What is Air Pollution? Causes and Effects of Air Pollution – Burning Issues

“Burning fossil fuels releases gases and chemicals into the air.” And in an especially destructive feedback loop, air pollution not only contributes to climate change but is also exacerbated by it. “Air pollution in the form of carbon dioxide and methane raises the earth’s temperature,”

• Air pollution is a mix of particles and gases that can reach harmful concentrations both outside and indoors.
• Its effects can range from higher disease risks to rising temperatures. Soot, smoke, mold, pollen, methane, and carbon dioxide are a just few examples of common pollutants.
• Air pollution refers to any physical, chemical, or biological change in the air. It is the contamination of air by harmful gases, dust, and smoke which affects plants, animals, and humans drastically.

• There are six major air pollutants that have been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “criteria” pollutants— criteria meaning that the concentrations of these pollutants in the atmosphere are useful as indicators of overall air quality.
• Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen oxides, Sulphur dioxide, Ozone, Particulate Matter, Lead.
• The gaseous criteria air pollutants of primary concern in urban settings include sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide; these are emitted directly into the air from fossil fuels such as fuel oil, gasoline, and natural gas that are burned in power plants, automobiles, and other combustion sources.
• Ozone (a key component of smog) is also a gaseous pollutant; it forms in the atmosphere via complex chemical reactions occurring between nitrogen dioxide and various volatile organic compounds (e.g., gasoline vapours).
• Airborne suspensions of extremely small solid or liquid particles called “particulates” (e.g., soot, dust, smokes, fumes, mists), especially those less than 10 micrometres
• Lead fumes (airborne particulates less than 0.5 μm in size) are particularly toxic and are an important pollutant of many diesel fuels.

• Heavy Particulate Matter
• Suspended Particulate Matter
• Nano particulate Matter
• Lead
• Inhaled lead particulates in the form of fumes and dusts are particularly harmful to children, in whom even slightly elevated levels of lead in the blood can cause learning disabilities, seizures, or even death (see lead poisoning).
• Sources of airborne lead particulates include oil refining, smelting, and other industrial activities.

• Carbon monoxide is an odourless, invisible gas formed as a result of incomplete combustion. It is the most abundant of the criteria pollutants. Gasoline-powered highway vehicles are the primary source, although residential heating systems and certain industrial processes also emit significant amounts of this gas.

• A colourless gas with a sharp, choking odour, sulfur dioxide is formed during the combustion of coal or oil that contains sulfur as an impurity.
• Most sulphur dioxide emissions come from power-generating plants; very little comes from mobile sources. This pungent gas can cause eye and throat irritation and harm lung tissue when inhaled.

• Of the several forms of nitrogen oxides, nitrogen dioxide—a pungent, irritating gas—is of most concern. It is known to cause pulmonary edema, an accumulation of excessive fluid in the lungs. Nitrogen dioxide also reacts in the atmosphere to form nitric acid, contributing to the problem of acid rain.
• In addition, nitrogen dioxide plays a role in the formation of photochemical smog, a reddish brown haze that often is seen in many urban areas and that is created by sunlight-promoted reactions in the lower atmosphere.

• A key component of photochemical smog, ozone is formed by a complex reaction between nitrogen dioxide and hydrocarbons in the presence of sunlight. It is considered to be a criteria pollutant in the troposphere—the lowermost layer of the atmosphere—but not in the upper atmosphere, where it occurs naturally and serves to block harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun.

• Hundreds of specific substances are considered hazardous when present in trace amounts in the
• These pollutants are called air toxics. Many of them cause genetic mutations or cancer; some cause other types of health problems, such as adverse effects on brain tissue or fatal
• Although the total emissions and the number of sources of air toxics are small compared with those for criteria pollutants, these pollutants can pose an immediate health risk to exposed individuals and can cause other environmental
• Arsenic
• Asbestos
• Benzene
• Beryllium compounds
• Cadmium compounds
• Chlorine
• Cyanide compounds
• Lead compounds
• Air toxics may be released in sudden and catastrophic accidents rather than steadily and gradually from many sources.
• For example, in the Bhopal disaster of 1984, an accidental release of methyl isocyanine at a Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, Madhya caused the deaths of an estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people over the following quarter-century, and injured hundreds of thousands more.

• Respiratory Disease
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Fine particulate matter can impair blood vessel function and speed up calcification in arteries
• Cancer
• A large study of more than 57,000 women found living near major roadways may increase a woman’s risk for breast cancer
• Sources
• Anthropogenic (human-made) sources
• Natural sources

• Notification of National Ambient Air Quality Standards and sector-specific emission and effluent standards for industries;
• Setting up of monitoring network for assessment of ambient air quality;
• Introduction of cleaner gaseous fuels like CNG, LPG etc and ethanol blending;
• Launching of National Air Quality Index (AQI);
• Leapfrogging from BS-IV to BS-VI standards for vehicles by 1st April 2020;
• Banning of burning of biomass;
• Promotion of public transport network;
• Pollution Under Control Certificate;
• Issuance of directions under Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981;
• Installation of on-line continuous (24×7) monitoring devices by 17 highly polluting industrial sectors;
• Regulating the bursting of pollution-emitting crackers;

• State of Global Air 2020 Report: According to it, India faced the highest per capita pollution exposure (83.2 μg/cubic metre) in the In 2019, over 116,000 infants in India died within a month after birth due to exposure to severe air pollution.

• WHO: According to WHO, toxic air is now the biggest environmental risk of early death, responsible for one in nine of all It kills 7 million people a year, far more than HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined,

• World Bank: According to a 2016 World Bank report, the lost lives and ill health caused are also a colossal economic burden:$225bn is lost labour income in 2013, or $5.11tn per year (about $1m a minute), if welfare losses are also added.

• Green cover
• Push to renewables:
• Market for agricultural waste
• Forecasting systems for better response
• Healthcare for pollution related diseases
• Coherent environmental policies