Monday, April 30, 2012

Introduction to Air Pollutants

Pure air is colourless, odourless, and safe to inhale. They give us a healthy life, where our family and friends can live safely in. Yet, there are often pernicious substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the living things and environment, resulting to air pollution. Although there are substances like smoke and soot, of which are pollutants that could be seen or smelt, generally, pollutants are colourless. In this blog, the focus would be placed on chemicals which pollute the air --- these chemicals are also known as air pollutants. Air pollutants can be arbitrarily classified according to chemical composition as (1) inorganic air pollutants and (ii) organic air pollutants.



The following inorganic air pollutants are going to be discussed:
  • Oxides of carbon (eg., CO and CO2)
  • Sulphur Dioxide (i.e., SO2)
  • Nitrogen Oxides (i.e., NOx)
  • Others (including ozone, methane and unburnt hydrocarbons, of which are going to be mentioned under the several environmental problems)
The following environmental problems are to be introduced:
  • Ozone hole
  • Global warming
  • Acid rain

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