Definition of air pollution (2/3)

The presence of contaminants or pollutant

Air and Noise Pollution and Control substances in the atmosphere that interferes
Unit - 1 with human health or welfare, or produce other
harmful environmental effects.

Source: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008. Fundamentals of Air Pollution

1 4

Definition of air pollution (3/3)

Introduction – Part 1
.
Air pollution is the excessive concentration of
foreign matter in the air which adversely
affects the well being of individual or causes
damage to property.

Source: M N RAO & H V N.Rao 2007. Air pollution.

2 5

Definition of air pollution (1/3) Evolution of air pollution as a problem

Air pollution is the presence in ambient atmosphere of

substances generally resulting from the activity of man,
in sufficient concentration, presents for a sufficient time
and under circumstances which interfere significantly Lighting the fire smoke air pollution started

with the comfort, health or welfare of persons or with

the full use or enjoyment of property.

Sourec: M N RAO & H V N.Rao 2007. Air pollution. Image :https://www.health.harvard.edu Source: Makra, L., 2019, Image: https://www.clipartmax.com

3 6
 Air pollution in Roman Era Air pollution in pre-industrialization scenario (1/2)
• In the ancient time
• In Roman era (350 BCE to 175 CE), mining and
smelting activities polluted the atmosphere for nearly Burning of wood was used for Smoke was most likely tolerated

500 years. cooking, heating of caves and indoors because it helped to keep

• Released large amounts of toxic fumes into Europe's smelting furnaces. away the mosquitoes.

air
• Within that period, lead pollution increased to more
The caves was found thick black
than 10 times higher than background levels.
layer because of air pollution.
BCE: Before the common era

Source: Makra, L., 2019, Image: www.geology.com Source: Mosley, S., 2014, Image: www.clipartmax.com

7 10

Industrialization Air pollution in pre-industrialization scenario (2/2)

Scientists found blackening of the lungs
in the samples of mummified lung
Image 1 Image 2

Agrarian and handicraft

tissues from Egypt, Peru and Britain.
economy

Industry and machine

manufacturing That revealed long term exposure
to the smoke of domestic fires.

Image 3 Image 4
Source: www.britannica.com, Image: 1, www.sutori.com, 2, www.wordpress.com, 3, 4, www.istockphoto.com Source: Mosley, S., 2014, Image: www.shutterstock.com

8 11

Industrial revolution Fuel switch: Wood to Coal

In the sixteenth- Complaints about
• The term Industrial Revolution was first century, population smoke emissions
started to increase increased
popularized by the English economic
historian Arnold Toynbee.
Wood demand Increased the
increased coal consumption
• This process began in Britain in the 18th
century and from there spread to other parts
of the world. Wood became Wood price
scarce hiked
Source: www.britannica.com Source: Mosley, S., 2014

9 12
Air pollution in post-industrialization scenario (1/3) Air pollution regulation history
Year Brief description
1307 King Edward I of England banned use of coal
1377 -1399 Richard II restricts use of coal
1413 - 1422 Henry V regulates/restricts use of coal
Wood burning Coal burning Oil started Severe air 1578 Queen Elizabeth - I objected to the ‘taste and smoke’ of coal
started used as fuel pollution Source:https://www.downloadclipart.net
problem started 1661 By royal command of Charles II, John Evelyn of the Royal Society
publishes “Fumifugium; or the Inconvenience of the Air and Smoke
dissipated; together with Some Remedies Humbly Proposed”
1784 Watt’s steam engine; the coal was used for making the steam to
pump water and move machinery. Smoke and ash produced from
burning of coal.
Source: Mosley, S., 2014 Source: Mosley, S., 2014, www.coursehero.com

13 16

Air pollution in post-industrialization scenario (2/3) Air pollution legislation history

Year Action
From the end of the eighteenth
1955 First Federal Air Pollution Control Act (USA)
century, rapid industrial growth
1960 Motor Vehicle Exhaust Act (USA)
started throughout the world.
1963 Clean Air Act (USA)

Consumption of coal increased in 1965 Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act (USA)
• Emission regulations for cars to begin in 1968
Europe, the United States and other
parts of the world. 1967 Air Quality Act (USA)
• Criteria documents
• Control technique documents
World coal output was around 10
1970 Clean Air Act Amendments (USA)
million tons annually in 1800. • National Ambient Air Quality Standards
• New Source Performance Standards
Source: Mosley, S., 2014, Image: www.proprofs.com ` Source: www.coursehero.com, Image: cpcbenvis.nic.in

14 17

Air pollution in post-industrialization scenario (3/3) Air pollution legislation in India

By 1900, global coal output had Year Action • Mostly all the countries
increased by 77 % annually with
1981 Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act
are having their own
respect to 1800.
environmental pollution
Air pollution rose to unprecedented 1982 The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Rules acts.
levels as coal demand increased for
industrial and home energy uses. 1988 Central Motor Vehicles Act

Increased the negative impacts on 1986 Environment (Protection) Act, (EPA).

nature and human health.

Source: Mosley, S., 2014 Source: Habib, G., Air Pollution.

15 18
Environmental Protection Programs (1/5) Environmental Protection Programs (4/5)
The first world
conference to protect Montreal Programs Key points
the environment Protocol, Canada, Earth Summit, Kyoto Protocol,
,Stockholm, 1972 1987 Brazil, 1992 Japan, 1997
• Earth Summit, Brazil, 1992 • To put the concept of
sustainable development

• The first COP, Berlin, 1995 • To stabilize the greenhouse

Vienna Convention, IPCC, Switzerland, The first COP, Berlin, Paris Agreement,
Austria, 1985 1988 1995 France, 2015 gas emission and to address
the threat of climate change
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
COP: Conference of the Parties

Source: www.un.org Source: www.un.org

19 22

Environmental Protection Programs (2/5) Environmental Protection Programs (5/5)

Programs Key points Programs Key points
• Kyoto Protocol, Japan, 1997 • For stabilization of
• The first world conference • Focused on international
greenhouse gas
to protect the environment, environmental issues
concentrations in the
Stockholm, 1972
atmosphere
• Vienna convention, Austria, • To preserve human health
• Paris Agreement, France, • To limit global warming to
1985 and to protect the
2015 well below 20 C, preferably
environment from harmful
to 1.50C, compared to pre-
effects of ozone layer
industrial levels.
depletion

Source:https://www.britannica.com Source: www.un.org

20 23

Environmental Protection Programs (3/5) Air pollution episodes

Donora, Acid rain,
Programs Key points Meuse Valley, Pennsylvania Los Angeles America
Belgium (1930) (1948) smog (1954) (1969)
• Montreal Protocol, • To protect the ozone layer, stop the
Canada, 1987 manufacturing and import of ozone
depleting substances and reduce
Gas Attack, Great London Inversion over Acid rain,
their concentration. Los Angeles Smog (1952) New York City West Virginia
(1940) (1966) (1978)
• IPCC, Switzerland, • To provide the scientific
1988 information that use to develop
climate policies.

Source: www.un.org

21 24
Meuse Valley, Belgium (1930) (1/2) Donora, Pennsylvania (1948) (1/2)
• The Meuse valley is the region along the • Donora is a town which is situated along the

Meuse river in Belgium. Monongahela river.

• The sources of pollution were the densely • Poor topography for the dispersion.
populated factories such as zinc smelter, • Pollution sources were zinc smelting and blast

glass and steel manufacturers furnaces.

Source: www.soe.uoguelph.ca, Image: www.prezi.com Source: www.soe.uoguelph.ca, www.pollutionissues.com

25 28

Meuse Valley, Belgium (1930) (2/2) Donora, Pennsylvania (1948) (2/2)

• High levels of hydrofluoric acid inhaled by
the residents.
• Severe respiratory symptoms were seen.
• 20 deaths and 600 become ill.
• Deaths of 63 people and cattle’s death were
reported
• Approximately 6000 residents became ill.

Source: www.soe.uoguelph.ca, Image: www.emedicinehealth.com Source: www.soe.uoguelph.ca, www.alleghenyfront.org

26 29

Gas attack, Los Angeles (1940s) Great London Smog (1952) (1/2)
• One of the first cities in the • The Great Smog was a huge pollution
U.S. To experience severe air
event in London, England from
pollution problem.
• In the middle of world war II, December 5 to December 9, 1952.
residents believed that they • Pollution sources were burning
were under chemical attack. Image 1 Image 2 of coal, factories and power plants.

Image 1 Image 2

• Pollution sources were auto exhaust and petroleum

refineries
Image 3
Source: www.jstor.org, Image: 1, www.wired.com, 2, www.timeline.com Source: www.energyeducation.ca, Image: 1,2, www.britanica.com, 3, www.bbc.com

27 30
 Great London Smog (1952) (2/2) Inversion over New York City (1966) (2/2)

• Breathing problems
• Heart and respiratory issues
• 4,000 deaths in a weeks
• Death rate of approximately 24 deaths
per day.
• Deaths of 169 people.

Image 1 Image 2

Source: www.energyeducation.ca, Image: 1, www.lotusarise.com, 2, www.webmd.com Source: www.allthatsinteresting.com

31 34

Los Angeles smog (1954) Acid rain, America (1969) (1/2)

• Visibility was drastically reduced by dense • Acid rain became potent in

smog in Los Angeles. area of Indiana and East

• Air pollution is blamed for causing 2000 auto Chicago.

accidents in a single day. • Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission

by industries.

Image 1 Image 2

Source: www.dnrec.delaware.gov, Image: www.garyflannelsuit.net Source: www.dnrec.delaware.gov, image: 1, www.internetgeograpgy.com, 2, www.wander.com

32 35

Inversion over New York City (1966) (1/2) Acid rain, America (1969) (2/2)
• The high level of air pollution in the history • Burned lawns, ate away tree leaves and Birds to lose their feathers.

of the eastern United States.

• Noxious combination of sulfur dioxide
(SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO).

Image 3 Image 4

Source: www.allthatsinteresting.com, Image: www.alamy.com Source: www.dnrec.delaware.gov, Image: www.themailbox.com, 2, www.communityrspb.org.uk

33 36
Acid rain, West Virginia (1978) Poza Rico, Mexico (1950) (2/2)
• Hydrogen sulfide at an oil field was
• Rainfall in Wheeling, West Virginia. pH
accidentally vented into the air under a low-
was measured at about 2.
• 5000 times more acidic than normal altitude temperature inversion

rainfall. • 22 sudden deaths

• 320 hospitalized of all ages

Source: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Air/Documents/airqualityappx.pdf Source: www.cabdirect.org, image: pubs.acs.org

37 40

Accidental air pollution events Seveso, Italy (1976)

Vizag gas
Vapour Cloud leakage (2020)
Explosion, • A 1976 chemical factory explosion near Seveso,
Jaipur (2009)
Attack on the Italy.
WTC (2001)
Bhopal gas • Explosion of Dioxin i.e. a human carcinogen.
tragedy (1984)
Seveso, • 19 children were admitted to hospitals with skin
Poza Rico, Italy (1976)
Mexico lesions (abnormal skin growth).
(1950)
• High animal and plant mortality.

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
WTC : World Trade Center

38 41

Poza Rico, Mexico (1950) (1/2) Bhopal gas tragedy (1984) (1/2)
• Poza Rica is situated in the midst of the • On 3rd December 1984, chemical leak in the
petroleum-producing regions. city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.
• A major air pollution disaster in 1950 • It is called the worst industrial air pollution
accident in history.
• Air pollutant was Methyl Isocyanate (MIC)
escaped from an insecticide plant.

Source: www.cabdirect.org Source: Sharif, A., 2020

39 42
Bhopal gas tragedy (1984) (2/2) Vapour Cloud Explosion, Jaipur (2009) (1/2)

• A devastating vapour cloud explosion occurred in a

• Main symptoms were vomiting and Eye irritation or large fuel storage area at the Indian Oil Corporation
blindness
(IOC) Depot in Jaipur, India, generating significant
• Final death toll was estimated to be between
blast pressure.
15,000 and 20,000

• Due to leakage of gasoline.

Source: Sharif, A., 2020 Source: R.K. Sharma et al., 2013

43 46

Attack on the World Trade Center (2001) (1/2) Vapour Cloud Explosion, Jaipur (2009) (2/2)
• The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center • 11 casualties, 150+ injured
in New York city on September 11, 2001.
• 5000 people from nearby
• Exposed thousands of people to potentially
harmful debris and environmental surrounding area were evacuated.
Before explosion After explosion
contaminants. Image 1 Image 2

• Jet fuel was burning after the crash of two

airplanes.

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih, Image: 1, www. depositphotos.com,2, www.pubs.acs.org Source: R.K. Sharma et al., 2013

44 47

Attack on the World Trade Center (2001) (2/2) Vizag gas leak, India (2020) (1/2)
• A gas leakage was from LG polymers India
• Toxic smoke and fumes were released which
Pvt. Ltd. in R.R Venkatapuram village,
was creating a cloud of dust, smoke, and
Visakhapatnam.
debris.
• Release of styrene vapor in the area.
• Persistent cough, and increased risk of asthma.
• Firefighters were among the most heavily
exposed populations.
Image 1

Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih, Image: 1, www. community.aafa.org Source: www.eprajournals.com, image: www.bbc.com

45 48
Vizag gas leak, India (2020) (2/2) Contents
• Respiratory problems and Irritation in • Earth’s atmosphere
the eyes. • Unpolluted air in atmosphere
• Number of deaths were 12 people. • Scales of air pollution
• Death of cattle's. • Pollutants and its types
• 585 citizens were hospitalized
Image 1 Image 2
• Role of atmosphere in source-sink relationship
• Conclusions

Source: www.eprajournals.com, image: www.bbc.com

49 52

Conclusions Biosphere and the Environment

• Air pollution have a long and complex history that is associated with its adverse effects on
nature and human health. The biosphere is a narrow zone
• During the Industrial Revolution, the air quality became worsened because the usage of of the earth where lithosphere,
coal and resulting emissions increased globally.
hydrosphere, atmosphere
• In 19th and early 20th centuries, the effects of coal smoke were recognized on locally
and regionally.
interact with each other to
• After the 2nd World War, rapid industrialization and urbanization resulted in several support life.
negative impacts due to air pollution such as acid rain, photochemical smog, ozone
depletion and climate change.

(Sources: www.austrialianenvrionmentaleducation.com)

50 53

Biosphere

Introduction – Part 2

Lithosphere is the outer solid

part of the earth, including the
crust and uppermost mantle.
Hydrosphere is the
collection of water over
and beneath the Earth
Atmosphere is gaseous surface.
layers surrounding the
Earth.
Source: www.img.freepik.com, www.olmercyca.org., www.ope.npress.usask.ca

51 54
 Origin of Atmosphere
Layers of Atmosphere: Thermosphere
• Thermosphere
• located above the
mesopause.
• Temperature increase with
Primordial Atmosphere Secondary Atmosphere Modern Atmosphere
altitude.

Hot gaseous surrounding Gases released during Accumulation of oxygen

the earth about 4.6 outgassing (volcanic and forms of life as
million years ago. eruptions) observed today.

The portion of hot gases Release of gases; N2, CO2, Consists primarily of O2
cooled and condensed to CH4, SO2 and N2
form oceans.
Source: (The Earth’s Atmosphere, Kshudiram Saha, 2008)

Source - (www.worldatlas.com)

55 58

Origin of Atmosphere Layers of Atmosphere: Mesosphere

• Mesophere
.
• It is the layer above
. stratopause
. . • reaches as far as about 85
Modern Atmosphere
.
Earth kms.
.
N2 SO2
CO2 CH4
.

. Condensation

Source: (The Earth’s Atmosphere, Kshudiram Saha, 2008) Source - (www.worldatlas.com)

56 59

Layers of Atmosphere: Exosphere Layers of Atmosphere: Stratosphere

• Exosphere • Stratosphere
• It is the uppermost layer, • Reaches from the tropopause
• Blends with outer space. to 50 kms
• Reaches to an altitude of • Ozone layer is formed in
about 3000 kms. stratosphere.

Source - (www.worldatlas.com) Source - (www.worldatlas.com)

57 60
 Layers of Atmosphere: Troposphere Unpolluted Air: Concept
• Troposphere
• Very thin layer – 0 to 18 kms • Unpolluted air may closely be
approximated with remote locations.
• contains approx. 75% of mass
of atmosphere. • Although these places may contain
indication of aged man-made pollution.
Poles Mountains

Sea Desert
Source - (www.worldatlas.com)

61 64

Atmospheric Temperature and Altitude Composition of Unpolluted Air

• On a macroscale; as the earth’s atmospheric • The real atmosphere is more than a
Dry
temperature varies with altitude Mixture
dry mixture of permanent gases.
of Gases
• Air grows progressively less dense with increasing • The quantity of water vapor in the
altitude moving upward from the troposphere to air varies greatly from almost
exosphere. Vapour of
Water
Atmosphere Organic
complete dryness to supersaturation
Vapours (0% - 4% by weight)
Liquids

Particulate
Matter in
Suspension

(Sources-www.woeurope.eu) Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel)

62 65

What is Unpolluted Air? Gaseous Composition of Unpolluted Air

Wet Basis Dry Basis Dry Basis Wet Basis
Name of Gases
• To determine the extent of pollution in air, we need to establish the baseline for ppm (vol.) ppm (vol.) µg/m3 µg/m3
comparison. Nitrogen 756500 780000 8.95 × 108 8.67 × 108
Oxygen 202900 209400 2.74 × 108 2.65 × 108
• Though, it is not possible to determine the precise composition of unpolluted air. Water 31200 -- -- 2.30 × 107
Argon 9000 9300 1.52 × 107 1.47 × 107
Carbon dioxide 305 315 5.67 × 105 5.49 × 105
Neon 17.4 18 1.49 × 104 1.44 × 104 Source: (https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-
zone/air-quality/whats-in-the-air)
Helium 5 5.2 8.50 × 102 8.25 × 102
Unpolluted Methane 0.97 - 1.16 1.0 - 1.2 6.56 – 7.87 × 102 6.35 – 7.63 × 102
air !!??
Krypton 0.97 1 3.43 × 103 3.32 × 103
Nitrous oxide 0.49 0.5 9.00 × 102 8.73 × 102
Hydrogen 0.49 0.5 4.13 × 101 4.00 × 101
Xenon 0.08 0.08 4.29 × 102 4.17 × 102
Source: Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel, Image: www.pik.com
Organic vapors 0.02 0.02 -- -- Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel)

63 66
 What is Polluted Air? Classification of air pollutants

Air is said to be polluted when there is a presence of undesirable substances  Based on sources
(contaminants / pollutants) which interfere with human health or welfare, or - Natural pollutants
produce other harmful environmental effects. - Anthropogenic (man-made) pollutants

 Based on origin
1 2
- Primary Pollutant
- Secondary Pollutant

 Based on state of matter

- Gaseous air pollutants
- Particulate air pollutants

Image:(1) www.nationalgeographic.com; (2) www.financialexpress.com

67 70

Contamination vs Pollution Sources of air pollutants

All pollutants are contaminants, • Natural sources

Contamination is simply the presence of a but not all contaminants are - e.g., natural fog, pollen grains, 1. Volcanic Eruption 2. Pollen grains

substance where it should not be or at pollutants. bacteria, and volcanic eruptions.

concentrations above background.
• Anthropogenic sources
- e.g., Industrial fumes, vehicular
3. Industrial Fume 4. Vehicle emission
Pollution is contamination that results in or emissions
can result in adverse biological effects to
resident communities.

Source: Peter M Chapman, 2007. Image: (1) www.gifer.com (2) www.tenor.com (3) www.nature.com (4) www.advantagecollisioncenter.com

68 71

What is a Pollutant? Scales of air pollution

• The substances which alter the composition Micro Scale Micro Ranging from 0 to 100s of meter
of the natural atmosphere.
Local About 5 km in range
• Air pollutants before exposure are subject to
a range of atmospheric processes; Meso Scale Urban Extends up to order of 50 kms
- atmospheric emissions,
- transport and mixing, and Image: www.blog.breezometer.com
Regional Up to 50 kms to 500 kms
- chemical transformation.
Continental Up to 500 kms to 1000s kms
• Sources of an air pollutants can be natural or Macro Scale
anthropogenic Global Extends worldwide

69 72
Scales of air pollution: Examples Scales of air pollution: Regional
• Three types of problems contribute to air pollution
 Indoor air pollution
Micro Scale problems on the regional scale.
 Dust particles
- blend of urban oxidant problems (one city to

 Photochemical smog another)

Meso Scale  Acid rain - release of relatively slow-reacting primary air
 Visibility
 Exposure to traffic pollutants. (transformation of SO2 to SO3)
- Visibility (due to plumes and PM)
 Ozone depletion
Macro Scale  Green House Gases
 Global warming

73 76

Scales of air pollution: Local Scales of air pollution: Continental

• Characterized by one or several large emitters • For smaller continents, there is little difference in regional
or a large number of relatively small emitters and continental scale
• Example: Carbon monoxide emitted from • However, there is substantial difference in case of larger
motor vehicles, waste treatment ponds continents
• Usually, the effects of accidental releases are • Air pollution policies of a nation are likely to create Image : www. globalindices.iupui.edu
confined to the local scale. impacts on neighboring nations.

• Example: Acid rain in Scandinavia has been considered to

have had impacts from Great Britain and Western Europe

74 77

Scales of air pollution: Urban Scales of air pollution: Global

• Air pollution problems in urban areas generally are of two • Global phenomena like climate can be sensitive to
types; release of primary pollutants and formation of the effects of air pollutants.
secondary pollutants.
• Some pollutants lead to cooling whereas others
• Tropospheric ozone is the dominant urban problem lead to heating of the troposphere,
resulting from the formation of secondary pollutants
• For example; volcanic eruptions and release of
• Example: formation of ozone from photochemical green house gases
reactions of oxides of nitrogen and various species of
hydrocarbons

75 78
 Role of atmosphere in source-sink relationship Processes and Fate of an Air Pollutants

Source State of Atmosphere Sink WIND

DISPERSION
Atmospheric stability

EMISSIONS TRANSFORMATION
RECEPTOR RESPONSE
Rate, type, source Chemical reactions
configuration
Impact on ecosystem Diffusion; “How much pollutants reaches a location?”
REMOVAL
Settling, scavenging, Transport:” What is the trajectory of a pollutant?”
adsorption

Dispersion: It is the result of both diffusion and transport.

Source: (https://slidetodoc.com/overview-of-air-pollution-aprof-bin-jalaludin-mbbs/) Source: (www.slideserve.com/rune/2-dispersion-powerpoint-ppt-presentation,www.alanfranco.com)

79 82

Sources and Sink Transport of an Air Pollutant

• The places from which pollutants get emitted are called sources.

• The places to which pollutants get absorbed or converted/transformed • Transport is the mechanism that
in some other constituents/forms are called sink. moves the pollution from a
source to a receptor.
Transport of a pollutant from source (stack) to
receptor (resort hotel)
• The simplest source–receptor
combination is that of an isolated
point source and an isolated
receptor.

Source: (https://cdn2.vectorstock.com/) Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel)

80 83

Receptor Diffusion and Dispersion

• Diffusion is combined
• A receptor is something which is adversely process of-
• mixing by turbulence
affected by polluted air. • stretch-out of the plume
• meandering of plume

Building/monuments

• In Dispersion, the concentration diminishes Source: (Cassiani, 2020)

with distance from the source, known as

Human Plants Animals concentration gradient.
Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel) Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel)

81 84
Conclusions Sources of air pollution
• The atmosphere plays a vital role in transforming the fate of a pollutant from its
source to sink.

• Unpolluted air is a concept, it is merely a benchmark to show the extent and trend of
air pollution.

• The spheres of air pollution exists at all scales, from extremely molecular (microscale)
to planetary (global scale).

Source: SAFAR Report, 2018

85 88

Natural sources of air pollution;

Volcanic Eruption
• Emits gases SO2, H2S, HF, CO2,
Sources and Classification of Air Pollutants CH4 and Ash (PM).

• Eruptions may harm the

environment at a considerable
distance and time.

Source: Volcanic eruption, George, S., 2014, intlpollution.commons.gc.cuny.edu, accessed on 15/02/2021

86 89

Volcanic eruption at Mount St. Helen

Sources of air pollution
• The concentration of SO2 in tones per day releases
from Mount St. Helen eruption from 1980 to 2005.

• Up to 3750 tons per day of SO2 was released into the

atmosphere.

• Particulate (smoke) levels reached an average over the

four days of about 1,600 µg/m3 (about five times usual
normal levels).

• The prevailing winds moved 520 million tons of ash

eastward across the United States.

Image: www.nps.gov Source: Volcanic eruption, George, S., 2014, intlpollution.commons.gc.cuny.edu, accessed on 15/02/2021

87 90
 Active Volcanoes around the World Natural sources of air pollution;
Dust storm
• Overall, 50 volcanoes were in
• Entrains large amount of Particulate Matter
continuing eruption status as
in air.
of 19 August 2021 in the
entire world.
• Visibility reduction during major dust
storms is frequently the cause of severe
highway accidents. It also affects the air
travel.

Image: Sand and Dust Storms, public.wmo.int, accessed on 15/10/2021

Source: www.volcano.si.edu/gvp_currenteruptions.cfm

91 94

Natural sources of air

pollution;
Forest Fire Sand and dust storm event
• Uncontrolled forest fire emits CO, CO2,
hydrocarbons, ash and oxides of nitrogen. • Dust storm at New South Wales and over parts
of Victoria to arrive in Melbourne, Australia on
• Around 37,059 fires were detected in the year January, 2020.
2018 using MODIS (Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectro-radiometer) sensor data: • The air became orange, and visibility dropped
• 54.40 % - of forest area exposed to occasional significantly. It became almost impossible to
fires
drive.
• 7.49 % - to moderately frequent fires
• 2.4 % - to high incidence levels while
• 35.71 % - of forests not yet been exposed to
fires
Source: fsi.nic.in; Image: www.pxfuel.com Source: WMO Airborne Dust Bulletin, 2020

92 95

Australian bush fires Natural sources of air pollution;

Oceans Aerosols (salt particles)

• The extreme bush fires that blazed across

southeastern Australia in late 2019 and early • Emits aerosols to atmosphere, in the
2020 released 715 million tonnes of CO2 into form of salt particles.
the air.
• The corrosive properties of these
• The unprecedented fires burnt across as much Huge bush fires on 21 December 2019, at Sydney, Australia
aerosols are harmful at coastal
as 74,000 km2 of mostly eucalyptus, or gum, locations.
forest in southeast Australia — an area larger
than Sri Lanka.

Source: www.nature.com Source: Phalen, R., 2013; Image: www.thinglink.com

93 96
 Corrosion due to marine aerosols (2/3)
Marine Aerosols (1/2)
Material Galvanized steel
• “Marine aerosols” are defined broadly as Phenomenon Atmospheric corrosion
various types of particles found over the Cause The influence of marine aerosol
oceans. decreases with the distance from the
seashore, but structures located
• Types of marine aerosols: at certain altitude in a desertic region
• Sea salt can be still greatly affected
• Sulfate aerosol
• Nitrate aerosol Chemical Deposit samples on the most affected
• Mineral dust analysis side of the tower had 18,330 ppm
chlorides content.

Source: Marine Aerosols, Eric S. Saltzman, 2009 Source: Corrosion Atlas. (2020). Corrosion Atlas Case Studies

97 100

Corrosion due to marine aerosols (3/3)

Marine Aerosols (2/2)
Material Galvanized steel
 Two distinct types of aerosols are produced by
Phenomenon Atmospheric corrosion
bursting bubbles:
Conceptual model of sea-salt aerosol Cause Corrosion of the zinc, detachment of
• Film drop - formed from the shattering of the formation from a bubble rising to the the galvanized layer, corrosion of steel
thin upper surface of the bubble, and they sea surface and bursting. Chemical The average thickness of zinc coating
are ejected with a wide angular distribution analysis was 176 mm.

• Jet drops - produce large aerosols whose

sizes are roughly 10% that of the precursor
bubble diameter

Source: Marine Aerosols, Eric S. Saltzman, 2009 Source: Corrosion Atlas. (2020). Corrosion Atlas Case Studies

98 101

Corrosion due to marine aerosols (1/3) Natural sources of air pollution

Pollen grain
Material Galvanized forged steel and zinc
Phenomenon Atmospheric corrosion in marine • The pollens which cause respiratory distress and
environment and bimetallic corrosion allergic reactions in humans.
Cause Marine environments caused higher
corrosion in zinc part, sleeve, than
the galvanized forged steel pin
Chemical Dust samples accumulated on the pin
analysis and the glass part were around 7000
ppm chlorides, 41,000 ppm sulfates.

Source: Corrosion Atlas. (2020). Corrosion Atlas Case Studies Source: www.asthamaallergy.com,www.livescience.com

99 102
 Anthropogenic point sources of air
Pollen Allergy in Europe pollution: Industrial Stack Emissions
• Over 150 million European citizens suffered
• Industrial units are associated with manufacturing
from chronic allergies during the year 2016.
products, which involves combustion of different
kind of fuel such as diesel, LPG, kerosene, wood,
• By 2025 more than 50% of all Europeans
coal, natural gas etc.
will suffer from allergy, with no age, social
or geographical distinction.
• The major air pollutant released from
stacks/chimneys (i.e. point sources) of the
industrial units is particulate matter followed by
gaseous pollutants like SO2, CO, NOx etc.

Source: M. Thibaudon and R. Savli, 2016

Source: SAFAR, 2018; Image: www.justenergy.com

103 106

Pollen Allergy in Bangalore, Karnataka (1/2) Anthropogenic point sources of air

pollution: Power Plant Chimneys
• From May 2017 to Apr 2019, a study was conducted
on sensitization among patients with allergic rhinitis • In India approximately 70% of power generation is
and/or bronchial asthma at an Allergy Clinic of a obtained via coal based thermal power plants.
tertiary care center, Bangalore,.
• Large amount of SOx, NOx, CO2, CFCs & Suspended
• A total of 400 patients were included in this study. Particulate Matter are released into air, which is
also responsible for deterioration of the
• The test was performed with 21 aeroallergen extracts, environment
which included nine species of pollen, seven species
of fungi, and three species of house dust mite.

Source: Gianchand and Swami, 2020 Source: SAFAR, 2018; Image: www.epa.gov

104 107

Pollen Allergy in Bangalore, Karnataka (2/2) Anthropogenic line sources of air

pollution: Automobiles
Percentage of people sensitive to allergies
• Automobile vehicles emit several
Percentage of people allergic to different types pollutants depending upon the type of
of pollens quality of the fuel consumed by them.
• Various pollutants are released from
vehicular sources include:
• Exhaust emissions-CO2, CO, HC, NOx,
PM.
• Non-exhaust emissions- PM, heavy
metals
• Evaporative emissions- HC, VOCs

Source: Gianchand and Swami, 2020 Source: SAFAR, 2018; Image: www.gasera.fi

105 108
 Anthropogenic sources of air pollution: Types of air pollutants
Waste Burning  Primary air pollutants
 Criteria air pollutants  Hazardous air pollutants
 Secondary air pollutants

• Open burning of any type of wastes viz. Agricultural i. Ground-level Ozone (O3) 187 hazardous air pollutants
ii. Particulate Matter (PM)
wastes, Garden wastes, Municipal Wastes or iii. Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Residential wastes releases harmful pollutants due iv. Lead (Pb)
to incomplete combustion. v. Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)
vi. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)

• Pollutants includes PM, CO, PAH (Polycyclic

Aromatic Hydrocarbons), SOx, NOx, VOC.

Source: SAFAR, 2018; Image: www.downearth.org.in

109 112

Indoor air pollution Primary air pollutant: Carbon Monoxide (CO)

• In contrast to outdoor air pollution, • It is formed as a by-product of incomplete
the indoor air pollution is source combustion processes such as the burning of petrol,
dominated. coal or wood.

• Pollutants generated in the home are • During the process, if there is not enough oxygen
not rapidly dispersed by the wind. available to create carbon dioxide as a by-product,
then carbon monoxide is created instead.
• Allergens and irritants can pose
significant residential problems, • The biggest sources of carbon monoxide comes from
especially for sensitive people. vehicles, especially when they are moving slowly or
when the engine is idle.

Source: Phalen, R., 2013; Image: www.edgeprop.my Source: The chemistry of air pollution, SEPA; Image: www.americanscientist.org

110 113

A scenario of major
Primary air pollutant: Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)
sources of air pollutants
in Europe • The most common Sulphur oxide is Sulphur dioxide (SO2),
which is a colourless gas with a burnt matchstick type
smell.

• They are formed during the burning of fuels containing

Sulphur, such as coal and oil, and metal-containing ores
(including aluminium, copper, zinc, lead and iron)

• It is also produced from natural sources such as active

volcanoes and hot springs

Source: www.eea.europa.eu, accessed on 15/10/2021

Source: The chemistry of air pollution, SEPA; Image: www.americanscientist.org

111 114
 Primary air pollutant: Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) Aerodynamic Properties
• Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which is a reddish, brown gas that • PM are classified based on aerodynamic properties because it-
has an unpleasant smell and is poisonous in high
concentrations.  governs the transport and removal of particles from the air;

• They are formed when fossil fuels are burned at high  influences their deposition within the respiratory system,
temperatures, but can also be formed naturally by
 is associated with the chemical composition and sources of particles.
lightning strikes.

• Most of the nitrogen dioxide in urban areas comes from

exhaust emissions.

• These can contribute to environmental problems such as

acidification. It also forms secondary pollutants such as
Ozone.

Source: The chemistry of air pollution, SEPA; Image: www.americanscientist.org Source: (Particulate matter, www.euro.who.int; Image: www.mdpi.com)

115 118

Primary air pollutant: Ammonia Aerodynamic Diameter (1/2)

• The diameter of a spherical particle with a unit density of 1
• Ammonia (NH3) is a very soluble colourless gas with a g/cm3 and with the same settling velocity as the particle
strong pungent smell. that is to be characterized.

• It is primarily released from animal waste and • The aerodynamic diameter (Dpa) for all particles greater
fertilizer use, vehicle exhaust and other processes. than 0.5 μm is given by the equation:

• The biggest source of ammonia release is from Dps = Stokes diameter of particle
𝐷𝑝𝑎 = 𝐷𝑝𝑠 𝜌𝑝 ρp = Particle density
agriculture including the intensive rearing of animals
and crops.
The Stokes diameter for a particle is the diameter of the sphere that has
the same density and settling velocity as the particle

Source: The chemistry of air pollution, SEPA; Image: www.americanscientist.org Source: (Part-H, Ontario Source Testing Code, www.ontario.ca accessed on 15/10/2021)

116 119

Primary air pollutant: Particulate Matter Aerodynamic Diameter (2/2)

𝐴𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑐
Particulate Matter (PM) is a mixture of solid, 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟
liquid or both the particles suspended in the air. 𝜌𝑝 = 2 g/cm3 Using this formula
Solid Sphere
𝐷𝑝𝑠 = 1.4 µ𝑚 𝐷𝑝𝑎 = 𝐷𝑝𝑠 𝜌𝑝

𝜌𝑝 = 0.5 g/cm3 Dps = Stokes diameter of

Hollow sphere 𝐷𝑝𝑎 = 2 µ𝑚 particle
𝐷𝑝𝑠 = 2.8 µ𝑚 ρp = Particle density

𝜌𝑝 = 2.4 g/cm3
Irregular shape
𝐷𝑝𝑠 = 1.3 µ𝑚

Source: (Muhlfeld, 2008) Aerodynamic Source: (Part-H, Ontario Source Testing Code, www.ontario.ca accessed on 15/10/2021)
Diameter!!??
117 120
 Classification of Particulate Matter Relative Size of Particles
Types Size Sources
Dust 1 to 200 µm Natural disintegration of rocks and mechanical 1 µm (micro-meter) = 10-6 m
processes 1 nm (nano-meter) =10-9 m

Smoke 0.01 to 1 µm Combustion and chemical processes

Fumes 0.1 to 1 µm Chemical or metallurgical processes
Mist Less than 10 Condensation or Industrial operations
µm
Fog Less than 10 Mist with water as liquid droplet
µm
Aerosol Less than 1 µm Air borne suspensions

Source: (Sewage, Disposal, and Air Pollution Engineering, S K Garg) (Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-relative-size-of-particles/)

121 124

Classification of Particulate Matter Secondary air pollutant: Ozone (O3)

Industrial Fumes

• Ozone (O3) is a highly reactive gas composed of three

Dust Smoke from vehicles
Chemical Fumes
oxygen atoms.

• Formed primarily from photochemical reactions in

the presence its precursors, e.g., volatile organic
compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX).

Source: The chemistry of air pollution, SEPA; Image: www.epa.gov.

122 125

PM and Human Respiratory System “Good" vs. “Bad" Ozone

Dust particle size and • Ozone can be “good” or “bad” for human health and
penetration in respiratory tract the environment depending on where it’s found in
the atmosphere.

• Stratospheric ozone is “good” because it protects

living beings from ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

• Ground-level ozone, the topic of this website, is “bad”

because it can trigger a variety of health problems,
particularly for children, the elderly, and people of all
ages who have lung diseases such as asthma.
(Source: https://www.thecmmgroup.com) Source: www.epa.gov; Image: Howes, C., OurAirSBC

123 126
Secondary air pollutant: Photochemical smog Hazardous air pollutants
Examples of hazardous pollutants include:

• Hazardous air pollutants, also known as toxic air • Benzene

• Perchloroethylene
• Photochemical smog is a mixture of pollutants pollutants or air toxics. • Methylene chloride
which includes particulates, nitrogen oxides, • Dioxin
ozone, aldehydes, Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), • Suspected to cause cancer or other serious • Asbestos
unreacted hydrocarbons, etc. health effects, such as reproductive effects or • Toluene
• Heavy metals
birth defects, or adverse environmental effects.
• The smog often has a brown haze due to the
presence of nitrogen dioxide. • EPA is working with state, local, and tribal
governments to reduce air emissions of 187
• It causes eyes irritation. toxic air pollutants to the environment.

Source: ; Image: www.energyeducation.ca

127 130

Criteria air pollutants (1/2) List of Hazardous Air Pollutants

• The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set national ambient • This original list included 189 pollutants.
air quality standards (NAAQS) for specific pollutants to
i. Ground-level Ozone (O3) • Since 1990, EPA has modified the list to
ii. Particulate Matter (PM) 187 hazardous air pollutants.
safeguard human health and the environment. iii. Carbon Monoxide (CO)
iv. Lead (Pb)
• These standards define the levels of air quality that EPA v. Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)
CAS Number is a unique numerical
determines are necessary to protect against the adverse vi. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) identifier assigned by the Chemical
impacts of air pollution based on scientific evidence. Abstracts Service (CAS).

• EPA has established standards for six common air

pollutants, which are referred to as “criteria” pollutants
For full list, go to: https://www.epa.gov/haps/initial-list-
hazardous-air-pollutants-modifications
Source: Criteria Air Polluants, Environments and Contaminants, 2015 Source: www.epa.gov; www.cas.org

128 131

Criteria air pollutants (2/2) Greenhouse gases (1/2)

• India’s revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards • Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called
(NAAAQS) are notified for 12 parameters – PM10, PM2.5, i. Ground-level Ozone (O3) greenhouse gases.
NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, Pb, Ni, As, Benzo(a)pyrene, and ii. Particulate Matter (PM)
Benzene. iii. Carbon Monoxide (CO) • Types of Greenhouse gases:
iv. Lead (Pb) • Carbon Dioxide
• Although AQI is usually based on criteria pollutants (i.e.
v. Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) • Methane
PM10, PM 2.5, SO2, NO2, CO and O3), a new approach to
vi. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) • Nitrous Oxide
AQI which considers as many pollutants from the list of • Fluorinated Gases (Hydrofluorocarbons,
notified pollutants as possible is desirable perfluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride, and
nitrogen trifluoride)

Source: Criteria Air Polluants, Environments and Contaminants, 2015 Source: Overview of Greenhouse Gases, www.epa.gov

129 132
 Greenhouse gases (2/2)  Sources of Greenhouse
gases includes:
• Electricity
Sources of Greenhouse gas emission for
• Transportation
India (2005-2013)
• Industry Atmospheric Formation & Fate of Air Pollutants
• Commercial/Reside
ntial
• Agriculture
• Land Use/Forestry

Source: Sources of Greenhouse Gases; www.epa.gov; GHG Platform, India.

133 136

Greenhouse gas emission trends (in CO2e)

Atmospheric formation of air pollutants

The primary pollutants released

directly from the man-made sources
• From 2005 to 2013, India emitted 20.54
are transformed into secondary
billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent
pollutants though reactions in the
(CO2e), with emissions growing annually
atmosphere.
by 5.57 percent.

• Emissions per capita grew by 4.07

percent annually.

Source: GHG platform India and Climate watch

Sources: www.eea.europa.eu

134 137

Conclusions Processes of formation/transformation of air pollutants

• The sources of air pollution are classified on the basis of the origin and emissions type. • Volatilization
• The air pollutants emitted from both natural and anthropogenic sources are harmful for • Absorption
environment. • Adsorption
• With the common pollutants known as criteria pollutants are defined as per their • Oxidation/Reduction
threshold values in ambient air to safeguard human and environment. • Ionization
• Non-criteria pollutants such as hazardous and toxic pollutants are equally important to • Hydrolysis
be monitored and studied. • Photolysis
• Metal catalysis

Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008; Image: Jingshi et al., 2014

135 138
 Volatilization Ionization

• Volatilization is the conversion of a liquid • Complete co-solvation leading to

chemical into a vapor, which escapes into
the atmosphere. separation of compound into cations
and anions.
• Mechanism : Physical
• Example: Dissolution of salts into ions.
• Mechanism : Chemical

Sources: Ecotoxicological Testing, Scheunert, I.,1993, Image: https://water.unl.edu Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image: https://www.visionlearning.com

139 142

Absorption and Adsorption Hydrolysis

Absorption: Transfer of a gaseous pollutant from
the air into a contacting liquid, such as water. • Reaction of water molecules
with contaminants.
Mechanism : Chemical and physical.
• Mechanism : Chemical.

Adsorption: Contaminates retention on solid

particles presents in ambient air.

Mechanism : Chemical and physical.

Sources: https://www.britannica.com, 14 Oct 2021; Image: www.diffen.com Sources: Rahm, Sara, et al., 2005 Image: https://biology-igcse.weebly.com

140 143

Oxidation/Reduction
Photolysis
+2
Electron gain
Reaction catalyzed by electromagnetic
Oxidation :Electron loss (EM) energy (sunlight).

-2 Mechanism : Chemical, physical

Electron loss
Reduction: Electron gain.

Mechanism: Chemical, physical

Sources: Doerr, Robert C., 1961, www.chemistrylearner.com Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image: https://sscchemistry.weebly.com

141 144
 Metal catalysis Heterogeneous Reactions
• Heterogeneous reactions are defined as those NO2
H2O
HNO3
• Reactions speed up in the presence of certain involving the gas–liquid or gas–solid phases.
metallic compounds.
• The chemistry of NO2 and SO2 has a SO2
H2O
H2SO4
• Example: O2 and NH3 at 850°C and 5 heterogeneous component in the atmosphere.
atmospheres pressure, with the help of
Platinum and Rhodium catalysts, to make NO. • The heterogeneous oxidation of SO2 in liquid
This is then oxidised to NO2, which is then droplets and water films is also a major pathway
dissolved in water to make HNO3 for conversion to sulfate in wet plumes and during
humid or foggy conditions.
• Mechanism : Chemical

Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image: https://www.chemicool.com Sources: https://www.britannica.com, 14 Oct 2021 Image: https://www.pinterest.com

145 148

Complete combustion Phase transformation: Gas to Gas (1/6)

• Ozone (O3) is constantly produced and destroyed in

• Combustion is the combination of O2 in the presence of heat
a natural cycle.
(Δ) (as in burning of fuel), producing CO2 and H2O during
complete combustion of organic compounds, such as the
• Ozone is formed from a single recombination
combustion of octane:
reaction of an atomic oxygen and a molecular
C8H18 (l) + 17O2 (g) Δ 8CO2 (g) + 9H2O (g)
oxygen in the presence of a third body M, which is
required to carry away the energy released in the
Octane
reaction (M is usually O2 or N2 ):

O + O2 + M O3 + M

Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013

146 149

Incomplete combustion Phase transformation: Gas to Gas (2/6)

Incomplete combustion can produce a variety of • In the troposphere, nitrogen dioxide is NO2 + hv (λ<420nm) O + NO
compounds. the only known compound that can
produce Oxygen atom during it’s O + O2 + M O3 + M
Some are more toxic than the original compounds photodissociation at available radiation.
being oxidized, such as polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), dioxins, furans, and CO. O3 + NO O2 + NO2
• In the presence of NO, O3 reacts with it,
which reaction destroys the ozone and
reproduces the NO2

Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image: https://secondaryscience4all.wordpress.com Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013

147 150
 Phase transformation: Gas to Gas (3/6) Phase transformation: Gas to Gas (6/6)
 Diurnal cycle of Ozone formation
• Ozone molecule absorbs solar radiation and
decomposes back to O2 and O.

• Because the bonds in the O3 molecule are weaker

(364 Kj/mol) than those in the O2 molecule,
photolysis is achieved with lower-energy photons
(in the wavelength range of 240 to 320 nm): • CST- central standard time

O3 + hv (λ < 320nm) O2 + O

Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013 Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008

151 154

Phase transformation: Gas to Gas (4/6) Phase transformation: Gas to Liquid (1/4)
 Ozone (O3) formation in atmosphere 2/2
• Atmospheric chemical transformations are
classified in terms of whether they occur as a
• Net ozone production occurs, when other gas, on a surface, or in a liquid droplet.
precursors, such as carbon monoxide (CO),
methane (CH4 ), non-methane hydrocarbons • For example: The oxidation of dissolved SO2
(NMHC) or certain other organic compounds in a liquid droplet.
(volatile organic compounds – VOC) are
present in the atmosphere.

Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013 Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image: https://www.degruyter.com

152 155

Phase transformation: Gas to Gas (5/6) Phase transformation: Gas to Liquid (2/4)
• The role of VOCs /
hydrocarbons (HCs)
along with NOx , in the • H2S undergoes oxidation producing SO2
formation of Ozone. followed by oxidation of SO2 to sulphuric
acid (H2SO4 or SO4 2−).

H2S + 2O2 SO4 2− + 2H+

Sources: RAI, 2019 Image: https://butane.chem.uiuc.edu Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013

153 156
 Phase transformation: Gas to Liquid (3/4) Phase transformation: Gas to Solid (2/2)
• Nitric acid in gas phase is mainly incorporated into particles only in the
SO2 + OH. HSO3.
presence of ammonia.
• Sulphur dioxide reacts with an OH radical.
HSO3. + O2 SO3 + HO2. • The formation of nitrate particles is dependent on the production rate of
• The HSO3 radical then rapidly reacts with HNO3, but is also very strongly related to the availability of ammonia.
molecular oxygen to yield SO3 and HO2 SO3 + 2H2O H2SO4 + H2O
HNO3(gas) + NH3(gas) NH4NO3 (particle)
• The produced SO3 reacts with water (catalyzed
by another water molecule) to yield sulphuric • This is because H2SO4 being stronger acid outcompetes
acid. HNO3 for NH3 no matter how much HNO3 is available.

• Any leftover NH3 (or ‘excess ammonia’) can then be used to

react with HNO3 and form NH4NO3 particles.
Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013

157 160

Phase transformation: Gas to Liquid (4/4) Phase transformation: Gas to Liquid to Gas (1/2)
NO2 + Sunlight NO + O • Solar radiation influences the chemical
NO2 + OH HNO3 processes in the atmosphere by interacting with
Gases O + O2 O3
• NO2 reacts with OH radical for the formation nitric molecules that act as photo-acceptors.
acid. NO + VOC NO2 • In photochemical smog, the principal photo-
acceptors are VOCs, NO2, nitric acid (HNO3), and
NO3 + RH HNO3 + R NO2 + H2O HNO3 ozone.
• NO3 is converted into nitric acid by reacting with Liquid

the compound such as hydrocarbons and

Formation
aldehydes. of PAN
NO2 + VOC PAN (Peroxyacyl Nitrates)

Resultant reaction of Photochemical Smog

NO + VOC + O2 + Sunlight O3, PAN, and other

oxidants
Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013 Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008

158 161

Phase transformation: Gas to Solid (1/2) Phase transformation: Gas to Liquid to Gas (2/2)
• In most of the regions impacted by human activities (e.g.  Example: Formation of photochemical smog
agriculture and industry), emissions of ammonia (NH3)
are prevalent.

• When a gas changes into a solid, it is called deposition.

• Ammonia is gas phase base, and can act to neutralize

sulfate particles either partly or often completely by the
formation of the ammonium (NH4 +) ion:

H2SO4(gas) + 2NH3(gas) (NH4)2SO4(particle)

Source: Geddes, J. A., & Murphy, J. G. (2012); Image: Air Pollution Information System, http://www.apis.ac.uk/ Sources: https://energyeducation.ca, 15 Oct 2021

159 162
Phase transformation: Gas to Liquid to Solid Phase transformation: Solid to Liquid to Solid (3/3)
Formation of aerosols 2/2
Nitric acid can form from
Gas N2O5 in cloud water, and • Larger aerosol particles in the size range 0.1 to 1 µm
the subsequent in diameter can accumulate in the atmosphere
Formation of N2O5 NO3 + NO2 N2O5 because their removal mechanisms are least
evaporation of cloud
Liquid
water releases nitrate efficient.
Reaction of N2O5 with cloud water N2O5 + H2O 2HNO3
particles into the air
• Their lifetime in the atmosphere is 7–10 days and
Evaporation of Nitric acid to during this period they can transported to a long
HNO3 H+ + NO3–
form nitrate (NO3– ) distance from their sources.
Solid

• Particles belonging to this accumulation mode are

formed mainly by coagulation.
Source: Tomasi, C., & Lupi, A. (2016)
Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013

163 166

Phase transformation: Solid to Liquid to Solid (1/3) Pollutants Transport

Transport is one of the two processes (the
other is transformation) that determine a
• Aerosol is a system of solid or liquid particles contaminant’s fate in the environment.
suspended by a mixture of gases.
• The term aerosols covers a wide spectrum of • Advection
small particles, like sea salt particles, mineral • Convection
dust, pollen, drops of sulphuric acid and many • Dispersion
others. • Diffusion

Sources and Sinks of aerosols

Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013 Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008; Image: http://irina.eas.gatech.edu/

164 167

Phase transformation: Solid to Liquid to Solid (2/3)

Advection
Formation of aerosols 1/2 • Change in a property of a moving mass
of air because the mass is transported by the
wind to a region where the property has a
Due to their rapid coagulation or random different value.
impaction onto surfaces, the lifetime of these
small particles is very short (order of minutes • Advection is responsible for horizontal transport
to hours)
of pollutants.
Transforms during natural gas-to
Ultrafine particles (0.01µm) are particle condensation or during
produced by homogeneous and condensation of hot vapour in
heterogeneous nucleation combustion processes.
processes.
Source: Atmospheric Chemistry, István Lagzi et al., 2013 Sources: https://www.britannica.com, 14 Oct 2021 Image: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2018

165 168
 Convection Convection is one of the processes of
Ultimate fate of the pollutant (1/3)
movement of gases and liquids (fluids)
to transfer heat between regions of
different temperatures. • The removal of material from
the atmosphere involves two
It is responsible for vertical movement processes: wet and dry
of air pollutants. deposition.

Source: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2018 ;Image: www.ausearthed.blogspot.com Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image: https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov

169 172

Dispersion Ultimate fate of the pollutant (2/3)

• Pollutant dispersion is the
transportation of aerial pollutants • The water solubility of gases influences the
in the outdoor atmosphere after extent of removal by wet versus dry
being emitted from the sources. deposition.

• Mechanism : Mechanical • Gases such as SO2 and NO2 are sufficiently

soluble to dissolve in water associate within
cloud formation of rain droplets.

Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2018 Image: https://www.mdpi.com Sources: (Zhou et al., 2021) Image: https://www.freepik.com

170 173

Diffusion Ultimate fate of the pollutant (3/3)

 Transport of air pollutants driven by concentration gradient (as per Fick’s • These soluble gases may be removed by wet
Law). deposition of liquid droplets in the form of rain
or fog.
 Fick’s Law : The movement of the gas will be proportional to the
concentration gradient (higher concentration to lower concentration )

• Less soluble gases, such as O3 and HC

vapours, are transported to the earth's
surface, where they spread to
vegetation, materials, or water bodies.

Sources: (Bekey et al., 1958) Image: https://www.aplustopper.com/diffusion Sources: (Zhou et al., 2021)

171 174
 Role of Hydroxyl radical (OH) in the fate of pollutants (1/3) Conclusions
• The atmospheric formation of primary and secondary pollutants can be understood by
the phase transformation of the pollutants.
• The hydroxyl radical (OH) is the major chemical
scavenger in the troposphere and it controls • The physical and chemical processes play an important role in the transformation and
the atmospheric lifetime of most gases in the transport of air pollutants.
troposphere.
• The ultimate fate of the pollutant involves the wet and dry deposition of pollutants.
• In the troposphere it is the primary oxidant of • The hydroxyl radical play a significant role in cleaning the atmosphere.
both natural and anthropogenic hydrocarbons,
leading to the production of pollutant ozone.

Source: JS Levine, NASA, 2014 and L.M. Avallone, Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, 2003

175 178

Role of Hydroxyl radical (OH) in the fate of pollutants (2/3)

• The OH radical is formed by the reaction of
excited atomic oxygen (O(1 D)) with water (O(1 D)) + H2O 2OH Impact of Air Pollution on Human Health
vapor. Excited atomic Water vapor Hydroxyl
oxygen radical

• Tropospheric excited atomic oxygen (O(1 D)) is

produced by the photolysis of O3.

• The amount of H2O in the atmosphere is

controlled by the saturation vapor pressure,
which decreases with decreasing atmospheric
temperature.

Source: JS Levine, NASA, 2014

176 179

Role of Hydroxyl radical (OH) in the fate of pollutants (3/3) Air: An essential need of human

• On average, an adult male will breathe about 15 m3

OH + CO H + CO2
(~15 kg) of air, drink 1.5 litres of water (~1.5 kg) and
• The OH radical is destroyed via its eat about 0.75 kg of solid food per day.
OH + CH4 CH3 + H2O
reactions with CO and CH4, both
important products of biomass burning.

Source: JS Levine, NASA, 2014 (Source: Bakke, J., L., 2021)

177 180
 Air Pollution: A major concern Major Factors affecting the human health

• In 2018, during the first WHO Global Conference on Air • Nature of pollutants
Pollution and Health, the WHO’s Director General, Dr. Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called air pollution a “silent public
• Concentration of pollutants
health emergency” and “the new tobacco”

• According to WHO Report, the worldwide number of smokers • Duration of exposure

declined by 29 million from 2000 to 2015
• State of the health of the receptor
• Globally, with smoking on the decline, air pollution now causes
more deaths annually than tobacco. • Age group of the receptor

Source: www.theguardian.com, accessed on 12/09/2021 (Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020)

181 184

Short-term and Long-term health effects Pyramid of health impacts of air pollution
• The air pollution pyramid is a framework
• Short-term effects are temporary or
commonly used to describe the spectrum of
immediate effects and often
health impacts from exposure to air pollution.
reversible, when exposure ends.
• It illustrates the inverse relationship between
• The long-term exposure to the
the severity of outcomes and the proportion of
pollutants can aggravate health
people affected by them.
problems.

Source: Melody and Johnston, 2015

Source: www.lalpathlab.com, accessed on 12/09/2021

182 185

Susceptibility to air pollution Common air pollutants affecting human health

1
• Carbon monoxide
2
• Susceptible populations include old people, children, and people
with diabetes and predisposing heart or lung disease, especially • Sulphur dioxide
asthma.
3
• Nitrogen oxide
• Urban areas are more susceptible due to overpopulation and
uncontrolled urbanization along with the development of • Ozone
industrialization. • Particulate matter

4
• In developing countries, the women of the • PAH (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons)
household seem to carry the highest risk
for disease development due to their • Dixoins
longer duration exposure to the indoor air • VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds)
pollution.
(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020)
(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image: 1, www.dreamstime.com, 2, www.unep.org, 3, www.theguardian.com, 4, www. qz.com)

183 186
 Air pollution induced health effects Sulphur Dioxide
 Burning materials with a high sulfur content
produces sulfur dioxide. The most common
sources of sulfur dioxide include:
• coal-fired power stations
• diesel vehicles
• oil refineries
• shipping

Image: www.oecd-ilibrary.org (Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image, www.epa.vic.gov.au)

187 190

Carbon Monoxide Sulphur Dioxide health effects

• Colorless, odorless, tasteless gas ; “Silent  Short-term intermittent exposures

Killer” • Bronchoconstriction (temporary breathing
difficulty)
• Eye/Nose/Throat irritation
• Source: incomplete combustion of fuel • Mucus secretion
from transportation sector, energy
production, residential heating units,  Long-term exposures
some industrial processes • Respiratory illness
• Aggravates existing heart disease

Source: S. Dey, G.C. Dhal, 2019 (Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image, www.epa.vic.gov.au)

188 191

Carbon Monoxide health effects Sulphur Dioxide health effects: Example

• Accumulation of air pollution, especially sulfur dioxide and smoke,
reaching 1,500 mg/m3 , resulted in
1. 4,000 deaths in December 1952 during Great Smog of London.
2. 400 deaths in November 1963 during New York City Smoke

1 2

Image: www.britannica.com Image: www.nytimes.com

Source: S. Dey, G.C. Dhal, 2019

189 192
 Nitrogen Oxide Ozone health effects
 Source: Combustion of fuel at high temperature from mobile and
stationary combustion sources
• Car and truck exhausts
• Coal-fired power stations
• Industry Short term effect Long term effect
• Coughing • Respiratory diseases
 Prolonged exposure: pulmonary fibrosis (thickening of lung tissue), • Wheezing/Difficulty • Cardiovascular damage
emphysema (COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and breathing • Harm to liver, spleen, and
higher LRI (lower respiratory tract illness) in children • Irritation to eyes, nose, and blood
throat • Nervous system damage
• Headache • Cancer
• Dizziness • Birth defects
• Fatigue • Death

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image, www.epa.vic.gov.au) Source: www.scied.ucar.edu, Image: https://scied.ucar.edu/

193 196

Nitrogen Oxide health effects Lead

 Lead is a toxic metal whose widespread
use has caused extensive environmental
contamination and health problems in
many parts of the world.
Tailpipe emissions
 Source: burning fuels that contain lead Lead acid batteries

(phased out), metal processing, waste

incinerators, production of lead-acid
batteries, plumbing materials and alloys.

Source: biophysics.sbg.ac.at/mexico/galery.htm, accessed on 12/10/2021

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020)

194 197

Ozone Toxic effects of Lead

• Children are particularly vulnerable
 Ground-level ozone is a colorless and
highly irritating gas that is formed by to the neurotoxic effects of lead,
photochemical reaction just above the
earth's surface. • Relatively low levels of exposure
can also cause serious and in some
cases irreversible neurological
damage.

Source: www. acumenias.in Source: www.who.int

195 198
 Particulate Matter Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons(PAHs)
• Found in coal and in tar sediments.
• Particulate Matter (PM) is a mixture of
solid, liquid or both the particles • Source: incomplete combustion of
suspended in the air. organic matter as in the cases of
forest fires, incineration of solid
• Sources: Agricultural operations, waste, vehicular emissions and
industrial processes, combustion of wood engines.
and fossil fuels, construction, vehicular
emissions, and entrainment of road dust
into the air.

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image: www.timesofindia.com; Zhang et al., 2020) (Source: Hyun-Kim et al., 2013)

199 202

Health impacts of PAHs

PM and respiratory system of human

Image: www.encyclopedie-environnement.org

(Image: Manisalidis et al., 2020)

The exposure pathways (a) and adverse effects of PAHs exposure (b).
• Fine particles can invade the deepest parts of the In part of (a), the blue boxes represent exposure routes and red box
airways and more easily reach the bloodstream. represents discharge route

(Source: Sun, K., et al., 2013)

200 203

PM size and their Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs)

health effects
• (VOCs), such as toluene, benzene,
ethylbenzene, and xylene have
been found to be associated with
cancer in humans.

Source: www.vfa-solutions.com/en/home/indoor-air-quality/, accessed on 12/10/2021 (Source: Vandenbroucke, M., A., 2015)

201 204
 Health effects of VOCs Introduction
• Air pollutants have a negative impact on plant
growth.

• Air pollutants (such as O3 and NOx) affect the

metabolic function of the leaves and interfere Air pollutants Layers of a rainforest
with net carbon fixation by the plant canopy.

• When air pollution stress co-occurs with

other stresses, e.g. water stress, the growth
of the plants gets affected more.

(Source: Vandenbroucke, M., A., 2015; H. Rajabi et al., 2020) Source: Weber, J., D. Tingey, and C. Andersen, 2021, Image: https://geographyandyou.com/

205 208

Conclusions Factors influencing the impact of air pollution on plant

• Air pollution can have adverse impact on human health.
• Pollutant concentrations
• Health impacts depend on exposure and dose of air pollutants inhaled. Some may be • Exposure time
harmful when present in air in small concentration and others only if they are present • The genetic origin
in high concentration.
• Soil condition
• The population in urban areas are more susceptible to air pollution due to increased • Nutritional status of plants
urbanization and industrialization. • Age of plant
• Rate of growth of plant
• Exposure to sunlight
• Climatic conditions (temperature & humidity)
Source: Kolbert, Z., 2019

206 209

Injury vs Damage in Plants

• Injury: An observable alteration in the plant

Impact of Air Pollution on Vegetation and Animals when exposed to air pollution.
• Injury first appears as leaf injury, the spots
between the veins, leaf margin discoloration and
tip burns are common. Injury Damage
• Damage: economic or aesthetic loss due to
interference with the intended use of a plant.

Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel, Image: www.wateruse.org, www.shutterstock.com)

207 210
 Degree of injury against air pollution Air pollutants affecting plants
• These pollutants interfere with the
• Sulphur dioxide • Hydrogen sulphide
• The exposure to degree of injury • Fluoride compounds • Hydrogen cyanide
plant growth and photosynthesis.
follows linear relationship (like Hydrogen Fluoride) • Mercury • The major phytotoxic (detrimental
• Ozone • Herbicides (sprays for
• As the exposure increases injury • Chlorine weed killer)
to plants) air pollutants are ozone,
may occur. sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
• Hydrogen chloride • Ethylene
• Nitrogen oxides (NO, • PAN (peroxy acetyl
NO2, etc.) nitrate)
• Ammonia • Smog

Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel) Source: (Air Pollution, MN Rao and HVN Rao, 2007)

211 214

Pathways of pollutant entrance to plant 1/2 Effects of Ozone on plants (1/2)

 Direct way:  Ozone enters the tree through stomatal openings on the leaf
• Through stomates which open and Stomata
and reacts with leaf tissues to inhibit photosynthesis process.
close to allow air through the interior
parts. Stomates are the microscopic  Ozone also disrupts carbohydrate transport to the leaves
openings or pores in the epidermis of which increases the sugar concentration and makes the
leaves and young stems. foliage more susceptible to insect attack.

 Indirect way:
• Pollutants deposit in soil and water and
these pollutants are taken by the roots
of the plant.

Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel, Image: www.sciencephoto.com, https://learn.e-limu.org/) Source: Das, P., Effect of Air Pollution on Vegetation, accessed on 13/10/2021; Image: Cailleret et al., 2018

212 215

Pathways of pollutant entrance to plant 2/2 Effects of Ozone on plants (2/2)

 A pollutant undergoes many reactions Types of trees/plant Symptoms due to ozone stress
Pollutant in during the presence in the boundary
Environment Deciduous trees Purple marking on upper surfaces of leaves.
layer:
• Water film present on cuticle. Coniferous trees Yellow spots on needles, shorter needles and loss of needles.
Mediated through biotic
and environmental factors • Lipid phase consisting of the waxes
present in epicuticular cells. Hardwoods and pines Chlorosis (yellowing) and premature leaf-drop
Sub cellular • Gaseous phase consisting of the
components of the atmosphere and the
emissions of the leaf.
Cellular

Plant organ

Whole plant

Source: Kolbert, Z., 2019, Image: www.encyclopedie-environnement.org Source: Das, P., Effect of Air Pollution on Vegetation, accessed on 13/10/2021

213 216
Effects of SO2 and NOx on plants (1/2)
Symptoms of air
pollutants in plants
• Nitrogen oxides, along with sulfur dioxide, are the
primary causes of acid deposition or “acid rain.” with threshold
levels 1/2
• Acid rain weakens the tree by damaging leaves and
limiting the uptake of nutrients.

• At lower pH levels, the majority of macronutrients

become unavailable for tree growth.

Source: Das, P., Effect of Air Pollution on Vegetation, accessed on 13/10/2021; Image: www.internetgeography.net Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel)

217 220

Effects of SO2 and NOx on plants (2/2) Symptoms of air

pollutants in plants
• Acid rain facilitates the leaching of
beneficial nutrients from the soil and at with threshold
the same time increases the release of levels 2/2
substances such as aluminum that are
more toxic to trees and plants.

• This effect is a “one-two punch” that can

severely impact the ability of trees to
grow.

Source: Das, P., Effect of Air Pollution on Vegetation, accessed on 13/10/2021 Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel)

218 221

Examples of damage by other pollutants Impact of Air Pollution on Animals

PAN (Peroxyacetyl Nitrate) creates glazy

bronzing on the underside of the newly
expanded potato leaves. Fluorine damage: Marginal necrosis

Source: Das, P., Effect of Air Pollution on Vegetation, accessed on 13/10/2021 Source: www.labroots.com; www.gbclb.org; plantbasednews.org

219 222
 Introduction Effect on pets
 In the case of animals we are concerned primarily with a
two-step process:  Household pets suffer an increased risk of
• accumulation of airborne contaminants on or in tumors when exposed to polluted air over an
vegetation or forage that serves as their feed and, extended period of time.
• subsequent effects of the ingested herbage on animals.
Dog suffering from nasal infections  Dogs undergo cough, nose and throat diseases.
 Not every exposure to air pollution is by inhalation, the
animal ingests the contaminant after deposition.  Particulate matter in the air has been linked to
cardiac arrest in dogs and veterinarians
sometimes attribute pet deaths to the effects of
air pollution.

Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel; Image: www.dogtime.com, www.agri.wa.gov.au) (Source: Rebecca Watts Hull, 2011; Image: www.images.hindustantimes.com, www.encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com)

223 226

Impact of air pollution on animal life

• Altered animal behavior: Chemicals and heavy metals
Effect on amphibians
have a direct influence on the social and mating
behaviors of animals.
• Diseases and Mortality: Organ toxicity arising from Altered animal behavior  Air pollution has been linked to changes in
CFCs and NH3, volatile organic compounds (VOC), both physiology and behavior in toads and
Mercury, CO, NOx, and SO2 is a silent killer, taking the other amphibians.
lives of wildlife.
• Biodiversity loss: excess deposition of airborne
Biodiversity loss  Ozone impairs immune systems in human
nitrogen (N) in the form of ammonia is among the beings and studies show it affects toads in
main stressors to biodiversity. a similar way.
• Change in species distribution Industrial air pollution
can cause a change in the abundance of a particular
species.
Source: www.conserve-energy-future.com; Image: www. c8.alamy.com, www.discovermagazine.com (Source: Rebecca Watts Hull, 2011; Image: Manuel, J., 1997)

224 227

Impact on animals during air pollution event

Effect on Birds
Air pollutant
Impact on animals
event
 Birds are affected directly by coal power
Meuse Valley, • Illness and mortality among pets and • Air pollution events production exhaust, which can damage birds’
Donora, 1948 farm animals revealed the exposure of respiratory systems.
• Dogs, cats, and poultry were the most air pollution on animals
susceptible species. Larger farm  Deposition of air pollutants in wetlands increases
animals were generally unaffected pH results in death of fishes and decline in the
London fog, 1952 • Cattle were reported to be severely osprey population as sources of food become
affected. scarce.
Poza Rica, 1950 • Animals including canaries, chickens,  Discoloration of birds occurs due to the trace
cattle, pigs, geese, ducks, and dogs amount of black carbon in the air.
were affected.
Source: Effects of Air Pollution on Animals, Catcott, E., J., accessed on 13/10/2021 (Source: Rebecca Watts Hull, 2011; Image: Wood, M., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017)

225 228
 Effect on Fish Fluoride
 Acid rain falling in rivers and streams causes pH levels  The farm animals most susceptible to fluoride
to decrease, killing fish that are sensitive to pH toxicosis are cattle and sheep, followed by horses and
fluctuations. then poultry. Dental fluorosis

 Acidic rivers and streams can cause respiratory distress  Acute effects of fluoride
in fish. • Lack of appetite, weight loss, health declination,
Bone deformity
diarrhea, muscle weakness and may be death.
 Acidic water is generally clearer, causing a temperature
and light increase in the water, resulting in the  Chronic effects of fluoride
relocation of native fish that need a cooler and darker • Bone deformity, for example overgrowth of bone.
habitat in order to survive. • Malnutrition, retardation in growth.

(Source: Rebecca Watts Hull, 2011; Image; www. sciencing.com, Al-dahan and Ali, 2017) Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel; Image: www.wikiwand.com, Sharma et al., 2017)

229 232

Degre
Effect on Insects e of
Fluoro
 Insects are very susceptible to air pollution.
sis vs • The fluoride ingestion level correlates
 Small fluctuations in air quality force certain
insects to relocate, affecting other plants and
Fluori with the fluoride content of bones
and urine.
animals connected to them. de
 Insects that are affected by air pollution digest level
organic waste less effectively. This result in a in
buildup of organic waste when air pollution rises in
an area. anima
ls
(Source: Rebecca Watts Hull, 2011) Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel)

230 233

Major pollutants affecting health of farm animals Tolerance limit of Fluoride

• Fluorosis of animals in contaminated
 Three major air pollutants responsible for areas can be avoided by keeping the
livestock damage are: intake levels below tolerance levels.

• Increased consumption of aluminum

 Fluoride
and calcium salts can reduce the
toxicity of fluorides in animals.
 Arsenic

 Lead

Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel; Image: www.animalspot.net) Source: (Fundamentals of Air Pollution, R W Boubel)

231 234
 Arsenic Skin infections in cow
Effects of lead on animals
 Arsenic present in coal and iron ores, causes poisoning of
livestock near industrial region.

 Acute effects of Arsenic

• Severe salivation, thirst, vomiting, uneasiness, irregular
pulse and respiration,
• Abnormal temperature and convulsion, death may occur
in few hours or days. • Cattle showing head • Advanced stages of lead poisoning; cattle
pressing behavior became out of control and crashes into
obstacles
 Chronic effects of Arsenic
• Depressing effect on central nervous system.
• Thickening of skin, anemia, paralysis and may be death.
Source: (Air Pollution, MN Rao and HVN Rao, 2007: Image: Bertin et al., 2013) Source: Gupta, V., Heavy metal toxicity in animals, accessed on 13/10/2021

235 238

Effects of Arsenic on animals Other pollutants and their effects on animals

• Ozone (O3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx)
cause direct, irreversible damage to birds
lungs.

• Long-term exposure can lead to lung

Death of bird
failure, poor immune system and
• Putsule formation (accumulation of
reproductive success, population decline.
• Hyperkeratosis (thickening of the • Severe jaundice in cattle
outer layer of the skin) in sheep pus at the surface of the skin) in sheep
• Exposure to polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), toxic chemicals
emitted by traffic, may cause reduced
egg production and growth impairments Infections in eggs of bird
in birds.

Source: Zubair, M., 2017 Source: (Air Pollution, MN Rao and HVN Rao, 2007; Image: www.msd-animal-health-hub.co.uk, www.urbanairpollution6.weebly.com, dragonflyissuesinevolution13.wikia.org )

236 239

Lead Conclusion
 Lead sources may include smelters, coke ovens
• Air pollution have detrimental effects on both vegetation and animals.
and coal combustion processes.
• The airborne particles deposited on the plants effects the plant life and animal life as it
Nostril infection
 Acute effects of lead Depression in behaviour
serve as the food to many animals.
• Prostration, staggering and inability to rise,
loss of appetite, diarrhea.
• Air pollution can disrupt the food-chain and eco-
system resulting in biodiversity losses.
 Chronic effects of lead
• Paralysis of muscles of throat area and
difficulty in breathing.

Source: (Air Pollution, MN Rao and HVN Rao, 2007; Image: Barbosa et al., 2014)

237 240
 Types of air pollution-related damages (1/6)
• Discoloration
• Material loss
• Black crust formation
Impacts of Air Pollution on Building Materials and Structures
• Structural failure
• Abrasion action

Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014 Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016

241 244

Introduction (1/2) Types of air pollution-related damages(2/6)

Discoloration
• The quantity of air pollution emissions from • The color of the stone material
(Marble) starts damaging when the
transportation, energy generation, and industrial
stone material exposed to a
operations has increased as a result of rapid
polluted environment.
industrialization. • Taj Mahal is becoming yellowish
• The impact of air pollution on building materials is from white because of the
surrounding polluted environment.
significant, reducing the service life of buildings.

1992 2018

Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: https://all-free-download.com Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: www.dailymail.co.uk

242 245

Introduction (2/2) Types of air pollution-related damages (3/6)

Material loss
• The degradation of building and • SO2 is the main pollutant which is responsible
building materials is more due to for the corrosion of the building material.
• Sulphation phenomenon is mainly responsible
manmade air pollutants than the
for the erosion.
natural pollutants.
• The exposed surface of the material eroded.

Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: https://unece.org Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014 Image: www.biology.ualberta.ca

243 246
Types of air pollution-related damages (4/6) Meteorological Factors Responsible for Degradation
Structure failure
• Relative humidity
• Stone material may have different density and porosity.
• Temperature
• After a long period, frost damage and salt weathering
• Wind movement
are both very damaging to porous materials.
• Hydrated salts induce increased crystallization
pressures, which lead to the formation of cracks.

Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: https://socratic.org Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016

247 250

Types of air pollution-related damages (5/6) Relative Humidity

• Relative humidity or moisture is
Abrasion action
• Particulate matter like soot and dust are very important factor for the
the responsible. degradation of building material.
• Abrasive nature depends upon the wind
velocity around the exposure site.

• Air pollutants become acidic in

presence of moisture in atmosphere.
Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: https://geologylearn.blogspot.com Sources:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1010447510562 Image:https://study.com

248 251

Types of air pollution-related damages (6/6) Wind movement

Formation of black crust At low wind conditions, air pollutants concentration could
• Particulate matter includes the light absorbing
be high in that area.
components.
• Such as Organic carbons and dust which is Thus, the accumulation of air pollutants over the building
responsible for the formation of the black crust on
material and the structures could be responsible for the
the surface of the stone materials.
degradation.

High wind velocity could erode the exposed surface of the

building materials
Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: https://www.jcms-journal.com Sources:https://www.mdpi.com Image:https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk

249 252
Temperature Oxides of Sulphur (SOx)
• Acceleration of corrosion with an increase • It is a corrosive gas; comes from chemical, paper industries. When it reacts with moisture
in temperature in the low temperature in atmosphere it causes acid rain which is responsible for the material degradation.
Range
• Retardation of corrosion with an increase O2 H2O
SO2 (g) SO3 (g) H2SO4
in temperature in the high temperature Sulphur Sulphur Sulphuric
Dioxides Trioxides Acid
range.

Sources:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1010447510562 Image:https://www.degruyter.com Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016

253 256

Air Pollutants Responsible for degradation Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)

• It is produced from burning of fossil fuels and is responsible for acid rain when it reacts
• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
with moisture presents in the atmosphere.
• Oxides of Sulphur (SOx)
• Acid rain causes tremendous impact on the surface of the material.
• Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)
• Ozone (O3)
2NO2 + H2O 2HNO3 + NO
• Particulate matters (PM) Nitrogen Nitric Nitrogen
Dioxide Acid Monoxide

Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016

254 257

Carbon dioxide(CO2) Ozone (O3)

Sunlight
• It is also produced from burning of fossil fuels and it is also responsible for acid rain. • Ozone is present in two layers of the NO2 NO + O*

atmosphere i.e. Troposphere and

CO2 + H2O H2CO3 O* + O2 O3
Stratosphere.
Carbon Carbonic
Dioxide Acid • It is a very reactive substance and
O3 + NO NO2 + O2
causes the degradation of materials,
such as fabrics and rubber.

Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016

255 258
Particulate matters (PM) Chemistry of Corrosion (3/3)
• Particulates such as soot, dust and fumes Wet Deposition
that deteriorate exposed surface of the Image 1 Image 2 • Wet deposition occurs when the pollutants react
building material, because of their abrasive with water (moisture) present in atmosphere to
nature. form diluted acids.
Erosion
• Particulate matters are mainly responsible • The intensity of damage caused by SO2 is more
Exposed surface

Image 3
for the black crust formation on the compared to the other pollutants.

exposed surface of the building materials.

Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image 1: www.earthtimes.org Image 2: www.nbmcw.com Image 3: www.researchgate.net Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: https://sites.google.com

259 262

Chemistry of Corrosion (1/3) Affected Materials

Almost all materials are affected by the air pollutants deposition, but
• Air pollution may be deposited on
the exposed surface in the two the degree of damage is varied. Some of them are more susceptible
form: such as:
 Dry deposition and Wet deposition • Metals and Non-metals
• Stone: Limestone and Marble
• Brick and Mortar
• Concrete
• Paints and Polymers
Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: https://www.apis.ac.uk Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016

260 263

Chemistry of Corrosion (2/3) Sensitive materials against air pollutants

AFFECTED Material RANGE OF SENSITIVITY
Dry deposition Brick Very low
• Some of the gaseous pollutants may fall close Concrete Low
Mortar Moderate to high
to the emission sources, causing direct
Sandstone, limestone, marble High (severely affected by SO2)
damage.
Unalloyed steel High (severely affected by SO2)
• Dry deposition is most damaging in the Exposed surface
Stainless steel Very low
sheltered area. Nickel and nickel-plated steel High (severely affected by SO2)
Zinc and galvanised steel High (severely affected by SO2)
Aluminium Very low
Copper Low

Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: https://sites.google.com Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016

261 264
Effects on Metals (1/4) Effects on Metals (4/4)
Metals are divided into two categories: • In coastal regions chlorides play a

Ferrous Non-ferrous significant role as it accelerates the

corrosion of metals.
• Contain iron and include various • Metals that do not contain iron,
• But ozone may be important in
types of steel such as carbon e.g., zinc, aluminum, copper, and
accelerating some reactions.
steel. silver

Source: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Source: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image :https://rwu.pressbooks.pub

265 268

Effects on Metals (2/4) Effects on non-ferrous metal panels after 20 years exposure
Exposure Average loss in weight (%)
• Atmospheric corrosion of metals is generally an conditions • Nonferrous metals are also
Cu Al Brass Ni Pb Zn
electrochemical process only occurring when the surface subject to corrosion, but to
Industrial 6.1 - 8.5 25.2 1.8 30.7
is wet. a lesser degree than ferrous
Seacoast 5.4 2.6 1.3 0.6 2.1 6.9
metals.
• The most important parameters for the corrosion which
Rural 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.4 0.8
are humidity, precipitation, temperature and levels of
atmospheric pollutants.

Source: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image: www.dreamstime.com Source: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008

266 269

Effects on Metals (3/4) Effects on stones

• The atmospheric pollutants, SO2 causes • The various types of stones commonly used as building materials such as:

most damaging for the corrosion of Calcareous stones Siliceous stones

metals. Exp: Sandstone, Exp: Granite, Quartz and
• The role of NOx and ozone in the Limestone, and Marble. Feldspar.

corrosion of metals is uncertain. Rich in calcite (CaCO3) Rich in silicon dioxide

(SiO2)
Damage due to acid Damage due to acid
deposition is significant deposition is insignificant

Source: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image:https://www.twi-global.com Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014

267 270
Stone Degradation Reactions Effects on calcareous stones (1/3)
SO2 + H2O + CaCO3 CaSO4 + CaSO4.2H2O Stage III (long term)
Calcite Calcium Sulphate Gypsum • In sheltered areas where CaSO4 is not intermittently
washed away, So there is build-up of non steady salts.
CO2 + H2O H2CO3 • This results in the formation of a crust which may be
Carbon Dioxide Carbonic Acid followed by exfoliation (peeling).
• The formation of crusts is slow and exfoliation is very
H2CO3 + CaCO3 Ca(HCO3)2 damaging for the stone.
Calcite Calcium Bicarbonate

Source: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014 Image: https://www.researchgate.net

271 274

Effects on calcareous stones (1/3) Effects on Brick and Mortar

The deterioration can be broken down into three
• The brick is unaffected by SO2 attack.
processes:
• Mortar consists of sand, calcium hydroxide
Stage I (short term)
• Simple dissolution of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in [Ca(OH)2] and other carbonate phases.

presence of acid rain. • The primary agent of mortar erosion is acid

• Attack by dry deposition of gaseous pollutants
attack on the calcareous cement binder.
especially SO2.

Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014 Image: https://www.exportersindia.com Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014 Image: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/12/17/2694/htm

272 275

Effects on calcareous stones (2/3) Effects on Concrete (1/2)

Stage II (medium term) • Cement is the major binding agent used in
• Dissolution of CaCO3 plus the fall-out of less concrete.
soluble granular particles from the CaCO3 • Cement is an alkaline material which is
matrix. susceptible to acid attack.
• The removal of small amounts of the CaCO3, • Badly prepared concrete led to steel corrosion,
may loosen a considerable number of sand cracks will develop.
grains that leading to more severe surface
erosion.

Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014 Image: https://webmis.highland.cc.il.us Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014 Image: https://www.howtobuildahouseblog.com

273 276
Effects on Concrete (2/2) Maintenance influencing factor (damage thickness)
• The system becomes more accessible to Materials Critical Thickness • Maintenance required when losses exceeds
of damage
the attack by SO2. the critical thickness.
Natural stones 4 mm
• The corrosion products of steel occupy a • For natural stone and mortar, it is assumed
Mortar 4 mm
greater volume than the steel. that maintenance action will be required
Zinc 50 μm
after 4 mm of surface is lost.
Galvanised steel 50 μm

Paints 50 μm

Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014 Imgage: https://www.wikiwand.com Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014

277 280

Effects on Paints Economic impacts

• Damage to paint and polymeric materials can • Air pollution is directly responsible for economic
occur from acidic deposition and from losses in urban areas.
photochemical oxidants, particularly ozone • The effect of corrosion due to acidic deposition
(O3). costs a lot.
• The most serious impact studied involves the • It increases annual maintenance cost.
influence of SO2 on paints with CaCO3 fillers. • Decreases lifespan of the building.

Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014 Image:https://www.123rf.com Sources: Venkat Rao, N., et al. 2016 Image: www.insurancejournal.com

278 281

Effects on Polymers Damage Costs based on area affected by corrosion

Estimation of repair costs
• O3 is known to damage some polymeric
Materials Euro/m2 • Repair and maintenance costs
materials such as plastics and rubbers.
• When rubber is under tension, O3 attacks the Natural stones 280 [Euro/m2] applied in analysis.
C=C and break the bonds. Mortar 30

• The number of cracks and the depth of the Zinc 25

cracks in rubber under tension are related to Galvanised steel 30
ambient concentrations of O3. Paints 13

Source: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image: http://satratechnology.com/ozone-chambers.php Source: Rabl, Ari, et al. 2014

279 282
Remedial measures (1/2)
• Restriction on vehicular traffic and industrial activities for
reduction of the air pollutants. Impact of Air Pollution on Atmosphere, Soil and Water Bodies
• Application of the preservative coating on the building surface.
• Material used like acrylic copolymers and siloxanes because of
their good adhesion film forming properties.

Source: www.indianjournals.com Image 1: nexpore.com Image 2: concretesealerreviews.com

283 286

Remedial measures (2/2) Impacts on atmosphere

• Removal of the soluble salts from surface of • Air pollution in the form of Greenhouse Gases, e.g., CO2
and CH4, raises the temperature of earth/atmosphere.
the stone material by paper pulp.
• Air pollutants affect the albedo of the earth surface.
• Paper pulp extract the soluble salt from the
pore/cavities of the stone materials. • Air pollutants such as CO2, SO2 and NOx are main causes
of the acidic rainfall.
• This is a nondestructive method.
• Visibility is also affected by the air pollution in the
atmosphere.

Source: www.indianjournals.com Image: www.reseachgate.net Sources: Singh et al., 2017, www.britannica.com, 13 Oct 2021 Image: www.mindler.com

284 287

Conclusions Air pollution and visibility (1/2)

• Air pollution causes deterioration of both metals and rocky Example:
• In India, air pollution was reduced in lockdown period, hence visibility improved.
materials. SO2 is responsible for most corrosion related effects.
• The polluted environment is degrading the historical monuments and reduces the life
span of these buildings.
• The annual maintenance cost of corrosion is increasing, world wise is over 3 % of the
world’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
• O3 is found the most damaging pollutants for the polymers such as plastic and rubbers.

Sources: www.weforum.org

285 288
 Air pollution and visibility (2/2) Types of Haze (2/2)
• Visibility is a measure of how well an observer
can see a scene. Layered haze is a confined layer of
pollutants that creates a visible
• If air pollution increases, the contrast may contrast between that layer and
decrease, reducing our ability to see the the sky or landscape behind it.
object.

• In an unstable atmosphere,
plumes and layers mix with the
surrounding atmosphere
creating a uniform haze.

Sources: VALLERO, DANIEL A. 2008 Image: www.nps.gov Sources: vista.cira.colostate.edu, 12 Oct 2021

289 292

How Haze affects the visibility ? Effects of poor visibility (1/2)

Affect the transportation of
• Haze is caused when sunlight encounters goods and people, whether it is
tiny pollution particles in the air. by rail, road, sea or air.

• More pollutants mean more absorption Low visibility can lead to

and scattering of light, which reduce the accidents and thus is a concern
for public safety.
visibility.
Tourism is often dependent on
good visibility for appreciation
of scenic points of interest.

Sources: Rule & EPA., 2006 Image: www.sciencedirect.com Sources: Singh et al., 2017 Image: tourism.gov.in, www.shutterstock.com

290 293

Types of Haze (1/2) Effects of poor visibility (2/2)

• Haze is a phenomenon caused by
interaction of air pollutants emitted Example:
from various sources and its • Sharp decrease in visibility due to increased
interaction with atmospheric
constituents. particulate matter (PM) and NO2 concentrations
during a smog event in November 2012 in Delhi,
There are three types of haze:
India.
• Plume Haze: A plume is defined as
a dense, vertically limited layer of
air pollution emitted by a single
point source.
Sources: vista.cira.colostate.edu, 12 Oct 2021 Image: https://scroll.in Sources: Singh et al., 2017 Image: www.hindustantimes.com

291 294
 Effects on Albedo (1/4) Effects on Albedo (4/4)

• Some aerosols, such as sea salt particles,

• Albedo, fraction of light that is reflected by
reflect sunlight back into space, which can
a body or surface.
help to cool the atmosphere.

• It is a significant concern in climatology • Others, such as black carbon particles from

since recent decrease in albedo in the burning of wood or fossil fuels, absorb most
Arctic has increased heat absorption at of the sunlight that hits them, which leads
the surface resulting in melting of surface to warming.
ice.

Sources: www.britannica.com, 13 Oct 2021 Image: https://www.wbtv.com Sources: https://scied.ucar.edu, 10 Oct 2021 Image: www.semanticscholar.org

295 298

Effects on Albedo (2/4) Impacts on Climate (1/7)

• When soot enters the atmosphere, it absorbs • Pollutant releases into the air via car exhaust,
sunlight and generates heat, warming the air. smokestacks at factories and power plants,
agricultural emissions, and other sources can
• When soot is deposited on snow and ice, it cause climate change.
changes the albedo of that surface, absorbing
sunlight and generating heat. • Greenhouse gases (such as CH4 and CO2, and O3)
cause the climate change by inducing global
• This causes snow and ice to melt and causing even warming due to trapping of outgoing longwave
more warming effects. i.e. heat radiation emitted by the earth to the
upper atmosphere.

Sources: www.windows2universe.org Image: https://www.worldgreenbridge.org Sources: https://scied.ucar.edu, 10 Oct 2021 Image: www.giphy.com

296 299

Effects on Albedo (3/4) Impacts on Climate (2/7)

• Aerosol particles are released into the
• Aerosols in the atmosphere can change
upper atmosphere to reflect sunlight back
the amount of solar energy reflected away
into space.
from Earth.
• As a result, aerosol particles increase the
planet's albedo.
• As we learned in Albedo, depending on
• The planet gets cooled as a result of this
their physicochemical characteristics the
change in albedo.
aerosols can induce either warming or
cooling effects in the atmosphere.

Sources: https://keith.seas.harvard.edu Sources: https://scied.ucar.edu, 10 Oct 2021 Image: www.mrgscience.com

297 300
 Impacts on Climate (3/7) Impacts on Climate (6/7)
• Glaciers are shrinking: the average
thickness of 30 well-studied glaciers has
• Greenhouse gases remain in the atmosphere decreased more than 60 feet since 1980.
for years, much longer than aerosols can stay
in the atmosphere • Sea level rise has increased from 1.7
mm/year throughout most of the
• The warming effect of greenhouse gases is twentieth century to 3.2 mm/year since
larger than the cooling effect of aerosols. 1993.

Sources: scied.ucar.edu, 10 Oct 2021 Image: IPCC, 2007 Source: www.noaa.gov, February 1, 2019 Image: climate.nasa.gov, Nov 5, 2020 & https://climate.columbia.edu, May 5, 2017

301 304

Impacts on Climate (4/7) Impacts on Climate (7/7)

• The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
 Change in temperature pattern
has risen by 25% since 1958, and by about 40%
since the Industrial Revolution.
• Global average temperature rose about 1.8°F
(1°C) from 1901 to 2020.
• The area covered by sea ice in the Arctic at the
end of summer has shrunk by about 40% since
1979.

Source: World Meteorological Organization (WMO), & www.noaa.gov Image: berkeleyearth.org Source: www.noaa.gov, February 1, 2019 Image: www.eea.europa.eu, 23 Jan 2013, www.nasa.gov

302 305

Impacts on Climate (5/7) Impacts on Soil (1/2)

 Change in precipitation rainfall pattern
• Air pollution can significantly affect the quality of soil.
• There are many reasons for changes in
precipitation. The leading cause is a change • Acid rain can alter the productivity of the soil, which can
in atmospheric temperature due to GHGs. affect plant growth.
• Many scientists believe an increase in
• SOx and NOx are major causes of acid rain.
Image 1
temperature could lead to a more intense
water cycle.
• Aerosols also influence the precipitation
patterns

Image 2

Source: http://www.cotf.edu, 14 Oct 2021 Sources: www.canada.ca, 11 Oct 2021 Image 1: www.psychologicalscience.org Image 2: www.momspresso.com

303 306
 Impacts on Soil (2/2) Soil characteristics (3/6)

• Acid rain is known to cause serious negative • Sulfuric or nitric acid, that fall to the ground
Impacts (like loss of nutrients, minerals and from the atmosphere in the form of wet
deposition or dry deposition, leads to
elements) on soil. reduction of pH of the soils.
• As a result, acid deposition reduces the
productivity of the soil.

Sources: www.canada.ca, 11 Oct 2021 Image: www.pinterest.com Source: https://www.unep.org, 17 Oct 2021 Image: https://ocw.jhsph.edu

307 310

Soil characteristics (1/6) Soil characteristics (4/6)

Soil sample
 NPK: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium Water Holding Capacity Water holding in the pores
pH  WHC: Water holding capacity
 WHC is the amount of water soil can hold
against the force of gravity. The ideal range is
40 % - 50 %.
Soil Nutrient/NPK  A low WHC will result in plants not having
WHC characteristics Content access to enough water.

 A high WHC will result in plant roots sitting in

water and that may cut off the air supply to the
Salinity plants root.
Source: Mahapatuna, M. (2020) Source: Mahapatuna, M. (2020) Image: Vengadaramana and Jashothan, 2012

308 311

Soil characteristics (2/6) Soil characteristics (5/6)

pH Nutrient/NPK Content

 The optimal pH range for soil is 6.2-6.8.  NPK content refers to the amount of nitrogen,
phosphorus, and potassium that soil contains.
 If soil is too acidic, lacks the ability to retain
certain important nutrients like magnesium,  Plant growth and immunity are harmed when
calcium and potassium. one or more of the three macronutrients are
deficient.
 If soil is too alkaline, minerals such as iron and zinc
will solidify and negatively impact the health of
plants.

Source: Mahapatuna, M. (2020) Image: https://soilquality.org.au Source: Mahapatuna, M. (2020)

309 312
Soil characteristics (6/6) Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) rich soil
Salinity • Soils are not equal in their vulnerability or

 Soil salinity is the amount of salt contained in resistance to acid rain.

soil. • As CaCO3 chemically neutralizes acids, soils

 High soil salinity can adversely affect the plants. with higher CaCO3 contents (such as limestone
and dolomite) are more resistant to acid rain.
 Subject to the laws of osmosis, salinity causes
the water within plants to flow towards the soil
and hydrate soil, leaving plants and crops dry. SO2 + H2O + CaCO3 CaSO4 + CaSO4.2H2O

Source: Mahapatuna, M. (2020) Image: https://ucanr.edu Sources: www.canada.ca, 11 Oct 2021 Image: imaggeo.egu.eu

313 316

Air pollutants and soil (1/2) Calcium carbonate free soil

 Particulate matter is found in the air and
can consist of dust, smoke, and dirt • Soils that contain lower levels of CaCO3 are
particles with various physicochemical particularly vulnerable to acid rain.
characteristics.

 Depending upon their physicochemical and

toxic characteristics Particulate Matters
(PM), the nutrient content of soil can be
severely affected.

Source: Mahapatuna, M. (2020) Sources: www.canada.ca, 11 Oct 2021 Image: www.britannica.com

314 317

Air pollutants and soil (2/2) Heavy metals contaminated soil

• Heavy metals accumulate at soil top.
Oxides of Sulfur and Nitrogen contribute to acid Their contamination increases in the
rain and interfere with the chemical composition of soil with time.
soil.
• It leads to the absorption and
Lead is absorbed in small amounts by vegetation accumulation of heavy metals in
through the soil, lowering its productivity. plants.

Source: Mahapatuna, M. (2020) Image: https://www.atmos.illinois.edu Sources: Ashraf et al., 2019 Image: www.phys.org

315 318
 Acidic Impacts on water bodies (1/2) Thermal Impacts on water bodies (1/2)
• If air is polluted, it also pollutes the precipitation • Global warming is a process where the average
that falls into water bodies. global temperature increases due to the
• Some rivers, lakes or coastal areas may seem to greenhouse effect.
be clean. • The ocean absorbs most of the excess heat
• But these areas still be polluted because of acid from greenhouse gas emissions, leading
precipitation from rain, snow and particulate to rising ocean temperature.
matter.

Sources: www.canada.ca, 11 Oct 2021 Image: www.freepik.com Sources: www.water-pollution.org.uk, www.iucn.org/, 10 Oct 2021 Image: www.thegwpf.com

319 322

Acidic Impacts on water bodies (2/2) Thermal Impacts on water bodies (2/2)
• The increasing ocean temperature affects
 Lethal effects of Acid rain marine species and ecosystems.
• Acid precipitation in the form of snow is suddenly
• For example, the bleaching of coral reefs
released into the water system during the spring all over the world is caused by rising sea
temperatures.
melt, called acid shock.
• This acid shock can be lethal for many aquatic
organisms such as fish.

Sources: www.canada.ca, 11 Oct 2021 Image: https://mixkit.co Sources: www.water-pollution.org.uk, 10 Oct 2021 Image: pivot.mias.org.au

320 323

Acidic Impacts on water bodies (3/3) Impacts of Nitrogen on water bodies

Eutrophication
Example:
• Study Location: Mosul province, Iraq • Dry/Wet deposition of nitrogen oxides (NOx)
• Considered as the largest sulfur mine in the world. results in rapid and significant increase in plant
• SO2 was responsible for the acid rain in the area. and algal growth because of extra availability of
• At pH lower than 5, most fish eggs were not nutrient/nitrogen.
hatched and lower pH also killed the adult fish.
• This excessive growth within a water body is
called eutrophication which leads to low levels
of dissolved oxygen and threat to aquatic life.

Sources: (Al-dahhan et al., 2017) Sources: Diatta et al., 2020, www.canada.ca, 11 Oct 2021

321 324
 Conclusions Introduction: Ozone Layer (1/2)
• Air pollution causes serious effects on the atmosphere, climate, soil, and water. • Ozone (O3) is a highly reactive gas
composed of three oxygen atoms.
• Air pollution reduces the surrounding visibility that can cause accidents during
• Most atmospheric ozone is concentrated
transportation. in a layer in the stratosphere, about 15
• Acid rain formation can make lakes, rivers, and streams to 30 km above the Earth's surface.
• At any given time, ozone molecules are
unsuitable for aquatic life.
constantly formed and destroyed in the
• Soil is mainly polluted by deposition of acids and heavy metals. stratosphere.
• The total amount has remained
• Greenhouse gases is responsible for increase in the atmospheric temperature and
relatively stable during the decades that
cause various negative impacts including the bleaching of coral reefs. it has been measured.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science

325 328

Introduction: Ozone Layer (2/2)

Global and Regional Environmental Issues: • The ozone layer, absorbs the amount of
harmful UV radiation reaching the Earth's
surface.

1. Ozone Layer Depletion • UV radiation has been linked to many

harmful effects, such as skin cancers,
2. Global Warming
cataracts (blurred vision), and harm to
3. Climate Change vegetation/crops and marine life.
4. Acid Rain

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science Image: https://scied.ucar.edu

326 329

Stratospheric ozone formation (1/2)

• Stratospheric ozone is formed
naturally through the interaction
of solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation
Global and Regional Environmental Issues- Global Warming with molecular oxygen (O2).

• Where hν represents a photon

with energy dependent on the
frequency of light.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-pollution-and-your-patients-health/what-ozone Image: https://ozone.unep.org

327 330
 Stratospheric ozone formation (2/2) Ozone layer Depletion (1/3)

• When chlorine and bromine atoms come

• At a given altitude and latitude a dynamic
into contact with ozone in the stratosphere,
equilibrium exists with a corresponding
they destroy ozone molecules.
steady-state ozone concentration.
• One chlorine atom can destroy over
• This interaction of UV radiation with
100,000 ozone molecules before it is
oxygen and ozone prevents the
removed from the stratosphere.
penetration of shortwave UV to the
earth’s surface.

Source: (Vallero, 2008) Image: www.climatecentral.org Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science Image: www.theozonehole.org

331 334

Tropospheric ozone formation (1/2) Ozone layer Depletion (2/3)

Tropospheric or ground-level ozone • CFCs are chemically very stable compounds
which remains in the troposphere for long
• It is not emitted directly into the air but is periods of time.
created by photochemical reactions of its
precursors, e.g., oxides of nitrogen (NOx) • CFCs in the stratosphere would imbalance the
and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in ozone formation.
the presence of sunlight.
• CFCs would be exposed to UV light in the
• These pollutants (NOx and VOC) majorly stratosphere and undergo photodissociation,
emitted by cars, power plants, industrial producing chlorine atoms (Cl), which would
boilers, refineries, and chemical plants. interfere with ozone.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/ground-level-ozone-basics Image: https://www.semanticscholar.org Source: (Vallero, 2008) Image: www.theozonehole.org

332 335

Tropospheric ozone formation (2/2) Ozone layer Depletion (3/3)

• Peak concentration of ozone usually occur
during afternoon hours, when sunlight is the • The chlorine atoms would provide
most intense. destruction pathway for ozone that shifts
the steady-state ozone to a lower value.
• However, areas downwind of major sources of
VOC and NOx may experience ozone peaks in • Because of the catalytic nature, one
the late afternoon and evening, after wind has chlorine atom destroys many ozone
carried ozone and its VOC and NOx precursors molecules.
many miles from their sources.

• Thus, high ozone concentrations can occur in

remote areas and at various times of day.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-pollution-and-your-patients-health/what-ozone Image: www.e-education.psu.edu Source: (Vallero, 2008) Image: https://cloud1.arc.nasa.gov

333 336
Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion Effects on Plants
• UV radiation affects the physiological and developmental
processes of plants. Plant growth can be directly affected by
• Effects on Human Health UV radiation.

• Effects on Materials • Indirect changes caused by UV radiation such as changes in

• Effects on Plants plant form, how nutrients are distributed within the plant,
and timing of developmental phases may be equally or
• Effects on Marine Ecosystems sometimes more important than damaging effects of UV
• Effects on Materials radiation.

• These changes can have important implications for plant

UV-B: ultra violet band (280-315 nm) competitive balance, plant diseases, and biogeochemical
UV-A: ultra violet band (315-400 nm) cycles.
Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/health-and-environmental-effects-ozone-layer-depletion Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/health-and-environmental-effects-ozone-layer-depletion Image: www.climate-policy-watcher.org

337 340

Effects on Human Health Effects on Marine Ecosystems (1/2)

• Ozone layer depletion increases the • Phytoplankton form the foundation of aquatic
amount of UV radiation that reaches the food webs.
Earth’s surface.
• Phytoplankton productivity is limited to the
• UV radiation causes non-melanoma skin euphotic zone, the upper layer of the water
cancer and plays a major role in malignant column in which there is sufficient sunlight to
melanoma development. support net productivity.

• In addition, UV radiation has been linked • Exposure to solar UV radiation has been
to the development of cataracts (clouding shown to affect both orientation and motility
of the eye’s lens). in phytoplankton, resulting in reduced survival
rates for these organisms.
Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/health-and-environmental-effects-ozone-layer-depletion Image: https://www.aao.org Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/health-and-environmental-effects-ozone-layer-depletion Image: www.enchantedlearning.com

338 341

Effects on Materials Effects on Marine Ecosystems (2/2)

• Synthetic polymers, naturally occurring • UV radiation has been found to cause damage
biopolymers, as well as some other materials to early developmental stages of fish, crab,
of commercial interest are adversely affected amphibians, and other marine animals.
by UV radiation.
• The most severe effects are decreased
• High UV radiation levels will accelerate the reproductive capacity and impaired larval Exposure to solar UV radiation
breakdown of these materials that is caused development.
for the reduction of the lifespan of these
materials. • Small increases in UV exposure could result in
population reductions for small marine
organisms with implications for the whole
marine food chain.
Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/health-and-environmental-effects-ozone-layer-depletion Image: Kowalski, 2009 Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/health-and-environmental-effects-ozone-layer-depletion Image: Häder, 2014

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Ozone hole formation (1/3) Ozone depleting substances (1/5)
• The discovery of ozone hole over Antarctica
(South Pole) that has occurred during the • Some compounds release chlorine or bromine
Antarctic spring since the early 1980s. when they are exposed to intense UV light in
the stratosphere.
• This is not really a hole through the ozone
layer, but rather a large area of the • These compounds contribute to ozone
stratosphere with extremely low amounts of depletion and are called ozone depleting
ozone. substances (ODS).

Source: (Vallero, 2008) Image: https://csl.noaa.gov Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science Image: www.theozonehole.org

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Ozone hole formation (2/3) Ozone depleting substances (2/5)

Common ODSs and
• The profile of ozone and chlorine some alternatives
monoxide (ClO) shown the evidence
to support the role of ClO in the
rapid depletion of stratospheric
ozone over the South Pole.

Source: (Vallero, 2008) Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015 07/documents/achievements_in_stratospheric_ozone_protection.pdf

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Ozone hole formation (3/3) Ozone depleting substances (3/5)

• Ozone depletion is not limited to the
• ODS that release chlorine (Cl) include
area over the South Pole.
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons
(HCFCs), carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform.
• Ozone depletion also occurs over the
latitudes that include North America,
• ODS that release bromine include halons and methyl
Europe, Asia, and much of Africa,
bromide.
Australia, and South America.
• ODS are emitted at the Earth’s surface, they are
eventually carried into the stratosphere in a process
that can take as long as two to five years.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science Image: www.theozonehole.org

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Ozone depleting substances (4/5) Ozone depletion timeline (2/3)
• In the 1970s, concerns about the effects of ODS Year Action
on the stratospheric ozone layer prompted
several countries, including the United States, 1985 • British Antarctic Survey team discovers Antarctic
to ban the use of CFCs as aerosol propellants. ozone hole (7.3 million square miles), marking the
first evidence of stratospheric ozone depletion.
• However, global production of CFCs and other • Scientific research reveals stratospheric ozone layer
ODS continued to grow rapidly as new uses depletion has adverse environmental and human
were found for these chemicals in refrigeration, health effects.
fire suppression, foam insulation, and other 1991 • International scientists agree that CFCs are depleting
applications. the stratospheric ozone layer in the northern and
southern hemispheres.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science Image: www.theozonehole.org Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015 07/documents/achievements_in_stratospheric_ozone_protection.pdf

349 352

Ozone depleting substances (5/5) Ozone depletion timeline (3/3)

• Some natural processes, such as large volcanic
eruptions, can have an indirect effect on ozone levels. Year Action

 Example: 2000 Japan Meteorological Agency reports

• Mt. Pinatubo's 1991 eruption did not increase the hole in the stratospheric ozone
stratospheric chlorine concentrations, but it did layer over the Antarctic is at its largest
produce large amounts of tiny particles called aerosols. to date—more than twice the size of
Antarctica.
• These aerosols increase chlorine's effectiveness at 2015 WMO observed the ozone hole is
destroying ozone. reported to be the biggest ever,
exceeding that of 2006.
• However, the effect from volcanoes is short-lived.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/basic-ozone-layer-science Image: www.thoughtco.com Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015 07/documents/achievements_in_stratospheric_ozone_protection.pdf Image: https://public.wmo.int/

350 353

Ozone depletion timeline (1/3) International treaties to protect stratospheric ozone layer 1/2
Year Action • Through the 1970s and the 1980s, the
1928 Scientists synthesize CFCs. international community became increasingly
concerned that ODS would harm the ozone
1973 Scientists detect CFCs in atmosphere layer.

1974 Nobel prize (1995) winners Paul J. Crutzen, Molina • In 1985, the Vienna Convention for the
and Rowland discovered that CFCs and N2O can break Protection of the Ozone Layer.
down stratospheric ozone
• Signing of the Montreal Protocol on substances
1975 Scientists discover that bromine, used in fire-retarding
that deplete the ozone layer in 1987.
halons and agricultural fumigants, is a potent ozone
depleting substance.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015 07/documents/achievements_in_stratospheric_ozone_protection.pdf Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/international-treaties-and-cooperation-about-protection-stratospheric-ozone

351 354
International treaties to protect stratospheric ozone layer 2/2 Actions to protect ozone layer (3/5)
• After the Montreal Protocol was signed, new
data showed worse than expected damage to Year Action
the ozone layer.
1990 • Clean Air Act Amendments, including Title VI for
stratospheric ozone protection, signed into law.
• In 1992, the Parties to the Montreal Protocol
decided to alter the terms of the 1987 1992 • U.S. announces an accelerated CFC phaseout
agreement to end production of halons by 1994 date of December 31, 1995, in response to new
and CFCs by 1996 in developed countries. scientific information about ozone depletion.

• Because of measures taken under the Montreal 1993 • DuPont (company) announces that it will halt its
Protocol, emissions of ODS are falling and the production of CFCs by the end of 1994.
ozone layer is expected to be fully healed near
the middle of the 21st century.
Source: https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/international-treaties-and-cooperation-about-protection-stratospheric-ozone Image: https://byjus.com/ Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015 07/documents/achievements_in_stratospheric_ozone_protection.pdf

355 358

Actions to protect ozone layer (1/5) Actions to protect ozone layer (4/5)
Year Action Year Action
1975 • SC Johnson announces corporate phaseout of CFCs as 1994 • U.S. eliminates production and import of halons.
aerosol product propellants.
1996 • U.S. eliminates production and import of CFCs,
1976 • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) calls carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethane, and
for an international conference to discuss an hydrobromofluorocarbons.
international response to the ozone issue.
2002 • All developing countries that are parties to the
1978 • U.S. bans non-essential uses of CFCs as a propellant Montreal Protocol banned methyl bromide
in some aerosols (e.g., hair sprays, deodorants, production in 1995–1998 average level.
antiperspirants).
• Canada, Norway, and Sweden follow with a similar 2004 • All developed countries reduce consumption of
ban. HCFCs by 35 percent from baseline levels.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015 07/documents/achievements_in_stratospheric_ozone_protection.pdf Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015 07/documents/achievements_in_stratospheric_ozone_protection.pdf

356 359

Actions to protect ozone layer (2/5) Actions to protect ozone layer (5/5)
Year Action
Year Action
2010 • All developed countries reduce consumption of
1981 • UNEP develops a global convention to protect
HCFCs by 65 percent from baseline levels.
the ozone layer.
1987 • Twenty-four countries sign the Montreal 2015 • All developed countries reduce consumption of
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the HCFCs by 90 percent from baseline levels.
Ozone Layer. 2030 • All developed countries scheduled to complete the
1989 • All developed countries that are parties to phaseout of ozone depleting substances.
the Montreal Protocol ban the production
2040 • All developing countries that are parties to the
and consumption of CFCs at 1986 levels.
Montreal Protocol scheduled to completely phase
out HCFCs.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015 07/documents/achievements_in_stratospheric_ozone_protection.pdf Source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015 07/documents/achievements_in_stratospheric_ozone_protection.pdf

357 360
Conclusions Introduction: Global warming indicators
• The ozone layer protects the earth’s surface from the harmful UV radiation that can • Scientists have developed various indicators to
harm people and the ecosystem. see the intensity and possible impact of global
• Ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) are primarily responsible for the ozone layer warming, such as the Global Warming Potential
depletion in the stratosphere. (GWP), Radiative Forcing (RF), and Annual
Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI).
• After the implication of the Montreal protocol, ODSs decreased significantly which
helps to heal up the damaged ozone layer. • This helps us to decide how much effort should
• To protect the stratospheric ozone layer, new alternative substances should be be put into reducing the levels of different GHGs
developed that is resulting in co- benefits in climate change and energy-efficient. and allows emission-reducing strategies that
target different gases while minimizing the
economic impact.

Source: https://niwa.co.nz/atmosphere Image: abcofagri.com

361 364

Introduction: Greenhouse gases

• Greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere block
heat (longwave radiation) from escaping, which
increases the Earth’s surface temperature, called the
Global and Regional Environmental Issues- Global Warming greenhouse effect.

• The greenhouse effect maintains a comfortable

average temperature of 59°F or 15°C on the earth,
making life on Earth livable.

• Without it, the Earth would replicate Mars in terms of

being frozen and unlivable. The problem is that
excessive burning of fossil fuels for energy needs
artificially increases the natural greenhouse effect.
Source: David E. Reichle, 2020 Image: https://climate.nasa.gov

362 365

Introduction: Global Warming Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)

• Global warming is the long-term heating of
Earth’s climate system observed since the  Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere
pre-industrial period (between 1850 and are called greenhouse gases.
1900).
• Mainly greenhouse gases are:
• Since the pre-industrial period, human
activities have increased global surface  CO2
average temperature by about 1°C or 1.8°F.  CH4 Ozone
 N2O (O3)

• Human activities, primarily fossil fuel  Fluorinated Gases

burning, increase heat-trapping greenhouse  O3
gases level in Earth’s atmosphere.  Water vapour (H2O)

Source: https://climate.nasa.gov/resources/global-warming Source: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions Image: https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/

363 366
Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: CO2 Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: CH4
 Carbon dioxide (CO2)  Methane (CH4)
Livestock
Deforestation • Methane is the second most important anthropogenic
• CO2 is the primary greenhouse gas. It is
greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide (CO2).
released through natural processes such
• A hydrocarbon gas produced both through natural
as respiration and volcano eruptions,
sources and human activities, including the
and through human activities such as Volcano Landfill
decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, and
deforestation, land-use changes, and
especially rice cultivation, and manure management
burning of fossil fuels.
associated with domestic livestock.
• Methane is responsible for approximately 40% of the
• This is the most important long-lived
human-caused warming the world has experienced
"forcing" of climate change.
to-date.

Source: https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/ Image: https://www.weforum.org/ Source: https://gml.noaa.gov/, https://www.ccacoalition.org/en

367 370

Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: CO2 Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: CH4
 CO2 Growth Rate
 CH4 Growth Rate
• The atmospheric abundance of CO2 has
increased by an average of 1.85 ppm • Since 1750, atmospheric methane
per year over the past 41 years (1979-
concentrations have more than doubled due to
2020).
emissions from human activities.
• The growth rate increased to 2.4 ppm • After a period of stabilization in the early 2000s,
per year during the last decade (2009- methane concentrations started rising again in
2020). 2007.
• This increase in methane emissions is mainly
• Anthropogenic activities have increased attributed to anthropogenic emissions: 60% from
the atmospheric CO2 concentration by
agriculture and waste, and 40% from fossil fuel
50 % since the Industrial Revolution
began. sources.

Source: https://gml.noaa.gov/aggi/aggi.html Source: https://gml.noaa.gov/aggi/aggi.html

368 371

Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: CO2 Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: CH4
 CO2 Contribution  CH4 Contribution
• CO2 is the most abundant GHG in the Earth's • In comparison to other GHGs, CH4
atmosphere, contributing to 76% of global contributes 16% of global GHGs.
GHGs compared to other GHGs.
• Agricultural activities, waste
• Fossil fuel burning and industrial processes management, energy use, and biomass
contribute ~ 65%. Forestry and other land use burning contribute to CH4 emissions.
activities contribute ~ 11%.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions Source: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions

369 372
Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: N2O Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: F-Gases
 Nitrous oxide (N2O)  Fluorinated Gases
• F-gases [hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs),
• N2O is produced by soil cultivation perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride
practices, especially the use of (SF6)] are synthetic, powerful greenhouse gases
commercial and organic fertilizers, fossil that are emitted from a variety of industrial
processes such as aluminum production and
fuel combustion, nitric acid production,
magnesium processing, etc.
and biomass burning. N2O emission due to fertilizers • CFCs once commonly used as refrigerants and
• N2O is also naturally present in the foam-blowing agents - continued to decline in
atmosphere as part of the Earth's nitrogen 2020, largely due to controls adopted by the
cycle and has a variety of natural sources. Montreal Protocol.
• Globally, about 40 percent of total N2O
emissions come from human activities.
Biomass burning

Source: https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/ , https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions; Image : https://www.pbs.org/ Source: https://research.noaa.gov/article

373 376

Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: N2O Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: F-Gases
 N2O Growth Rate
 Contribution of Fluorinated Gases
• The atmospheric burden of nitrous oxide • In comparison to other GHGs, fluorinated
(N2O) grows over time. gases contribute around 2% of global GHGs.

• Furthermore, the annual increase in nitrous • Industrial processes, refrigeration, and the
oxide's atmospheric burden, averaging 1.0 use of various consumer products contribute
ppb yr-1 over the past decade, is also to emissions of fluorinated gases.
Year
increasing.

• The annual increase in 2020 was the largest

recorded since measurements began.

Source: https://gml.noaa.gov/aggi/aggi.html Source: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions

374 377

Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: N2O Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: Ozone
 N2O Contribution  Ozone (O3) [1/2]
• In comparison to other GHGs, N2O
• Tropospheric, or ground-level ozone, is not
contributes 6% of global GHGs.
emitted directly into the air but it is created by
chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen
• Agricultural activities, such as fertilizer use,
(NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
are the primary source of N2O emissions.
in the presence of sunlight.
Fossil fuel combustion also generates N2O.
• Main sources of these pollutants such as NOx
and VOCs are cars, power plants, industrial
boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other
sources.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions Source: https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone Image: https://theconversation.com/

375 378
Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: Ozone Global Warming Potential of GHGs (1/3)
• The Global Warming Potential (GWP) was developed
Ozone (O3) [2/2] to allow comparisons of the global warming impacts
of different gases.
• Ground level ozone absorbs infrared radiation
emitted by the Earth's surface, effectively • The GWP of greenhouse gas is its ability to trap an
trapping heat in the troposphere. extra amount of heat in the atmosphere over time
relative to 1 ton of CO2 emissions.
• So, it shows the warming effect on the Earth's
surface, thereby contributing to the • The more significant the GWP, the more that a given
"greenhouse" effect. gas warms the Earth compared to CO2 over that
period.

• The period usually used for GWPs is 100 years.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone Image: climatekids.nasa.gov Source: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials

379 382

Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: Water vapor Global Warming Potential of GHGs (2/3)
Based on climate variations between 2003 and 2008, the
 Water vapor (H2O) [1/2] energy trapped by water vapor, Peak near the equator
 The GWP depends on two things:
• The most abundant greenhouse gas, but
importantly, it acts as a feedback process to • How effective the gas is at trapping heat while it's in
the climate. the atmosphere, and
• How long it stays in the atmosphere before it breaks
• Increased water vapor content in the down.
atmosphere is referred to as a feedback • For example, CH4 breaks down relatively quickly; the
process. average CH4 molecule stays in the atmosphere for
around 12 years. On the other hand, CH4 traps heat
• Water vapour does absorb longwave more effectively than CO2, having a much longer
radiation and radiates it back to the Earth’s lifetime.
surface, thus contributing to warming.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/vapor_warming.html Source: https://niwa.co.nz/atmosphere Image: https://ecosystemsunited.com

380 383

Growth Rate and Contribution of GHGs: Water vapor Global Warming Potential of GHGs (3/3)
Water vapor (H2O) [2/2]
• Having a standard scale for all greenhouse gases
allows comparisons between emissions from
• Water vapour stays in the atmosphere for a much
different activities or sectors.
shorter period (in days) compared to other
greenhouse gases such as CO2 or CH4, which stay in
• This helps us to decide how much effort should
the atmosphere for a much longer period (ranging
be put into reducing the levels of different
from years to centuries).
greenhouse gases.
• Water vapour feedback can further magnify the
• GWP allows emission-reducing strategies that
warming effect of other greenhouse gases, allowing
target different gases while minimizing the
more water vapour to enter the atmosphere as a
economic impact.
result of rising carbon dioxide levels.

Source: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/vapor_warming.html Image: https://uvachemistry.com/ Source: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials Image: https://culturesconnection.com/

381 384
GWP of GHGs compared to CO2 (1/2) Radiative forcing caused by various GHGs (1/5)
• GWP100: total warming of a greenhouse gas
compared to CO₂ after 100 years. This one is the • We know that when energy from the sun reaches
most widely used. the Earth, the planet absorbs some of this energy
• The majority of studies and agreements use the and radiates the rest back to space as heat.
100-year time horizon. Also, the Kyoto Protocol
and the Paris Agreement are based on GWPs from • The Earth’s surface temperature depends on this
pulse emissions over a 100-year time horizon.
balance between incoming and outgoing energy.
EARTH
• As per IPCC, changes in the GWP values are made • Average conditions tend to remain stable unless
time to time due to improved scientific knowledge the Earth experiences a force that shifts the
and updated estimates of the energy absorption, energy balance.
lifetime, impulse response functions.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/, https://climatescience.org/advanced-greenhouse-gases, Timma et al., 2020 Source: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-climate-forcing Image: https://www.bbc.co.uk/

385 388

Radiative forcing caused by • A shift in the energy balance causes the

GWP of GHGs compared to CO2 (2/2) Earth’s average temperature to become
various GHGs (2/5) warmer or cooler, called radiative
forcing.
• Different greenhouse gases stay in the • Radiative forcing is calculated in watts
atmosphere for different amounts of time, per square meter, representing the
their GWP can change a lot depending on energy imbalance in the atmosphere.
the time frame (e.g. 20 or 100 years). • The warming effect is called positive
forcing, while the cooling effect is called
• For example, the GWP100 of methane is 28, negative forcing.
meaning that one tonne of methane would
have 28 times the warming impact of one
tonne of CO₂ over a 100-year period.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/, https://climatescience.org/advanced-greenhouse-gases Source: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-climate-forcing

386 389

GWP of Fluorinated Gases Greenhouse Gases Lifetime GWPs (time Radiative forcing caused by various GHGs (3/5)
(Years) horizon: 100
years)
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons CFC-11 (CCl3F) 45 4700 • When positive and negative forces are out of
(HFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), and CFC-12 (CCL2F2) 100 10900 balance, the result changes the Earth’s average
sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) are sometimes called CFC-13 (CCLF3) 640 14400 surface temperature.
high-GWP gases because, for a given amount of HCFC-22 (CHClF2) 12 1810
mass, they trap substantially more heat than HFC-23 (CHF3) 270 14800 • Some of these changes are natural, while others
CO2. SF6 3200 22800 are influenced by humans or anthropogenic.

• The GWPs for these gases can be thousands or • Changes in GHGs concentrations in the atmosphere
tens of thousands. affect radiative forcing.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/ , (Xiao et al., 2018) Source: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-climate-forcing Image: www.universetoday.com

387 390
 Radiative forcing caused by various GHGs (5/5) Impacts of global warming
• Radiative forcing has been converted to the
Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) on the
right side of the graph, which is set to 1.0 for • Increase in average temperatures.
1990. • Extreme weather events like Heatwaves,
• The AGGI is a measure of the climate- forest fires, droughts, heavy rain, flood, etc.
warming impact of long-lived GHGs in the
atmosphere, as well as how that impact has • Increase in Sea levels: Glaciers are melting.
altered since the industrial revolution began. • Earth's ecosystems.

1990
• The AGGI for 2019 was 1.45, representing a • Health and society
45 % increase in radiative forcing (a net
warming influence) since 1990.
Source: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-climate-forcing Source: https://www.epa.gov/climatechange

391 394

Radiative forcing caused by various GHGs (6/6) Mitigation Measures

• GHGs produced by human activities have
caused an overall warming influence on • Mitigating climate change is about reducing the
Radiative Forcing Caused by Human Activities the Earth’s climate since 1750. release of greenhouse gas emissions that are
• The most significant contributor to warming our planet.
warming has been CO2, followed by CH4
and black carbon. Aerosol pollution and • Adopting renewable energy sources like solar, wind,
other activities have caused cooling, and small hydro; helping cities develop more
resulting in a net warming of the Earth sustainable transport such as bus rapid transit,
due to human activities. electric vehicles, and biofuels; and promoting more
sustainable uses of land and forests.

• Detail discussion is presented in lecture 37

Source: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators Source: https://www.epa.gov/climatechange; Image : https://www.mrgscience.com/

392 395

Status of Global Temperature Conclusion

2016
• According to NOAA's National Centers for • The warming of the earth's surface is mainly caused by greenhouse gas emissions,
Environmental Information (NCEI), 2021 predominantly caused by manmade activities.
ranked 6th on the list of warmest years on
record, dating back to 1880. • Because the concentrations of these GHGs are rising by a significant amount in every
• 2020 ranks as the 2nd hottest year on record decade, that is changing the earth's climate.
for the planet, knocking 2019 down to the
3rd hottest year. • Several international treaties, such as the Earth Summit, Kyoto Protocol, and Paris
• In 2020, the global average land and ocean Agreement, are examples of global collaboration to reduce or limit GHG emissions and
surface temperature were 1.76°F or 0.98°C reduce air pollution.
above normal, only 0.04°F or 0.02°C colder
than the 2016 record (Hottest year ever till
now).
Source: https://www.noaa.gov

393 396
 Causes of climate change

• Since the Industrial Revolution, human

activities have released large amounts of
Global and Regional Environmental Issue: Climate Change carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere, which has changed the
global temperature and earth’s climate.
• Natural processes, such as changes in the
sun's energy and volcanic eruptions, also
affect the earth's climate.

Source: epa.gov image: www.pacificclimatefutures.net

397 400

Climate change (1/2) Human activities versus natural causes

• Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures

and weather patterns.
Human activities have contributed
• These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in
the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have substantially to climate change
been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to through:
emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from burning of • Greenhouse Gas Emissions
fossil fuels, e.g., coal, oil and gas.
• GHGs act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, • Reflectivity or Absorption of
trapping the outgoing longwave (infrared) radiation from the Sun’s Energy
the earth surface and thus raising global atmospheric
temperature.

Source: www.un.org image: unep.org Source: epa.gov image: globalcitizen.org

398 401

Climate change (2/2) Human activities (1/2)

Greenhouse gases
As a sign or effect/outcome of climate change, multiple
lines of evidence show changes in the weather, oceans, • Carbon dioxide: Atmospheric carbon dioxide
and ecosystems, such as: concentrations have increased from approximately 280
• Changing temperature and precipitation patterns. parts per million (ppm) in the 18th century to 414 ppm in
• Increases in ocean temperatures and sea level. 2020.
• Melting of glaciers and sea ice. • Methane: Human activities increased methane
• Changes in the frequency, intensity, and duration concentrations from approximately 722 parts per billion
of extreme weather events. (ppb) in the 18th century to 1,867 ppb in 2019.
• Shifts in ecosystem characteristics, like the length
of the growing season, timing of flower blooms,
• Nitrous oxide: Nitrous oxide concentrations have
and migration of birds. increased from a pre-industrial level of 270 ppb to 332 ppb
in 2019.

Source: epa.gov image: unep.org Source: NOAA(2021) image: grist.org

399 402
Greenhouse effect Natural Processes (2/3)

Volcanic Activity

• Volcanoes have played a noticeable role in climate as

the volcanic eruptions release large quantities of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Comparison of global temperature and
atmospheric CO2 concentrations from 1880
to 2010. • Some explosive volcano eruptions can throw
particulate matter into the upper atmosphere, where
they can reflect enough sunlight back to space to cool
the surface of the planet for several years.

Source: David E.(2020) Source: epa.gov image: ifrc.org

403 406

Human activities (2/2) Natural Processes (3/3)

Reflectivity or Absorption of the Sun’s Energy Changes in Naturally Occurring Carbon Dioxide
Concentrations
• Activities such as agriculture, road construction, and
• Over the last several hundred years, carbon dioxide levels
deforestation can change the reflectivity of the earth's varied along with the glacial cycles.
surface, leading to local warming or cooling.
• During warm interglacial periods, carbon dioxide levels
• This effect is observed in heat islands, which are urban were higher.
centers that are warmer than the surrounding, less • During cool glacial periods, carbon dioxide levels were
populated areas. lower.
• One reason that these areas are warmer is that buildings, • The heating or cooling of the earth’s surface and oceans
pavement, and roofs tend to reflect less sunlight than can cause changes in the natural sources and sinks of
natural surfaces. these gases, and thus change greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere.

Source: epa.gov image: financialtimes.com Source: epa.gov image: netl.doe.gov

404 407

Natural Processes (1/3) Climate Change Indicators and Impacts (1/5)

Changes in the Earth’s Orbit and Rotation
• Changes in the earth’s orbit and its axis of rotation have • Weather and climate
had a big impact on climate in the past. o Rising global average temperature is associated with
widespread changes in weather patterns.
• For example, the amount of summer sunshine on the
Northern Hemisphere, which is affected by changes in o Scientific studies indicate that extreme weather events
such as heat waves and storms are likely to become
the planet’s orbit, appears to be affecting the past more frequent or more intense with human-induced
cycles of ice ages. climate change.
• The earth has experienced long periods of cold o Long-term changes in climate can directly or indirectly
temperatures (ice ages), as well as shorter interglacial affect many aspects of society in potentially disruptive
periods (periods between ice ages) of relatively warmer ways.
temperatures.

Source: epa.gov image: www.windows2universe.org Source: epa.gov

405 408
Climate Change Indicators and Impacts (2/5) Climate Change Indicators and Impacts (5/5)

• Oceans
• Ecosystem
o As greenhouse gases trap more energy from the sun, the o Ecosystems provide humans with food, clean water,
oceans are absorbing more heat, resulting in an increase in and a variety of other services that can be affected
sea surface temperatures and rising sea level. by climate change.
o Changes in ocean temperatures and currents brought o Changes in the Earth’s climate can affect
about by climate change will lead to alterations in climate ecosystems by altering the water cycle, habitats,
patterns around the world. animal behavior—such as nesting and migration
o Although the oceans help reduce climate change by storing patterns—and the timing of natural processes such
as flower blooms.
large amounts of carbon dioxide, increasing levels of
dissolved carbon are changing the chemistry of seawater
and making it more acidic.
Source: epa.gov Source: epa.gov

409 412

Heatwave on the pacific coast of the US and Canada, June

Climate Change Indicators and Impacts (3/5)
2021 (1/3)
• Snow and ice • During the last days of June 2021, Pacific northwest areas
o The Earth’s surface contains many forms of snow and of the U.S. and Canada experienced temperatures never
ice, including sea, lake, and river ice; snow cover; previously observed, with records broken in multiple cities
glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets; and frozen ground. by several degrees Celsius.
o Climate change can dramatically alter the Earth’s snow- • Temperatures far above 40 °C (104 °F) occurred on Sunday
and ice-covered areas because snow and ice can easily 27 to Tuesday 29 June in the Pacific northwest areas of the
change between solid and liquid states in response to U.S. and western Provinces of Canada.
relatively minor changes in temperature. • The observed temperatures were so extreme that they lie
far outside the range of historically observed
temperatures.

Source: epa.gov image: grist.org Source: Philip et al.,2021 image: BBC Weather

410 413

Climate Change Indicators and Impacts (4/5) Heatwave on the pacific coast of the US and Canada, June
2021 (2/3)
• Health and Society There are two possible sources of this extreme jump in
o Changes in the Earth’s climate can affect public health, peak temperatures.
agriculture, water supplies, energy production and use, The first is that this is a very low probability event, even
land use and development, and recreation.
in the current climate which already includes about 1.2°C
o The nature and extent of these effects, and whether of global warming although aggravated by climate
they will be harmful or beneficial, will vary regionally
and over time. change.
o Increases in the frequency or severity of extreme The second option is that nonlinear interactions in the
weather events, such as storms, could increase the risk climate have substantially increased the probability of
of dangerous flooding, high winds, and other direct such extreme heat, much beyond the gradual increase in
threats to people and property. heat extremes that has been observed up to now.

Source: epa.gov Source: Philip et al.,2021

411 414
 Heatwave on the pacific coast of the US and Canada, June
2021 (3/3) Change in precipitation due to climate change

• More than 300 sudden deaths were reported throughout

the province on one day alone — June 29,2021 that
shattered Canada's all-time temperature record.

• The overall number of sudden deaths represented a

nearly 300 per cent increase from the average number of
deaths recorded over the same week every year since
2016.
Changes in winter precipitation in the Western Himalaya, 1991-2015.
Graph: Kulkarni et al. (2018), based on data by Negi et al. (2018)
Source: Philip et al.,2021

415 418

Heat Wave Characteristics in the United States by Decade, Possible future effects (1/5)
1961–2019
• Temperatures Will Continue to Rise
Because human-induced warming is superimposed on a
naturally varying climate, the temperature rise has not
been, and will not be, uniform or smooth across the
country or over time.
Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2020 tied
with 2016 as the warmest year on record, according to an
analysis by NASA.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-heat-waves Source: climate.nasa.gov

416 419

Cloudbursts in Himalayan Region Possible future effects (2/5)

• Increasing incidents of cloudbursts in Jammu and Kashmir, • Frost-free Season (and Growing Season) will
Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are a clear evidence Lengthen
of climate change. o In a future in which heat-trapping gas emissions
• Every year, cloud bursting events cause massive loss of continue to grow, increases of a month or more in
life, property, infrastructure, agricultural lands and other the lengths of the frost-free and growing seasons
facilities. are projected across most of the U.S. by the end of
• The earlier disasters show that the growing outbreak of the century, with slightly smaller increases in the
rains and its associated flash floods, debris flows and northern Great Plains.
landslides are important reasons for damages and o The increases will be considerably smaller if heat-
destructions. trapping gas emissions are reduced.

Source: Khanduri and Sushil,2020 image: indiatvnews.com Source: climate.nasa.gov

417 420
Possible future effects (3/5) Responding to climate change (1/3)
• Changes in Precipitation Patterns Since we are already committed to some level of climate
o Projections of future climate over the U.S. suggest that change, responding to climate change involves a two-way
approach:
the recent trend towards increased heavy
precipitation events will continue.
• Reducing emissions of and stabilizing the levels of
o This trend is projected to occur even in regions where heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the
total precipitation is expected to decrease, such as the atmosphere (mitigation)
Southwest.
o The increasing amount of precipitation can also be • Adapting to the climate change already in the
pipeline (adaptation)
visualized in Northern parts of India i.e. the Himalayan
range.

Source: climate.nasa.gov Source: climate.nasa.gov image: mrgscience.com

421 424

Possible future effects (4/5) Responding to climate change (2/3)

• Mitigation
• Sea Level Will Rise 1-8 feet by 2100 o Mitigation – reducing climate change – involves reducing
o Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches since the flow of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the
reliable record keeping began in 1880. atmosphere, either by reducing sources of these
gases (for example, the burning of fossil fuels for
o It is projected to rise another 1 to 8 feet by 2100.
electricity, heat or transport) or enhancing the “sinks”
o This is the result of added water from melting land ice that accumulate and store these gases (such as the
and the expansion of seawater as it warms. oceans, forests and soil).
o In the next several decades, storm surges and high o The goal of mitigation is to avoid significant human
tides could combine with sea level rise and land interference with the climate system, and stabilize
subsidence to further increase flooding in many greenhouse gas levels in a timeframe sufficient to allow
ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change.
regions.

Source: climate.nasa.gov Source: climate.nasa.gov image: mrgscience.com

422 425

Possible future effects (5/5) Responding to climate change (3/3)

• Adaptation
• More Droughts and Heat Waves
Adaptation – adapting to life in a changing climate – involves
o Droughts in the Southwest and heat waves (periods of adjusting to actual or expected future climate.
abnormally hot weather lasting days to weeks)
everywhere are projected to become more intense, o The goal is to reduce our vulnerability to the harmful
and cold waves less intense everywhere. effects of climate change (like sea-level encroachment,
o By the end of this century, what have been once-in- more intense extreme weather events or food insecurity).
20-year extreme heat days (one-day events) are o It also encompasses making the most of any potential
projected to occur every two or three years over most beneficial opportunities associated with climate change
of the nation. (for example, longer growing seasons or increased yields
in some regions).

Source: climate.nasa.gov Source: climate.nasa.gov image: scott v.,2020

423 426
Climate change mitigation at global level (1/2) Sustainable development goals (2/2)
• The 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on
1.5 Degrees of Warming highlights the urgency of the needed climate actions: • 13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national
global emissions will need to peak by 2030 and rapidly decrease to net-zero by policies, strategies and planning
2050 if we are to be able to stay within the safety limits established by the Paris • 13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human
Agreement.
and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation,
adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
• The (Global Environment Facility) GEF-7 climate change mitigation strategy aims to
support developing countries to make transformational shifts towards low- Paris Agreement
emission development pathways compatible with the objectives of the United The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris
Agreement. on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at
Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris, on 12 December
2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016.

Source: https://www.thegef.org/what-we-do/topics/climate-change-mitigation Source: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change

427 430

Climate change mitigation at global level (2/2) Paris Agreement

• All over the world, many measures are being taken to mitigate climate change by • Its goal is to limit global warming to well below
countries trying to live up to their commitments under the Convention, the Kyoto 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to
Protocol (1997) and the Paris Agreement. pre-industrial levels.
• The Kyoto Protocol commits Parties to strive to minimize adverse economic, social • To achieve this long-term temperature goal,
and environmental impacts on other Parties, especially developing country Parties. countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse
In order to facilitate assessment and analysis such impacts, and with the view to gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a
recommending specific actions, the Conference of the Parties (COP) has established climate neutral world by mid-century.
a forum on the impact of the implementation of response • The Paris Agreement is a landmark in the multilateral
measures under the Convention, which is also to serve the
climate change process because, for the first time, a
Paris Agreement. binding agreement brings all nations into a common
cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat
climate change and adapt to its effects.

Source: https://unfccc.int/topics/mitigation/the-big-picture/introduction-to-mitigation Source: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change

428 431

India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change

Sustainable development goals (1/2)
The Government of India launched National Action Plan on
• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a call for Climate Change (NAPCC) on 30thJune, 2008 outlining eight
action by all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to National Missions on climate change. These include:
promote prosperity while protecting the planet. It has 17 • National Solar Mission
goals. • National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
• National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
Goal-13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its
• National Water Mission
impacts
• National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-
The targets of the SDG-13 are: system
• 13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to • National Mission for a Green India
climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all • National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
countries • National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate
Change
Source: www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change Source: dst.gov.in

429 432
 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI)
What is Acid Rain?
• The latest Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2021 has placed India among the
top 10 countries to have adopted substantial measures to mitigate climate change. • Any type of precipitation that contains acidic
The report has ranked India at the 10th position with 63.98 scores. components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid,
• To rank various countries, the report looked at the four specific categories and and falls to the ground in wet or dry form is
their benchmark limits: GHG emissions (40%), renewable energy (20%), energy known as acid rain or acid deposition (pH
use (20%) and climate policy (20%). between 4.2-4.4).
• The index follows the directives led by the 2015 Paris Agreement, established
with the goal to limit global warming to well below 2°C or even to 1.5°C. • This can include rain, snow, fog, hail or even
dust that is acidic.

Source: https://weather.com/en-IN/india/environment/news/2020-12-10 Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: https://webcam.srs.fs.fed.us

433 436

Conclusions What Causes Acid Rain (1/3) ?

• Climate change includes both the global warming caused by humans, and its
impacts on Earth's weather patterns. • Acid rain results when sulfur dioxide (SO2)
• There have been previous periods of climate change, but the current changes are and nitrogen oxides (NOX) are emitted into
more rapid than any known events in Earth's history. the atmosphere and react with atmospheric
• The main cause is the emission of greenhouse gases, mostly carbon dioxide (CO2) and moisture and oxygen to form sulfuric and
methane. nitric acids.
• As there is a direct relation between global average temperatures and the
concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the key for the solution to
the climate change problem rests in decreasing the amount of emissions released
into the atmosphere and in reducing the current concentration of carbon dioxide
(CO2) by enhancing sinks.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.floweraura.com

434 437

What Causes Acid Rain (2/3) ?

• A small portion of the SO2 and NOX that

Global and Regional Environmental Issues: Acid Rain cause acid rain is from natural sources
such as volcanoes.

• The most of the SO2 and NOX comes

from the burning of fossil fuels.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.lux-review.com, www.sciencealert.com

435 438
What Causes Acid Rain (3/3) ? Acid rain History (1/4)
• First observation of acid rain was recorded
The major sources of SO2 and NOX in the atmosphere in the mid-19th century in Europe.
are:
• Signs of leaf deterioration were found in
• Burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity. Two forest located downwind of large industrial
thirds of SO2 and one fourth of NOX in the areas.
atmosphere come from electric power generators.
• In 1872 an English scientist Robert Angus
• Vehicles and heavy equipment. Smith introduced the term acid rain as he
noticed that acid precipitation damages the
• Manufacturing, oil refineries and other industries. leaves.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Source: (Sivaramanan, 2015) Image: https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub

439 442

Pathways for acid rain (1/2) Acid rain History (2/4)

1. Emissions of SO2 and NOx are • 1970 onwards the severity of the issue
released into the air. increased further.

2. The pollutants are transformed • After 10 years of continuous National

into acid particles that may be Acidic Precipitation Assessment Program
transported long distances. (NAPAP), US congress passed the acid
deposition act in 1980.

• This enlarged the monitoring site network

for dry deposition and the effects of acid
rain on monuments, fresh water,
terrestrial ecosystem and buildings.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Source: (Sivaramanan, 2015) Image: www.shutterstock.com

440 443

Pathway for acid rain (2/2) Acid rain History (3/4) New England

3. These acid particles then fall to

the earth as wet and dry • According to NAPAP’s first assessment
deposition (rain, snow, dust etc.) report in 1991 on acid rain, about 5% of
New England’s lakes were acidic in the
4. Cause harmful effects on soil, US.
forests, streams, and lakes.
• The issues such as changes in
biochemical pattern in soil, fresh water
bodies and damages to the manmade
structures were observed.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Source: (Sivaramanan, 2015)

441 444
 Acid rain History (4/4) Measuring the Acid Rain (1/5)
• By 1990, the US congress had passed amendments
to the Clean Air Act (1970). This was implemented
aiming to decrease the total SO2 emission by 10 • Acidity and alkalinity are measured using a
million tons. pH scale for which 7.0 is neutral.
• Similarly, several programs were carried out since • The lower the pH of a substance (less than
1999 to reduce NOx emissions from factories and 7), the more acidic it is.
automobiles.
• The higher the pH of a substance (greater
• By March 2005, the US EPA issued Clean Air than 7), the more alkaline it is.
Interstate Rule (CAIR) to reduce the pollution from
power plant emissions from one state to another.

Source: (Sivaramanan, 2015) Image: https://stock.adobe.com Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain

445 448

Forms of Acid Deposition (1/2) Measuring the Acid Rain (2/5)

• Normal rain has a pH of about 5.6; it is slightly acidic because carbon
dioxide (CO2) dissolves into it forming weak carbonic acid (H2CO3).
Wet Deposition
• Acid rain usually has a pH between 4.2 and 4.4.
• Wet deposition is what we most commonly
think of as acid rain.

• The sulfuric and nitric acids formed in the

atmosphere fall to the ground mixed with
rain, snow, fog, or hail.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.apis.ac.uk Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain

446 449

Forms of Acid Deposition (2/2) Measuring the Acid Rain (3/5)

• One easy way that we can measure pH is Litmus
with a strip of litmus paper. paper
Dry Deposition

• Acidic particles and gases can also deposit • When touch a strip of litmus paper to
from the atmosphere in the absence of something, the paper changes color
moisture as dry deposition. depending on whether the substance is
acidic or basic.
• The acidic particles and gases may deposit
to surfaces (water bodies, vegetation, • If the paper turns red, the substance is
buildings) quickly. acidic and if it turns blue, the substance
is basic.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.apis.ac.uk Source: www3.epa.gov Image: www.shutterstock.com

447 450
Measuring the Acid Rain (4/5) Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (1/11)

• An ecosystem is a community of plants,

• Policymakers, research scientists, ecologists, and
animals and other organisms along with
modelers in the US rely on the National
their environment including the air, water
Atmospheric Deposition Program’s (NADP’s)
and soil.
National Trends Network (NTN) for
measurements of wet deposition.
• Everything in an ecosystem is connected. If
something harms one part of an ecosystem
• The NADP/NTN collects acid rain at more than
(one species of plant or animal, the soil or
250 monitoring sites throughout the US, Canada,
the water) it can have an impact on
Alaska, Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands.
everything else.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.zmescience.com

451 454

Measuring the Acid Rain (5/5) Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (2/11)

• Unlike wet deposition, dry deposition is

Effects of Acid Rain on Fish and Wildlife (1/4)
difficult and expensive to measure.
• The ecological effects of acid rain are most
• Dry deposition estimates for nitrogen and
clearly seen in aquatic environments, such as
sulfur pollutants are provided by the Clean
streams, lakes, and marshes where it can be
Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET),
harmful to fish and other species.
US EPA.

• Air concentrations are measured by

CASTNET at more than 90 locations.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain

452 455

Effects of Acid Rain Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (3/11)

Effects of Acid Rain on Fish and Wildlife
Effects of Effects of (2/4)
Acid Rain on Acid Rain on
Ecosystem Materials Example:
• Some lakes in Sweden have become so
acidic that they are no longer able to
Effects of support fish life.
Effects of Acid Rain on
Acid Rain on
Visibility Human Vicinity Goteborg, Sweden
Health

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Source: (Mohajan, 2019) Image: www.hardrainproject.com

453 456
Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (4/11) Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (7/11)
Effects of Acid Rain on Fish and Wildlife (3/4)
Effects of Acid Rain on Plants and Trees (2/2)
• Some types of plants and animals can tolerate
acidic waters. Others, however, are acid-sensitive • At high elevations, acidic fog and clouds may
and will be lost as the pH declines. deplete the nutrients in tree leaves, resulting
in brown or dead leaves.
• Generally, the young of most species are more
sensitive to acidic environment than adults. • The trees are then less able to absorb
sunlight, which makes them weak and less
• At pH 5, most fish eggs cannot mature. Some adult able to withstand freezing temperatures.
fish die at lower pH values.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.shutterstock.com

457 460

Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (5/11) Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (8/11)
Example:
Effects of Acid Rain on Fish and Wildlife (4/4) b. Affected trees in the Great
Smoky Mountains (USA).
• Even if a fish or animal can tolerate moderately
acidic water, the plants/phytoplankton or
animals they consume may not.

• For example, frogs have a critical pH around 4,

but the mayflies they eat are more sensitive
a b
and may not survive pH below 5.5.
a. Branches of trees in Germany’s Black forest showed
needle lose and yellowed branch (branch on left).
Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: https://phys.org, www.mdwfp.com Source: (Sivaramanan, 2015)

458 461

Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (6/11) Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (9/11)
Effects of Acid Rain on Plants and Trees (1/2) Buffering Capacity (1/2)

• Dead or dying trees are a common sight in • Many forests, streams, and lakes that experience
areas effected by acid rain. acid rain do not suffer the associated effects
• Acid rain leaches aluminum (Al) from the soil, because the soil in those areas can buffer the
which result in toxic effect to the root tip, in acid rain by neutralizing the acidity in the
which Al exposure causes inhibition of cell rainwater flowing through it.
elongation and cell division, leading to root
stunting accompanied by reduced water and • Buffer capacity depends on the thickness and
nutrient uptake. composition of the soil and the type of bedrock
• Acid rain also removes minerals and nutrients underneath it.
from the soil that trees need to grow.
Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.usgs.gov, Hepperly, Paul. (2019) Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain

459 462
 Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (10/11) Effects of Acid Rain on Materials (2/3) a b c

Buffering Capacity (2/2) Historical structures are affected by acid rain.

• In areas such as mountainous parts of the a. Taj Mahal in India,

Northeast United States, the soil is thin and b. St. Paul’s Cathedral in London,
lacks the ability to adequately neutralize the c. Westminster Abbey in England,
acid in the rainwater. d. The Sphinx in Egypt,
e. The Statue of Liberty in New York, d e f
• As a result, these areas are particularly f. The Cathedral Cologne in Germany
vulnerable, and the acid can accumulate in
the soil, streams, or lakes.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Source: (Mohajan, 2019) Image: ASI, www.worldatlas.com, www.ricksteves.com, www.istockphoto.com, www.historyextra.com, www.tripsavvy.com

463 466

Effects of Acid Rain on Ecosystem (11/11) Effects of Acid Rain on Materials (3/3)
Episodic Acidification
• Episodic acidity can occur as a result of melting snow
and severe rainfall events. The consequences of this damage can be costly:

• Lakes that do not normally have a high level of acidity • Damaged materials that need to be repaired
may temporarily experience effects of acid rain when or replaced,
the melting snow or rainfall brings greater amounts of
acidic deposition, and the soil can’t buffer it. • Increased maintenance costs, and

• This short duration of higher acidity (i.e., lower pH) can • Loss of detail on stone and metal statues,
result in a short-term stress on the ecosystem where a monuments and tombstones.
variety of organisms or species may be injured or killed.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: https://news.softpedia.com Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain

464 467

Effects of Acid Rain on Materials (1/3) Visibility (1/2)

• In the atmosphere, SO2 and NOX gases can be

• When acid rain and dry acidic particles fall to transformed into sulfate and nitrate particles,
earth, the nitric and sulfuric acid that make the while some NOX can also react with other
particles acidic can land on statues, buildings, pollutants to form ozone.
and other manmade structures, and damage
their surfaces. • These particles and ozone make the air hazy
and difficult to see through.
• The acidic particles corrode metal and cause
paint and stone to deteriorate more quickly.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.usgs.gov Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/haze

465 468
 Visibility (2/2) Acid rain monitoring
• Wet and dry deposition collectors are used
• This affects our enjoyment of national in monitoring of the acid deposition by the
parks that we visit for the scenic view national acid deposition Program (NADP).
such as the Great Smoky Mountains
• Containers are used to collect rain water and
• Acid fog particularly particles of to measure the dry deposition.
Wet and Dry
sulphur dioxide and sulphur trioxide deposition collector
reduces the visibility by 50-70% in • Though it is the traditional method,
eastern U.S.A. nowadays sensors based on electrical
resistance are used worldwide.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain , (Sivaramanan, 2015) Image: www.nps.gov Source: (Sivaramanan, 2015)

469 472

Human Health (1/2) Acid rain reduction (1/2)

• SO2 and NOX react in the atmosphere to • This can be done either fuel switching or
form fine sulfate and nitrate particles. scrubbing.

• When the pollutants that cause acid rain • Fuel switching includes limiting the use of
such as SO2 and NOX, as well as sulfate sulphur containing fuels such as coal or
and nitrate particles are in the air, they switching to low sulphur containing coal
can be harmful to humans. or oil.

• Switching to nuclear power generation,

using renewable energy sources such as
wind, air, wave and geothermal energy.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: https://eapsweb.mit.edu Source: (Sivaramanan, 2015) Image: https://ilsr.org

470 473

Human Health (2/2) Acid rain reduction (2/2)

Respiratory problems
• These particles get into people’s lungs, • Use solar batteries, fuel cells, natural gas and
they can cause health problems, or can electric motor vehicles.
make existing health problems worse.
• Use energy efficient boilers and using filters or
• Nitrogen oxides cause ground-level ozone scrubbers to catch the oxides of sulphur and
that causes respiratory problems, Nitrogen in industrial effluents and vehicles.
like pneumonia and bronchitis, and can
even cause permanent lung damage. • In Europe and North America super stacks (400 m)
are introduced which reduces the local pollution
by emitting pollutants outside the boundary layer.

Source: https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain Image: www.medgadget.com, https://simshospitals.com Source: (Sivaramanan, 2015) Image: www.skyscrapercenter.com

471 474
Conclusions Introduction
• Since the 19th century, acid rain has been one of the world's biggest environmental issues.
• The acceptable threshold level of air pollution in
• Coal combustion is the primary source of SO2. terms of its potential impacts on health and
environment is defined as the ambient air quality
• Vehicular emissions and varied fossil fuel-based power generation contributes NOx. standard.

• In most countries across the globe, acid rain has become a major local/regional • These standards are adopted and enforced by a
environmental issue. regulatory body or authority.

• Every country needs to make a serious effort to reduce emissions that cause acid rain. • Every standard should have a standalone definition
and its threshold values should be justified
appropriately.

Source: Gurjar, B.R., 2021, https://www.teriin.org/; Image; https://verde.ie/

475 478

Components of Air Quality Standards

Air Quality and Emission Standards

Indicator

1. The indicator
2. An averaging time
3. The form
4. The level
Source: Phalen, F., and Phalen, N., 2013

476 479

Contents Components of Air Quality Standards

• Introduction • The air quality standards issued by the U.S. EPA have four major
components, as follows:
• Components of air quality standards • The indicator – which defines what is to be measured
• Factors considered for setting air quality standards (e.g., PM2.5, SO2, O3, etc.) and how it is to be measured.
• An averaging time – e.g., 1-hour, 8-hours, 24-hours (i.e.,
• National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for India daily), or 1-year (i.e., annually).
• WHO air quality guidelines • The form – a statistical method for defining compliance
(i.e., conformity with the standard), such as the number of
• Air quality standards for different countries exceedances permitted in a year.
• Emission standards in India • The level – the numerical value of an indicator, such as 15
μg/m3 (as for the PM2.5 annual average) or 0.075 ppm (as
• Timeline for emission standards in India for the ozone 8-hour average).
• Conclusion
Source: Phalen, F., and Phalen, N., 2013

477 480
 Components of Air Quality Standards Components of Air Quality Standards
The level
Indicator • The level of an air pollutant is the
• The indicator is typically a pollutant numerical value that represents
characterized by their chemical composition the allowable or permissible
(e.g., O3, SO2, NOX, polycyclic aromatic concentration of a pollutants in the
hydrocarbons, or oxidants). ambient air.

• An exception is particulate matter (PM), which • For example, the level for Carbon
is mass-based (e.g., particle size fractions, Monoxide is 9 ppm for an average
PM2.5 or PM10) without regard for their time of 8 hours and 35 ppm for 1
chemical composition. hour average time.
Source: Phalen, F., and Phalen, N., 2013; Image : https://users.physics.unc.edu Source: Phalen, F., and Phalen, N., 2013

481 484

Components of Air Quality Standards Factors considered for setting Air Quality Standards
The averaging time (1/2)
• The averaging time for an air quality standard is  Adverse effects on health
related to the exposure span of the corresponding  Special populations at risk
pollutant that result in adverse health effects.
 Dose Response Curves
• For example, peak or short-term concentrations of
gases such as carbon monoxide and ozone can cause  Exposure characterization
acute responses in the lung, so the averaging time is  Risk assessment
1-hour or 8-hours.
 Acceptability of risk

Source: Phalen, F., and Phalen, N., 2013 Source: Guidance for Setting Air Quality Standards, WHO, 1997

482 485

Components of Air Quality Standards Factors considered for setting Air Quality Standards
The averaging time (2/2) Adverse health effects
• Particulate matter can have both short-term and • In setting a standard for the control of an
long-term effects, hence 24-hour and annual environmental pollutant, the effects that the
averaging time are typically used. population is to be protected against need to be
defined.
• The averaging time vary extensively, and a given
air pollutant can have more than one averaging • A hierarchy of health effects can be identified
time. ranging from acute illness and chronic diseases,
to temporary physiological or psychological
changes.

Source: Phalen, F., and Phalen, N., 2013; Image : https://www.myni.life/ Source: Guidance for Setting Air Quality Standards, WHO, 1997

483 486
 Factors considered for setting Air Quality Standards Factors considered for setting Air Quality Standards
Dose Response Curves
• Dose-response relationships are used to compare the Exposure characterization
toxicity of various substances, and they are also used by • The air quality estimates from monitoring networks
regulators to establish criteria for air quality. or models corresponding to personal exposure in the
population should also be considered in standard-
• The potentially susceptible sub-populations (with respect setting.
to the effects of air pollution responses) are sometimes
classified into two general groups: • These estimates depend on the pollutant as well as
• more sensitive (including the ill, elderly, very young, on a number of local characteristics, climatic
undernourished, etc.) conditions, spatial distribution of pollution sources
• greater exposures (including the poor, uneducated, and local determinants of pollution dispersion
exercising school children, exercising outdoor workers)
Source: Phalen, F., and Phalen, N., 2013 Source: Guidance for Setting Air Quality Standards, WHO, 1997

487 490

Factors considered for setting Air Quality Standards Factors considered for setting Air Quality Standards
Typical Dose Response Curve Risk assessment Hazard identification
A typical sigmoidal dose-response relationship • The first two steps in risk assessment, namely hazard Development of exposure–
showing: identification and, in some cases, development of response relationships
A - the threshold of response; exposure–response relationships.
B - the point of maximum sensitivity; • The third step, exposure analysis, may predict changes in Exposure analysis
C - the region of near saturation of response; and exposure associated with reductions in emissions from a Regulatory risk
D - the maximum response. specific source. assessment
• The final step in a regulatory risk assessment is the risk
characterization stage, where exposure estimates are
combined with exposure–response relationships to
generate quantitative estimates of risk

Source: Phalen, F., and Phalen, N., 2013 Source: Guidance for Setting Air Quality Standards, WHO, 1997

488 491

Factors considered for setting Air Quality Standards Factors considered for setting Air Quality Standards
Dose Response Curves for different categories of people
• Dose-response curves showing those Acceptability of risk
for a sensitive individual, a resistant • The standard selected will depend on the
individual, and the entire population. severity of the potential effects, the size of the
population at risk, and the degree of scientific
• At low doses, a “hormetic” (i.e. certainty that the effects will occur at any given
beneficial) effect is shown where the level of pollution.
curves fall below a “no effect” level.
• For example, if a suspected but uncertain health
effect is severe and the size of the population at
risk is large, a more cautious approach would be
appropriate.
Source: Phalen, F., and Phalen, N., 2013 Source: Guidance for Setting Air Quality Standards, WHO, 1997

489 492
National Ambient Air Quality Standards: India NAAQS (Comparison 1994 and 2009)
Some of the salient features include (1/6):
• Interest in air quality management policies began in
1970 India during the 1970s. • Area classification is based on land-use so that industrial areas
• After the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the have to conform to the same standards as residential areas.
1972 Human Environment, it became clear that the
1994 Concentration in ambient air
nation was in need of a uniform environmental law. Time weighted
Pollutant Residential, rural
• As a result, the Air (Prevention and Control of average Industrial Area
and others area
Sensitive area
1981
Pollution) Act was passed by Parliament in 1981.
• With the goal of providing for the prevention,
2009
1994 control, and abatement of air pollution, the first Concentration in ambient air
Ecologically
ambient air quality standards were adopted in 1982 Pollutant
Time weighted
Industrial, Residential, rural and others
Sensitive area
average (notified by
2009 by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and area
Central
revised in 1994 and again in 2009. Government)

Source: Bhave and Kulkarni, 2015 Source: Bhave and Kulkarni, 2015

493 496

Concentration in ambient air

Pollutant
Time weighted
average Industrial Area
Residential, rural
Sensitive area
National Ambient NAAQS (Comparison 1994 and 2009)
and others area
Sulphur dioxide Annual 80 60 15 Air Quality Some of the salient features include (2/6):
• The standards shall be
(µg/m3)
Nitrogen dioxide
24 hours
Annual
120
80
80
60
30
15
Standards: India applicable uniformly with
(µg/m3) 24 hours 120 80 30 the exception of stringent
Suspended Annual 360 140 70 standards for NO2 and SO2
particulate
24 hours 500 200 100
Revised in 1994 in the Ecologically Sensitive
matter (µg/m3)
Respirable Annual 120 60 50 Areas.
particulate
24 hours 150 100 75
matter (µg/m3)
Annual 1 0.75 0.50
Lead (µg/m3)
24 hours 1.5 1 0.75
Carbon 8 hour 5 2 1
Monoxide
1 hour 10 4 2
(mg/m3)
Ammonia Annual -- 0.1 --
(mg/m3) 24 hours -- 0.4 --
Source: Guidelines NAAQS, CPCB, 2013

494 497

National Ambient Air Quality Standards: India

Concentration in ambient air
NAAQS (Comparison 1994 and 2009)
Time weighted Industrial, Ecologically Sensitive
Pollutant
Residential, rural and area (notified by Central
average
others area Government)
Some of the salient features include (3/6):
Sulphur dioxide Annual 50 20
(µg/m3) 24 hours 80 80
The previous standards for residential
Nitrogen dioxide Annual 40 30 area have been uniformly applied for
(µg/m3) 24 hours 80 80 fine particulate matter (PM10), Carbon
Particulate Matter, Annual 60 60
Monoxide and Ammonia. More
PM10 (µg/m3)
Particulate Matter,
24 hours
Annual
100
40
100
40
Revised in 2009 stringent limits for Lead, SO2 and NO2
PM2.5 (µg/m3) 24 hours 60 60 have been prescribed even for
Annual 0.5 0.5
Lead (µg/m3)
24 hours 1.0 1.0
residential areas.
Carbon Monoxide 8 hour 2 2
(mg/m3) 1 hour 4 4
Annual 100 100
Ammonia (mg/m3)
24 hours 400 400
8 hour 100 100
Ozone, O3 (µg/m3)
1 hour 180 180
Benzene (µg/m3) Annual 5 5
Benzo Pyrene (ng/m3) Annual 1 1
Arsenic (ng/m3) Annual 6 6 Source: Guidelines NAAQS, CPCB, 2013 Source: Bhave and Kulkarni, 2015
Nickel (ng/m3) Annual 20 20
495 498
 NAAQS (Comparison 1994 and 2009) WHO air quality guidelines 2021
Some of the salient features include (4/6):
Suspended Particulate Matter • The World Health Organization (WHO) released
(SPM) as parameter has been revised air quality guidelines on September 22,
replaced by fine particulate 2021, the first major update to the standards in 15
matter (PM2.5). years.

• The revised recommendations, produced from

evidence-based data and information and a growing
awareness, resulted in nearly all pollutant standards
being strengthened in comparison to the air quality
guidelines established in 2005 (published in 2006).

Source: https://www.iqair.com/blog/air-quality/2021a-WHO-air-quality-guidelines
Source: Bhave and Kulkarni, 2015

499 502

NAAQS (Comparison 1994 and 2009) WHO air quality guidelines 2021 • Peak season refers to the six
consecutive months with the
Some of the salient features include (5/6): highest running-average of ozone
concentration.
• Other new parameters like, Ozone, Arsenic, Nickel, • 24-hour AQG level for sulfur dioxide
Benzene and Benzo(a)Pyrene have been included. of 40 µg/m3 was recommended
based on a new evaluation of the
effects of short-term sulfur dioxide
concentrations on all-cause
mortality and respiratory mortality.

*new averaging time for 2021

Source: https://www.iqair.com/blog/air-quality/2021a-WHO-air-quality-guidelines

500 503

NAAQS (Comparison 1994 and 2009) Air Quality Standards in different countries
Some of the salient features include (6/6): Standards for short duration, • The air quality standards may vary for different
1994 Concentration in ambient air just one to few hours, have countries due to various factors, such as economic
Time weighted
Pollutant
average Industrial Area
Residential, rural
Sensitive area been set to reduce peak conditions, technological know-how, and indigenous air
and others area
8 hour 5 2 1
exposure to some deadly gases pollution-related epidemiological studies.
Carbon Monoxide
(mg/m3) 1 hour 10 4 2 like Ozone and Carbon
Monoxide. • These are known as the National Ambient Air Quality
2009 Concentration in ambient air
Time weighted Ecologically Sensitive Standards (NAAQS) in countries, such as India, China,
Pollutant Industrial, Residential, rural
average area (notified by and the US. However, in Canada and the European
and others area
Central Government)
Carbon Monoxide 8 hour 2 2 countries, the limit values are predefined (WHO 2005).
(mg/m3) 1 hour 4 4
8 hour 100 100
Ozone, O3 (µg/m3)
1 hour 180 180

Source: Bhave and Kulkarni, 2015 Source: Gurjar, B.R., 2021, https://www.teriin.org/

501 504
 Air Quality Standards in different countries Emission Standards in India
European United South India China
Pollutant Time WHO California Japan Brazil Mexico

1 year -
Union
-
States
78 - - 80 78
Africa
50
(i1/i2/i3)d
15/60/80
(I/II/III)d
20/60/100
• Timeline for the nationwide
Sulphur
dioxide
24 hr 20 125 366 105c 105 365 341 125 30/80/120 50/150/250 implementation of the various stages
1 hr - 350 - 655 262 - - - - 150/500/700 2000 2005 2010 2017 2020
(µg/m3) of emission standards in all over India.
10 min 500 - - - - - - 500 - - BS-I BS-II BS-III BS-IV BS-VI
Nitrogen 1 year 40 40 100 - - 100 - 94 15/60/80 40/40/80
dioxide
(µg/m3)
24 hr
1 hr
-
200
-
200
-
-
-
470c
113 -
320
-
395
188
376
30/80/120
-
80/80/120
120/120/240
• The Indian emission standard
PM10 1 year 20 40 50 20 50 50 60 50/60/120 40/100/150 “BHARAT STAGE” (BS) for India 2000
(µg/m3) 24 hr 50a 50b 150 50 100 150 120 180 - 50/150/250
PM2.5 1 year 10 - 15 12 - - 15 - - -
(BS I) is taken from EURO 1 emission
(µg/m3) 24 hr 25a - 65 65 - - 65 - - - standards as a reference, BS II from
Ozone 8 hr 100 120 157 137 - - 157c - - -
(µg/m3) 1 hr - - - 180c 118c 160 216 235 - 120/160/200
EURO II, BS III from EURO III, BS IV
Carbon 1 hr 30 - 40 23 11 40 - 30 4 10 from EURO IV, BS V from EURO V and
Monoxid
e 8 hr 10 10 10 10 23 10 11 10 2 - BS VI from EURO VI.
(mg/m3)

Source: Gurjar, B.R., 2021, https://www.teriin.org/

505 508

Emission Standards Conclusions

• Air quality standards are set by individual countries to protect the public health of their
• Emission standards define release limits, citizens.
which are usually measured directly at
their sources. • National Air Quality standards will vary according to the approach adopted for
balancing health risks, technological feasibility, economic considerations and various
other political and social factors.
• The sources include tailpipe emissions
Stack emissions
from cars and trucks, stack emissions from • It is necessary to regularize the emission standards in a certain regularly and
factories and power plants, and general stringent the rules for maximum allowable harmful emissions from it.
air emissions from domestic sources.

Source: Govindraj et al., 2019

506 509

Emission Standards in India

• Emission standards are governmentally promulgated
limits on the emission of a pollutant from a process.

• India have initiated to follow emission standards Status of Air Quality Monitoring in India
through the Motor vehicles act of 1988, which allows
the government to implement the emission standards.

• Emission standards for petrol vehicles from 1991 and

for diesel vehicles from 1992 and started to follow
EURO emission standards as a reference from the year
2000.

Source: Govindraj et al., 2019; Image: https://inhabitat.com/

507 510
 Contents Air Quality Monitoring - Objectives
• Air Quality Monitoring
To provide a sound scientific
• Types of Monitoring To assess how far air quality
• Stationary Source Emission Monitoring
01 basis for the development of
cost-effective control policies and 04 standards, limit values, and
objectives are being met
solutions to abate air pollution.
• Ambient Air Monitoring
• Ambient Air Monitoring - Pollutant Selection
• Number and Distribution of Monitoring Location To evaluate potential impacts To determine the impact of
• Selection of Monitoring Location 02 of air pollution on population
health and welfare
05 air pollution on ecosystems
and our natural environment
• Timeline of Air Quality Regulation in India

To provide the public with

03 reliable and up-to-date
information on air pollution

Source: (Gurjar, B. R., Molina, L. T., Ojha, C. S. P., 2010)

511 514

Air Quality Monitoring – Air Quality Monitoring (1/2)

Introduction (1/2)
• Monitoring is a general term for on-going collection and use Area for monitoring is determined based on:
of measurement data or other information for assessing 1) Emissions sources (e.g., domestic, industrial, transport,
performance against a standard or status with respect to a agricultural, and natural) and contaminants emitted, and
specific requirement. location and magnitude
2) Meteorology (areas prone to temperature inversions, etc.)
• Air Monitoring is an exercise to measure the level of 3) Topography
pollutants in air. 4) Geography
5) Population centers (especially where domestic fires and
• It gives us clues on: traffic emissions occur)
– how much is the pollution, 6) Historical monitoring data (if available)
– where is the pollution, and 7) Areas with high natural environmental value (e.g., in and
– when is that pollution. around natural parks, forests, wilderness, and wetlands)

Source: (www.epa.gov; urbanemission.info) Source: (Gurjar, B. R., Molina, L. T., Ojha, C. S. P., 2010)

512 515

Air Quality Monitoring –

Air Quality Monitoring (2/2)
Introduction (2/2)
The data, over a long term, allows us to draw patterns like: Area for monitoring is determined based on:
i. spatial differences in pollution (which areas of the city/country
are more polluted or clean) 8) Areas vulnerable to air pollution plumes
ii. temporal differences (is there a pattern of pollution levels from other areas
during the day and/or over the seasons, years).
9) Areas planned for development (e.g., to get a
picture of background concentrations)
10) Any public complaints or issues of concern
relating to air pollution
11) Any epidemiological studies on air quality
effects on health already carried out

Source: (urbanemission.info) Image Source: (Guttikunda et al., 2019) Source: (Gurjar, B. R., Molina, L. T., Ojha, C. S. P., 2010)

513 516
Types of Monitoring (1/5) Types of Monitoring (4/5)
1 Stationary Source Emission • On-road (mobile) Monitoring
2 On Road (Mobile) • It collects and measures samples
Types of Air confined to roads and their immediate
vicinity.
Monitoring
3 Ambient Air Quality • Data is used for understanding pollution
exposure during commute; specially to
Remote Sensing / understand the acute health impacts of
4 being exposed to augmented pollution
Satellite levels on the roads.

Source: (urbanemission.info) Image Source: (www.envea.global) Source: (urbanemission.info) Image Source: (www.aeroqual.com)

517 520

Types of Monitoring (2/5) Types of Monitoring (5/5)

• Ambient Air Quality Monitoring • Remote Sensing / Satellite Monitoring
• It collects and measures samples of ambient air • It collects and measures samples of the
pollutants to evaluate the status of the atmosphere as whole city or state or country.
compared to clean air standards and historical • Data is used mostly for annual scale pollution
information; and trend analysis.
• It is required to determine whether a geographical
region or area is meeting the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS) for criteria pollutants
namely Carbon Monoxide (CO), Oxides of Nitrogen
(NO2 and NO3), Ozone (O3), Lead (Pb), Particulate
Matter (PM) both PM10 and PM2.5, Sulfur Dioxide
(SO2), and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), etc.

Source: (www.epa.gov) Image Source: (www.flickr.com) Source: (urbanemission.info) Image Source: (www.ceew.in; Holloway, T. et al., 2021)

518 521

Types of Monitoring (3/5) Stationary Source Emission

Monitoring (1/5)
• Stationary Source Emissions Monitoring
• It collects and uses measurement data (or other Stationary source emissions monitoring is
information) at individual stationary sources of composed of four elements:
emissions (i.e., facilities, manufacturing plants,
processes, emissions control device performance, or to
verify work practices). 1) Indicator(s) of performance
• Stationary source emissions monitoring is required to 2) Measurement techniques
demonstrate that a source is meeting the emission 3) Monitoring frequency
requirements as per the set standards of the regulating
authority or not. 4) Averaging time
• It also gives performance information to the facility
operator so that corrective action can be taken, if
necessary.

Source: (www.epa.gov) Image Source: (pxfuel.com) Source: (www.epa.gov); Image: http://www.industrialboiler.com

519 522
Stationary Source Emission Stationary Source Emission
Monitoring (2/5) Monitoring (5/5)
• Averaging Time
• Indicator(s) of performance
• The period over which data are averaged and used to
• The parameter(s) measured or observed for verify proper operation or compliance with the
emissions limitation or standard.
demonstrating:
• Examples of averaging time include
– Proper operation of the air pollution
– a 3-hour average in units of the emissions limitation,
control measures, or
– a 30-day rolling average emissions value,
– Compliance with the applicable emissions – a daily average of control device operational
limitation or standard parametric range, and an instantaneous alarm.

Source: (www.epa.gov) Source: (www.epa.gov)

523 526

Stationary Source Emission How is ambient air monitoring

Monitoring (3/5) done?
• Measurement Techniques
• It is the means by which information from or about 1 Manual Monitoring
the indicators of performance is gathered and
recorded. It includes;
– Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS),
– Continuous Opacity Monitoring Systems (COMS), Ambient Air
– Continuous Parametric Monitoring Systems Monitoring
(CPMS), and
– Manual inspections that include making records
of process conditions or work practices.
2 Automatic Monitoring

Source: (www.epa.gov); image: https://essvietnamblog.wordpress.com/

524 527

Stationary Source Emission Manual Monitoring

Monitoring (4/5)
• Monitoring Frequency • This is a process in which a physical
sample is collected, which is then
• The number of times monitoring data are obtained and weighed in the lab, analyzed, recorded,
recorded over a specified time interval. and then posted for consumption.
• Examples of monitoring frequencies include – Well established monitoring cum
– at least four points equally spaced for each hour for laboratory infrastructure
CEMS or CPMS, – Trained manpower
– at least every 10 seconds for COMS, – Well established guidelines
– at least once per operating day (or week, month, – Manual data generation &
etc.) for CPMS, work practice, or design inspections. dissemination etc.

Source: (www.epa.gov); Image: https://www.subpng.com Source: (urbanemission.info) Image Source: https://oizom.com/caaqms-vs-aaqms/

525 528
 Methods of Ambient Air Monitoring (Manual) 3. Chemical Method [Buffered KI(Potassium Iodide)]
Manual Monitoring
• For sampling and Analysis of Ozone (O3)
1 Improved West & Geake Method
2 Modified Jacob and Hochheiser Method • National Ambient Air Quality Standard
3 Chemical Method (Buffered Potassium Iodide (KI)) Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
Average
4 Indo-phenol Blue Method Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified
5 Gravimetric Method Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.)
Ozone (O3), 8 Hours* 100 100
6 Adsorption Desorption followed by GC μg/m3
1 Hour** 180 180
7 Solvent Extraction followed by HPLC / GC * Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24
hourly at unform intervals.
8 AAS after sampling using EPM 2000 ED-XRF using Teflon Filter ** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time
in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.
9 AAS after sampling using EPM 2000 Method
Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I) Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I) Image Source: www.americanscientist.org

529 532

1. Improved West & Geake Method 4. Indo-phenol Blue Method

• For sampling and Analysis of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) • For sampling and Analysis of Ammonia (NH3)

• National Ambient Air Quality Standard • National Ambient Air Quality Standard
Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
Average Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
Average
Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified
Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified
Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.)
Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.)
Sulphur Annual* 50 20
Ammonia Annual* 100 100
Dioxide (SO2),
24 Hours** 80 80 (NH3), μg/m3
μg/m3 24 Hours** 400 400
* Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24 * Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24
hourly at unform intervals. hourly at unform intervals.
** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time ** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time
in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring. in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.

Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I) Image Source: www.americanscientist.org Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I) Image Source: www.americanscientist.org

530 533

2. Modified Jacob and Hochheiser Method 5. Gravimetric Method (PM10) (1/2)

• For sampling and Analysis of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) • For sampling and Analysis of Particulate Matter PM10

• National Ambient Air Quality Standard • National Ambient Air Quality Standard
Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
Average
Average
Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified
Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified
Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.)
Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.)
Particulate Annual* 60 60
Nitrogen Annual* 40 30
Matter, PM10,
Dioxide (NO2), 24 Hours** 100 100
24 Hours** 80 80 μg/m3
μg/m3
* Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24
* Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24
hourly at unform intervals.
hourly at unform intervals.
** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time
** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time
in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.
in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.

Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I) Image Source: www.americanscientist.org Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I) Image Source: www.americanscientist.org

531 534
5. Gravimetric Method (PM2.5) (2/2) 8. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer(AAS) after
sampling using EPM 2000 ED-XRF using Teflon Filter Method
• For sampling and Analysis of Particulate Matter PM2.5 • For sampling and Analysis of Lead and Nickel
• National Ambient Air Quality Standard
• National Ambient Air Quality Standard
Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air Average
Average
Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified
Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.)
Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.)
Lead (Pb), Annual* 0.50 0.50
Particulate Annual* 40 40 μg/m3 24 Hours** 1.0 1.0
Matter, PM2.5,
24 Hours** 60 60 Nickel (Ni), Annual* 20 20
μg/m3
ng/m3
* Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24
hourly at unform intervals. * Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24
** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time hourly at unform intervals.
in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring. ** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time
in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.

Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I) Image Source: www.americanscientist.org Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I)

535 538

6. Adsorption Desorption followed by Gas Chromatography (GC) 9. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer(AAS) after
sampling using EPM 2000 Method
• For sampling and Analysis of Benzene (C6H6) • For sampling and Analysis of Arsenic

• National Ambient Air Quality Standard • National Ambient Air Quality Standard
Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
BENZENE Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air
Average
Average
Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified
Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified
Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.)
Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.)
Benzene, Annual* 5 5
Arsenic (As), Annual* 06 06
C6H6, μg/m3
ng/m3
* Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24
* Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24
hourly at unform intervals.
hourly at unform intervals.
** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time
** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time
in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.
in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.

Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I) Image Source: https://freesvg.org/benzene-ring Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I)

536 539

7. Solvent Extraction followed by HPLC (High Automatic Monitoring

Performance Liquid Chromatography) / GC
• For sampling and Analysis of Benzo(a)Pyrene & other • This is a process in which except for
PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) periodically taking care of the
monitoring equipment, all the steps
(sampling, weighing, analyzing,
• National Ambient Air Quality Standard recording, and posting of the data) are
Pollutant Time Weighted Concentration in Ambient Air automated.
Average – Sophisticated analyzer
Industrial, Residential, Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified – Quality Assurance/Quality Check
Rural, other Areas by Central Govt.) – Instant Data Generation
Benzo(a)Pyren Annual* 01 01 – Online data disseminations
e, ng/m3
– Air Quality Index
* Annual Arithmetic mean of minimum 104 measurements in a year, at a particular site, taken twice a week 24
hourly at unform intervals.
– Early warning System
** 24 hourly or 8 hourly or 1 hourly monitored values, as applicable, shall be complied with a 98% of the time – Forecasting, Modeling, etc.
in a year. 2% of the time, they may exceed the limits but not on two consecutive days of monitoring.

Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-I) Source: (urbanemission.info) Image Source: https://oizom.com/caaqms-vs-aaqms/

537 540
Methods of Ambient Air Monitoring (Automatic) (1/3) Air Monitoring - Pollutant Selection (1/2)

Pollutants are selected based on:

Automatic Monitoring
• They cause significant adverse health or
1UV Fluorescence Method environmental effects
• They are commonly discharged from known or
2Chemiluminescence Method suspected sources within the area
• They provide a good indication of the overall
3UV Photometric Method, Chemiluminescence quality of air.
4 Non-Dispersive Infrared Spectroscopy Method

5 Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance, Beta Attenuation Method

6 Gas Chromatography based Continuous Method

Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-II) Source: (Gurjar, B. R., Molina, L. T., Ojha, C. S. P., 2010) Image Source: www.americanscientist.org

541 544

Methods of Ambient Air Monitoring (Automatic) (2/3) Air Monitoring - Pollutant Selection (2/2)

1. UV Fluorescence Method • For example,

– For sampling and Analysis of Sulphur Dioxide • If vehicles are the primary source of pollutants, Possible
contaminants: Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), CO, Benzene and Fine PM2.5

Particulate Matter (PM2.5)

2. Chemiluminescence Method CO
• If the area is affected by domestic fire emissions from wood NO2
– For sampling and analysis of Oxides of burning, Possible contaminants: Particulate Matter, CO and
Nitrogen (NO – NO2 - NOX) and Ammonia(NH3) Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• Where coal is commonly used as domestic fuel or by industry,
3. UV Photometric Method, Chemiluminescence Possible contaminants: Particulate Matter, CO, SO2 and
– For sampling and analysis of Ozone Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• In urban areas, Possible contaminants: Carbon Monoxide (CO),
SO2, NO2, PM2.5, PM10

Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-II) Source: (Gurjar, B. R., Molina, L. T., Ojha, C. S. P., 2010); Image : https://www.shutterstock.com

542 545

Methods of Ambient Air Monitoring (Automatic) (3/3) Air Monitoring – Number and Distribution of Monitoring
Location (1/3)
4. Non-Dispersive Infrared Spectroscopy Method
– For sampling and analysis of Carbon  Number of Sampling Sites depends on:
Monoxide (CO) • Size of the area to be covered
• The variability of pollutant concentration over the area to be
5. Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM), covered
Beta Attenuation Method • The data requirements, which are related to the monitoring
– For sampling and analysis of PM2.5 and PM10 • Pollutant to be monitored and
• Population figures which can be used as indicators of
6. Gas Chromatography based Continuous Method criticality both from view of likely air quality deterioration
– For sampling and analysis of Benzene (BTX) and health implications.
(Benzene, Toluene, Ethyl benzene M+P Xylene
and O-Xylene)

Source: (CPCB Manual, Vol.-II) Source: (Guidelines for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring, 2003)

543 546
 Air Monitoring – Number and Distribution of Monitoring Air Monitoring – Selection of Monitoring Location (2/4)
Location (2/3)
2. Comparability (IS 5182 (Part 14) 2000)

• All four sides should be open, the intake should not be within
a confined space, in a corner, under or above a balcony.
• For traffic pollution monitoring the sampling intake should
be 3 m above the street level.
• Sampling in the vicinity of unpaved roads and streets results
in entrainment of dust into the samplers from the movement
of vehicles. Samplers are therefore to be kept at 200 m from
unpaved roads and streets.

Source: (Guidelines for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring, 2003) Source: (Guidelines for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring, 2003)

547 550

Air Monitoring – Number and Distribution of Monitoring Air Monitoring – Selection of Monitoring Location (3/4)
Location (3/3)
3. Physical requirement of the monitoring sites:
• Generally three monitoring stations are chosen as one
each in residential (or commercial), sensitive and industrial • The site should be available for a long period of time.
area. • Easy access to the site should be there anytime throughout
the year.
• Distribution of monitoring station in a city depend on the • Site sheltering and facilities such as electricity of sufficient
distribution of pollution sources and population in a city. rating, water, telephone connection etc. should be available.
• It should be vandal proof and protected from extreme
weather.
• More stations should be located in areas where
population density is high, number of industries are more
and vehicular density is high

Source: (Guidelines for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring, 2003) Source: (Guidelines for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring, 2003)

548 551

Air Monitoring – Selection of Monitoring Location (1/4) Air Monitoring – Selection of Monitoring Location (4/4)
Requirements to be fulfilled:
4. Topographical and Meteorological Factors
1. Representative Site
• The topographical factors that must be considered are:
• The site should be selected such that it is expected to remain
a representative site over a long time and no land use – Mountains (may cause precipitation),
changes, rebuilding's etc. are foreseen in near future. – Valleys (may channel the local winds into a particular
• The site should be away from major pollution sources direction),
depending upon its height and its emissions. The station – lakes, oceans and rivers (may cause a land-sea breeze
should be at least 25 m away from domestic chimneys, with wind pattern causing pollutant transport).
larger sources the distance should be greater (WHO,1977). • These factors cause a meteorological phenomena that may
• The site should be away from absorbing surfaces (absorbing affects air pollutants distribution.
building material). The clearance normally be at least 1 m.
(WHO, 1977).

Source: (Guidelines for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring, 2003) Source: (Guidelines for Ambient Air Quality Monitoring, 2003)

549 552
 Air Quality Regulation in India – A Timeline
Central Pollution Control Environment Pollution (Prevention &
Board (CPCB) was Control) Authority (EPCA) established
established under the CPCB adds provisions for to address air pollution in the national
Water Prevention and capital region (NCR) of Delhi
Control Act environment protection act
Stack Emission Monitoring using Isokinetic Sampling
1981 1994.04

1974 1986 1998.01

CPCB entrusted with the National Ambient Air Quality

powers and functions Standards were Introduced
under the Air Prevention
and Control of Pollution

Source: (Ganguly, T., Selvaraj, K. L., Guttikunda, S. K., 2020)

553 556

Air Quality Regulation in India – A Timeline Contents

• Introduction
Graded Response Action Plan • Principle of sampling method
National Ambient Air (GRAP) established to address air
Quality Standards were
National Air Quality Index (AQI)
methodology was established pollution emergencies in NCR Delhi • Apparatus/Equipment
revised • Sampling Procedure
2009 2016 • Sample recovery
• Calculation
• Determination of gaseous pollutant: Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
1998.10 2014 2016.12
 Principle
 Reagents
National Ambient Air PM2.5 is included for all  Procedure
Quality Standards were manual stations under the
revised and PM2.5 added  Calculation
National Air Quality
to the list
Monitoring Programme • Quality control
(NAMP)

Source: (Ganguly, T., Selvaraj, K. L., Guttikunda, S. K., 2020)

554 557

Air Quality Regulation in India – A Timeline Introduction

NCAP target to reduce PM2.5 in
• National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the the non-attainment cities by 20- • Stacks are large industrial chimneys designed to release and
states and union territories with non-attainment 30%, compared to 2017 levels
cities under NCAP to prepare action plan disperse hot air, particulate matter, and gaseous emissions into
• EPCA reconstituted with new members from the the atmosphere at a height that does not pose a threat to
government academia, and civil society. Implementation of
Bharat Stage-VI norms ground-level life. As per the requirements, air pollution control
2018 2019.01 devices are installed to clean the emission stream before it is
released through a stack.
2018.10 2020 2024
• These particulate and gaseous pollutants may impact the
April – National Clean Air human health, vegetation, and property. Hence, a stack
NCAP - a time-bound national level
Programme (NCAP) draft released sampler is used to measure the concentration of these
with INR 637 crores budget strategy to tackle increasing air
July – 102 non-attainment cities pollution, was launched by MoEFCC pollutants in exhaust emissions.
were announced Examination and approval of clean air
(August,2019) – 20 additional non- plans by 3-member central committee
attainment cities were announced
was constituted
Source: (Ganguly, T., Selvaraj, K. L., Guttikunda, S. K., 2020) Source: (CPCB, 2013), https://dec.vermont.gov/ Image: https://www.powerengineeringint.com/

555 558
 Principle of sampling method Sampling Procedure (1/3)
• Determination of particulate matter (PM) concentration • Location of Sampling Sample: Sample for particulate
consists of an isokinetic sampling of a measured amount of concentration shall be done where velocity
gas from the flue gases, separating the particles from the measurements were carried out.
gas, and determining the particulate concentration.
• Nozzle Size: Select the nozzle size, which provides a
• Isokinetic sampling: Sampling at such a rate that the velocity meter-sampling rate between 40 to 60 lit/min.
and the direction of the gas entering the sampling nozzle is
the same as that of the gas in the duct/stack at the same • Calculation of Proper Sampling Rate: Calculate the
sampling point. To ensure a representative sample, the sampling rate at the gas meter for each sampling point
kinetic energy of the gas stream in the stack should be before starting the test.
equal to the kinetic energy of the gas stream through the
sampling nozzle.
Source: (CPCB, 2013) Source: (CPCB, 2013)

559 562

Apparatus/Equipment
Pitot tube

Panel box (Front) Panel box (Back) Impinger tubes Thermocouple

SPM sampling probe

Source: (CPCB, 2013)

Vacuum pump

560 563

Apparatus/Equipment Nozzle Sampling Procedure (3/3)

• Preparation of the Sampling
• Filter paper: Thimble Train: After the proper nozzle
and filtering medium have been
• Thimble holder selected assemble the sampling
Thimble train as shown in Figure
• Nozzle
• Heated filer box
Thimble holder with nozzle
• Stopwatch
• Other required pieces/parts of Stopwatch
equipment are given in the CPCB
manual.

Source: (CPCB, 2013) , IS 11255-1 (1985) Source: (CPCB, 2013)

561 564
 Sample recovery Calculation (3/3)
• After the sampler has cooled, use a small brush to carefully Calculate the dust emission rate as follows:
brush the dust from the inside of the nozzle into the
thimble. Then, to transfer the thimble to the weighing room, 𝐸 𝑚 𝑥 𝑄𝑠
Dust Emission Rate = (mg/h)
remove it and place it in a dust-tight container. 10 6
• Determine the mass of dust collected in the thimble by
weighing the thimble before and after the run and compare Where
the weights. QS = flue gas flow rate ( 25 °C, 760 Hg mm Hg), m3/hr.
• Dry the thimble in an oven for about 2 hours at 1200C All stack emission test results shall be given on a dry
before sampling. basis, i.e., at zero percent moisture.
• Cool and dry the thimble after the sample in order to weigh
it with dust in the same condition as before sampling.

Source: (CPCB, 2013) Source: (CPCB, 2013)

565 568

Calculation (1/3) Determination of gaseous pollutants: Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)

Calculate the volume of gas sampled using the following equation: Volume of dry gas
through the sampling train (250C 760 mm Hg).
Principle of the sampling method

• A gas sample is extracted from the sampling point in the

stack. The sulfuric acid mist (including sulfur trioxide) and
Where the sulfur dioxide (SO2) are separated. The SO2 fraction is
Tm = Temperature of gas at dry meter condition, °C measured by the barium-thorin titration method.
Vm = Volume of gas sampled at dry gas meter conditions, m3
(Pbar – Pm) = Actual pressure in sampling train, mm mercury column.
Pm = Suction at the meter, mm mercury column
Pbar = Barometric pressure in sampling train, mm mercury column.
Y = Calibration factor of the dry gas meter.
Source: (CPCB, 2013) Source: (CPCB, 2013)

566 569

Calculation (2/3) Reagents

Calculate the dust concentration using the following equation:
• Deionized distilled
• Isopropanol, 80 Percent Mix
• Hydrogen Peroxide, 3 Percent
Dust Concentration in mg/m3, (25°C, 760 mm Hg, dry basis)
• Potassium Iodide Solution, 10 Percent
• Thorin Indicator
Where
Vstd = Volume of dry gas through the meter (25°C, 760 mm Hg), m3 • Barium Standard Solution, 0.0100 N
W1 = Initial weight of filter paper • Sulfuric Acid Standard, 0.0100 N
W2 = Final weight of filter paper

Source: (CPCB, 2013) Source: (CPCB, 2013)

567 570
 Procedure Quality Control
• Preparation of Sampling Train
• Leak-Check
• Quality Control (QC) is ensured by using
• Sample Collection certain techniques that fulfill requirements
• Sample Recovery for quality.
• Sample Analysis
• The QC procedures for the air sampling and
monitoring sections of this protocol include
 preventative maintenance of
equipment,
 calibration of equipment,
 analysis of field blanks and lab blanks.
Source: (CPCB, 2013) Source: NAAQS Guidelines, CPCB, 2013

571 574

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573