AIR POLLUTION

Air pollution is a mixture of natural and man-made substances in the air we breathe.  It is typically separated into two categories: outdoor air pollution and indoor air pollution.

Outdoor air pollution involves exposures that take place outside of the built environment. Examples include:

• Fine particles produced by the burning of fossil fuels (i.e. the coal and petroleum used in traffic and energy production)
• Noxious gases (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, chemical vapors, etc.)
• Ground-level ozone (a reactive form of oxygen and a primary component of urban smog)
• Tabacco Smoke

Indoor air pollution involves exposures to particulates, carbon oxides, and other pollutants carried by indoor air or dust. Examples include:

• Gases (carbon monoxide, radon, etc.)
• Household products and chemicals
• Building materials (asbestos, formaldehyde, lead, etc.)
• Outdoor indoor allergens (cockroach and mouse dropping, etc.)
• Tobacco smoke
• Mold and pollen

In some instances, outdoor air pollution can make its way indoors by way of open windows, doors, ventilation, etc.

What health effects are linked to air pollution?

Over the past 30 years, researchers have unearthed a wide array of health effects which are believed to be associated with air pollution exposure.  Among them are respiratory diseases (including asthma and changes in lung function), cardiovascular diseases, adverse pregnancy outcomes (such as preterm birth), and even death.

In 2013, the World Health Organization concluded that outdoor air pollution is carcinogen to humans.

Types of Pollutants

In order to understand the causes of Air pollution, several divisions can be made. Primarily air pollutants can be caused by primary sources or secondary sources. The pollutants that are a direct result of the process can be called primary pollutants. A classic example of a primary pollutant would be the sulfur-dioxide emitted from factories

Secondary pollutants are the ones that are caused by the inter mingling and reactions of primary pollutants. Smog created by the interactions of several primary pollutants is known to be as secondary pollutant.

Causes of Air pollution

1. Burning of Fossil Fuels: Sulfur dioxide emitted from the combustion of fossil fuelslike coal, petroleum and other factory combustibles is one the major cause of air pollution. Pollution emitting from vehicles including trucks, jeeps, cars, trains, airplanes cause immense amount of pollution. We rely on them to fulfill our daily basic needs of transportation. But, there overuse is killing our environment as dangerous gases are polluting the environment. Carbon Monooxide caused by improper or incomplete combustion and generally emitted from vehicles is another major pollutant along with Nitrogen Oxides, that is produced from both natural and man made processes.

2. Agricultural activities: Ammonia is a very common by product from agriculture related activities and is one of the most hazardous gases in the atmosphere. Use of insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers in agricultural activities has grown quite a lot. They emit harmful chemicals into the air and can also cause water pollution.

3. Exhaust from factories and industries: Manufacturing industries release large amount of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, organic compounds, and chemicals into the air thereby depleting the quality of air. Manufacturing industries can be found at every corner of the earth and there is no area that has not been affected by it. Petroleum refineries also release hydrocarbons and various other chemicals that pollute the air and also cause land pollution.

4. Mining operations: Mining is a process wherein minerals below the earth are extracted using large equipments. During the process dust and chemicals are released in the air causing massive air pollution. This is one of the reason which is responsible for the deteriorating health conditions of workers and nearby residents.

5. Indoor air pollution: Household cleaning products, painting supplies emit toxic chemicals in the air and cause air pollution. Have you ever noticed that once you paint walls of your house, it creates some sort of smell which makes it literally impossible for you to breathe.

Suspended particulate matter popular by its acronym SPM, is another cause of pollution. Referring to the particles afloat in the air, SPM is usually caused by dust, combustion etc.

How can I reduce my risk for air pollution exposure?

Indoor air pollution can be reduced by making sure that a building is well-ventilated and cleaned regularly to prevent the buildup of agents like dust and mold.  Occupants would also be wise to remove any known pollutants and or irritants (aerosols, stringent cleaning supplies, etc.) whenever possible.

Outdoor air pollution exposures can be reduced by checking one’s Air Quality Index (AQI), avoiding heavy traffic when possible, and avoiding secondhand tobacco smoke.

1. Use public mode of transportation: Encourage people to use more and more public modes of transportation to reduce pollution. Also, try to make use of car pooling. If you and your colleagues come from the same locality and have same timings you can explore this option to save energy and money.

2. Conserve energy: Switch off fans and lights when you are going out. Large amount of fossil fuels are burnt to produce electricity. You can save the environment from degradation by reducing the amount of fossil fuels to be burned.

3. Understand the concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: Do not throw away items that are of no use to you. In-fact reuse them for some other purpose. For e.g. you can use old jars to store cereals or pulses.

4. Emphasis on clean energy resources: Clean energy technologies like solar, windand geothermal are on high these days. Governments of various countries have been providing grants to consumers who are interested in installing solar panels for their home. This will go a long way to curb air pollution.

5. Use energy efficient devices: CFL lights consume less electricity as against their counterparts. They live longer, consume less electricity, lower electricity bills and also help you to reduce pollution by consuming less energy

   Our most recent report on air pollution considered many of the key technologies to tackle air pollution, including lower emission vehicles (including electric, hybrid and LPG), car sharing, and lower emission sources of heat and power. Whilst the role of these technologies in reducing air pollution is generally accepted, there are also numerous other emerging technologies which could also play a role in the future.Here is a selection of technologies I have been reading about recently:

1. Gas to Liquids:
one solution to tackle emissions from diesel vehicles is to switch to alternative fuels. Whilst electric and LPG offer completely separate fuel systems, there are also other options which offer the potential to clean up existing diesels. For example, Shell has developed a new synthetic “gas to liquid” (GTL) fuel derived from natural gas which is a “drop in” replacement for diesel (i.e. the engine requires no modification). Testing has shown that the use of GTL in heavy duty vehicles such as trucks, buses and ships could reduce Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions by 5-37%, and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions by 10-38%, depending on the vehicle age. GTL fuel is already being produced in significant quantities globally, and is available commercially in the Netherlands, but its use is currently very limited in the UK. Similarly, natural gas can also be converted into dimethyl ether (DME) – another potential alternative to diesel. It is thought that the use of DME reduces NOx emissions by around 25% (compared to a standard diesel), and virtually eliminates PM emissions.  DME is less straightforward to implement than GTL in the sense that it requires some engine modification, although manufacturers such as Ford and Volvo are apparently investigating the potential to bring vehicles to market which use DME as a fuel.

2. Hydrogen Fuel Additives:
reductions in emissions can also be achieved by improving the fuel combustion cycle in existing vehicles through the use of additives. The ezero1 technology produced by UK developer CGON does this by feeding small amounts of hydrogen into the vehicle air intake such that it creates a more efficient burn. Independent tests show that this increases fuel efficiency, whilst reducing emissions of NOx, PM, Hydrocarbons and Carbon Monoxide. The technology can be retrofitted to existing cars and vans (petrol or diesel) and is available commercially, although to date has only been sold in relatively small numbers.

3.  Autonomous vehicles:
one of the mega-trends in the automotive sector is the move towards autonomous vehicles or “self-driving cars”.This could fundamentally change the way that vehicles use the road network, reducing the stop-start nature of traffic (which is partly caused by the way that we humans drive cars), and opening up the possibility of “vehicle platooning” on motorways. A range of studies have estimated that autonomous vehicles could improve fuel efficiency by 15-40%, reducing emissions of local pollutants as well as greenhouse gases, not to mention the benefits in terms of safety and congestion. Volvo has launched plans to trial driverless cars in London by 2017, whilst the 2016 Budget also contained a number of measures to promote connected and autonomous vehicles.

4. Liquid air:
New technologies are also being developed to address very specific sources of pollution. For example, a growing source of pollution in cities comes from refrigerated vans and trucks. It has been estimated that there are around 84,000 transport refrigeration unitson the road in the UK, each of which emits 29 times as much PM and six times as much NOx as a modern truck. Whilst trucks are subject to emissions standards, the auxiliary engines used to power refrigeration units are largely unregulated and are highly polluting. Technology company Dearman is developing an alternative system based on the use of “liquid air”, which produces zero emissions on the road.

5. Photo-catalytic materials:
An alternative to cleaning up emissions from vehicles directly could be to deploy technologies which remove pollution from the ambient air. For example, a number of companies are developing photo-catalytic treatments which remove pollutants from the air in the presence of sunlight. These treatments can be applied to a range of surfaces, for example roofing tiles, roofing felt or even the surface or roads. A recent report by the Environmental Industries Commission suggested that applying photo-catalytic treatment to roads is amongst the cheapest options to reduce PM and NOx pollution, although it acknowledged that further trials of the technology would be required to understand its potential. However, contrary to this, a recent report for Defra found “no compelling evidence” that the use of these treatments would actually reduce NOx pollution.

6. Air purification:
Developers are also looking at other ways of cleaning air in urban environments. Studio Roosegarde, a Dutch design company, has developed the “Smog Free Tower” – an air purifying tower which sucks in pollution and expels clean air. The extracted pollution is, somewhat bizarrely, turned into pieces of jewellery. The first tower has been installed in Rotterdam (paid for by a kickstartercampaign), and the designers claim that a single tower could clean 3.5 million cubic metres of air per day. They plan to roll out the smog free towers across other global cities.

And there is some videos about "the latest technology to reduce air pollution."