AIR POLLUTION IN THE TROPOSPHERE

Article Review

1) Id the problem

2) Id the cause

3) Id the solution

• Many types of aerosol particles circulate in the atmosphere, but one of the most damaging to human health is known as PM2.5, a technical term for microscopic bits of matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (one thirtieth the width of a human hair). These small pollutants, which come mostly from burning fossil fuels and biomass, can lodge deep in the lungs, where they exacerbate a variety of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

An upscale housing area is shrouded by heavy pollution next to a power plant in Beijing on July 11, 2012. In 2012 China's capital has seen some of the worst air pollution since the government promised more "blue sky" days after the 2008 Olympics. UPI/Stephen Shaver | License Photo

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2012/12/06/China-aims-to-reduce-air-pollution/UPI-57151354822234/#ixzz3EtOMhHdH

• The change in China that could suffocate the global economy• April 24th, 2013 18:55:08 GMT by Adam Button • People in Beijing don’t wake up and check the daily weather forecast; they check the air pollution index so they know what face mask to wear.

Grade A Color: BlueGrade B Color: Cyan Grade C Color: Green Grade D Color: Yellow Grade F Color: Red A = Best/Cleanest in the US; F = Worst/Dirtiest in the US

Emissions• Gases and particles entering the air from smokestacks,

chimneys, and exhaust.

Primary Air Pollutants• Air pollutants emitted directly into the air.

Examples • CO• SO2

• NO2

• VOCs• Particular Matter • Lead

Secondary Pollutants • Air pollutants produced through reactions between

primary pollutants and normal atmospheric compounds.

Examples

• Tropospheric ozone O3

• Sulfuric acid & nitric acid

Health Effects of Air Pollution • Lung cancer• Asthma• Chronic bronchitis• Emphysema• Carbon monoxide (CO) • Suspended Particulate Matter

Human Respiratory SystemNasal Passage – hairs to filter out pollutants

Sneezing and coughing expel contaminated air.

Sticky mucus in upper respiratory track capture small particles and filter some gaseous pollutants.

Cells of upper respiratory tract are lines with cilia that move back and forth, transporting mucous and the pollutants they trap to your throat where they can be expelled.

Alveoli in bronchioles allow for proper gas exchange.

Effects of Air Pollution on Human Health• Elderly, infants, pregnant woman, and people with heart disease,

asthma, or other respiratory diseases are most vulnerable to air pollution (indoor and outdoor).

• lung cancer [+] • asthma: acute inflammation of alveoli and/or bronchi/ bronchioles (typically an

allergic reaction caused by muscle spasms in the bronchiole walls).• chronic bronchitis - persistent inflammation and damage to the cells lining the

bronchi and bronchioles causing mucus buildup, painful coughing, and shortness of breath.

• emphysema: irreversible damage to alveoli leading to abnormal dilation of air spaces, loss of lung elasticity, and shortness of breath.

• Carbon monoxide (CO) - reacts with hemoglobin in red blood cells to reduce ability of blood to carry oxygen. This occurs mostly as an indoor air pollutant from smoking, kerosene heaters, woodstoves, fireplaces, and faulty heating systems.

• Suspended Particulate Matter – Small enough to penetrate the lungs and lodge in cellular tissue, mostly carcinogenic. They can cause cancer, trigger asthma attacks, aggravate other lung diseases such as bronchitis, and interfere with the blood’s ability to take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide.

How Many People Die Prematurely?• No one really knows.• Estimated annual deaths in USA related to outdoor air

pollution = 65,000 – 200,000 mostly due to exposure to fine or ultra-fine particulate matter (after 9-11 will now start to see tremendous increases in those numbers in from NYC metropolitan region)

• According to the American Lung Association air pollution in the USA costs a minimum of 150 billion dollars/year in health care costs and losses in work productivity.

• WHO and World Bank estimated in 1997 that in China 2.7 million people die prematurely each year from the effects of outdoor air pollution.

Acid Precipitation Lab

pH (power of hydrogen) • Number is a measure of how acidic or basic a substance

is. How many hydrogen ions are available. • Scale • 1-6 (Acid) • 7 Neutral (pure water) • 8-14 (Basic)

Acid Precipitation • Precipitation that contains a high concentration of acids.• Normal Rain pH= 5-5.6 • Acid Rain pH= less than 5 • Average Long Island pH= 3.8-4.1 (Greller, et. Al. 1990)

• In the 1980s, the dying red spruce trees of New England—many of them taller than eight-story buildings and more than three centuries old—furnished frightening proof of the power of acid rain. The trees were seen as a canary in the coal mine, and it was easy to imagine the ensuing consequences for the forest at large.

Main compounds of human produced acid rain

• Sulfur dioxide + water sulfuric acid• Nitrogen dioxide + water nitrous acid & nitric acid