Hi readers! we begin with another not-so-fun-fact:

“Currently, in the world, there are over 500 million cars, by 2030 the number will rise to 1 billion, therefore doubling pollution levels.”

Cartoon about pollutants in the air

Cartoon about pollutants in the air

What are these pollutants that are polluting our air and affecting our lives?

  • Sulfur Dioxide 

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) is emitted from the burning of fuels in unregulated vehicle engines(Seigneur, 2019) that causes smog that polluted the air. SO2 oxidizes with the oxygen in the atmosphere and turns into sulphuric acid that causes acid rain. If inhaled it may causes irritation on their airway, nose, throat, lung and may cause coughing and difficulty in breathing.

  • Carbon Monoxide

Carbon Monoxide (CO) inorganic carbonaceous compound (Seigneur, 2019).  It can react with the hemoglobin in the bloodstream that causes a lack of oxygen in the blood. It is the first pollutant to be regulated by implementing a catalytic converter that converts it into Carbon Dioxide(CO2 ).

  • Nitrogen Oxide

Nitric Oxide(NO) & Nitrogen Dioxide(NO2 ) are pollutants emitted from the combustion process. These two compounds form the majority of nitrogen oxide in the atmosphere. Just like the other pollutants it may also oxidize and form nitrogen oxides that are greenhouse gases that lead to global warming. When oxidize into nitric acid it may cause acid rain like sulphuric acid.

These are some pollutants in the air that are dangerous and will affect our health especially since most of us live around areas where there are high amount of traffic

Good Night!

References:

Cartoon https://www.momscleanairforce.org/pollution-cartoon-2/

Seigneur, C. (2019). Gaseous Pollutants. In Air Pollution: Concepts, Theory, and Applications (pp. 146-189). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108674614.008