Photochemical Smog
Historically, the term smog referred to a mixture of smoke and fog, hence the
name smog. The industrial revolution has been the central cause for the increase
in pollutants in the atmosphere over the last three centuries. Before 1950, the
majority of this pollution was created from the burning of coal for energy
generation, space heating, cooking, and transportation. Under the right
conditions, the smoke and sulfur dioxide produced from the burning of coal can
combine with fog to create industrial smog. In high concentrations, industrial
smog can be extremely toxic to humans and other living organisms. London is
world famous for its episodes of industrial smog. The most famous London smog
event occurred in December, 1952 when five days of calm foggy weather created a
toxic atmosphere that claimed about 4000 human lives. Today, the use of other
fossil fuels, nuclear power, and hydroelectricity instead of coal has greatly
reduced the occurrence of industrial smog. However, the burning of fossil fuels
like gasoline can create another atmospheric pollution problem known as
photochemical smog. Photochemical smog is a condition that develops when primary
pollutants (oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds created from
fossil fuel combustion) interact under the influence of sunlight to produce a
mixture of hundreds of different and hazardous chemicals known as secondary
pollutants. Development of photochemical smog is typically associated with
specific climatic conditions and centers of high population density. Cities
like Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, and Vancouver frequently suffer episodes of
photochemical smog.
One way in which the production of photochemical smog is initiated is through
the photochemical reaction of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) to form ozone. There are
many sources of photochemical smog, including vehicle engines (the number one
cause of photochemical smog), industrial emissions, and area sources (the loss
of vapors from small areas such as a local service station, surface coatings and
thinners, and natural gas leakage).
Vehicle engines, which are extremely numerous in all parts of the world, do not
completely burn the petroleum they use as fuel. This produces nitrogen dioxide
which is released through the vehicle exhaust along with a high concentration of
hydrocarbons. The absorption of solar radiation by the nitrogen dioxide results
in the formation of ozone (O3). Ozone reacts with many different hydrocarbons to
produce a brownish-yellow gaseous cloud which may contain numerous chemical
compounds, the combination of which, we call photochemical smog.
Both types of smog can greatly reduce visibility. Even more importantly, they
pose a serious threat to our health. They form as a result of extremely high
concentrations of pollutants that are trapped near the surface by a temperature
Thus, the high incidence rate is of great public health importance, as it puts increasing strain on the health system and wider sectors, and generates considerable morbidity.
of Ebola. It is so lethal that nine out of ten of its victims die. Later, the
The World Health Organization considered Sarnia as the worst air in all of Canada. This is a serious health concern for the people of Aamjiwnaang, as their community has reported to have higher cancer and miscarriage rates than the national average. One of the major issues that the residents of Aamjiwnaang facing is the chemical leaks from the plants themselves which go unreported often. In 2013, there were three spills of hydrogen sulfide. One of them sent several small children from Aamjiwnaang's daycares to the hospital (Maguire, 2013). Hydrogen sulfide H2S is a significant fatal occupational and environmental hazard that has a danger pattern of toxicity. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a flammable gas, colorless, and has an odor of rotten eggs. The concentration of this gas in the air is more important than the duration of the exposures. the movie also stated that because the shell did not probably alert the community, the children with acute symptoms are usually have a wrong diagnosis of flu or cold while they are suffering from hydrogen sulfide exposure, H2S At a level of 0–5 ppm in the air, it can be detected easily. At levels greater than 10 ppm it can affect human health, while levels of more than 600 ppm can cause death (Rattanapan, Suksaroj, Chumpikul, & Choosong,
substances that could cause harm to our body or to any of the millions of processes going on inside. Now
... from our world today. Though they are not as prominent now, everyone suffers from some kind of sickness.
of health implications that it has been linked to causing. According to Public Health Grand
More than three million children under the age of five have passed away because of pollution and other environmental factors (Rinkesh). Pollution is the leading cause of death among developing countries (Petru, Alexis). Air pollution analyst and environmental chemist are two careers that focus on improving our environment to make it safer to live in.
According to “Medical News Today” cancer is a disease that is caused by an over growth of anomalous cells on one or more lungs. Cells often go up the air pipes which can cause difficulty to breath. Due to the over production of cells the tissue cells often begin to over produce; which results in tumors. There are two types of tumors: malignant and benign. Malignant tumors are the more dangerous of the two due to its invasive nature; which makes it cancerous. While benign is not invasive in other words non-cancerous. This is why cancer spreads to multiple areas and can be sometimes very difficult to fight. Cancer cells are abnormal not only because of their evasive nature, but also because of its irregular life cycle. Rather than expire like a regular cell, they continuously grow and duplicate which causes the disease to spread. This makes cell abnormal in shape and other qualities; known as a sickle cell. Due to the large growth and reproduction rate of the cells this makes the spreading of the cancer more rapid. Each cancer has specific symptom, for lung cancer the sympto...
Cancer has become the one of the most feared things for human beings. The various type of cancer have been discovered and there are still a lot of it that undiscoverable. Cancer is a complex disease that have a group of disease. The cancer itself cannot be describe by words. The causes of this cancer is still not being able to be discovered fully. There are only minor factor that can lead to this disease. The carcinogens are believed to be one of the causes that lead to cancer such as asbestos, radon gas, tobacco, PVC and much more from our chemical industries. The environment especially near to the industrial that produce chemical waste can be one of the causes lead to cancer. Cancer also have relation with our age, lifestyle, and diet and also can be genetically inherited. It is believed that older people have higher tendency to get cancer than younger people. Our lifestyle and diet also plays a role causing a cancer by our daily life routine. Smoking tobacco and eating unconsciously (still in research) can also increase the possibility to get cancer especially lung cancer that cause by smoking tobacco. There are several cases, cancer were inherited from their parents. Various type of viruses such as HIV, HPV, EBV and many more virus has a high capabilities to increase the chance a patient to get a cancer because these viruses lower their body immunity to disease.
Pollution is a massive problem, due to burning excessive amounts of fossil fuels and produces global warming. The rising in temperature of earth has resulted huge melting of polar ice caps, flooding of low-lying areas, and also rise in sea levels. If these conditions conquer the surface of earth it will face radical changes. Hence, the ozone holes are also being created trough this process, that creates a harmful UV rays that enters the earth surface. Apparently it affect human life trough causing diseases like cancer. Melanin that present in the skin reacts trough these high wave radiations. Skin cancer is one of the major forms of disease that known to be caused due to these reactions of the pigment present in the skin and infra-red rays. Besides that, when burnt sulphur, dioxide gas will also be produced. This factor forms acid rain. Acid rain could leads to destructions of most of monuments that were made up of brickwork or marbles. Even a lot of crops are affected due to the acidification of loams.
As a world’s most populous country, China, is experiencing breakneck growth in the process of industrialization and urbanization, with a roughly rate of 10 percent on GDP each year for the last three decades (World Bank). Now it is choking on something which is not only suffocating the lifeline of this country, but also shrinking those GDP for decades. That is the smog, the other Chinese landmark you can see from space through NASA satellite picture besides the Great Wall. Obviously, smog cannot be ignored anymore, especially in 2013, when smog “blackened Chinese cities with appalling frequency, closed airport and roads, and sent children to hospitals with pollution – filled lungs”(Wong). Smog is also the main contributor
They are the front line of surveillance and play the prime element in early detection of potentially life-threatening problems.
Volcanoes can be one of the most destructive forces on Earth. It is estimated that some
global scale, causing imbalances and threats to human life, safety, access to vital resources, and
Like a cancer, it has grown slowly yet steadily and we have now reached a point where