Activity 3.3.1 Air Pollution Core Activity

  

Air Pollution Basics 

Sulfur Pollutants: It is a chemical known as Sulfur Dioxide which is considered a toxic gas that is responsible for the smell of burnt matches. It is also known because of the ways that the pollution is produced, which is through the burning of fossil fuels in many power plants and other industrial facilities. And so the outcome of this conflict is that it can effect not only our environment, but as well as our health. Therefore, it is the reason why Sulfur Dioxide is bad for us in general doesn't matter which way it's looked at.

Nitrogen Pollutants: Nitrogen pollution is something that can harm us, but mostly through our environments and effect our ways of living. Reason why is because when too much nitrogen is released it can cause a variety of effects. For example, the effects our that when released into the water it can cause things known as Ammonia and Ozone, which are things that can affect us when breathing. Moreover, other examples of these effects are that when nitrogen comes back to earth it can effect the growth of habitats such as forests, soils and other water ways that help us survive. And so everything the basic thing about Nitrogen Pollutant is that it can effect us in our health, but overall it can effect our environments which could then have us struggle in our ways of living.

Hydrocarbon and Volatile Organic Compound Pollutants: When it comes to these types of  pollutants more specifically VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) they're more known to be noticed as ground-water contaminants. Furthermore, this pollutant can only come from certain solids and liquids and having contact with these pollutants is risky. Reason why is because touching or in any way coming in close with these never tells whether you can have a short or long-term health issues. Moreover, when regarding the Hydrocarbon part it's something that is more specified withing how it's produced. Hydrocarbons are more of contagious molecules being produced into the air and with effects they as well produce undesirable conflicts in the atmosphere. Therefore, in both the hydrocarbon and VOC they both can produce a variety of effects that could affect us regarding our health.

Comparison of current AQI:

AQI could considered a yard stick that tells us that the higher it goes the yardstick the worse our problem will be. And so when using it in favor of the AQI it's the same things, but the thing is that it uses it to see how much our air pollution is at and how bad it could affect us. Therefore the AQI is a yardstick for air pollution.

Place:                                  Time of Day             AQI Current     AQI Forecast    PM2.5

Oxford, England(Highest)  October, 25th 2022          13                     13                  3.1

San Antonio (Me)               October, 25th 2022           5                      16                  1.3

Miami                                 October, 25th 2022           25                    21                    5

Comparison of Current PM2.5 and O3 to  EPA Standards:

When describing what PM2.5 is that it's really something that the eye can't see. What they are is that they're small particles made of droplets in our atmosphere they are measured to be two and one and a half microns. And microns are units measured for distance, and with that said said a PM2.5 is a particle made of droplets in our atmosphere that can come with dry sold fragments and solid cores with liquid coatings.

Now regarding O3 it's something that is mostly produced more than it is made. O3 is harmful to humans that can cause side effects regarding your health. Moreover, O3 is something very common in our environments because they're things that can come in many ways such as gases from power plants, industrial boilers, and chemical plants. Overall O3 is something that can be produced and have us infected with the health conflicts that could involve irritation of the nose and throat, shortness of breath, chest pain and coughing. 

Referring to both the O3 and the PM2.5 they both can harm us when it comes to our health. With that said the way both of these things can affect us is that with O3 with the air pollution coming alongside where we live it's something that can be a health hazard for us is that it can effect us in our ways of wanting to breathing. Furthermore, it can cause other side effects like the ones stated above like chest pain and coughing, shortness of breath, could experience eye irritation and many other more ways it could affect your health. However when talking about PM2.5 the way that can be a health hazard is that it can cause some of the same effects as O3, only difference is that PM2.5 has more effects. Those effects can be sneezing, throat and lung irritation, coughing, and if contained of having asthma it could worsen the symptoms.

National Standard                              San Antonio current measured over 1 hour                 Time of day

PM2.5

Average measured over 24 hours-1.0                      18.3                                                               9:00

O3

Average measure over 8 hours-38                              5                                                                 9:00

Citations

EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/so2-pollution/sulfur-dioxide-basics.

EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/issue#:~:text=Excess%20nitrogen%20in%20the%20atmosphere,of%20forests%2C%20soils%20and%20waterways.

“Ground-Level Ozone (O3) Pollution.” ADEQ Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, https://www.azdeq.gov/ground-level-ozone-o3-pollution#:~:text=Ground%2Dlevel%20ozone%20(O%203,solvents%2C%20and%20motorized%20lawn%20equipment.

“Department of Health.” Ozone Generators as Indoor Air Cleaners, https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/indoors/air/ozone_generating_air_cleaners.htm.

“Department of Health.” Fine Particles (PM 2.5) Questions and Answers, https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/indoors/air/pmq_a.htm#:~:text=The%20term%20fine%20particles%2C%20or,unit%20of%20measurement%20for%20distance.

“California Air Resources Board.” Inhalable Particulate Matter and Health (PM2.5 and PM10) | California Air Resources Board, https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/inhalable-particulate-matter-and-health.

“Aqi Basics.” AQI Basics | AirNow.gov, AirNow.gov, U.S. EPA, https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/.

“Live Animated Air Quality Map (AQI, PM2.5...): IQAir.” Empowering the World to Breathe Cleaner Air, https://www.iqair.com/us/air-quality-map.

“Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.” Go to TCEQ Web Page, https://www.tceq.texas.gov/cgi-bin/compliance/monops/daily_summary.pl?cams=23.