Concept of pollution

Mans increasing interference with the nature Spreading of agriculture, use of fossil fuels & industrialization Man cleared forests and introduced many chemicals into the environment to set up agricultural productivity.

What is pollution?

Pollution of the environment is an undesirable change in the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of air, water and soil due to the addition to the environment of material or energy (heat, sound, radioactivity etc) in quantities and at a rate which are harmful to living organisms, including man.

Two types of pollution:

1. Persistent pollutants: Some materials remain unchanged for a very long time in the environment and are not easily degradable. Many of these pollutants are toxic and get incorporated in the food chain. e.g. plastics, pesticides and nuclear wastes. 2. Non persistent/biodegradable pollutants: Do not persist in the environment. Some living organisms utilize them as food substrate. e.g. agricultural waste and garbage.

Pollutants can be of various forms:

Gases; metals and their salts; pesticides and agrochemicals; drugs and pharmaceutical products; organic matter; radioactive substances; heat and noise

AIR POLLUTION

The air around us is getting more and more polluted. Find out why and what we can do about it.

What is air pollution?

Ill go out for a breath of fresh air is an often-heard

phrase. But how many of us realize that this has become irrelevant in todays world, because the quality of air in our cities is anything but fresh.

The gaseous composition of unpolluted air

The Gases

Parts per million (vol)

756,500 202,900 31,200 9,000 305 17.4 5.0 0.97-1.16 0.97 0.49 0.49 0.08 ca.0.02

Nitrogen Oxygen Water Argon Carbon Dioxide Neon Helium Methane Krypton Nitrous oxide Hydrogen Xenon Organic vapours

An alteration of the composition of the atmosphere by the introduction of potentially harmful substances like gases and particulate matter causes air pollution. About 100 million tons of pollutants are poured into Indias atmosphere every year and this amount is increasing every year.

Source of pollution:
Due to smoke produced by automobiles, power plants and kitchens and due to large scale burning of fossil fuels, such as coal diesel, petrol, kerosene etc.

1. Burning of fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons, particulate matter and metallic traces. Coal produces a lot of smoke and dust while petrol and its products produce sulphur dioxide.

2. Thermal power plants are coal based . The main pollutants are fly ash, soot and sulphur dioxide.
3. Fertilizer plants produce oxides of sulphur, particulate matter and fluorine. These pollutants come from sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid units. Ammonia, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons come to the atmosphere from nitrogen-based plants.

4. The major pollutants from textile industry are cotton dust, nitrogen oxide, chlorine, naptha vapours, smoke and sulphur dioxide

In a thermal power plant, steam is produced and used to spin a turbine that operates a generator. Shown here is a diagram of a conventional thermal power plant, which uses coal, oil, or natural gas as fuel to boil water to produce the steam.

5. There are thousands of chemical plants and pesticide plants which prepare caustic soda and produce chlorine gas. 6. Steel plants produce carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide sulphur dioxide, fluorine, particulate matter, phenol, cyanide, sludge, slag etc. 7. Automobiles contribute 60% of the air pollution by releasing compounds like carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and hydrocarbons. Gases emitted during deceleration and acceleration are more harmful than those produced during constant speed. Incomplete combustion produces a hydrocarbon called 3-4 benzpyrene. 8. Decomposition of organic waste and municipal garbage produces foul smelling gases which pollute the air.

Air and its major pollutants

One of the formal definitions of air pollution is as follows

The presence in the atmosphere of one or more contaminants in such quantity and for such duration as is injurious, or tends to be injurious, to human health or welfare of animal or plant life.

The following industries are among those that emit a great deal of pollutants into the air:
Thermal power plants Cement Steel Refineries Petro chemicals and Mines.

The major air pollutants and their sources

Carbon monoxide (CO) Is a colourless, odourless gas that is produced by the incomplete burning of carbon-based fuels including petrol, diesel, and wood. It is also produced from the combustion of natural and synthetic products such as cigarettes. It lowers the amount of oxygen that enters our blood . It can slow our reflexes and make us confused and sleepy. There is flux of CO from the ocean surface to the atmosphere. In surface waters supersaturation of the CO is increased in sunlight. Two possible mechanisms might be operating: 1. Photochemical oxidation of organic matter. 2. Biological oxidation by living marine organisms

Science 13 February 1970: Vol. 167 no. 3920 pp. 984-986 The Ocean: A Natural Source of Carbon Monoxide J. W. Swinnerton, V. J. Linnenbom and R. A. Lamontagne +Author Affiliations Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20390 ABSTRACT The surface waters of the western Atlantic are supersaturated with respect to the partial pressure of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. Under these conditions, the net transport of carbon monoxide across the air-sea interface must be from the sea into the atmosphere. Thus, the ocean appears to act as a source of carbon monoxide. The ocean may be the largest known natural source of this gas, contributing possibly as much as 5 percent of the amount generated by burning of fuels by man.

The source of atmospheric CO is oxidation of methane. Anaerobic decomposition of organic matter produces methane which is oxidised to produce CO. Photochemical decomposition of ozone and the reaction of atomic oxygen with water vapour produces hydroxyl radicals, which initiate methane oxidation. Thus CO production in the atmosphere is associated with photochemical reactions. O3 + h O2 + O O + H2O 2OH Residence time of CO in the atmosphere is very short. The destruction of CO in the lower stratosphere probably occurs by following reaction OH + CO CO2 + H

In the upper stratosphere, CO maintains a more or less constant concentration , indicating production and destruction rates are relatively equal. In the troposphere, although oxidation of CO and CO2 is possible due to the presence of CO in petrochemical smog, a higher concentration of CO is found as a result of automobile exhaust. In the presence of sunlight, CO is reduced to 5-formyl tetrahydrofolic acid. The reduced CO is fixed as serine and enters the protein and carbohydrate metabolism. In the dark, CO is oxidized to CO2 in leaves and released to the atmosphere.

Therefore, green plants, soil and oceans are natural sink of CO.

Toxic effects of CO:

CO combines with haemoglobin and reduces its oxygen carrying capacity, thus affecting respiratory activity and metabolism. It causes blurred vision, headache and acute toxicity may cause unconsciousness and even death. CO has 200 times greater affinity than oxygen for occupying the coordination position in Haem forming Carboxyhaemoglobin

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

Essential for photosynthesis 0.03% of the gases in air Absorbs solar radiation Its concentration is increasing in the atmosphere since 1900 (1.0 mg/Kg/yr) due to the burning of (fossil fuels) coal, oil, and natural gases. Since forest cover has been depleted significantly, CO2 content has increased. More living organisms, metabolic output is enormous. Release of CO2 into large oceanic reservoir is slow. Oceans are a carbonate/bicarbonate buffer system, thus a large increase in the partial pressure of CO2 in air is necessary to cause relatively small increase in CO Conc. in oceans.

Chloroflorocarbons (CFC)
Are gases that are released mainly from air-conditioning systems and refrigeration. When released into the air, CFCs rise to the stratosphere, They come in contact with few other gases, which leads to a reduction of the ozone layer that protects the earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. Cl + O3 ClO + O2 The chlorine atom changes an ozone molecule to ordinary oxygen

ClO + O3 Cl + 2 O2 The ClO from the previous reaction destroys a second ozone molecule and recreates the original chlorine atom, which can repeat the first reaction and continue to destroy ozone

Lead
Is present in petrol, diesel, lead batteries, paints, hair dye products, etc. Lead affects children in particular. It can cause nervous system damage and digestive problems and, in some cases, cause cancer.

The Green House effect

When Solar radiation falls on the atmosphere containing CO2, much of the heat passes down to the earth and some is reflected back to the sky. Heat from the earth enters the atmosphere, some of which is reflected back to the earth. This process continues and surface of land and water gets heated up. Since amount of CO2 has increased , the net gain of heat has become higher than it used to be.

In this process, earth is being warmed up. This is called greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect is a process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Solar radiation at the frequencies of visible light largely passes through the atmosphere to warm the planetary surface, which then emits this energy at the lower frequencies of infrared thermal radiation.
Infrared radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases, which in turn re-radiate much of the energy to the surface and lower atmosphere.

The mechanism is named after the effect of solar radiation passing through glass and warming a greenhouse, but the way it retains heat is fundamentally different as a greenhouse works by reducing airflow, isolating the warm air inside the structure so that heat is not lost by convection

Green House

Green house gases

1. Carbondioxide: 18 billion tons of CO2 is being introduced into the troposphere annually. This gas absorbs heat and keeps atmosphere warm. CO2 is 55% responsible for global warming
2. Water Vapour: Huge amount of water vapour evaporates into the atmosphere. About 14000 cubic Km of water are available as water vapour in the atmosphere at any point of time. Water vapour retains heat and contributes to global warming.

3. Methane: Methane is produced when organic matter decays under anaerobic conditions. Huge quantities of methane is produced in agricultural fields. About 15% of global warming is attributed to methane
4. Chloro-fluoro carbons (CFCs): Man-made colourless, odourless, easily liquifiable gases responsible for global warming. These are stable compounds and resident time in the atmosphere is around 100 years. They deplete ozone layer in the stratosphere.

5. Nitrous oxide: Decomposes slowly and accumulate in the atmosphere. This gas accounts for 5 to 6 % of the total global warming.

CO2 and global warming

At current rate of increase in CO2 conc. In the atmosphere, it will double within 100 years which will cause an average temperature increase of 3-8oC.
Increase in temperature will affect plant and animal life and their distribution. It will severely affect agriculture and cause food problem. The snow caps in the polar regions will melt and increase the sea level. This may submerge many coastal areas and cities like New York and much of Calcutta, London, Glasgow, Tokyo , Osaka, Stockholm and Florida could be under water.

Global cooling and nuclear winter

1. Suspended particles in the atmosphere are increasing because of smoke and soot from industries, transport and forest fires. 2. Clouds of these suspended particles will prevent enough sun rays from reaching the earth, cooling it down. 3. Lowering of temperature will affect agriculture and animal and plant life.

4. It is believed that there are about 50,000 nuclear bombs in the hands of the superpowers, and if these are used in a war, the amount of soot and smoke generated would cover the atmosphere for a considerable period and prevent solar radiation from reaching the earths surface
5. The earth would remain in a cold winter condition, called nuclear winter

Sulphur dioxide and Hydrogen sulphide as primary pollutants

1. Sulphur remains in the atmosphere in three forms, SO2, H2S and sulphate particles (aerosol sulphate). 2. About 2.5 x 109 Kg of sulphur from volcanic emissions and 83 x 109 Kg of sulphur from Anthropogenic sources are introduced into the atmosphere annually. 3. Residence time of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere is usually 40-42 days. 4. Sulphur dioxide is produced mainly by the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, mobil oil (contains 3% sulphur) and petrol. The smelting of sulphide ores is another important source

Hydrogen sulphide:
1. The anthropogenic sources of H2S such as the kraft pulp and paper mills, rayon production, coal gasification and oil refining accounts for approximately 3 x 10 6 tons per yr and nearly 98 x 106 tons per yr are produced naturally by anaerobic decay of organic material by bacterial reduction of SO4 2-. 2. Oxidation of H2S in atmosphere contributes to SO2 production.

3. Bacteria Thiobacillus thioxidans also oxidizes H2S to form sulphur.

4. Source of H2S is decomposition of organic wastes.

5. At atmospheric pressure and temperature the oxidation of H2S occurs very slowly.
6. The reaction with ozone is measurable although very slow.

H2S + O3 SO2 + H2O

7. It is assumed that SO2 is oxidized to SO4 and returned to earth through rain. 8. Thus, the lifetime of SO2 in the atmosphere depends upon the rate at which it is oxidized.

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) is a gas produced from burning coal, mainly in thermal power plants. Some industrial processes, such as production of paper and smelting of metals, produce sulphur dioxide.

It is a major contributor to smog and acid rain.

Toxicity of sulphur dioxide:

1. Sulphur dioxide has a sharp odour . 2. It slows ciliary movement in respiratory tract of animals and man and strongly irritates the respiratory tissue. 3. If SO2 reaches lungs, it causes acute respiratory problems. 4. Continuous inhalation of this gas causes headache.

5. Plants are affected at lower concentrations of SO2 than human beings.

6. SO2 enters plants mainly through stomatal apertures.

7. More than 95% of the gaseous pollutants enter a plant through stomata.

8. SO2 causes yellowing and reduces the mechanical strength of paper, thus severely affecting the storage of books.
9. SO2 oxidizes to H2SO4, then acid hydrolysis of cellulose in paper causes degradation

10. Limestone and marble are severely affected by SO2.

11. SO2 is absorbed by limestone which increases as relative humidity increases. The absorbed SO2 is oxidized to sulphate and becomes a part of CaCO3, also CaSO4 is leached out by rain water. 12. Marble is less damaged by SO2 because of its low porosity.

13. Leather is also damaged by SO2 because of formation of H2SO4 on the leather surface causing acid hydrolysis.
14. Iron and steel get corroded by SO2 and also other metals like zinc and aluminium.

Hydrocarbons
1. Automobile exhaust contains a variety of hydrocarbons. 2. The decomposition of organic wastes and garbage also produces hydrocarbon like methane. 3. Polynuclear Aromatic compounds are derived from pyrolysis of organic matter and are carcinogenic. (Pyrolysis usually means the chemical decomposition of organic materials by heating in the absence of oxygen or any other reagents, except possibly steam) 4. These organic chemicals contain two or more benzene rings fused together. 5. Examples: benzopyrene, benzoanthracine, dibenzi. 6. Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can also contaminate drinking water or ground water and the source may be from industrial effluents, leaking fuel tanks, leaching from toxic waste dump sites and coal tar lining in some older water supply pipes .

7. CFCs are an important group of hydrocarbons. These are colourless , odourless, inert chemicals widely used in refrigeration, air conditioners, foam blowing, foam shaving creams, spray cans and as cleaning solvents. 8. CFCs are persistent in troposphere but in stratosphere that dissociate due to UV radiations and yield chlorine atoms, which destroy ozone molecules. 9. Ethylene at conc. Of 0.005 mg/Kg can cause leaf damage in sensitive plants. 10. Aldehydes: Automobile exhausts and incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, wood, plywood etc. produce aldehydes. The common aldehydes are formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein, which are associated with petrochemical smog and causes eye and lung irritation.

NOx: What is it? Where does it come from?

Many of the nitrogen oxides are colorless and odorless.

Nitrogen oxides play an important role in the formation of photochemical smog. One common pollutant, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) along with particles in the air can often be seen as a reddish-brown layer over many urban areas. Nitrogen oxides form when fuel is burned at high temperatures, as in a combustion process.

The primary manmade sources of NOx are motor vehicles, electric utilities, and other industrial, commercial, and residential sources that burn fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. NOx can also be formed naturally.

N2O, nitrous oxide photo-dissociates in The ultraviolet region above the tropopause: N2O + h N2 + O ( < 337 nm) N2O + h NO + N ( < 250 nm) Since UV is cut off by ozone layer, photo-dissociation does not occur in troposphere. The main source of atmospheric N2O is the soil where microbes degrade protein nitrogen to nitrogen gas and N2O. N2O is not considered as a pollutant but its dissociation product NO is a pollutant gas.

Toxicity of NO and NO2:

1. Plants absorb NO2 to a greater extent than NO 2. Conc. of NO2 in excess of 2mg/kg of air causes leaf damage to sensitive plants. 3. In some plants, photosynthetic activity is impaired at a conc. of 0.6 mg/kg. 4. In high concentrations, oxides of nitrogen cause irritation to the mucus membranes and damage the respiratory system.

Photochemical smog
In bright sunlight
nitrogen oxides hydrocarbons and

oxygen
interact chemically to produce powerful oxidants like ozone (O3) and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN).

These secondary pollutants are damaging to plant life and lead to the formation of photochemical smog. PAN is primarily responsible for the eye irritation so characteristic of this type of smog.
Radicals are atoms or molecules with unpaired electrons. They are very reactive chemically. The catalytic converter in automobile exhaust systems reduces air pollution by oxidizing hydrocarbons to CO2 and H2O and, to a lesser extent, converting nitrogen oxides to N2 and O2.

Mechanism of formation of photochemical smog:

1. Reactive hydrocarbons from automobile exhaust (those with C=C) interact with ozone to form a hydrocarbon free radical RCH2*.

2. RCH2*rapidly reacts with O2 to form another free radical RCH2O2*.

3. RCH2O2* reacts with NO to produce NO2 and free radical RCH2O*. 4. RCH2O*interacts with O2 and produced a stable aldehyde (RCHO) and hydroperoxyl radical, HO2*, which then reacts with another molecule of NO to give NO2 and HO*. 5. HO*is extremely reactive and reacts with a stable hydrocarbon with RCH3 and produces H2O and regenerate the hydrocarbon free radical RCH2*. Thus the cycle is completed. This goes on as a chain reaction.

6. One comlete cycle yields 2 molecules of NO2, 1 molecule of RCHO and regenerate RCH2* and thus cycle begins again. In the process a rapid build up smog product occurs.
7. The aldehyde RCHO may interact with HO* radical and produce an acyl radical (RC=O), peroxyacyl radical (RCOO2*) by reacting with oxygen and finally peroxyacyl nitrate (PAN) by reacting with NO2.

Synergism: Occurence of photochemical smog is a case of synergism, two pollutants reacting with one another under certain conditions and producing a third pollutant which is even more dangerous to the living organisms and the environment.

Toxicity of PAN:
1. Eye irritation, sore throat and headaches in humans. 2. Impairment of cardiopulmonary activities. 3. Causes damage to leaves and stomatal tissues in plants. 4. Plants exhibit leaf moulting and reduced growth

WHAT SHOULD RAIN BE LIKE?

The only place on earth where pure water is found is in a laboratory.

Rain water always contains small amounts of impurities coming from dust particles or are absorbed from the gases in the air.
If pure water is exposed to the air it absorbs carbon dioxide to form carbonic acid and becomes slightly acidic, dropping from pH 7 i.e. neutral, to pH 5,6. Even in remote, unpopulated areas rain can reach a pH of 4.5. However, a pH of less than 4.5 in rain is almost certainly caused by pollution.

Natural rain and acid rain

Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with water in the atmosphere producing sulphuric acid and nitric acid which come down to the earth along with the rain.

Pure water is neither acidic nor alkaline and has pH value of 7.0.

pH of acid rain may vary from 3 to 6.

Natural rain is slightly acidic (pH 6) because rain water reacts with CO2 in atmosphere and produces weak carbonic acid.

Robert Angus Smith in 1872 coined the word acid rain

Causes of acid rain

1. Natural processes like volcanic eruptions, decomposition and forest fires produce sulphur and nitrogen compounds which move in the air and produce acid rain.
2. Electricity generation plants, smelting plants and industrial boilers release nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere which form acids in air. 3. Petroleum refineries and petroleum and coal combustion give rise to sulphur and nitrogen oxides. 4. An oil refinery has been set up near Mathura city, 40 km from Taj. This refinery will process about 6.2 million tons of crude oil per year,and will emit some 30 tons of SO2, 150 tons of CO, 100 tons of nitrogen oxides and some 80 tons of hydrocarbons. 5. So, besides photochemical smog, there is severe acid rain threat to Taj

6. Hydrogen chloride from sea spray, ammonia from livestock sources and agroecosystems, volatile organic compounds like alkanes, esters and hydrocarbons and polychlorinated aldehydes form part of acid rain.

The acid rain generation involves:

1. Emissions of acid gases (SO2 and NOx) from natural and anthropogenic sources 2. Some oxides and aerosols fall back directly to the ground around the emission point 3. Ozone formation and formation of photo-oxidant by sunlight . 4. Interaction of ozone with SO2 and NOx and in the process H2SO4 and HNO3 are formed by oxidation 5. Dissolution of H2SO4, HNO3 and oxides of sulphur and nitrogen and other gases in cloud containing rain and settling down of acid rain containing ionic species as fog, rain and snow

EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN

Acid rain can increase the acidity of lakes, dams and streams and cause the death of aquatic life.
Acid rain can increase the acidity of soil, water and shallow groundwater. Acid rain has been linked with the death of trees in Europe and North America. It seems likely that acid rain weakens the trees, perhaps helped by other pollutants such as ozone, and then leaves the trees open to attack by disease. Acid rain also disrupts the availability of soil nutrients. The final death of a tree may result from a combination of stresses such as heat, cold, drought, nutrient disruption and disease.

Acid rain erodes buildings and monuments made of marble and limestone.
Acid particles in the air are suspected of contributing to respiratory problems in people.

Acid rains makes leaves of plants yellow and brown and accelerates senescence, thus effects productivity of forests, grasslands and crops.
Acidity in soil and water leads to increase in dissolved metals, particularly aluminium. Aluminium affects the gills of fish, which die of respiratory failure. Dissolved metals get into the food chain and poison birds feeding on aquatic organisms.

SO2, NOx gases and aerosols accumulate high up in the atmosphere.

Water vapor condenses on aerosol surface and form a suitable loci and acts a catalyst for the oxides of sulphur and nitrogen to dissolve in water and form corresponding acids. Hydrochloric acid is derived from the oxidation of organo-chlorine compounds and polyvinyl chloride in plastics may also be present in these droplets
SO2 + H2O H2SO3 + O H2SO4 NO + O2 NO2 + H2O HNO3 +H2O NH3 + H2O NH4OH

NH4OH + H2SO4 (NH4)2SO4 + H2O

NH4OH + HNO3 NH4NO3 +H2O

The catalytic oxidation can also take place on soot dust or in the presence of metal oxides. In summary, HNO3 and H2SO4 combine with HCl to generate precipitation which is called acid rain

Suspended particulate matter (SPM)

Consists of solids in the air in the form of smoke, dust, and vapour that can remain suspended for extended periods and is also the main source of haze which reduces visibility. The finer of these particles, when breathed in can lodge in our lungs and cause lung damage and respiratory problems.

Particulates and aerosols

Particulates, alternately referred to as Particulate Matter (PM), aerosols or fine particles are tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas. They range in size from less than 10 nanometers to more than 100 micrometers in diameter.

This range of sizes represent scales from a gathering of a few molecules to the size where the particles no longer can be carried by the gas.

Atmospheric aerosols
An aerosol is defined as a dispersion of solid or liquid matter in the atmosphere. Some aerosols occur naturally, originating from Volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grasslands fires, living vegetation, and sea spray. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels also generate aerosols. Averaged over the globe, anthropogenic aerosols currently account for about 10 percent of the total amount of aerosols in our atmosphere.

Sources of particles are

1. The natural sources include volcanic eruptions, dust and soil blowing wind, spraying of salt and other particles by oceans and seas.
2. The anthropogenic sources include stone crushing, mineral crushing, mining operations, coal-based power plants generating fly ash and smoke from incomplete combustion processes. 3. Fuel combustion from coal, oil, natural gas wood, industrial processes, forest fires also play important role in emission of particulate matter.

4. The total particulate matter emission is around 200-450 metric tons per yr in India and 2000 metric tons per yr in the world.

5. These particulate matter can be grouped as (i) inorganic particulate matter like metal oxides (Fe3O4)formed by combustion of pyrite containing coal, part of CaCO3 by coal ash converted to CaO and emitted to atmosphere through the stack.

3FeS2 +8O2 Fe3O4 +6SO2

CaCO3 --heat CaO + CO2

6. Combustion of leaded gasoline produces lead halides, which are volatile and emerge by the exhaust system of the vehicles but form particles, when condense. Thus lead pollution occurs in the atmosphere. Pb (C2H5)4 + O2 +C2H4Cl2 + C2H4Br2 CO2 + H2O +PbCl2 + PbBrCl + PbBr2 7. Some basic air pollutants like NH3 or CaO may react with acid rain and form droplets of aerosols of particulate matter. 2NH3 + (gas) CaO H2SO4 (NH4)2SO4 (droplet) CaSO4 + H2O

(Acid rain droplet) + H2SO4

(particles)

(Acid rain droplet)

(droplet)

7. Fly-ash: Smaller ash particles called fly-ash enter furnace and emitted from the stack in the absence of collection devices. 8. Coal based power plants generate huge amount of fly-ash.In 199899, India produced more than 300 million tons of coal which generated 100 million tons of fly-ash. 10. Organic particulate matter: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are imp components of organic particulate matter. These are benzopyrene, chrysene, benzofluoranthene. These are respirable and carcinogenic in nature. 11. PAH compounds can be absorbed on the soot particles and soot particles may contain metals like cadmium, chromium, manganese, nickel, vanadium etc. 12. Biological materials like pollen grain, fungal spores, bacteria, virus, algae etc. are particles having potentiality to cause diseases

Harmful effects of aerosols in the atmosphere

1. Dense layer of aerosols in the troposphere block a large portion of solar radiation coming to the earth. This may lower earth temperature and disturb local weather conditions, atmospheric pressure and precipitation. 2. Deposition of particulate matter on plant leaves may affect photosynthesis. 3. Aerosols provide a suitable locus for condensation of vapours in the atmosphere and this may accelerate precipitation. 4. They may provide suitable loci for many atmospheric chemical reactions to occur. The metallic aerosols may act as catalytic agent for chemical reactions. 5. Aerosols may contain toxic metallic particles which are transported to great distances by air currents and deposited at places far from their place of origin.

6. Aerosols of biological origin or living organisms are responsible for dissemination of many pathogenic diseases and allergic agents. These aerosols penetrate deep inside the respiratory system and these are also carcinogenic agents.

Dry precipitation: Water vapour sticks to aerosols and becomes heavier and these particles settle down under gravity. Wet Precipitation: Moisture available in the atmosphere in the form of rain dew or snow clear the aerosols and bring down the particulate matter and aerosols to the earth surface. Reducing type of pollution: If air is polluted by large quantities of oxides of sulphur and nitrogen and smoke, it is called reducing type of pollution.

Damaging effect of particulate matter

1. Lead particles when inhaled produce a toxic effect in man.

2. Some hydrocarbons are carcinogenic.

3. Asbestosis is a cancerous disease caused by deposition of asbestos particles in the lungs (in miners).

4. Silicosis is a cancerous disease caused by deposition of silica (Silicon dioxide) in the lungs and respiratory organs (stone cutting, pottery, glass manufacturing and cement industry). 5. Aerosols reduce visibility and create problems for aeroplanes.

OZONE
Ozone occur naturally in the upper layers of the atmosphere. This important gas, shields the earth from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. However, at the ground level, it is a pollutant with highly toxic effects. Vehicles and industries are the major source of ground-level ozone emissions.

Ozone makes our eyes itch, burn, and water.

It lowers our resistance to colds and pneumonia

Ground-level ozone
Ground-level ozone is formed through a complex reaction involving hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and sunlight.
Ground-level ozone is especially harmful for seniors, children, asthmatics, and people with weak heart and lung conditions. It aggravates respiratory symptoms and further impairs the ability of these individuals to perform normal activities. It can inflame breathing passages, decreasing the lung's working capacity, and causing shortness of breath, pain when inhaling deeply, wheezing, and coughing.

It can cause eye and nose irritation and dry out the protective membranes of the nose and throat and interfere with the body's ability to fight infection, increasing susceptibility to illness.

Formation of ozone
The biosphere, the animals on our planet and certainly also human life became possible due to the formation of ozone in the stratosphere. Ozone protects us from the UV-C and UV-B radiation of the sun (light with wavelength of less than 320 nm), which damages the biomolecules. In Earth's history ozone could form after the release of oxygen to the atmosphere

But how?

UV light drives ozone formation and destruction

In the stratosphere there are two forms of oxygen: normal oxygen O2 consisting of two O atoms and ozone O3 consisting of three O atoms. In order to transform one form into the other intensive UV-light is necessary.

The O-O bond of an oxygen molecule is broken. Thus formed O atom reacts with oxygen (and for energetic reasons a collision partner M) and forms ozone.
This UV-light (yellow wave in the image on the left) comes from the sun.

ozone photosynthesis - light splitting oxygen molecules leads to ozone formation

ozone photolysis - degradation by sunlight

In an analogous way, ozone is destroyed by photolysis, if the O-O bond in an ozone molecules is split by sunlight.

In this case the formed O atom reacts with another ozone molecule and forms two oxygen molecules O2.

Formation in the tropics, accumulation in polar regions

Since solar radiation is strongest over the tropics, here most of the global ozone is formed.

However, the sun in the tropics does not only drive ozone formation, but also the rise of tropospheric air to high altitudes.
Ozone is transported away from the equator towards the poles, where it accumulates in the cold subpolar regions. At the equator itself, ozone formation as well as photochemical depletion are high. Ozone cannot accumulate. In the subpolar regions however, photochemical depletion is low and the transport from equator is an important source.

The values at the poles themselves are lower, in particular in winter, when no additional ozone can be formed during the polar night. Therefore the highest ozone values are observed over the polar regions, as long as the system is not disturbed by the ozone hole formation in Antarctic spring

The scheme on the right shows the ozone transport in theory. The included simulation shows the measured ozone distribution between the pole and the equator (low values = blue, high values = red). It is obvious that near the equator air of low ozone content raises to high altitudes. Data from GOME (DLR, IUP Bremen).

Ozone absorbs UV light

The same UV light which is necessary for the ozone formation is also absorbed by the molecules of the ozone layer. This has three consequences:

1) This light does not reach the lower parts of the atmosphere and therefore the Earth surface is protected. 2) The amount of ozone, which can accumulate, is limited. With increasing ozone concentrations the probability of a decomposition increases too. This leads to an equilibrium. 3) UV light contains energy. The energy is transformed into heat radiation and leads to a warming of the stratosphere. This is the reason for the inversion of the temperature trend at the tropopause.

Absorption of ozone compared to other atmospheric compounds absorbing in the UV range of the sunlight.

Thickness of the ozone layer The term ozone layer is often misunderstood. Ozone layer means, that compared to the troposphere below and the mesosphere above a higher fraction of ozone molecules is found in the stratosphere between 18 and 40 km of altitude. However this fraction is certainly very small compared to nitrogen and oxygen. Not more than 10 of 1 million molecules are ozone. But since ozone in the troposphere is even less and 90% of all atmospheric ozone is in the stratosphere, we call this region the ozone layer. This does not mean that there is somewhere in the atmosphere a thin film of ozone.

Dobson units (DU)

However, ozone is often measured in Dobson Units (DU). 300 DU is a typical value. What does it mean? If we assume that all ozone molecules would not be spread over the whole stratosphere and 10% also over the troposphere, but concentrated in a small film at the ground, the thickness of this film would be about 3 mm (= 300 DU).

1 DU = 0.01 mm film thickness of pure ozone at the ground.

The illustration above shows a column of air, 10 deg x 5 deg, over Labrador, Canada. The amount of ozone in this column (i.e. covering the 10 x 5 deg area) is conveniently measured in Dobson Units. If all the ozone in this column were to be compressed to stp (0 deg C and 1 atmosphere pressure) and spread out evenly over the area, it would form a slab approximately 3mm thick. 1 Dobson Unit (DU) is defined to be 0.01 mm thickness at stp; the ozone layer over Labrador then is ~300 DU.

Indoor pollution
When people think about air pollution, they usually think about smog, acid rain, CFC's, and other forms of outdoor air pollution.

But air pollution also can exist inside homes and other buildings? It can, and every year, the health of many people is affected by chemical substances present in the air within buildings.

Many people spend large portion of time indoors - as much as 80-90% of their lives. We work, study, eat, drink and sleep in enclosed environments where air circulation may be restricted.

For these reasons, some experts feel that more people suffer from the effects of indoor air pollution than outdoor pollution.

There are many sources of indoor air pollution. Tobacco smoke, cooking and heating appliances, and vapors from building materials, paints, furniture, etc. cause pollution inside buildings.

Radon is a natural radioactive gas released from the earth, and it can be found concentrated in basements in some parts of the United States.