Essay on Air Pollution, Causes, Effects, Solutions, Control...
Answers
(i) Combustion of natural gas, petroleum, coal and wood in industries, automobiles, aircrafts, railways, thermal plants, agricultural burning, kitchens, etc. (soot, flyash, CO2, CO, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides).
(ii) Metallurgical processing (mineral dust, fumes containing fluorides, sulphides and metallic pollutants like lead, chromium, nickel, beryllium, arsenic, vanadium, cadmium, zinc, mercury)
(iii) Chemical industries including pesticides, fertilizers, weedicides, fungicides.
(iv) Cosmetics.
(v) Processing industries like cotton textiles, wheat flour mills, asbestos.
(vi) Welding, stone crushing, gem grinding.
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Natural air pollutants include (a) pollen, spores, (b) marsh gas, (c) volcanic gases and (a) synthesis of harmful chemicals by electric storms and solar flares. The major cause of pollution in the urban areas is automobiles which inefficiently burn petroleum, releases 75% of noise and 80% of air pollutants. Concentration of industries in one area is another major cause of air pollution.
Effect of Air Pollutants:
Air pollutants are broadly classified into particulate and gaseous. The particulate substances include solid and liquid particles. The gaseous include substances that are in the gaseous state at normal temperature and pressure. The air pollutants have adverse effect on human beings, animals, vegetation, buildings. Air pollutants also change earth’s climate. Aesthetic sense is also influenced by air pollutants. The different air pollutants and their effects are as follows:
1. Particulate Matter:
It is of two types—settleable and suspended. The settleable dusts have a particle longer than 10 (am. The smaller particles are able to remain suspended for long periods in the air. The important effects of particulate matter are.
(i) Dust and smoke particles cause irritation of the respiratory tract and produces bronchitis, asthma and lung diseases.
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(ii) Smog is a dark or opaque fog which is formed by the dust and smoke particles causing condensation of water vapours around them as well as attracting chemicals like SO2, H2S, NO2, etc. Smog harms plant life through glazing and necrosis besides reduced availability of light. In human beings and animals it produces respiratory troubles.
(iii) Particulate matter suspended in air, scatters and partly absorbs light. In industrial and urban areas, sunlight is reduced to 1/3 in summer and 2/3 in winter.
(iv) At a concentration above 150 g/100m3, cotton dust in ginning process produces pneumoconiosis or lung fibrosis called byssinosis. Lung fibrosis produced in other industries includes asbestosis (in asbestos industry), silicosis (stone grinders), siderosis (iron mill), coal miners’ pneumoconiosis, flour mill pneumoconiosis, etc.
2. Carbon monoxide:
It accounts for 50% of the total atmospheric pollutants. It is formed by incomplete combustion of carbon fuels in various industries, motor vehicles, hearths, kitchens, etc. Carbon monoxide combines with haemoglobin of blood and impairs its oxygen carrying capacity. At higher concentration, carbon monoxide proves lethal.
3. Sulphur Oxides:
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They occur mainly in the form of sulphur dioxide. It is produced in large quantity during smelting of metallic ores and burning of petroleum and coal in industries, thermal plants, home and motor vehicles. In the air, SO2 combines with water to form sulphurous acid (H2SO3) which is the cause of acid rain. It causes chlorosis and necrosis of vegetation. Sulphur dioxide, above 1 ppm, affects human beings. It causes irritation to eyes and injury to respiratory tract. It results in discolouration and deterioration of buildings, sculptures, painted surfaces, fabrics, paper, leather, etc.
4. Nitrogen Oxides:
They are produced naturally through biological and non-biological activities from nitrates, nitrites, electric storms, high energy radiations and solar flares. Human activity forms nitrogen oxides in combustion process of industries, automobiles, incinerators and nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrogen oxides act on unsaturated hydrocarbons to form peroxy-acyl nitrates or PAN. It gives rise to photochemical smog. They cause eye irritation, respiratory troubles, blood congestion and dilation of arteries.
5. Carbon dioxide:
Due to excessive combustion activity, the content of C02 has been steadily rising. As carbon dioxid
Introduction: In this era of science, there are some curses on where there is some boon to human beings. Pollution is a curse that is born from the womb of science and most people are forced to bear it.
Pollution means: Pollution means-blaming fault in natural equilibrium. Not getting pure air, getting pure water, getting pure food, or getting a peaceful environment.
There are many types of pollution! Major pollution - air pollution, water pollution and noise pollution.
Air Pollution: This pollution in the metros has spread more. Twenty-four hours there, the smoke of factories, black smoke of motor vehicles has spread like this that breathing in healthy air has become confusing. The women of Mumbai go to take out the washed clothes from the roof, then black-black particles get frozen on them. These particles go into the human lungs with respiration and give birth to incurable diseases! This problem is more where there is densely populated, there is a lack of trees and the environment is tight.
Water Pollution: The contaminated water of tomorrow-factories produces fierce water pollution in the river basins. At the time of flood, the waste water of the factories gets dissolved in all the drains. This causes many diseases.
Sound pollution: Humans need a peaceful environment to live. But nowadays, noise of the factories, noise of traffic, molten sound of motor vehicles and loud speakers, has given birth to deafness and stress.
Side effects of pollution: Due to the above pollution, the health of the human life has been threatened. The man is craving till long breathe in the open air. Due to dirty water, many diseases go into the crops that reach dead in the human body causing deadly diseases. Thousands of people died due to the gas emanating from the Bhopal gas factory, so many people became crippled. Due to environmental pollution, there is no rain on time, nor does the cycle of cold-summer cycle run smoothly. The cause of natural outbreaks like dry, flooding, wetting is also pollution.
Due to pollution: Kal-factory, excess use of scientific instruments, fridges, coolers, air conditioning, power plant etc. are more guilty to increase pollution. Deteriorating natural balance is also the main reason. The cutting of the trees to blindfolding makes the cycles of weather impaired. Due to lack of greenery in densely populated areas pollution has increased.
Improvement measures: To avoid various types of pollution, more trees should be planted, the amount of greenery is high. There are dense trees along the roads. Populated areas should be open, airy and green with water. Tomorrow-factories should keep away from the population and think of ways to destroy polluted stools out of them.