Pollution Emission

The introduction of various gases, particulates, or biological materials into the atmosphere, which alters its natural composition, is referred to as pollution emission. Pollutants are harmful because they contaminate the air. When these pollutants are released into the atmosphere, they alter its chemical composition, making weather and climate more likely to be affected (Boubel et al 13) Carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, particulate matter, ozone, and volatile organic compounds are all major air pollutants released into the environment. Pollutants are primarily released by automobiles, factories, bushfires, and large-scale vegetation burning.
Car emission
Automobile emissions contribute significantly to air pollution. Cars run on petroleum fuels, which burn to propel the vehicle forward. When the fuel undergoes combustion, the smoke that is emitted in the exhaust contains hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons contribute to ground-level ozone formation leading to the risk of damage to the human respiratory system (Casler and Peter 20). Cases of incomplete combustion of car fuels lead to the formation of carbon monoxide. When carbon monoxide is inhaled it combines with hemoglobin to form carboxyl-hemoglobin and thus reducing the blood oxygen-carrying capacity hence reducing the availability of oxygen to essential organs that need it (Boubel et al 14). Combustion of car fuels also to the formation of nitrogen oxide and particulate matters.

Continuous emission of these toxic gasses into the atmosphere threatens life in the universe. Various governments, for example, The United States government, has imposed tougher emission standards, and measures have been put into place to eliminate more pollution. International Organizations have not been left behind. The European Union, for example, has put its own standards that all new vehicles must meet EU Regulation no 444/2009 that sets average carbon monoxide emissions target for passenger cars of 130 grams per kilometer (Kampa and Elias 363). The target is gradually being revised after every three years. The EU aim to implement a target of 95gramsper kilometer by 2021. The light commercial vehicle has a target of 175g/km. These regulations are still a challenge to implement since the oil refineries have not modernized to meet these conditions. It is also clear that vehicles manufactured before these dates are still abundant on the roads and they make larger percentage of cars

In an attempt to control car emission, various measures have been put in place. These measures include air injection which involves injection air rich in oxygen to aid full combustion of the car fuel (Selden and Daqing 148). Full combustion limits the production of carbon monoxide and thus limiting pollution another measure involve inserting catalytic converter which involves the use of a catalyst to decompose harmful combustion products like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxide into less toxic elements.

Factories emission

Factories require energy to aid in the processing or manufacturing process and this energy come from the combustion of fossil fuels which in most cases is coal. The burning of coal produces fluoride gasses, arsenic lead, hydrogen chloride, sulfur oxide, nitrogen and other metals. Another source of pollution from factories comes from metal smelting. Heating and smelting of metals done in industries cause emission of sulfur and carbon oxides. Arsenic particles can also result from aluminum while mercury cyanide emissions result from lead and gold refinery.

Petrochemical smog is another pollutant emitted to the atmosphere in the industries. The chemical process which involves a combination of cleaning painting and heating also involve emission of volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere. Volatile organic compounds include hydrocarbon based chemicals which react with other elements like sulfur and nitrogen oxide in the presence of sunlight to creating peroxyacetyl nitrates (Selden and Daqing 156).

Emission from factories has a hazardous effect on the ecosystem ranging from impairing vision, forming urban fog and causing difficulty in breathing, hence calling for the need to regulate industrial emission. Precautions put in place by industries to control factory emission include using emission control system mounted in the factory chimneys, which monitors the content of the emitted smoke from the industries it achieves these by converting contaminants into water vapor and carbon dioxide which can be safely emitted into the atmosphere or recycled into the system (Kampa and Elias 265). Strict emission standards have been put in place and they vary from factory to factory. For example, pharmaceutical factories and cement factories may be allowed to have more emission compared to others, for example, food processing plant. Catalytic and thermal oxidizers are also used to break down pollutants and purify the air before emission by heating the material to extreme temperatures. In additions to these, pools or streams of water may also be used to remove particles from the air (Casler and Peter 20). Limiting the use of fossil fuels such as oil and coal or rather replacing it the use natural gas not only reduces the rate of pollution but also reduces the cost of production and extending the firms life by doing away with corrosion caused by fuels.

The measures put in place to regulate industrial emission should be adhered to so as to minimize pollution since emissions o from factories produce large volumes of gaseous and particle wastes which are speeding up the global warming hence threatening life in the planet earth (Selden and Daqing 150). Besides the government and factories effort to control pollution, individuals should also play a role in helping the law enforcing agencies to ensure that these laws are followed to the latter. For example they can report the factories breaching the industrial emission standards or rather shy away from their products.

Domestic emission

Certain activities done domestically at home can also lead to the emission of pollutants. For example, gas and paraffin heaters, stoves and cookers are likely to produce carbon monoxide which can even lead to suffocation in poorly ventilated rooms. The bonfires, garden incinerators, and barbecues can also produce smoke that could harbor bad odor. The pollution is rather mild and can be fatal since their long term effect such as asthmatic and bronchitis problems. Burning of waste material at home may also contribute to emission of harmful gasses into the air. At the domestic level, an individual should avoid the use of products that cause air pollution like biomass fuels and instead adopt environmental friendly alternatives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, making the world a better place is not only the responsibility of a state but to every single inhabitant of this planet since the overall adverse effects affect everyone irrespective of the person who is responsible. Individuals are therefore advised to adopt healthy living, making a responsibility to protect the air by every possible means. For example, it is environmentally friendly to minimize the use of cars, turn off lights when not in use and generators should not be left on while not in use. Using products from companies that meet the emission regulation is also important. Individuals should also avoid using fuels from refinery firms who still produce oil that isn’t environmental friendly. In a nutshell, the air forms a basic part of human environment since it is breathing that distinguishes between being alive or dead. Thus, breathing bad air is more like a suicidal act which no normal being world take pleasure in doing.

Works Cited

Boubel, Richard W., et al. Fundamentals of air pollution. Elsevier, 2013.

Casler, Stephen D., and Peter D. Blair. “Economic structure, fuel combustion, and pollution emissions.” Ecological economics 22.1 (2007): 19-27.

Kampa, Marilena, and Elias Castanas. “Human health effects of air pollution.” Environmental pollution 151.2 (2008): 362-367.

Selden, Thomas M., and Daqing Song. “Environmental quality and development: is there a Kuznets curve for air pollution emissions?.” Journal of Environmental Economics and management 27.2 (2014): 147-162.