UNIT 1.

INTRODUCTION TO AIR POLLUTION

Air Pollution and Control

7th Sem
Dr. Raghava Aditya
Introduction
 Increase in population growth has led to urban growth,
extensive industrial development and automobile revolution. All
of this has led to making the earth’s environment inhospitable
for future generations.

 ‘Pollution’ is the introduction of harmful substances into the

environment
Introduction
 Several types of environmental pollution exist:
 Air pollution
 Water pollution
 Marine pollution
 Soil pollution
 Noise pollution
 Thermal pollution
 Radioactive pollution etc
Air Pollution
 Definition: Air pollution is defined as the atmospheric condition
in which certain substances are present in such concentrations that
they produce an undesirable effect on man, environment and
built property.
Air Pollution
 Causes of air pollution
 Air pollution can be classified according to two
major sources:
 Natural sources
 Man-made or anthropogenic sources
Causes of air pollution

 Natural causes:
 These occur due to natural causes and are beyond the control
of man:
 Examples:
 Bacteria, Fungus, Methane gas formed by the decay of orgainic /
vegetable matter
 Carbon monoxide from the breakdown of methane
 Pollution from the eruption of volcanoes and ash
 Forest fires
 Dust storms and electrical storms etc.
Causes of air pollution
 Anthropogenic/ Man-made causes:
 These are sources of pollution created by human activity. These
pollutants cause more severe environmental problems than
natural sources. These include:
 Industrial sources: SO2, NO2, NH3, HCl, H2S, dust, fumes etc.
 Automobile sources and aircrafts: by products from combustion of fossil
fuel
 Use of pesticides in agriculture
 War, nuclear waste etc.
Classification of air pollutants sources

 Point or stationary sources: These are sources that are fixed or located in a
specific area: Example Chimneys from industries
 Line or mobile sources: These are sources of air pollution that pollute the air along
narrow belts or over long distances. Example: an automobile or bus travelling
between two locations.
 Area sources: Towns, cities etc which add smoke and gases to the atmosphere over
a wide area are known as area sources.
Classification based on origin
 Primary pollutants: These are emitted directly from the
sources and exist in the atmosphere in the same form in which
they are emitted. Eg, SO2, NO2, smoke, dust hydrocarbons
etc.

 Secondary pollutants: These are formed in the atmosphere by

the interaction between primary pollutants and chemical
reaction with components in the atmosphere. Example:Ozone
(O3), SO3, aldehydes etc.
Classification according to state of matter

 Gaseous pollutants: These occur in gaseous state at normal

temperature and pressure.

 Particulate air pollutants: These are not gases but occur as

suspended solid particles, droplets or a mixture of both.
Major types of gaseous pollutants

 Oxides of Carbon
 These include Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Carbon dioxide
(CO2)

 CO (Carbon Monoxide): It is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas
which is normally inert at low concentrations.
 It has a high affinity for Haemoglobin and combines with
Haemoglobin in the blood to form Carboxyhaemogloin (COHb) .
This reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of blood.
 Causes dizziness and exhaustion, cardiovascular disorders and
reduces vision.
 Common sources of CO are: Vehicle emissions, forest fires, burning
of coal and solid waste disposal.
Major types of gaseous pollutants

 CO2 (Carbon dioxide ): CO2 is a less dangerous gas compared to

CO, but it can cause nausea and headaches.
 Major problem with CO2 is, it absorbs the infrared and terrestrial
radiation and increases the temperature of the earth’s surface.
 Over the last century, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere
has increased by more than 15%.
 Major sources of CO2 are: burning of fossil fuels, aircrafts and
agricultural practices (Like crop burning, deforestation etc. )
Major types of gaseous pollutants

 Oxides of Nitrogen
 These mainly include NO (Nitrous oxide)and NO2 (Nitrogen
dioxide)
 NO is a colorless and odorless gas which is oxidized to form
 NO2 through secondary photochemical reactions. But being heavier
than air, NO2 is readily soluble in water and forms nitric acid, which
falls out in rain.
Major types of gaseous pollutants
 Like CO, NO also combines with blood and reduces its oxygen
carrying capacity.
 NO is moderately toxic, but NO2 is relatively more toxic, it
causes irritation of lungs and high concentrations may cause
bronchitis.
 Main sources of NOx pollution are:
 Fossil fuel burning in automobiles and industries
 Lightening
 Forest fires
 Bacterial decomposition of organic matter
Major types of gaseous pollutants

 Oxides of Sulphur
 These include SO2 (Sulphur dioxide) and SO3 (Sulphur
trioxide)
 SO2 is a colorless gas which has a sharp pungent and
suffocating odour. It is photochemically oxides to form SO3.
These are highly soluble in water and form sulphurous or
sulphuric acid when mixed with rain water.
 SOx tend to irritate the respiratory tract in the lungs and may
lead to bronchitis
Major types of gaseous pollutants

 They attack many building materials like marble, limestone and

mortar
 They damage clothes, leather and paper
 In higher concentrations, they can be damaging for plants as
well.
 Combustion of fossil fuels like Coal and Petroleum is the main
source of SO2 and SO3.
Major types of gaseous pollutants
 Hydrocarbons
 These are gaseous and volatile compounds made of carbon and
hydrogen bonds.
 Egs Methane, acetylene, ethane etc. While they are generally not
very harmful, methane is a greenhouse gas and can trap much more
heat than CO2.
 They also react with NOx in the presence of sunlight and form
secondary pollutants
 Sources include:
 Coalfields, natural fires, agricultural and forest fires, industrial sources
and partially burnt fuels
Major types of gaseous pollutants
 Chloroflorocarbons (CFCs)
 These are compounds of carbon, hydrogen, fluorine and chlorine
 CFCs are found in propellants, aerosol cans and as refrigirants are
compound chemicals known as chloroflorocarbons.
 When they escape, they deplete the ozone layer. This causes
harmful UV radiation to reach the earth.
 Because of their harmful nature, they are gradually being banned
and replaced with HFC (Hydroflourocarbons)
Major types of gaseous pollutants
 Photochemical oxidants
 In the presence of sunlight and atmospheric moisture the oxides of
nitrogen react with unburned hydrocarbons (released from
automobile exhausts ) and form secondary pollutants like
Peroxyacylnitrate (PAN), Ozone (O3) etc.
 Photochemical smog is an example of this reaction.
Major types of gaseous pollutants
 PAN and Ozone cause eye, throat and nose irritation and
respiratory illness in humans.
 They also affect the growth of plants by interfering with the
cell metabolism. This leads to premature yellowing and falling
of leaves.
PARTICULATE POLLUTANTS

 Particulate pollutants
 These consist of suspended particles, droplets or combination
of both.
 They have a wide range in partice size varying from 0.1 um to
100 um.
 The larger particles settle down quickly whereas the smaller
particles remain suspended in the air for a longer time.
Particulate Pollutants

 Particulates are categorized as follows:

 Aerosols: These are air-borne suspensions of solid and liquid
partices smaller than 1 um.

 Dust: It consists of small particles in the size range of 1 to 200

um, formed by the breaking down of soil and rock, by natural
or man-made processes like construction activity, crushing of
rocks, blasting etc.
 They take some time to settle down under the action of gravity.
Particulate Pollutants
Particulate Pollutants
 Smoke: It consists of fine particles in the size range of 0.1 to 1 um,
resulting from the partial combustion of materials like coal, wood or
tobacco.
 Mist: It consists of liquid droplets smaller than 10 um, formed from
the condensation of vapors in the atmosphere or released from
industrial operations. If the mist contains mainly water droplets,
whose concentration is high enough to obscure vision, it is called ‘fog’.

 Natural particulates: These include pollen grains, and microbes such

as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungus etc or volcanic dust.
Particulate Pollutants
 Fly ash: These are fine non-combustible particles present in the
gases released from fuel combustion. They are mostly produces from
the burning of coal and contain small quantities of inorganic and
metallic substances.
Particulate Pollutants
 Soot: Incomplete combustion of carbon containing materials release
fine carbon particles containing ‘tar’. This material is called soot.

 PM2.5 and PM10

 PM2.5 refers to the atmospheric particulate matter that has a

diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, which is about 3% of the
diameter of human hair.
 PM10 are the particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers and they
are also called fine particles.
Effects of particulate pollutants

 The greatest health hazard is constituted by trace element particulates such as

lead, cadmium, nickel and mercury.

 Lead particulates are emitted by combustion of petroleum in automobiles and

it effects haemoglobin formation.

 Fly ash released by the burning of coal causes respiratory problems.

 Dust released from metallurgical processes contains metals like nickel, arsenic,
cadmium, zinc etc. These lead to respiratory problems.

 Aerosols released as emissions from jet planes deplete the ozone layer and
permit the entry of harmful UV rays on to the earth’s surface.
Effects of particulate pollutants

 Smog has toxic effect on man, plants, animals and materials.

 Dust causes coating on leaves of plants and results in reduced plant growth
and photosynthesis

 Animals feeding on these plants also suffer toxic effects. Arsenic poisoning in
animals (cattle and sheep ) is particularly well known.

 Lead poisoning leads to bronchitis and reduction of appetite.

Air pollution in Bhubaneswar (2018)
Environmental effects of air pollution

 Acid Rain
 Chemical reactions involving air pollutants can create acidic compounds
which can cause harm to vegetation and buildings. Sometimes, when an air
pollutant, such as NOx and SOx react with water droplets in the clouds ,
the water droplets become acidic, forming acid rain.
 In this process, the pH of the rain water decreases from 7 to about 4-5.
When acid rain falls over an area, it can harm trees and harm animals, fish,
and other wildlife. Example of the chemical reaction that takes place:
 SO3 (g) + H2O (l) → H2SO4 (aq)
Environmental effects of air pollution
Environmental effects of air pollution

 Acid rain destroys the leaves of plants. When acid rain infiltrates
into soils, it changes the chemistry of the soil making it unfit for many
living things that depend on the soil as a habitat or for nutrition.
 Acid rain also changes the chemistry of the lakes and streams that
the rainwater flows into, harming fish and other aquatic life.
 It also leads to phenomenon such as corrosion of steel structures like
bridges, damage of stone buildings, monuments, statues etc.
Environmental effects of air pollution

 Ozone depletion:
 Ozone is simply a molecule consisting of 3 oxygen atoms, which
reacts strongly with other molecules. Ozone is created in the upper
atmosphere (stratosphere) when high energy UV radiation causes on
O2 molecule to split. The free oxygen atoms collide and react with
other O2 molecules to form O3
 The process of ozone creation is what makes the O3 in the
atmosphere very effective at shielding the Earth from harmful UV
radiation, which can cause many biological problems, such as skin
cancer.
Environmental effects of air pollution
 Ozone depletion occurs when chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—formerly
found in aerosol spray cans and refrigerants—are released into the
atmosphere. These gases, through several chemical reactions, cause
the ozone molecules to break down, reducing ozone's ultraviolet
(UV) radiation absorbing capacity.
 The chemical shorthand for the gas-phase reactions is:
 Cl· + O3 → ClO + O2
A chlorine atom removes an oxygen atom from an ozone molecule to
make a ClO molecule
 ClO + O3 → Cl· + 2 O2
Environmental effects of air pollution

 In the Antarctic, the concentration of ozone has depleted to

almost 33% in some regions.
 These are known as ‘Ozone holes’.
Environmental effects of air pollution

 Greenhouse effect
 Roughly one-third of the solar Energy that reaches the top of Earth‘s
atmosphere is reflected directly back to space. The remaining two-
thirds is absorbed by the surface. Because the Earth is much colder
than the Sun, it radiates at much longer wavelengths, primarily in the
infrared part of the spectrum. Much of this thermal radiation
emitted by the land and ocean is absorbed by the atmosphere,
including clouds, and reradiated back to Earth. This is called the
greenhouse effect.
Environmental effects of air pollution
Environmental effects of air pollution
 Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas, and carbon
dioxide (CO2) is the second-most important one. Methane, nitrous
oxide and other gases present in the atmosphere also contribute to
the greenhouse effect.

 However, human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and

clearing of forests, have greatly intensified the natural greenhouse
effect, causing global warming.
Environmental effects of air pollution
 In the industrial era, human activities have added greenhouse gases
to the atmosphere, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels and
clearing of forests
 This leads to increase in global increase in temperatures.
 Hence control of greenhouse gasses is a matter of concern for all
major countries.
Environmental effects of air pollution

 Climate change
 The weather depends on the conditions of the atmosphere, which is
in turn effected by temperature changes.
 Climate is the average weather of any particular place measured
over a long period (usually several years ).
 Because of increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and air
pollution in general, there has been an increase in global
temperatures worldwide.
 CO2 concentration has increased by about 50%, and methane
concentration has increased by about 150%.
Climate change
Environmental effects of air pollution

 This is effecting the weather patterns leading to phenomenon

like :
 excessive rains in some regions
 Droughts
 extreme high temperatures (causing forest fires)
 low temperatures in some generally hot regions
 Melting of polar ice / rise in sea levels
Environmental effects of air pollution

 These will further lead to

 Forest fires
 Desertification
 Submerging of coastal areas
 Food shortages
 Loss of different species of plant and animal life.
 Spreading of diseases like malaria, dengue etc.
Environmental effects of air pollution

 The global temperatures have increased by around 1.2

degree C in the last 100-150 years.
 Under the Paris agreement of 2015, many nations have
pledged to reduce emissions and keep the temperatures from
increasing beyond 2 degrees C.
End