AIR POLLUTION I
What is air pollution?
release of pollutants into the air that are detrimental to human health
Agricultural areas, cities, and wood burning fire places are example of_________.
Agricultural areas, cities, and wood burning fireplaces are examples of "area sources" of air pollution.
This air pollutant is the most deadly, binding to hemoglobin in red blood cells and preventing oxygen transport in the body.
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Ozone is a gas that can be beneficial in the upper atmosphere, but harmful near the ground. Ground-level ozone is a major air pollutant that can cause serious health problems and damage vegetation.
How is ground-level ozone produced?
Ground-level ozone comes from pollution emitted from cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, and chemical plants. Ozone pollution can even come from paints, cleaners, solvents, and motorized lawn equipment.
This is where scientists have discovered a large weakened area in the ozone layer.
Antarctica
Nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, nitric acid and sulfuric acid are examples of ___________.
Major Pollutants
Which country where the "Killer Smog" happened?
London
What is secondary air pollution?
A secondary pollutant is not directly emitted as such, but forms when other pollutants (primary pollutants) react in the atmosphere.
What do many factories use to decrease air pollution in their smokestacks?
They use scrubbers.
In what kind of building does sick-building syndrome occur?
This occurs in an airtight, well insulated, and poorly ventilated building.
What is a primary pollutant?
A primary pollutant is a substance that is directly emitted from a source, like a car exhaust or factory, without undergoing any chemical reactions in the atmosphere first.
These are not man made air pollutants such as dust, ash from wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and plant (pollen), and fungal spores.
What is natural air pollution
What is a thermal inversion?
A thermal inversion occurs when a layer of warm air sits above a layer of cooler air, causing the temperature to increase with altitude, effectively trapping pollutants near the ground as the cooler air cannot rise through the warmer layer.
What type of ppt (precipitation) has a pH range of 4.2 - 4.4?
acid ppt
The sudden runoff of large amounts of highly acidic water into lakes and streams when snow melts in the spring or when heavy rains follow a drought (can cause fish populations to suffocate, have birth defects, & decreased egg production).
What is acid shock.
What are the four main types of pollutant sources?
The four main types of pollutant sources are: 1. mobile sources (like vehicles), 2. stationary sources (like factories), 3. area sources (like cities), and 4. natural sources (like volcanic eruptions).
What are the five main primary pollutants?
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides/nitric oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter(PM)
Gasoline is mostly made of octane, a chemical compound derived from a fossil fuel. When exposed to the air, it evaporates easily. This is an example of what kind of air pollution?
volatile organic compound
Ozone, when present in the stratosphere, is beneficial to living organisms because it filters out some of the _____________ light given off by the sun.
ultraviolet
Radioactive material from the natural breakdown of uranuim that comes up from the ground and can penatrate basements, causing indoor pollution
What is radon gas
Give three examples of stationary sources of air pollutants?
power plants, oil refineries, industrial facilities, and factories
This is a long, thin, fibrous silicate mineral with insulating properties, which can cause cancer when loose fibers in the air are inhaled. (was widely used as an insulator in older buildings and homes)
What is asbestos
Where do thermal inversions occur?
Thermal inversions most commonly occur in areas with low elevation like valleys, basins, or other topographic features where cold air can easily sink and collect
What is sick-building syndrome?
This is a buildup of toxic air pollutants in a building. Symptoms would be headaches, eye irritation, fatigue, and respiratory discomfort.
List three diseases caused by repeated exposure to air pollution.
Some diseases are chronic bronchitis, asthma, emphysema, asbestosis, lung cancer