Disclaimer: This is a machine generated PDF of selected content from our databases.

This functionality is provided solely for your

convenience and is in no way intended to replace original scanned PDF. Neither Cengage Learning nor its licensors make any
representations or warranties with respect to the machine generated PDF. The PDF is automatically generated "AS IS" and "AS
AVAILABLE" and are not retained in our systems. CENGAGE LEARNING AND ITS LICENSORS SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY
AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES FOR AVAILABILITY,
ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. Your use of the machine generated PDF is subject to all use restrictions contained in The Cengage Learning
Subscription and License Agreement and/or the Gale Virtual Reference Library Terms and Conditions and by using the machine
generated PDF functionality you agree to forgo any and all claims against Cengage Learning or its licensors for your use of the
machine generated PDF functionality and any output derived therefrom.

Air pollution
The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. 5th ed. 2014.
COPYRIGHT 2014 Gale, Cengage Learning
Updated: Aug. 30, 2017

Full Text:
Air pollution is the presence of chemicals in Earth's atmosphere that are not a normal part of the atmosphere. In other words, air
pollution is contaminated air.

Air pollution is a serious health issue. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 3.3 million people die prematurely
each year from causes directly linked to air pollution (examples include aggravations of asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, lung
disease, and heart disease).

Air contamination is divided into two broad categories: primary and secondary. Primary pollutants are those released directly into the
air. Some examples include dust, smoke, and a variety of toxic chemicals, such as lead, mercury, vinyl chloride and carbon
monoxide. The exhaust from vehicles and industrial smokestacks are examples of primary pollution.

Secondary pollutants are created or modified after being released into the atmosphere. In secondary pollution, a compound is
released into the air. This compound is then modified into some other form, either by reaction with another chemical present in the air
or by a reaction with sunlight (a photochemical reaction). The altered compound is the secondary pollutant. Smog that gathers above
many cities is a prime example of secondary air pollution.

Pollution of the atmosphere occurs in the bulk of the atmosphere that is within 40–50 miles (64.4–80.5 km) of Earth's surface.
Nitrogen and oxygen make up 99% of the atmosphere; the remaining components are argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane,
krypton, hydrogen, xenon, and ozone. Ozone is concentrated in a band that is 12–30 miles (19–48 km) above Earth's surface.

Smog can be damaging to human health because of the formation of ozone. A complex series of chemical reactions involving volatile
organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, sunlight, and molecular oxygen create highly reactive ozone molecules containing three oxygen
atoms. The ozone that is present higher up in the atmosphere is beneficial. It provides an important shield against harmful ultraviolet
radiation in sunlight. Closer to the ground, however, ozone is highly damaging to both living organisms and building materials.

Criteria pollutants
The 1970 Clean Air Act in the United States recognized seven air pollutants as being in immediate need of regulatory monitoring.
These pollutants are sulfur dioxide, particulates (such as dust and smoke), carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen
oxides, ozone, and lead. These pollutants were regarded as the greatest danger to human health. Because criteria were established
to limit their emission, these materials are sometimes referred to as criteria pollutants. Major revisions to the Clean Air Act in 1990
added another 189 volatile chemical compounds from more than 250 sources to the list of regulated air pollutants in the United
States.

Some major pollutants are not directly poisonous but can harm the environment over a longer period of time. Excess nitrogen from
fertilizer use and burning of fossil fuels is causing widespread damage to both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems on Earth's surface.
For example, over-fertilizing of plants favors the growth of weedy species. Pollutants can also damage the atmosphere above Earth's
surface. A well-known example of this damage is that caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs were used for many years as
coolant in refrigerators, aerosol propellants, and as cleaning agents. While generally chemically inert and non-toxic in these settings,
CFCs diffuse into the upper atmosphere where they destroy the ultraviolet-absorbing ozone shield. Ozone depletion is a concern for
the health of humans, as increased exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation can cause genetic damage that is associated with
various cancers, especially skin cancer.

Air pollutants can travel surprisingly far and fast. About half of the fine reddish dust visible in Miami's air during the summer is blown
across the Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara Desert. Radioactive fallout from an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the
Ukraine was detected many miles away in Sweden within two days after its release and spread around the globe in less than a week.

One of the best-known examples of long-range transport of air pollutants is acid rain. The acids of greatest concern in air are sulfuric
and nitric acids, which are formed as secondary pollutants from sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides released by burning fossil fuels
and industrial processes such as smelting ores. These acids can change the pH (a standard measure of the hydrogen ion
concentration or acidity) of rain or snow from its normal, near neutral condition to an acidity that is similar to that of lemon juice.
Although this acidity is not directly dangerous to humans, it damages building materials and can be lethal to sensitive aquatic
organisms such as salamanders, frogs, and fish. Thousands of lakes in eastern Quebec, New England, and Scandinavia have been
acidified to the extent that they no longer support game fish populations. Acid precipitation has also been implicated in forest deaths
in northern Europe, eastern North America, and other places where air currents carry urban industrial pollutants.

Air pollution control

Because air pollution is visible and undesirable, most developed countries have had 50 years or more of regulations aimed at
controlling this form of environmental degradation. In many cases, these regulations have had encouragingly positive effects. While
urban air quality rarely matches that of pristine wilderness areas, air pollution in most of the more prosperous regions of North
America, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand has been curtailed in recent years. In the United States, for example,
urban surface ozone levels have declined 25 percent since 1980, mercury emissions have fallen by 45% since 1990, and acid rain
causing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide have fallen 71 percent and 46percent respectively since 1990.

Perhaps the most striking success in controlling air pollution is urban lead. The phase out of leaded gasoline in the United States,
which began in 1970, has resulted in a 98 percent decrease in atmospheric concentrations of this toxic metal.

The situation is not as encouraging in some other countries. The major metropolitan areas of developing countries often have highly
elevated levels of air pollution. Rapid population growth, unregulated industrialization, local geography, and lack of enforcement have
compounded the air pollution problem in cities such as Mexico City. In the early 1990s, pollution levels in Mexico City exceeded
World Health Organization (WHO) standards 350 days per year. More than half of all children in the city had lead levels in their blood
sufficient to lower intelligence and retard development.

Since the 1990s, however, green initiatives have improved the air quality in Mexico City. Efforts to curb the use of vehicles in Mexico
City during the 1990s have resulted in an improved air quality. This vigilance must be maintained to ensure that the air quality does
not return to dangerous levels. As well, in Mexico City and other jurisdictions, the increasing use of bioethanol, biodiesel, solar power,
and gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle technologies will curb air pollution. In 2012, Mexico City, once known as the world’s most
polluted city, reported 248 days with good air quality.

KEY TERMS

Ecosystem
All of the organisms in a biological community interacting with the physical environment.
Ozone
A naturally occurring trace gas, having the chemical formula O3. In the stratosphere, it serves to absorb many harmful
solar UV rays.
Smog
An aerosol form of air pollution produced when moisture in the air combines and reacts with the products of fossil fuel
combustion.
Volatile
Readily able to form a vapor at a relatively low temperature.

Most of the developing world megacities (those with populations greater than 10 million people) have similar problems. Air quality in
Cairo, Bangkok, Jakarta, Bombay, Calcutta, New Delhi, Shanghai, Beijing, and Sao Paulo regularly reach levels scientists consider
dangerous to human, animal, and plant life.

Books

Beeck, J. P. A. J. van, J.-M. Buchlin, and A. Petrosyan. Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flows in Air Pollution Modelling: May 19-23,
2008. Rhode Saint Gene`se, Belgium: Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, 2008.

Ho, Mun S., and Chris P. Nielsen. Clearing the Air: The Health and Economic Damages of Air Pollution in China. Boston: MIT Press,
2007.

Schwartz, Joel. Air Quality in America: A Dose of Reality on Air Pollution Levels, Trends, and Health Risks. Washington: AEI Press,
2008.

Web sites
National Geographic Society. “ Air Pollution.” http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/pollution-
overview.html (accessed August 17, 2017).

National Institutes of Health (NIH). “ Air Pollution.” https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/air-pollution/ (accessed August 17,
2017).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “ Air Pollution and Respiratory Health.”
http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/airpollution/default.htm (accessed August 17, 2017).

United Nations. “Vast majority of world—6.76 billion people—living with excessive air pollution.”
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/09/vast-majority-of-world-6-76-billion-people-living-with-excessive-air-pollution-
un-report/ (accessed August 17, 2017).

Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)

Hoyle, Brian. "Air pollution." The Gale Encyclopedia of Science, edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, 5th ed., Gale,
2014. Student Resources In Context,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CV2644030049/SUIC?u=j043905001&sid=SUIC&xid=0dd20226. Accessed 21 May 2018.

Gale Document Number: GALE|CV2644030049