The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in its Tenth report defines Pollution as: “The introduction by man into the environment of substances or energy liable to cause hazard to human health, harm to living resources and ecological systems, damage to structure or amenity or interference with legitimate use of the environment” (qtd. in Colls 1).
Air pollution traces its history not recent but from a period before the beginning of rapid industrialization when “sea” coal as burned produced unusual smoke causing concerns for the English nobility as early as 14th century. With the growth of cities and Industrial Revolution grew the coal smoke too. But the simplicity of coal smoke being the pollutant reached the noticeable complexity of photochemical smog only during the second world war (Karl B. Schnelle, Jr.
and Charles A. Brown 1-2).What pollutes air is an extensive list of chemicals and substances but National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) specified six criteria pollutants which are carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.Current developments in 10 or more years regarding understanding and concern for air pollution have definitely shifted general outlook towards it.
Louis F. Pitelka notes that, “there is no question that a significant evolution in approaches and understanding [of air pollution] has occurred over the past 10 or more years” ( “Air Pollution and Terrestrial Ecosystems”).The pollutants and their harmful effects upon the humans have lot to discuss ranging from respiratory disorder to cardiovascular turmoil, lung cancers and pregnancy related problems and so on. Effects upon the forests and their consequent depletion are needless to talk about.Green house gases and the resultant global warming, use of ChloroFloroCarbons and Ozone layer depletion in the atmosphere have become concerns so general that less or no attention is being paid towards them.But more crucially the future generation being influenced by air pollution in the womb as well as cradle is making the picture really look gloomy.
The impact of air pollution upon the children as suggested by Joel Schwarz in an article “Air Pollution and Children’s Health” appeals us do something more than worry. Schwarz writes to conclude with a degree of optimism suggesting solutions too:Air pollution is not the leading cause of death or morbidity in children in the developed world. However, there is increasingly strong evidence that air pollution is associated with nontrivial increases in the risk of death and chronic disease in children, worse pregnancy outcomes, and exacerbation of illnesses.It is less clear which pollutants are most responsible, but particles and ozone have the strongest associations.
For the incidence of asthma, traffic pollution, particularly from trucks, seems to be the key player.What is important to realize is that this is an easily modifiable risk. Sulfate particles, a major fraction of the particle burden in the air in urban areas, can be easily removed using scrubbers on powerplants (their largest source) at a cost that is <1% of the current price of electricity. NOx reduction, a major component of an ozone reduction strategy, can also be retrofitted onto powerplants. In Europe, catalytic converters on cars can be brought up to US standards.Traffic particles, NOx, and so forth are dominated by diesel engines.
Trap oxidizers and catalysts can reduce these emissions by up to 90%. (…)Oxidative catalysts reduce carbon soot, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, CO, and so forth. (1041)While a lot of political determination is necessary to find the way out individual participation on part of the masses is simultaneously necessary. However the real time trends in this regard are frustrating.A work compiled by Daniela Simioni reads in disappointment about the apathy in citizens as well as governments regarding any policies adopted to counter pollution with a particular reference to the city of Sao Paulo that, “The struggle against pollution made no progress and the problem of air quality, involving neither votes nor prestige, is not a government priority.The notions persist that respect for certain environmental quality standards runs counter to development, and thus many levels of the public administration continue to believe that development is constrained by air quality management”(75).
But laws have helped in this field in United States. As George T. Miller notes:The U.S.
Congress passed Clean Air Acts in 1970, 1977, and 1990. With these acts, the federal government established air pollution regulations for key pollutants that are enforced by each state and by major cities.Great News: According to a 2003 EPA report, combined emissions of the six criteria air pollutants decreased by 48% between 1970 and 2002, even with significant increases in gross domestic product, vehicle miles traveled, energy consumption, and population.Bad news: After dropping in the 1980s, smog levels did not drop between 1993 and 2003, mostly because reducing smog requires much bigger cuts in emissions of nitrogen oxides from power and industrial plants and motor vehicles. (282)Miller also mentions some environmentalists’ suggestions regarding improvement in U.S.
Air Pollution concerning Laws. Firstly the acts should not rely on pollution cleanup instead of prevention. Secondly there should be increase in fuel efficiency standards for cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and light trucks.Thirdly there is requirement of adequate regulation of emissions from inefficient two-cycle gasoline engines.
Fourthly much is needed for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Fifth is the necessity to deal seriously with indoor air pollution. And finally needed is better enforcement of the Clean Air Acts (282).Homer W.
Parker in his work Air Pollution[1] mentions a lot of air pollution controlling measures. The book contains separate chapters for various engineering techniques for air pollution control which the book’s review by Charles W. Miller titled “The How of Pollution Control” mentions : “(3) dry type mechanical collectors, (4) fabric filters, (5) met collectors, (6) electrostatic precipitators, (7) filtering devices, (8) odor control, and (9) systems and specia1 cases…[1] Parker, Hower W. 1977. Air pollution.
Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ. xii + 287 p. $18.95(cloth).
