GC: n
CT: Air pollution is the contamination of the indoor or outdoor air by a range of gasses and solids that modify its natural characteristics. Key health harmful pollutants include particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) 1 , carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), black carbon (BC), sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Air pollution is often not visible to the naked eye as the size of the pollutants are smaller than the human eye can detect. They can become visible in some situations for example in the form of sooty smoke from the open burning of crop residues or other waste, as well as from burning wood, coal, petrol and diesel fuels for cooking and heating, transport or power production. The fact that you cannot see the air pollution does not mean that it does not exist.
Many cities in South-East Asia face poor air quality throughout the year. However levels of air pollution can become severe in certain months or in response to specific incidents/episodes.
S: WHO – https://bit.ly/2UiurTr (last access: 5 December 2018).
N: 1. – air (n): c. 1300, “invisible gases that surround the earth,” from Old French air “atmosphere, breeze, weather” (12c.), from Latin aer “air, lower atmosphere, sky,” from Greek aēr (genitive aeros) “mist, haze, clouds,” later “atmosphere” (perhaps related to aenai “to blow, breathe”), which is of unknown origin. It is possibly from a PIE *awer– and thus related to aeirein “to raise” and arteria “windpipe, artery” on notion of “lifting, suspended, that which rises,” but this has phonetic difficulties.
– pollution (n): mid-14c., “discharge of semen other than during sex,” later, “desecration, defilement” (late 14c.), from Late Latin pollutionem (nominative pollutio) “defilement,” noun of action from past participle stem of Latin polluere “to soil, defile, contaminate,” from por– “before” + –luere “smear,” from PIE root *leu– “dirt; make dirty”. Sense of “contamination of the environment” first recorded c. 1860, but not common until c. 1955.
2. Presence in the air of one or more substances at a concentration or for a duration above their natural levels, with the potential to produce an adverse effect.
3. Air pollution is a mixture of natural and man-made substances in the air we breathe. It is typically separated into two categories: outdoor air pollution and indoor air pollution.
Outdoor air pollution involves exposures that take place outside of the built environment. Examples include:
- Fine particles produced by the burning of fossil fuels (i.e. the coal and petroleum used in energy production)
- Noxious gases (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, chemical vapors, etc.)
- Ground-level ozone (a reactive form of oxygen and a primary component of urban smog)
Indoor air pollution involves exposures to particulates, carbon oxides, and other pollutants carried by indoor air or dust. Examples include:
- Gases (carbon monoxide, radon, etc.)
- Household products and chemicals
- Building materials (asbestos, formaldehyde, lead, etc.)
In some instances, outdoor air pollution can make its way indoors by way of open windows, doors, ventilation, etc.
4. A primary pollutant is an air pollutant emitted directly from a source. For example: sulphur dioxide, nitrogren dioxide, ammonia (NH3) and volatile organic compounds. A secondary pollutant is not directly emitted as such, but forms when other pollutants (primary pollutants) react in the atmosphere. For example: ozone, which is formed when hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) combine in the presence of sunlight; NO2, which is formed as NO combines with oxygen in the air; and acid rain, which is formed when sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides react with water.
5. Air pollution has both acute and chronic effects on human health, affecting a number of different systems and organs. It ranges from minor upper respiratory irritation to chronic respiratory and heart disease, lung cancer, acute respiratory infections in children and chronic bronchitis in adults, aggravating pre-existing heart and lung disease, or asthmatic attacks. In addition, short- and long-term exposures have also been linked with premature mortality and reduced life expectancy.
6. Air pollution also causes environmental problems such as global warming, acid rain and ozone depletion. For example, greenhouse gases (GHG) are the atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation produced by solar warming of the Earth’s surface. They include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ozone (O3) and water vapor.
7. Cultural Interrelation: We can also mention the movie WALL·E (2008) created by Andrew Stanton.
S: 1. OED – https://bit.ly/2Qhw2us (last access: 5 December 2018). 2. NCBI – https://bit.ly/2juHEsG (last access: 5 December 2018). 3. NIH – https://bit.ly/2DVbO3B (last access: 5 December 2018). 4. GreenFacts – https://bit.ly/2Qzy1JU (last access: 5 December 2018); EEA – https://bit.ly/2E0JI5I (last access: 5 December 2018). 5. SDir – https://bit.ly/2rofQZu (last access: 5 December 2018). 6. AIRQ – https://bit.ly/2QB8sId (last access: 5 December 2018); https://bit.ly/2Ega7xl (last access: 5 December 2018). 7. IMDb – https://imdb.to/2NJgBFx (last access: 5 December 2018).
SYN: air contamination, atmospheric pollution.
S: TERMIUM PLUS – https://bit.ly/2EeeGbx (last access: 5 December 2018).
CR: acid rain, biosphere, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, charging pool, climate change, ecology, environment, global warming, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gas, halogen, hydrocarbon, hydrogen refuelling station, manure, methane, mesopause, nitric acid, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide, nitrous oxide, ozone layer, pollution , soil pollution, stratosphere, stratospheric ozone, sulfur dioxide, tropospheric ozone.
