Air Pollution Basics

Question 1

What air pollutants does coal combustion cause?

Answer 1

Coal combustion releases air pollutants including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, toxic metals and particulates

Question 2

What air pollutants does the burning of fossil fuels cause?

Answer 2

• nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere

- combustion include carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter

Question 3

How is air quality affected by the burning of diesel fuels?

Answer 3

Air quality can be affected through the release of nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and carbon dioxide/monoxide during the burning of fossil fuels, mainly diesel fuels

Question 4

Clean Air Act

Answer 4

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulated the use of lead, particularly in fuels, which dramatically decreased the amount of lead in the atmosphere

Question 5

Primary Air Pollutants (and examples)

Answer 5

Immediately and directly released into the atmopshere

• Pollen
• Volcanic Ash
• VOCs that are given off by plants
• Anthropogenic (products of combustion of fossil fuels: Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen (any number)oxide, Sulfur Dioxide)

Question 6

Secondary Pollutants

Answer 6

• Form once they are in the atmosphere, usually combined with water vapor, UV, or other atmospheric gases
• Tropospheric Ozone
• Acid rain

Question 7

What are the 6 criteria air pollutants deemed most harmful to human health by the EPA?

Answer 7

• Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
• Particulate Matter (PM)
• Lead (Pb)
• Ozone (O3)
• Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
• Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Question 8

How does combusting fossil fuel affect carbon cycle?

Answer 8

• All fossil fuels contain carbon and hydrogen
• Combustion of carbon creates carbon dioxide
• This carbon has not been in the atmosphere for millions of years (ancient), thus having a huge impact on the carbon cycle and is a greenhouse gas so it traps heat and causes global warming

Question 9

What are the metal impurities in coal that are released during combustion? What do these released elements cause in terms of human health and the environment?

Answer 9

• Toxic Metals: lead, mercury (can get in waterways, biomagnification in the aquatic food chain, becomes a severe problem), nickel, arsenic (poison)

Question 10

How do coal-burning power plants try to reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide emissions?

Answer 10

• Coal-burning power plants can use filters and clean coal processing (cleans coal before use of sulfur) to decrease sulfur dioxide emissions using air scrubbers

Question 11

What are some natural emitters of pollutants?

Answer 11

• volcanoes
• lightning
• forest fires
• plants, both living & dead

Question 12

Volatile organic compound (VOC)

Answer 12

An organic compound that evaporates (vaporizes) at typical atmospheric temperatures

Question 13

Where is lead found? What effects does lead have on human health?

Answer 13

Children:
- Anemia
- Behavioral disorders
- Lowered IQ
- Reading & learning disabilities
- Nerve damage
Adults:
- Hypertension
- Cardiovascular disease
A gasoline additive and is also found in oil, coal, & old paint

Question 14

What specific measures were taken to combat lead?

Answer 14

• Lead stopped being used in gasoline

Question 15

How is carbon monoxide released into the atmosphere and what dangers does it pose? Carbon dioxide?

Answer 15

• CO is a common emission in vehicle exhaust & most other combustion processes
• Dangerous in homes: if there is a natural gas leak from a fireplace or stove
• CO2, is released from fossil fuels primarily and seem to be increasing every year

Question 16

Where is sulfur dioxide present/how is it released (both natural and anthropogenic)? What are the health risks?

Answer 16

• Released in large quantities during volcanic explosions and lesser quantities during forest fires
• Coal-burning power plants
• Diesel fuel combustion
  EFFECTS:
• A respiratory irritant & can adversely affect plant tissue.
• Precursor to industrial smog

Question 17

What are the primary causes of nitrogen oxide? What are its immediate and long-term effects on the atmosphere, ecosystems, and human health?

Answer 17

• Main causes: motor vehicle and fossil fuel combustion
  EFFECTS
• Respiratory irritant, increases susceptibility to respiratory infection.
• Ozone precursor, leads to the formation of photochemical smog
• Converts to nitric acid in the atmosphere, which is harmful to aquatic life & some vegetation
• Contributes to over-fertilizing terrestrial & aquatic systems.
• Also leads to acid rain

Question 18

Photochemical oxidant

Answer 18

A class of air pollutants formed as a result of sunlight acting on compounds such as nitrogen oxides.

Question 19

How is tropospheric ozone (bad) formed? What are its components?

Answer 19

• When nitrogen oxides and VOCs/hydrocarbons react with each other in sunlight
• 3 oxygen atoms

Question 20

London-type smog; Gray smog

Answer 20

Industrial smog (caused by coal burning & limits light & therefore reduces photosynthesis)

Question 21

How does the pollution caused by fossil fuels affect human health and the environment?

Answer 21

• Air pollutants are likely to come in contact with the eyes, nose, & throat, causing irritation
• Inhaled pollutants exacerbate existing lung conditions & can cause permanent lung damage
• Air pollutants can damage plant tissue during photosynthesis & respiration

Question 22

What particle impurities are released via coal combustion? What health issues does this kind of pollutant cause?

Answer 22

• Partially combusted “soot”: particulate matter that carries metals and heavier elements into lungs, causes respiratory problems like black lung disease