ENSC 13300 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Lead, Energy Audit, Nitrogen Dioxide
Sources and Effects of Common Air Pollutants
Air pollution is a growing problem around the world, with individuals
and nations alike pumping enormous volumes of harmful pollutants
into the atmosphere every day. These pollutants are not only
dangerous to the health and wellbeing of plants, animals, and people,
but they are also a major contributor to recent climate shifts observed
across the globe.
Cutting down on the volume of pollutants produced is a crucial step in
managing our negative effect on the climate. How can this be
achieved? One of the first and most important steps is identifying
some of the most common and prevalent pollutants, understanding
where they come from, and recognizing their effects. This knowledge
will help you to identify the key ways in which you can cut down on air
pollution and contribute to a global decline in the volume of pollutants
found in the air.
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With this in mind, here are some of the most important pollutants to
know.
1. Carbon Monoxide (CO): Carbon Monoxide is a highly toxic and
dangerous pollutant, infamous for its lack of identifying color and
smell. At one point, this gas was extremely prevalent in homes for
use in domestic heating before it was found to be unsuitable, and it
has since been replaced by much safer solutions such as natural gas
and electricity. However, this gas is far from extinct in human use.
Sources: Most commonly, Carbon Monoxide is produced by
combustion engines running without modern catalytic convertors.
Other common sources of Carbon Monoxide are old gas and fuel
appliances, incinerators, and even cigarettes.
Effects: Carbon Monoxide can have a profound effect on the
environment as it is extremely poisonous, and can contribute to very
dangerous ground-level air and ozone conditions.
2. Lead (Pb): Lead has long been known to be a dangerous
substance. Once commonplace in nearly all gas and aviation fuels,
there has since been tremendous effort to reduce the amount of lead
found in these substances. Since the introduction of lead-free
gasoline, the volume of lead in the atmosphere has dropped
enormously.
Sources: While efforts have been made to remove lead from fuel, it
continues to be present in some aircraft fuel. Similarly, the outpouring
of lead from metal processing plants, and the release of lead from
waste processes such as incineration and battery acid production
means that there is still enough lead in the air to recognize it as a
dangerous pollution.
Effects: Lead can not only poison humans, but it also has a profound
effect upon natural ecosystems. Contaminating air, soil, and water,
lead can cause damage to flora and fauna alike.
3. Ozone (O3): Ozone is not inherently bad. After all, the ozone layer
is one of the major protections mankind has against harmful solar
radiation. However, ground level Ozone has become a major problem
in recent years.
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