1. Air Pollution

2. Primary vs. Secondary Air Pollutants
Outdoor Air Pollution
Primary vs. Secondary Air Pollutants
Primary Pollutant – a pollutant that is put directly into the air by human activity.
Examples: CO, NOx, PM, SOx, VOCs
Sources: Electricity Production, Industry, Transportation, Other Sources
Secondary Pollutant – when primary pollutants react with other primary pollutants or natural substances to form a new pollutant.
Example: Ground-level ozone

4. Motor Vehicle Emissions
FACTS:
Almost 1/3 of our air pollution comes from gasoline burned by vehicles.
The Clean Air Act - passed in 1970 (amended in 1990) – gives the EPA the authority to regulate vehicle emissions
EPA required the gradual elimination of lead in gasoline  lead pollution has dropped more than 90% in the United States.
Catalytic Converters – now required in all vehicles – clean exhaust gases of pollutants before the exhaust leaves the tail pipe.
Cars and trucks today burn fuel 35% more efficiently and with 95% fewer emissions of pollutants than they did 30 years ago.

5. Types of Air Pollutants

6. Mobile and stationary sources
Pollution Sources in the United States
Types of Air Pollution in the United States
Mobile and stationary sources

7. Outdoor Air Pollution
Industrial Smog – Primary air pollutants from burning fossil fuels

8. Photochemical Smog – Primary & Secondary air pollutants that hang over urban areas and reduce visibility. From vehicles & industry.

9. Smoggy day

10. Decreasing temperature
Warmer air
Inversion layer
Increasing altitude
Cool layer
Mountain
Mountain
Valley
Decreasing temperature
Temperature Inversion – causes pollution to get trapped near the ground.

11. Descending warm air mass Decreasing temperature
Inversion layer
Increasing altitude
Sea breeze
Mountain
range
Decreasing temperature

13. Los Angeles
Mexico City

15. Regulations
Electrostatic Precipitators – machines that remove dust particles from smoke stacks by electrically charging the dust particles, causing them to stick to each other & the chamber.
Scrubbers - machines that remove pollutants from exhaust by spraying gases with water.

16. Effects of Air Pollution
Short Term – headache, nausea, irritation, cough, infections
Long Term – asthma, emphysema, lung cancer, heart disease

17. Para-dichlorobenzene
Tetrachloroethylene
Chloroform
1, 1, 1-
Trichloroethane
Formaldehyde
Benzo-a-pyrene
Nitrogen Oxides
Styrene
Tobacco Smoke
Asbestos
Radon-222
Carbon Monoxide
Methylene Chloride
Indoor Air Pollution

18. Most Common Indoor Air Pollutants
Air quality indoors is often much worse than air quality outside
Most Common Indoor Air Pollutants
Radon
Cigarette Smoke
Carbon Monoxide
Nitrogen Dioxide
Formaldehyde
Household Pesticides
Lead
Household cleaners
Ozone
Asbestos

19. Viruses
Bacteria
Fungi
yeasts
molds
mildews
Dust Mites
Pollen

20. Sick Building Syndrome
Sick-Building Syndrome – Tightly sealed buildings often lead to the people who are inside showing symptoms of allergic reactions.
Symptoms: eye or skin irritations, allergic reactions, nausea, asthma, headaches, respiratory infections, depression, and fatigue.
Medical costs ~ $ 1 Billion / year
Overall costs ~ $ 50 Billion / year

21. Indoor Air Pollution and the Asthma Epidemic
# of asthma sufferers has doubled since 1970
Exactly why is unknown, but thought to be linked to increased indoor air pollution

22. Outlet vents for furnaces and dryers
Open window
Openings
around
pipes
Cracks in wall
Slab joints
Wood stove
Cracks in floor
Clothes dryer
Furnace
Radon-222 gas
Sump
pump
Uranium-238
Slab
Radium-222
Radon
Soil

23. Radon Gas – Radioactive gas
Produced by the decay of uranium in Earth’s crust
Colorless & odorless.
2nd leading cause of lung cancer in U.S.

25. Radon in North Carolina
The Reading Prong
Radon in North Carolina
Zone 1
Highest Potential (greater than 4 pCi/L)
       
Zone 2
Moderate Potential (from 2 to 4 pCi/L)
Zone 3
Low Potential (less than 2 pCi/L)
Radon Gas – Radioactive gas that is produced by the decay of uranium in Earth’s crust. Colorless & odorless. 2nd leading cause of lung cancer in U.S.

27. Asbestos – mineral whose fibers are valued for their strength and resistance to heat. - Used as insulator and fire retardant.
- Fibers lodge in lungs and cause mesothelioma.