GEOG-120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Criteria Air Contaminants, Volatile Organic Compound, Persistent Organic Pollutant
22 Dec 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Human creates various types of outdoor air pollution. Primary pollutants such as soot and carbon monoxide are pollutant emitted into the troposphere in a form that can be directly harmful or that can react to form harmful substances. Secondary pollutant are harmful substances produced when primary pollutants interact with constituents of the atmosphere. Four air pollutants provided by cepa (canadian environmental protection act): Criteria air contaminants are produced in varying quantities by a number of processes, including the burning of fossil fuels. Cac include sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter , volatile organic compound, carbon monoxide, ammonia and tropospheric ozone. Sulphur dioxide is a colourless gas with a strong odour; it may react with sulphuric acid and fall back to earth as acid precipitation. Nitrogen dioxide is highly reactive, foul smelling, reddish brown gas that contributes to smog and acid precipitation; results when atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen react at high temperatures from combustion engines.
