Human health and air pollution
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Transcript of Human health and air pollution
Human Health and Air Pollution7SCIENCE
Mon., Feb. 14, 2011
How is human health affected by air pollution?
• Smog warnings– Cities– Children and elderly people
should stay indoors
• Athletes train outside– Adjust training schedules to avoid smog and dirty air
conditions
How dangerous is this dirty air?
• Damaging to lung tissue, making people more susceptible to diseases like asthma
• You may feel:– Burning eyes– Dry throat– Headache
• Acid rain: when you inhale air from acid rain, the acid gets deposited in your lungs– More respiratory illness, less oxygen and makes
your heart work harder!
Particulate air pollution
• Particulates:– Solid particles that are produced in the air, and are
of different sizes– Less than 1/10th the diameter of a human hair
• Formed from burning coal and other fossil fuels
• Affects normal breathing and can cause lung diseases
Reducing air pollution
• Pollutants and other contaminants in the air don’t stop when they reach the city or country borders or oceans– Float wherever the wind carries them– Even if one city or country reduces air pollution, than
pollution from another city may travel on the wind
• If cities and countries cooperate, then pollution can be reduced!
Movement of air pollution in Asia
Reducing air pollution
• One solution: Scrubbers!– Coal has a lot of sulfur in it
• Review: What type of smog is produced from this process of burning coal?
• When coal is burned, smoke is formed, and particulates may be released
• Many power plants have scrubbers,which can lower the acidity of the smoke and remove the particulates
• Another solution: Alternative or renewable energies!