Hi all, for today’s blog post I would like to share on air pollution arising from our usage of motor vehicles. Today, motor vehicles are a major source of air pollution.  

Here are some ways in which motor vehicles contribute to air pollution (Brinson, 2012):

1. A car emits carbon monoxide when the carbon in fuel doesn’t burn completely. 
2. A car’s exhaust emits hydrocarbons, a toxic compound of hydrogen and carbon.
3. When fuel burns, nitrogen and oxygen react with each other and form nitrogen oxides (NOx). 
4. Particulate matter — small particles of foreign substances — in the air contribute to atmospheric haze and can damage people’s lungs.

 

Motor vehicles as a major pollution contributor, produces large amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other harmful air pollution. In 2013, transportation contributed more than half of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and almost a quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into our air (UCSUSA, 2014).

 

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/vehicles-air-pollution-human-health

 

 

Air pollutants are the most common type of air pollution that are situated in close proximity to the city and residential area. As there are various types of pollution, when hydrocarbons and Nox combine under sunlight, they produce secondary pollutant such as ozone. As holes in the atmosphere’s ozone layer worsen, this allows ozone to come closer to Earth on the ground level and thus contributing to smog and results in respiratory-related health issues.

 

Air pollutants from cars also cause cancer and contribute to such health problems as asthma, heart disease, birth defects and eye irritation. A study in 2012, shows that traffic-related air pollutants suggested promoting airway sensitization by modulating the allergenicity of airborne allergens (Gasana et Al., 2012). In the study, the results show an association between several traffic-related air pollutants and the incidence and prevalence of asthma and wheeze in children living or attending school close to areas of high motor-vehicle traffic (Gasana et Al., 2012). We could see that children are most vulnerable to airborne pollution because of their narrower airways as they generally breathe more air compared to an adult thereby increasing their exposure to more air pollutants (Gasana et Al., 2012).

 

To conclude, motor vehicles are one the most major and immediate source of air pollution that harms the local atmosphere and the health of the population. Governments have to implement laws in the control of the number of vehicles on the road, in order to protect sensitive populations and the importance of continuously revising existing regulations in light of new findings from recent studies. 

 

 

References:

 

Brinson, L. (2012, August 29). How much air pollution comes from cars? https://auto.howstuffworks.com/air-pollution-from-cars.htm

 

Gasana, J., Dillikar, D., Mendy, A., Forno, E., & Vieira, E. R. (2012). Motor vehicle air pollution and asthma in children: A meta-analysis. Environmental Research, 117, 36-45. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2012.05.001

 

UCSUSA (2014, July 18). Vehicles, Air Pollution, and Human Health https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/vehicles-air-pollution-human-health