Air Pollution

Shilpi sharma
Air Pollution can be a
problem!
http://www.syriait.net/photos/uncategorized/air_pollution_china.jpg
Air Pollution

• Types of pollution
• How does air move
• How do you measure air pollution
– Ozone
– Particulate Matter
• Connections to human health
 Why should you come to our
session?
• In Michigan,
• • 9.3% (701,300)
adults currently
have asthma.
• Southwest MI
experiences 18
days every year
with air quality
below EPA
Figure for the US only.
standards. http://www.epa.gov/air/airtrends/sixpoll.html
 Air Pollution
Todd Robinson and Sara Parr
Air Pollution

• Generally anything that enters the

air that is harmful to organisms
(including plants)
• Some pollution comes from humans,
others can come from plants and the
environment (forest fires, dust, soil,
etc.)
• Air quality has improved for some
pollutants, and declined for others.
NAAQS

• National Ambient Air Quality

Standards
• Set by the EPA for wide-spread
pollutants from numerous and
diverse sources that are considered
harmful to human health and the
environment.
• Available at
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/
Name the 6 types of air
pollution
Pollutant Sources Effects
Name the 6 sources of air
pollution
Pollutant Sources Effects
Carbon
Monoxide
Nitrogen Oxides
Sulfur Dioxide
Volatile Organic
Compounds
Particulate
Matter
Lead
Ozone
Name the 6 sources of air
pollution
Pollutant Sources Effects
Carbon Fossil fuels
Monoxide
Nitrogen Oxides Fossil fuels
Sulfur Dioxide Fossil fuels
Volatile Organic Cars, fossil
Compounds fuels
Particulate MV,
Matter ID,dust,
Lead burning,
ID
Ozone MV, ID
Name the 6 sources of air
pollution
Pollutant Effects
Carbon Death, illness
Monoxide
Nitrogen Oxides Infections, cancer
Sulfur Dioxide Acid rain
Volatile Organic Cancer, smog
Compounds
Particulate Respiratory problems, cancer
Matter
Lead Damages everything
Ozone Lung damage
The Great Lakes Airshed
• Air travels from
one region to the
next, spreading
pollution.
• We receive
pollution from
Gary, Chicago, and
Milwaukee.
• We give pollution
to Canada and New
England.
How can we tell if air quality is
getting better or worse?
• Monitoring different
pollutants requires
different
techniques.
• Some are really
easy, and some are
quite complex.
Your task today…

• To look at two different ways to

monitor air pollution
• To predict where you would find high
concentrations of ozone and
particulate matter
• To examine patterns across the US
and compare Michigan to other
places
Ozone detectors

• See student handout for particular

instructions.
• Safety first: Glassware is hot! Use
pot-holders. Also, wear gloves when
handling Potassium Iodide.
• We will make the paste first, and
then let it cool while we work on
other activities
Particulate matter sticky
traps
• Student handout has instructions
about how to make these.
• Predict sites that you think might
have high PM or high ozone levels,
and write this on your sheet.
• We will look at some samples under
a microscope
Particulate Matter across
the US
• Green=good
• Yellow=
moderate
• Orange=
unhealthy
• Red=really
unhealthy
Ozone levels
• Highest in summer, lowest in winter
• Ozone strips are graded by color:
No color change=very low ozone
Lavender= medium ozone
Dark purple=high ozone
The ozone levels detected will be
affected by humidity, with high
humidity giving higher readings.
Schonbein color chart
Michigan Air Quality

• An extension is possible to compare

air pollution where you live with air
pollution in other areas of the
country.
• http://www.epa.gov/air/data/