 |
| picture courtesy - www.nrdc.org/ |
Air pollution is one of the major problems faced by our world. altering the optimum condition of the atmosphere by increased amounts of pollutants causes air pollution.
Air pollution can be caused by pollutants such as
- Carbon monoxide (CO)
- Methane ( CH4)
- Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
- Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
- Ozone (O3)
- Unburned hydrocarbons (CxHy)
Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide is considered as a poisonous gas. It can combine with hemoglobin in our red blood cells. Red blood cells in the blood carries oxygen by forming a complex of oxygen and hemoglobin. This complex formation is a reversible process where there is a less oxygen concentration in the body it can release oxygen and when there is a high concentration of oxygen in the lungs oxygen can be taken into the blood. When carbon monoxide is present even in a small quantity, it binds with hemoglobin with a high affinity than with oxygen which is also a irreversible process. When the blood does not carry enough oxygen it due to this bond it causes symptoms such as breathlessness. when present in a high quantity, carbon monoxide can be poisonous enough to cause death.
Carbon monoxide is produced by the incomplete combustion of carbon containing substances. When oxygen is present in excess, carbon containing compounds burns to form carbon dioxide and water. If oxygen is not available enough, it can produce the pollutant carbon monoxide.
Methane
Methane is also considered as natural gas. It is a product of bacterial decay of vegetable matter. When produced and collected in larger scale in industries, it is used as a good alternative fuel source as well.
Metahane is considered as a pollutant in the atmosphere due to its ability to help in global warming by acting as a heat trapping molecule.
Nitrogen Oxides
Nitrogen can form several oxided with oxygen (NO2, N2O4 etc.) which are commonly known as noxes. Nitrogen oxides are pollutants that cause photochemical smog and also a potential gas causing acid rain.
These gases are mainly a product from lightning activity and also can be due to internal combustion engines.
Ozone
Ozone is a useful gas for our earth as we have heard. It is a very useful gas when it is present in the stratosphere which is the layer above the troposphere, tha layer of earth's atmosphere we are breathing. When present in the stratosphere ozone helps in filtering the harmful UV rays from coming to earth. How ever when prosent in the layer of atmosphere we are living in it is acting as a pollutant.
Ozone is present in the lower layers of the atmosphere due to photo chemical reactions.
If present in the lower layer of atmosphere ozone is responsible for the formation of photochemical smog.
Sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is another acidic gas responsible for acid rain.
the two main sources of sulfur dioxide can be identified as combustion of fossil fuels containing sulfur and from volcanoes which is the natural source of sulfur dioxide. Due to the high amount of sulfur dioxide produced by the volcanic activities, by measuring the amount of sulfur dioxide released by the volcano it is possible to predict whether a volcano is going to erupt.
Unburned hydrocarbons
Unburned hydrocarbons are a product of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. These unburned hydrocarbons can cause global warming by acting as a green house gas.
1:50 AM
air
air pollution
by
carbon monoxide
caused
effect
GCSE Chemistry
methane
nitrogen oxides
ozone
pollutants
problems
sources
Sulfur dioxide
unburned hydrocarbons
