EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION

Submitted to: Amit arora sir Submitted by:Harsimran singh

MAIN POINTS
Effect on Human Health Effect on buildings Effect on Vegetation

EFFECT ON HUMAN HEALTH

Air pollution can effect our health in many ways with both short term and long term effect . Examples of short term effect are: irritation to nose, eye, throat, bronchitis, headache etc. Examples of long term affect are: lung disease, chronic respiratory problem, damage to heart, brain, eyes etc.

Major air pollution disaster

Location
Meuse valley, belgium, dec 1930

Condition and causes

So2(9.6-38.4 ppm), h2so4 mist

Symptoms and effects

Sixty death, eye and nasal irritation 20 death and thousand ill, breathlessness, nausea, irritation of eyes 4000 deaths, 1000 hospitalised for respiratory and heart disease 2500 deaths, 1 lakh people severely affected, vomiting, violent coughing, suffocation, cardiac failure.

Donora, usa, oct 1948

So2(.5-2ppm) smoke zinc particle, h2so4 mist

London, england, dec 1952

Thick fog, stagnant, smoke(4500g/m3), so2(1.4ppm)

Bhopal ,India dec 1984

Release of 30 tons of deadly methly isocynate gas from storage tank due to failure of vent scrubber system

Major toxic metals and their effects

Element Sources Health effects

Lead

Auto exhaust, paints, batteries Coal, zinc mining, tobacco smoke Combustion of coal, diesel, tobacco smoke, chemical and cataylst Combustion of fossil fuels, chlora-alkali cells, evaporation from coal mining

Neurotoxin, effects blood system behaviour, disorders, death cardiovascular disease and hyper tension, kidney damage Respiratory symptoms, lung cancer Nerve and brain damage, kidney damage

Cadmium

Nickel

Mercury

Gaseous pollutants
Sulphur Dioxide Carbon monoxide Oxide of nitrogen(NO,NO2) Hydrocarbons

Sulphur dioxide
So2 aggravates respiratory diseases in humans. Even healthy people experience bronchoconstriction when exposed to few min of SO2
Concentration (ppm) 0.2 Effects Low conc causing a human response Threshold for bronchoconstriction in humans Immediate throat irritation Eye irritation

1.6

8-12 10

20

Immediate coughing

Carbon monoxide
CO when inhaled passes through the lungs and diffuses directly into the blood stream and then it combines with hemoglobin to form carboxyhaemoglobin(COHb) As a result the oxygen carrying capacity of body is reduced and person can die due to asphyxiation.

Effects of atmospheric NO2

Effect Increase in acute respiratory diseases Increase in airway resistance Pulmonary edema NO2 conc(ppm) Exposure 0.06-0.1 2-3 yrs

10 min

90

30 min

Hydrocarbons and photochemical oxidants

Aliphatic hydrocarbons produce harmful affects at conc 1000 times higher than those found in atmosphere. Aromatic hydrocarbons are more reactive than aliphatic ones and cause irritation of mucous membrane. The major oxidant produced in photochemical is smog.

EFFECT OF AIR POLLUTION ON BUILDINGS

The most harmful pollutant is SO2 which is responsible for metallic corrosion. In a recent survey conducted by PPCB near GOLDEN TEMPLE they found out high conc of SO2,CO,CO2 IN air TAJ MAHAL is also getting yellow due to air pollution.

Effects of air pollution on vegetation

Decrease yield in agriculture Suppressed growth of vegetables Leaf injury and damage to young plants. Decreased growth rate and increased death rate.