CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION

Air pollution occurred when there is an addition of any harmful substances to the atmosphere,
which causes the environment to be damaged, affecting the human health and quality of life.
In the industry development that came along will increase the air pollution which occurs
inside homes, schools, offices even in the countryside. There has been an increase in the
death rates consequently resulting from various diseases caused by air pollution varying form
breathing lung cancer to breathing problem. It also does not only affect the people but it is
also damaging the whole ecosystem in which plants and animals are harmed as well. The air
pollution occurred had reached such a critical stage where it affects the atmosphere as it will
let the more harmful radiation from the sun enter the earth surrounding. In addition, the
polluted atmosphere will become a better insulator and prevent the heat to escape back into
the space. That is the reason why there is a global rise in the temperature of the surrounding
right now which scientist referring as a global warming. From the global warming that
occurred right now, this will increase the temperature of the world food supply and sea level
will also be affected and also there is the probability of increasing the tropical disease. By
trying to investigate the major sources of air pollution, it can conclude that the major sources
are came form the human activities. The burning of natural gases, fossil fuel, coal and oil,
moto vehicles and factories are emitting the harmful substances. In this burning adds, the
harmful chemical compounds that are released out to the atmosphere are carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and solid particles that are called
particulate. Between the year of 1990 until 1970 the expanding uses of the motor vehicles
resulted in 690% increment in the damaging pollutants by vehicle exhaust. Other source of
pollutant is the decomposing of garbage in the landfills and solid waste disposal which
emitting the methane gas and other household products which give off the volatile organic
chemicals (VOCs). By pointing out some pollutants originate from natural sources can know

that the importance of it such as the emitting particulate and VOCs from forest fires and ultra
fine dust particles in the atmosphere. Lastly for the volcanoes that giving out the sulphur
dioxide and volcanic ash, a big volcanic eruption that will darken the sky over a wide region
and will affecting the earths atmosphere. It is different the pollutant from the human activity
as it just naturally occurring pollutant will remain in the atmosphere for a short time and also
do not lead to any permanent atmospheric changes. Besides that, one type of air pollution is
referring as local and regional pollution which is take place in the lowest layer of the
atmosphere that is we called troposphere. The troposphere layer is the one which is the most
weather occurs. By knowing as thermal version of the weather phenomenon, a layer of cool
air will trapped near the ground by a layer of warm air that place above of it. If this situation
happens, the pollutants will trapped in the lower layer as an example of this is the smog.
Before the uses of automobile, most smog will come out from the burning coal but today the
main source of smog are coming from the burning of gasoline by motor vehicles. The smog
are containing ozone which is in a form of oxygen gas that made up by molecules with three
oxygen atoms rather than two which normally occur. Ozone which placed in the lower
atmosphere is poison since it will destroy the crops, kills the trees and harming the lungs.
When the level of ozone is high, other pollutants that includes the carbon monoxide, are
usually present at a high levels. A pollutant can be from natural origin or man-made. This
pollutants are classified as primary and secondary. For the primary pollutants are usually
produced from a process like from the volcanic eruption. Another examples such as carbon
monoxide gas from the motor vehicles exhaust, or sulphur dioxide releasing from the
factories. The secondary pollutants are not emitting directly to the surrounding. They will
form in the air rather than the primary pollutant that will react or interact. For the prominent
example of secondary pollutant that is ground level ozone. It is not all the pollutants are
classified in this two classes, some of them may be both primary and secondary pollutant.

They both will emit directly and formed from other primary pollutants to secondary pollutant.
Human activity are the major primary pollutants that are produced include :

Sulphur dioxide (SO2)

It is a chemical compound with that produced by volcanoes and in other various
industrial processes. Petroleum and coal often containing sulphur compounds and the
combustion of it will generates sulphur dioxide. For further oxidation of sulphur
dioxide, the presence of catalyst like NO2 will form H2SO4 thus form the acid rain.
Thus, it will be the one of the causes to concern into the environmental impact of the

uses of all there fuels.

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
It was expelled from high temperature of the combustion and produced when
thunderstorms occurred. It can be seen as plume downwind of cities and as brown
haze dome above. NO2 is one of most important prominent air pollutants which gives

out the reddish-brown toxic gas that has characteristic sharp and a biting odor.
Carbon monoxide (CO)
It is a colorless, odourless, toxic and non irritating gas. It produce as the product of
the incomplete combustion of fuel such as coal , natural gas or wood. The major

source of carbon monoxide is vehicular exhaust.

Volatile organic compounds (VOC)
A well known outdoor air pollutant. Have being categorized as either methane or non
methane. For methane, it is extremely efficient greenhouse gas which major

contributing to enhanced the global warming.

Particulates
Also known as particulate matter (PM), the atmospheric particulate matter or fine
particles. It is tiny particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas but some particulates
occur naturally like originating from volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grassland
fires, sea spray and living vegetation. The burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, power
plant and various industrial processes are the example of the human activities that also

generating some amount of aerosols.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)

It is classified as the harmful substance to the ozone layer, which the products that
emitted CFC are banned from being used. These gases that are being released from
the refrigerators, air conditioner and aerosol spray. It will be released into the air, rises
up to the stratosphere, come in contact with other gases and lastly will damage the
ozone layer. If it will damage the ozone layer, the harmful UV rays will reach the

earth surface and lead to skin cancer and other disease.

Ammonia (NH3)
It is being emitted by agricultural processes and normally occur as a gas with a
characteristic pungent odor. This gas is either directly or indirectly being a building
block for synthesis of the pharmaceutical products. While for the atmosphere,
ammonia will reacts with oxides of nitrogen and sulphur as to form the secondary

particles.
For secondary pollutants :
In photochemical smog the particulates are created from gaseous primary pollutants
and compounds. The smog is one of the form of air pollution. There are two type of
smog that is modern smog and classic smog. For the modern smog it does not usually
came from coal but from industrial and vehicular emissions that are acting on the
atmosphere by UV light from the sun to form secondary pollutants that will combine
with the primary emissions to form photochemical smog. While for the classic smog it
is resulted from the large amounts of coal burning in area that caused from a mixture

of sulphur dioxide and smoke.

Ground Level Ozone (O3)
The ozone is formed when the presence of NO 2 and VOCs. The key constituent of
troposphere is ozone. At the certain region of the troposphere it was called as the
ozone layer. Chemical reactions and photochemical that involve are driving many of
the chemical process that occur in the atmosphere day by day.

REFERENCES
1. Air Pollution. (2016, November 4 ).
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution

2. Introduction to Air Pollution. (2016,November 4).

Retrieved from http://www.eng.utoledo.edu/~akumar/IAP1/introduction.htm