Do you know what are the major air pollutants? Air pollutants are those substances that deteriorate the quality of air in such an extent that it becomes harmful and dangerous to living beings and the environment. The pollutants disseminate in the environment and make adverse impacts on life and plants. If the pollutants are increasing day by day, the environment will succumb to extreme pollution resulting in several dangerous consequences.
There are many air pollutants in the environment including primary pollutants, secondary pollutants, and radioactive pollutants.
Let’s go through the following content to learn more about the major air pollutants.
Important Air Pollutants
You are going to learn about the air pollutants but, also you should know what are the sources of the polluting substances. Do you know? “What are the sources of the polluting substances causing pollution in the air?”
Air pollutants may be defined as those substances which are present in the environment in massive amounts and cause adverse effects on air including their quality, purity, and reaction with other substances. Learn that these substances are not pollutants when they are present at normal levels and do not deteriorate air. But at a certain stage when they happen to be found in excess amounts, they cause harmful impacts on life, living, and non-living beings.
Now, look at the pollutants in the air, and their sources.
| Important Pollutants | Sources |
|---|---|
| Sulpher Dioxide(SO2) | Combustion of coal and petroleum |
| Nitrogen Oxide(NO2) | Combustion of petroleum at high temperature |
| Carbon Monoxide(CO) | Vehicular combustion of petroleum |
| Particulate matter | Burning of fossil fuels and several industrial processes |
| Ammonia(NH3) | Industrial processes and agricultural practices |
| Chloroflurocarbons(CFCs) | Sprays and refrigeration |
| Odours | Garbage, sewage, and industrial processes |
| Radioactive Pollutants | Nuclear explosions |
| Photochemical Smog | Burning of coal |
| Ground level Ozone | Vehicular and industrial emission |
| Peroxy Acyl Nitrate(PAN) | Combustion of fossil fuels from Nitrogen Oxides & VOCs |
Also, learn about biodegradable and non-biodegradable substances.
Biodegradable Pollutants
Biodegradable pollutants can be decomposed and transformed into other substances by microbial substances. There are certain decomposing bacteria that react with the pollutants and turn these substances into another form.
Dung, home garbage, etc.
Non-biodegradable Pollutants
Non-biodegradable pollutants are those substances that neither can bacteria nor microorganisms can decompose or destroy. In other other words, non-biodegradable pollutants decompose at a very slow speed.
If such kind of matters happens to be found at a very low level, they can make adverse impacts on life and the environment.
Mercury(Hg), DDT, Gamaxin, polythene, etc.