1. Mr. Ross Brown Brooklyn School for Law and Technology
Unit 11: Air Pollution
Mr. Ross Brown
Brooklyn School for Law and Technology

2. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
25 April 2018
Which is a source of sulfur dioxide found in nature?
Forest fires
Lightning strikes
Plant emissions
Volcanoes
Soil

3. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Air pollution: the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or microorganisms into the atmosphere at concentrations high enough to harm plants, animals, and materials such as buildings, or to alter ecosystems.

4. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
1970 – US Clean Air Act
Identified six pollutants that significantly threaten human well-being, ecosystems, and structures.
These are called criteria air pollutants, because under the Clean Air Act the EPA must specify allowable concentrations of each

5. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?

6. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Sulfur dioxide
Corrosive gas produced during combustion of fuels
Respiratory irritant, affects plants
Also, volcanos

7. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Nitrogen Oxides
Two forms
Fuel combustion
Naturally, forest fires and lightning

8. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Carbon Oxides
Carbon monoxide, colorless, odorless, formed during incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. Dangerous indoors.
Carbon dioxide, colorless, odorless, formed during complete combustion of fossil fuels. Absorbed by plants. Greenhouse gas.

9. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Particulate matter (PM) are solid or liquid particles suspended in air.

10. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Particulate sizes
Range from 0.01 micrometer (µm) to 100 µm.
1 µm = m. Human hair is µm.
Particulates > 10 µm is filtered out by nose and throat, not regulated by EPA
Particulates smaller than 10 µm is written as PM10, are of concern because they can wind up in respiratory tract.

11. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Which size of particulate matter causes the greatest health concern?
PM2.5
PM10
PM100
PM30
PM15

12. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Photochemical oxidants are a class of air pollutants formed as a result of sunlight acting on compounds such as nitrogen oxides.
Ozone (O3) is a secondary pollutant made up of three oxygen atoms bound together.
Smog is a type of air pollution that is a mixture of smoke and fog, oxidants and particular matter.

13. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Others
Lead
Mercury
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are organic compounds that evaporate at typical atmospheric temperatures.
Lighter fluid, dry-cleaning fluid…

14. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Primary pollutants come directly out of a smokestack or exhaust pipe or natural source CO
CO2
NOx
SO2

15. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?

16. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Secondary pollutants are primary pollutants that have undergone transformation in the presence of sunlight, water, oxygen, or other compounds.
Ozone

17. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
26 April 2018
A secondary pollutant
Forms in the stratosphere
Is transformed by sunlight or water
Cannot be directly tracked
Does not directly harm humans
Forms primarily from incomplete combustion

18. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Which is NOT a criteria air pollutant?
Sulfur dioxide
Lead
Carbon dioxide
Particulate matter
Tropospheric ozone

19. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Natural emissions
Volcanoes: SO2, particulate, CO, NOx
Forest fires: particulate, CO
Large agricultural fields: dustbowls
Anthropogenic emissions
On-road vehicles, power plants, industry, waste

21. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Smog
Daytime, NO2 splits, and the free O joins with O2 to form O3.
This reverses in evening, with O3 destruction.

22. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Thermal inversions
Normally, temp decreases as altitude increases, bringing & dispersing pollutants
But if warm air should trap cold air below it, the cold air won’t rise.
The warm air is the inversion layer

23. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?
Acid deposition

24. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?

25. What are the major air pollutants and their sources?

26. 29 March 2018: Unit test today
Kindly take a blank Scantron from my low desk.
Clear your desk of everything except for your comparisons chart and a pencil. If you need a pencil, you can trade me your ID card for one.
Name on Scantron and question paper. You do not need to include student ID.
Eyes on your paper only. If you look at a classmate’s paper, you will lose yours.
Good luck!