Air Pollutants

Ozone
Ambient
■ Causes
– Vehicle exhaust
– Forms when other air pollutants
react with sunlight
– Forest fires
■ Concerns
– Lung damage
– Eye irritation
– Respiratory tract problems
– Damages vegetation
– Causes smog
■ Solutions
– Reduce car emissions
– Add pollutant filter to smoke
stacks
Stratosphere
■ Causes
– Vehicle exhaust
– When pollutants in upper
atmosphere react with
sunlight
■ Concerns
– Increases the greenhouse
effect
– Increased trapping of UV light
■ Solutions
– Reduce car emissions
– Filer smokestack smoke

Sulfur Dioxides
■ Causes
– Coal burning power plants and industries
– Coal burning stoves
– Refineries
– Volcanoes
■ Concerns
– Eye irritation
– Lung damage
– Kills aquatic life
– Forms acid rain
– Acid rain damages buildings and forests
■ Solutions
– Reduce reliance on coal
– Recycle metals so less needs to be refined

Lead
■ Causes
– Leaded fuel
– Metal refineries
– Power plants burning fossil fuels
■ Concerns
– Brain and kidney damage
– Contaminated crops and livestock
■ Solutions
– Use only unleaded fuel
– Reduce reliance on fossil fuel burning plants

Carbon Monoxide
■ Causes
– Motor vehicles
– Power plants burning fossil fuels
– Kerosene or wood burning stoves
■ Concerns
– Headaches
– Reduced mental alertness
– Death
– Heart damage
■ Solutions
– Reduce car emissions
– Utilize alternative sources of energy
– Stop or slow the us of wood burning stoves or kerosene

VOC’s (volatile organic compounds)

■ Causes
– Paint
– Perfumes
– Nail polish
– CFC’s (found in refrigerants and cleaning supplies)
– Car exhaust
■ Concerns
– Respiratory problems
– Carcinogenic (leads to cancer)
– Deplete the ozone layer
■ Solutions
– Reduce exposure to items that release VOC’s
– Reduce the use of products containing CFC’s

Carbon Dioxide
■ Causes
– Volcanoes
– Motor vehicles
– Power plants burning fossil fuels
– Forest fires
■ Concerns
– Produces smog when it reacts with light
– Increases the greenhouse effect
■ Solutions
– Reduce car emissions
– Utilize alternative sources of energy
– Prevent unnatural forest fires

NMHC (non-methane hydrocarbons)
■ Causes
– Fossil fuel burning
■ Concerns
– Increases greenhouse effect
■ Solutions
– Reduce fossil fuel use

SPM (suspended particulate matter)
■ Causes
– Diesel engines
– Power plants
– Industries
– Windblown dust
– Wood stoves
■ Concerns
– Lung damage
– Eye irritation
– Damage to crops
– Reduces visibility
– Discolors buildings and statues
■ Solutions
– Reduce the use of diesel engines
– Filter smokestacks
– Reduce use of wood stoves

CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons)
■ Causes
– Motor vehicles
– Refrigerants
– Cleaning products
■ Concerns
– Depletes ozone layer
■ Solutions
– Reduce the use of items containing CFC’s

Mercury
■ Causes
– Burning fossil fuels
■ Concerns
– Contaminates fish, leading to biomagnification in the
aquatic food chain
■ Solutions
– Reduce the use of fossil fuels