Air Quality

1
Air Quality

• Topic 1072
• Sarah Barry
• (Microsoft ClipArt)

2
Objective

• Determine major sources of air pollution
• Brainstorm how to improve air quality

3
Air

• Colorless
• Odorless
• Tasteless
• Mixture of gasses
• 78 nitrogen, 21 oxygen, 1 other gases such as
  CO2

4
Water

• Clear
• Odorless
• Tasteless
• Colorless
• Liquid
• Chemical makeup is 2 parts oxygen to one part
  hydrogen

5
Soil

• Top layer of Earths surface
• Suitable for growth of plant life
• Made of broken down rocks and organic matter (OM)
  from the breakdown of plant and animal life
• ORGANIC- Living materials or materials that used
  to be living

6
Effects of Air Pollution

• Greenhouse effect
• Global warming
• What do we do about global warming?
• Health issues- cancer

7
Air

• Necessary to life
• 21 O2 or the brain will die in 4 to 6 min
• Polluting the air in your area may have effects
  in far away countries and not your own. Why?
• We need to work together as a society to reduce
  pollution.

8
Major Threats to Air Quality

• Sulfur
• Hydrocarbons
• Nitrous Oxides and Lead
• Carbon Monoxide
• Radon
• Radioactive Dust
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
• Pesticides
• Asbestos

9
Sulfur

• A pale yellow element found in nature
• Found in coal crude oil
• When oil/coal is burned it combines with oxygen
  to form harmful gasses
• Gas combines w/ moisture in air to form Sulfuric
  Acid which will kill plant life corrode metals.

10
Hydrocarbons

• A product of burning fuel
• abundant due to factories and motor vehicles
• Emission controls in cars such as
• Crankcase ventilation
• Air injection
• Engine refinements
• 4 valves per cylinder

11
Nitrous Oxides Lead

• Come from automobile exhaust
• Most difficult expensive to remove Install
  catalytic converters
• Lead has been removed from gasoline to clean air

12
Carbon Monoxide

• Cannot be removed from car exhaust with the
  current technology.
• Colorless, odorless, poisonous.
• Kills people in automobiles that have leaking
  systems or in areas with poor ventilation- victim
  falls asleep then dies.
• Reduce emissions by keeping engines tuned.

13
Radon

• Radioactive gas from disintegration of Radium.
• Colorless odorless
• Moves up thru soil enters atmosphere
• Problems occur when building in these areas
• fix by sealing cracks

14
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

• A compound of chlorine, fluorine, hydrogen
  carbon.
• Used in aerosols cooling systems such as
  refrigerators
• Generally very stable
• But when released into atmosphere it can survive
  for 100 years!!

15

• The chlorine atoms destroy Ozone
• a layer of gas that protects the earth from
  harmful UV rays
• Increased numbers of skin cancer immune system
  damage
• CFCs have been replaced with less damaging
  agents
• 1987- 37 countries agreed to schedule cutbacks on
  the use of CFCs

16
Pesticides

• Pest
• Living organism that is a nuisance
• Pesticides control pests by killing them
• Contain toxic chemicals that can kill many living
  things

17
Asbestos

• A heat friction resistant material once used in
  the clutch and break line of most vehicles,
  insulation, ceiling panels other products
• Fibers are VERY damaging to the lungs cause
  disease death
• National laws to remove asbestos from public
  places general use