcohols which are characterized by strong odors often associated
with sulfur.
SUMMARY OF SOURCES, CONCENTRATIONS, AND SCAVENGING PROCESSES OF ATMOSPHERIC TRACE GASES
 METEOROLOGY
0 The meteorological elements that have the most direct and significant effects on the
distribution of air pollutants in the atmosphere are wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation,
atmospheric stability, and precipitation.
Wind
0 The effects of wind on the distribution of air pollutants in the atmosphere involve
understanding the scales of air motion, wind rose, and turbulence.
SCALES OF AIR MOTION
0 Wind is the motion of air relative to earth’s surface.
0 On the macroscale, the movement originates in the unequal distribution of atmospheric
temperature and pressure over the earth’s surface and is influenced by the earth’s rotation.
0 The direction of wind flow is characteristically from high pressure to low, but the rotational
force deflects the air current out of these expected patterns (Figure on next slide).
0 These phenomena occur on scales of thousands of kilometers and are exemplified by the semi-
permanent high and low-pressure areas over oceans and continents.
0 On the mesoscale and microscale, topographical features critically influence wind flow.
0 Surface variations have an obvious effect on wind velocity and the direction of air flow.
0 Monsoons, sea and land breezes, mountain–valley winds, coastal fogs, windward precipitation
systems, and urban heat islands are all examples of the influence of regional and local
topography on atmospheric conditions.
0 Mesoscale phenomena occur over hundreds of kilometers; microscale phenomena, over areas
less than 10 kilometers.
0 For an area, the total effect of these circulations establishes the hourly, daily, and seasonal
variation in wind speed and direction.
 METEOROLOGY
0 The frequency distribution of wind direction
indicates the areas toward which pollutants
are most frequently transported.
 METEOROLOGY
WIND ROSE
0 Wind speed determines the travel time of a pollutant from its source to a receptor and accounts
for the amount of pollutant diffusion in the windward direction.
0 Therefore, the concentration of pollutant at any receptor is inversely proportional to the wind
speed.
0 Wind direction determines in what direction a pollutant travels and what receptor is affected at
a given time. Wind direction is normally defined by a wind rose, a graphic display of the
distribution of wind direction at a location during a defined period.
0 The characteristic patterns can be presented in either tabular or graphic forms.
0 Wind speed is usually measured by an anemometer, which consists of three or four
hemispherical cups arranged around a vertical axis.
0 The faster the rotation of the cups, the higher the speed of the wind.
0 A wind vane indicates wind direction. Although wind is three-
dimensional in its movement, generally only the horizontal
component is denoted because the vertical component is much
smaller.
0 A wind rose is a set of wind statistics that describes the
frequency, direction, force, and speed (see Figure, Wind rose
showing direction and velocity frequencies.).
0 In this plot, the average wind direction is shown as one of the sixteen
compass points, each separated by 22.5° measured from true north.
0 The length of the bar for a direction indicates the percent of time the
wind came from that direction.
 METEOROLOGY
WIND ROSE
0 Since the direction is constantly changing, the time percentage for a compass point includes
those times for wind direction at 11.25° on either side of the point.
0 The percentage of time for a velocity is shown by the thickness of the direction bar. Figure
shows that the average wind direction from the southwest direction is 19% of the time and 7%
of the time the southwesterly wind velocity is 16–30 mph.
0 Figure below shows the particulate fallout around an emission source and a wind rose based on
the same time period.
0 The wind rose is imprecise in describing a point in a study region because the data are
collected at one location in the region and not at each location.
0 The data are often a seasonal or yearly average and therefore not accurate in describing any
point in time in an ideal representation of atmospheric diffusion.
0 A final limitation of wind rose is that the wind is only measured in
the horizontal plane and is assumed identical at any height above
the earth’s surface.
(Note: wind speed generally increases with height in
lower levels due to the decrease of the frictional drag effect
of the underlying ground surface features.)
 METEOROLOGY
TURBULENCE
0 In general, atmospheric pollutants are dispersed by two mechanisms: wind speed and
atmospheric turbulence.
0 Atmospheric turbulence usually includes those wind flow fluctuations that have a frequency of
more than 2 cycles/hr.
0 The more important fluctuations have frequencies in the 1-to-0.01-cycles/sec range.
0 Turbulent fluctuations occur randomly in both vertical and horizontal directions.
0 This air motion provides the most effective mechanism to disperse or dilute a cloud or plume
of pollutants. Figure shows the dispersive effect of fluctuations in horizontal wind direction.
0 Turbulence is induced in air flow in two ways: by thermal current from heating below (thermal
turbulence) and by disturbances or eddies from the passage of air over irregular, rough ground
surfaces (mechanical turbulence).
0 These small eddies feed large ones.
0 Generally turbulent motion and, in turn, the dispersive ability of the atmosphere, are enhanced
during solar heating over rough terrain.
0 Conversely, turbulence is suppressed
during clear nights over smooth terrain.
 METEOROLOGY
Lapse Rates and Stability
0 Lapse rates, stability, and inversions also affect the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere.
LAPSE RATES
0 In the stratosphere, the temperature of the ambient air usually decreases with an increase in
altitude. This rate of temperature change is called the elapse rate.
0 Environmental engineers can determine this rate for a place and time by sending up a balloon
equipped with a thermometer. The balloon moves through the air, not with it, and measures the
temperature gradient of ambient air, called the ambient lapse rate, the environmental lapse
rate, or the prevailing lapse rate.
0 Using the ideal-gas law and the law of conservation of energy, environmental engineers have
established a mathematical ratio for expressing temperature change against altitude under
adiabatic conditions.
0 This rate of decrease is termed the adiabatic elapse rate, which is independent of the
prevailing atmospheric temperature.
0 Dry air, expanding adiabatically, cools at 9.8°C per km (or 5.4°F per 1000 ft), which is the dry
adiabatic lapse rate.
0 In a wet as in a dry adiabatic process, a parcel of air rises and cools adiabatically, but a second
factor affects its temperature. Latent heat is released as water vapor condenses within the
saturated parcel of rising air. Temperature changes in the air are then due to the liberation of
latent heat as well as the expansion of air.
0 The wet adiabatic lapse rate (6°C/km) is thus less than the dry adiabatic lapse rate.
0 Since a rising parcel of effluent gases is seldom completely saturated or completely dry, the
adiabatic lapse rate generally falls somewhere between these two extremes.
 METEOROLOGY
STABILITY
0 Ambient and adiabatic lapse rates are a measure of atmospheric
stability. Figure shows these stability conditions.
0 The atmosphere is unstable as long as a parcel of air moving
upward cools at a slower rate than the surrounding air and
is accelerated upward by buoyancy force.
0 Moving downward, the parcel cools slower and is accelerated
downward. Under these conditions, vertical air motions and
turbulence are enhanced.
0 Conversely, when a rising parcel of air is cooler than the
surrounding air, the parcel settles back to its original
elevation.
0 Downward movement produces a warmer parcel, which rises
to its original elevation.
0 Under these conditions, vertical movement is dampened out
by adiabatic cooling or warming, and the atmosphere is
stable.
0 Right Figure on next slide shows that the boundary line between
stability and instability is the dry adiabatic lapse line.
0 When the ambient lapse rate exceeds the adiabatic lapse rate,
the ambient lapse rate is termed super-adiabatic, and the
atmosphere is highly unstable.
0 When the two lapse rates are equal, the atmosphere is neutral.
 METEOROLOGY
STABILITY
0 When the ambient lapse rate is less than the dry adiabatic lapse rate, the ambient lapse rate is
termed subadiabatic, and the atmosphere is stable ( Left Figure).
0 If the air temperature is constant throughout a layer of atmosphere, the ambient lapse rate is
zero, the atmosphere is described as isothermal, and the atmosphere is stable (Battan 1979).
0 When the temperature of ambient air increases (rather than decreases) with altitude, the lapse
rate is negative, or inverted, from the normal state.
0 A negative lapse rate occurs under conditions referred to as an inversion, a state in which
warmer air blankets colder air.
0 Thermal or temperature inversions represent
a high degree of atmosphericstability .
0 An inversion is an extreme subadiabatic
condition, thus almost no vertical air
movement occurs.
 METEOROLOGY
INVERSIONS
0 Three types of inversions develop in the atmosphere: radiational (surface), subsidence (aloft),
and frontal (aloft).
Radiational Inversions
0 A radiational inversion occurs at low levels, seldom above a few hundred feet, and dissipates
quickly.
0 This type of inversion occurs during periods of clear weather and light to calm winds and is
caused by rapid cooling of the ground by radiation.
0 The inversion develops at dusk and continues until the surface warms again the following day.
0 Initially, only the air close to the surface cools, but after several hours, the top of the inversion
can extend to 500 ft (see Figure).
0 Pollution emitted during the night is caught under this “inversion lid.”
Subsidence Inversions
0 A subsidence inversion is important in pollution
control because it can affect large areas for
several days.
0 A subsidence inversion is associated with either
a stagnant high pressure cell or a flow aloft of
cold air from an ocean over land surrounded by
mountains.
0 Figure shows the inversion mechanism.
 METEOROLOGY
INVERSIONS
0 A significant condition is the subsidence inversion that develops with a stagnating high-
pressure system (generally associated with fair weather). Under these conditions, the pressure
gradient becomes progressively weaker so that winds become light.
0 These light winds greatly reduce the horizontal transport and dispersion of pollutants. At the
same time, the subsidence inversion aloft continuously descends, acting as a barrier to the
vertical dispersion of the pollutants. These conditions can persist for several days, and the
resulting accumulation of pollutants can cause serious health hazards.
0 Fog almost always accompanies serious air pollution episodes. These tiny droplets of water
are detrimental in two ways:
(1) fogs makes the conversion of SO3 to H2SO4 possible, &
(2) fogs sits in valleys and prevents the sun from warming
the valley floor to break inversions, thus prolonging air
pollution episodes.
0 Figure shows the frequency of stagnation periods of high-
pressure cells over the eastern United States.
Frontal Inversions
0 A frontal inversion usually occurs at high altitudes and
results when a warm air mass overruns a cold air mass
below.
0 This type of inversion is not important from a pollution
control standpoint.
 METEOROLOGY
Precipitation
0 Precipitation serves an effective cleansing process of pollutants in the atmosphere as follows:
0 The washing out or scavenging of large particles by falling raindrops or snowflakes (washout)
0 The accumulation of small particles in the formation of raindrops or snowflakes in clouds
(rainout)
0 The removal of gaseous pollutants by dissolution or absorption.
0 The efficiencies of these processes depend on complex relationships between the properties of
the pollutants and the characteristics of precipitation.
0 The most effective and prevalent process is the washout of large particles in the lower layer of
the atmosphere where most pollutants are released.
Topography
0 The topographic features of a region include both natural (hills, bridges, roads, canals, oceans,
rivers, lakes, and foliages) and manmade (cities, bridges, roads, and canals) elements in a
region.
0 The prime significance of topography is its effects on meteorological elements, particularly the
local or small-scale circulations that develop.
0 These circulations contribute either favorably or unfavorably to the transport and dispersion of
the pollutants.
LAND–SEA BREEZE
0 In the daytime, land heats rapidly, which heats the air above it.
0 The water temperature remains relatively constant.
0 The air over the heated land surface rises producing low pressure compared with the pressure
over water.
 METEOROLOGY
LAND–SEA BREEZE
0 The resulting pressure gradient produces a surface flow off the water toward land.
0 This circulation can extend to a considerable distance inland. Initially, the flow is onto the
land, but as the breeze develops, the rotational force gradually shifts the direction so that the
flow is more parallel to the land mass.
0 After sunset and several hours of cooling by radiation, the land mass is cooler than the water
temperature.
0 Then, the reverse flow pattern develops, resulting in a wind off the land. During a stagnating
high pressure system when the transport and dispersion of pollutants are reduced, this short-
period, afternoon increase in airflow can prevent the critical accumulation of pollutants.
MOUNTAIN–VALLEY WINDS
0 In the valley region, particularly in winter, intensive surface inversions develop from air
cooled by the radiation-ally cooled valley wall surfaces.
0 Populated and industrialized bottom valley areas are subject to a critical accumulation of
pollutants during this period.
0 Areas on the windward side of mountain ranges expect added precipitation because of the
forced rising, expansion, and cooling of the moving air mass with the resultant release of
moisture.
0 The precipitation increases the removalof pollutants.
 METEOROLOGY
URBAN-HEAT-ISLAND EFFECT
0 The increased surface roughness created by buildings throughout a city enhances the
turbulence of airflow over the city, thus improving the dispersion of the pollutants emitted.
0 However, at the same time, the city’s buildings and asphalt streets act as a heat reservoir for
the radiation received during the day.
0 This heat plus the added heat from nighttime heating during cool months creates a temperature
and pressure differential between the city and surrounding rural area so that a local circulation
inward to the city develops. This circulation concentrates the pollutants in the city.
0 Figure shows the combined effects of the urban heat-island effect and katabatic winds.
 METEOROLOGIC APPLICATIONS IN AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
Air Pollution Surveys
0 Air pollution surveys are unique in their development and conduct.
0 A common goal is to obtain a representative sample from an unconfined volume of air in the
vicinity of one or more emission sources.
0 Depending on the objectives of an air pollution survey, a mobile or fixed sampler can be used.
0 Other than the obvious considerations such as accessibility and the relationship to interfering
pollutant sources, the principal factors in site selection are meteorology and topography.
0 The controlling factor for site selection is wind movement.
0 With some knowledge of the predominant wind direction, the environmental engineer can
predict the path of pollution from the emission source to the point of ground-level impact and
determine the most suitable location for an air monitoring site.
0 Besides wind direction and wind speed, other meteorological data necessary for sample
correlations are temperature, cloud cover, and lapse rate where possible.
0 The environmental engineer uses local temperatures to estimate the contribution of home
heating to the total pollutant emission rates.
0 The simplest case is one where one wind direction predominates over a uniform topography
for an isolated plant emitting a single pollutant that remains unchanged in the atmosphere.
0 Two monitors are used: one monitors the effects of the source and the other is placed upwind
to provide background concentrations.
0 Where wind directions vary and other emission sources are operating nearby, the
environmental engineer requires additional samples to identify the concentrations attributable
to the source.
 METEOROLOGIC APPLICATIONS IN AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
Air Pollution Surveys
Selection of Plant Site
0 In selecting a plant site, planners should consider the air pollution climatology of the area.
0 They should prepare seasonal wind roses to estimate pollution dispersion patterns.
0 Wind roses based on average winds excluding frontal weather systems are especially helpful.
0 Planners must consider the frequency of stagnant weather periods and the effects of
topography and local wind systems, such as land–sea breezes and mountain–valley winds,
with respect to dispersion patterns and nearby residential and industrial areas.
0 The location of the plant within an area can depend on local wind speed and directions data.
For example, residential areas may lie downwind of a
proposed plant, in line with the prevailing wind direction.
0 Considering a more suitable site would reduce the air
pollution impact of the plant. Figure illustrates this point.
0 Data on temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction,
and precipitation are generally available through official
weather agencies.
0 Other potential sources of information are local airports,
military installations, public utilities, and colleges and
universities.
 METEOROLOGIC APPLICATIONS IN AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
Air Pollution Surveys
Allowable Emission Rates
0 In plant planning, planners should consider local, state, and federal air pollution authorities,
which can shutdown or curtail plant emission activities during times of air pollution
emergency.
0 Plants must have standby plans ready for reducing the emission of air contaminants into the
atmosphere.
0 A plant must control emission rates to ensure that problems do not occur even during poor
dispersion conditions.
0 This control requires full knowledge of the frequency of poor dispersion weather. In addition,
weather conditions should be considered when plant start ups are scheduled or major repairs
that may produce more emissions are undertaken.
Stack Design
0 The stack height design must consider the average height at stack elevation, average
temperature, average mixing conditions (stability), and average lapse rate.
0 The stack height design must also consider the average height and frequencies of inversions.
0 For emission sources such as generating stations, the ideal stack height should exceed the most
frequent inversion height.
0 Also, planners should consider not only the averages of temperature, wind speed, and stability,
but also the frequency with which worst-case combinations of these parameters occur.
 Indoor Air Pollution
0 Growing scientific evidence indicates that the air within homes and other buildings can be
more seriously polluted than outdoor air even in the largest and the most industrialized cities.
0 For many people who spend 90% of their time indoors that indoor pollution can be unhealthy.
0 One of the important indoor air pollutant is radon.
RADON
SOURCE AND EFFECTS
0 Radon gas is produced by the decay of naturally occurring uranium found in almost all soils
and rocks.
0 Figure shows the decay chain that transforms uranium into
radon and its progeny.
0 Radon is also found in soils contaminated with certain types
of industrial waste, such as the by-products of uranium
mining.
0 Phosphate rock is a source of radon because deposits of
phosphate often contain high levels of uranium,
approximately 50 to 150 ppm.
0 A significant amount of radon is present in wells and soil in
many parts of this country.
0 Radon is commonly associated with granite bedrock and is
also present in the natural gas and coal deposits in this rock.
0 In its natural state, radon rises through airspace in the soil
and enters a house through its basement, is released from
agitated or boiled water, or escapes during natural gas use.
 Indoor Air Pollution
RADON
SOURCE AND EFFECTS
0 The most common pathways through which radon gas seeps in from the soil include cracks in
concrete floors and walls, drain pipes, floor drains, sumps, and cracks or poresin hollow block
walls.
0 Radon is drawn in by reduced air pressure, which results when the interior pressure
drops below the pressure in the ground.
0 This pressure drop is commonly caused by a warmer indoor climate; kitchen or attic
exhaust fans; or consumption of interior air by furnaces, clothes dryers, or other
appliances.
0 Radon is a colorless, odorless, almost chemically inert, radioactive gas. It is soluble in cold
water, and its solubility decreases with increasing temperature.
0 This characteristic of radon causes it to be released during water-related activities, such
as taking showers, flushing toilets, and general cleaning.
0 Scientists and health officials express fears that the reduced infiltration of fresh air from
the outside to increase energy efficiency is eliminating the escape route for radon and
making a bad indoor pollution problem worse.
0 Other factors to consider include the inflow rate of radon which depends on the strength
of the radon source beneath the house and the permeability of the soil.
0 Since radon is naturally radioactive, it is unstable, giving off radiation as it decays.
0 The radon decay products, radon progeny, or radon daughters, which are formed, cling to
dust.
 Indoor Air Pollution
RADON
SOURCE AND EFFECTS
0 If inhaled, the dust can become trapped in the lung’s sensitive airways.
0 As the decay products break down further, more radiation is released which can damage lung
tissue and lead to lung cancer after a period of ten to thirty years. Outside, radon dissipates
quickly.
0 However, in an enclosed space, such as a house, it can accumulate and cause lung cancer.
Scientists believe that smoking increases any cancer risk from radon.
RADON CONTROL TECHNIQUES
0 Techniques to control radon in residence can be broadly classified as follows:
0 Source removal (new construction considerations)
0 Source control
0 Sealing major radon source
0 Sealing radon entry routes
0 Subslab ventilation
0 Drain-tile soil ventilation (Figure 5.28.5)
0 Active ventilation of hollow block basement walls
0 Avoidance of house depressurization
0 Ventilation of indoor radon concentration
0 Natural circulation
0 Forced-air ventilation
0 Heat recovery ventilation
 Indoor Air Pollution
Other Indoor Pollutants
0 This section discusses the source and effects and control techniques for other indoor pollutants.
SOURCE AND EFFECTS
0 Other indoor pollutants include asbestos, bioaerosols, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide,
formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides, ozone, inhalable particulates, and VOCs.
Asbestos
0 Asbestos is a silicate mineral fiber that is flexible, durable, and incombustible and makes good
electrical and thermal isolators.
0 It has been used as insulation for heating, water, and sewage pipes; sound absorption and
fireproofing materials; roof, siding, and floor tiles; corrugated paper; caulking; putty; and
spackle.
0 In short, asbestos was used extensively in all types of construction until about 1960.
0 Once released from its binding material (by erosion, vibration, renovation, or cleaning) the
fibers can remain airborne for long periods.
Bioaerosols
0 Biological contaminants include animal dander, cat saliva, human skin scales, insect excreta,
food remnants, bacteria, viruses, mold, mildew, mites, and pollen.
0 The sources of these contaminants include outdoor plants and trees, people, and animals.
0 Pollens are seasonal; fungal spores and molds are prevalent at high temperatures.
0 A central air-handling system can distribute these contaminants throughout a building.
 Indoor Air Pollution
Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide
0 Carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless, toxic gas formed by the incomplete combustion of
fossil fuels, is the most prevalent and dangerous indoor pollutant.
0 It results from poorly ventilated kitchens, rooms over garages, and unvented combustion
appliances (stoves, ovens, heaters, and the presence of tobacco smoke).
Formaldehyde
0 Formaldehyde, the simplest of aldehydes, is a colorless gas that is emitted from various
building materials, household products, or combustion processes.
0 Indoor sources include pressed-wood products, including particle board, paneling, fiberboard,
and wallboard; textiles, such as carpet backings, drapes and upholstery fabrics, linens, and
clothing; urea-formaldehyde foam insulation; adhesives; paints; coatings; and carpet
shampoos.
0 Minimal outgassing by each product can significantly increase the formaldehyde level when
the ventilation rate is low.
0 Hot and humid conditions usually cause formaldehyde to outgas at a greater rate.
0 Product aging diminishes its emission rate although in some cases, this process can take
several years.
Nitrogen Oxides
0 Nitrogen oxides are combustion by-products produced by the burning of natural gas or oil in
oxygen-rich environments such as kitchen stoves and ovens, furnaces, and unvented gas and
kerosene heaters.
0 When a fireplace or wood stove is used, some of these pollutants enter the room.
0 Cracks in the stovepipe, downdrafts, or wood spillage from a fireplace can exacerbate the
condition. Coal burning adds sulfur dioxide to the nitrogen oxides.
 Indoor Air Pollution
Ozone
0 Ozone is recognizable by its strong, pungent odor.
0 Indoors, significant ozone can be produced by electrostatic copying machines, mercury-
enhanced light bulbs, and electrostatic air cleaners.
0 Poorly ventilated offices and rooms housing photocopying machines can accumulate
significant levels of ozone.
Inhalable Particulates
0 Particulates are not a single type of pollutant; they describe the physical state of many
pollutants-that is, all suspended solid or liquid particles less than a few hundred mm in size.
0 Among the pollutants that appear as particulates are asbestos and other fibrous building
materials, radon progeny, smoke, organic compounds, infectious agents, and heavy metals,
such as cadmium in cigarette smoke.
0 Because of the diversity of particulates and their chemical nature, considering the adverse
health effects of this category as a whole is not possible.
VOCs
0 VOCs are chemicals that vaporize readily at room temperature.
0 High levels of organic chemicals in homes are attributed to aerosols, cleaners, polishes,
varnishes, paints, pressed-wood products, pesticides, and others.
 Indoor Air Pollution
CONTROL TECHNIQUES
0 The basic control techniques to improve the quality of indoor air are source removal,
ventilation, isolation, and air cleaners.
Source Removal
0 This technique involves removing or modifying the source of pollution and replacing it with a
low-pollution substitute.
0 Asbestos pipe insulation should be encased securely or replaced by non-asbestos pipe
insulation if possible.
0 Limiting the use of formaldehyde insulation, particle boards, carpets, fabric, or furniture
containing formaldehyde can limit exposure to formaldehyde.
0 Replacing kerosene and gas space heaters with electric space heaters can eliminate exposure to
carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide. Biological contaminants and
0 VOCs can be controlled by source removal.
Ventilation
0 Increasing ventilation can remove the offending pollutants, such as VOCs, and dilute the
remaining pollution to a safer concentration. For example, gas stoves can be fitted with range
hoods and exhaust fans that draw the air and effluent in over the cooking surface and blow
carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides outdoors.
0 However, range hoods that use charcoal filters to clean the air and then resent it to the room
are ineffective in controlling carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides.
0 One solution is to open a window near the stove and fit it with a fan to blow out the pollutants.
0 Forced ventilation with window fans works the same as natural ventilation but insures a
steadier and more reliable ventilation rate.
 Indoor Air Pollution
CONTROL TECHNIQUES
Ventilation
0 One way to measure the success of a ventilation system is to use a monitor that detects carbon
dioxide (a gas that causes drowsiness in excess amounts).
0 If carbon dioxide levels are high, other pollutants are also likely to be present in excessive amounts.
Monitors are available that trigger a ventilation system to bring in more fresh air when needed.
Isolation
0 Isolating certain sources of pollution and preventing their emissions from entering the indoor
environment is best.
0 Formaldehyde outgassing from urea-formaldehyde foam insulation can also be partially controlled
by vapor barriers; wallpaper or low-permeability paint applied to interior walls; and plywood coated
with shellac, varnish, polymeric coatings, or other low-diffusion barriers.
0 These barriers contain the formaldehyde outgasses, which are seemingly reabsorbed by their source
rather than released into the home.
Air Cleaners
0 The air cleaners for residential purposes are based on filtration, adsorption, and electrostatic
precipitation as follows: Filters made of charcoal, glass fibers, and synthetic materials are used to
remove particles.
0 Pollen or lint, which are relatively large particles, are easily trapped by most filters.
0 High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can remove particles larger than 0.3 mm, which
include bacteria and spores, but not viruses.
0 Whereas filters trap larger particles, adsorbents react with the molecules.
0 Three common adsorbents are activated charcoal, activated alumina, and silica gel. Adsorbents
0 remove gases, such as formaldehyde, and ammonia.