Injustices of Air Pollution - Research Paper Example

? Injustices of Air Pollution al Affiliation Air pollution can be defined as the presence of unwanted substances inthe air. Other scientists may define air pollution as the presence of one or more contamination in the air like: dust, gas, fumes and smoke. Air pollutants can either be classified as natural or may be as a result of various human activities like industrial operations. The industrial contamination can be viewed as a by-product of external combustion like smoke, dust, and sulfur oxides, or as a result of internal by-products like petrol and diesel. These emissions can either be primary or secondary. Primary pollutants are directly from the source like: carbon monoxide, and oxides of nitrogen. Secondary pollutants are produced in the air by the combination of two or more primary pollutants like: ozone, PAN and photochemical smog. The causes of air pollution are: emission of nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide and sulfur oxide and these emissions can be mitigated in several ways such as locating the pollution in remote areas, reduction of sulfur oxide, and carbon dioxide. The injustices that air pollution has are that the pollution has its greatest effects amongst the minority groups, low income groups and low unemployment areas. Keywords: Air Pollution, Injustices, Pollution, Sulphur Oxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, Pollutants The largest fraction of the biosphere is made up of the atmosphere, which is an active system which regularly absorbs different gases, solids, and liquids from both man-made and natural sources. Gases, liquids, and solids travel in air, dispersing and reacting with one another, and other substances chemically and physically. These constituents find their way to receptors and depositories such as human beings and oceans respectively. Air pollution can be defined as the presence of unwanted substances in the air. Other scientists may define air pollution as the presence of one or more contaminants in the air like dust, gas, fumes and smoke. Air pollution has been defined differently by different people; to the farmer it may be damaged vegetation, to the pilot it may be reduced visibility, and to the industry a problem control. Air pollution has had some of the injustices that affect particular groups of people in different parts of a country. The problems of air pollution are not evenly distributed; poor people and some racial and ethnical groups form the majority of people who face the high risks of pollutants and high amounts of air pollution. Rao asserts that, studies have proven that poorer people from certain racial and ethical backgrounds with low socioeconomic positions, and lack of the education are the most victims as they live near the main sources of pollution (1989). Studies by researchers have found that the risk of premature death from air toxicity as a result of the pollution has the greatest effects amongst the minority groups, such as African-Americans, in comparison to people of other races or ethnic groups. The socio-economic conditions of minority groups and people in third world countries have been associated with greater harm from the effects of air pollution. Fine particles in air have increased the overall risk of premature deaths. The risk of premature death doesn’t only affect the African-Americans, but also people who live in higher unemployment areas or high usage of transportation. A research carried out in 2008 shows that people who have poor quality of air and serious asthma went hand-in-hand in areas where Medicaid intake was high, but the areas with the highest Medicaid intake didn’t have a strong association with air pollution and asthma attacks (American Lung Association, 2012). A study shows that, in France there was no association of air pollution with low income and asthma attacks (American Lung Association, 2012). Through the study, researchers came to a conclusion and stated that there are three broad reasons why disparities exist. First, groups may have greater exposure to pollution due to the factors ranging from racism, to class discrimination, to housing, market dynamics and land costs. This is so because major sources of pollution are located near disadvantaged or low income communities, hence increasing the effects of air pollution on them. Secondly, low income social settings may come up with groups that are more susceptible to health threats, due to the disadvantages they have. Examples include the lack of access to good medical care, poorer jobs and dirty working places, or the risk of high traffic exposure, all these factors would increase the risk of harm. According to the American Health Association, poor health traits may expose these people to a greater risk, for example, the diabetic group is at a high risk of air pollution and the elderly African-American (2012). Yadav classified air pollutants to either be natural or as a result of various human activities like industrial operations (2009). The industrial contamination can be viewed as a by-product of external combustion like smoke, dust and sulphur oxides or as a result of internal by-product like petrol and diesel. These emissions can either be primary or secondary. Air pollution varies from one place to another for example; the air pollution in the U.S is not the same as the one in Asia (Yadav, 2009). Primary pollutants are directly from sources like carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and halogens compounds, and the secondary pollutants are produced in the air by the combination of two or more primary pollutants like ozone, PAN and photochemical smog (Yadav, 2009). Air pollutants can be categorized as follows: natural contaminants, for example pollen grains, aerosols and gases, and vapor. Causes of air pollution can be agricultural habitats; these are areas are used for human cultivation which involves use of reactive chemicals and grazing in order to provide food. The domestication of crops and animals has affected the natural landscape all over the world (Yadav, 2009). During agricultural practices, farmers and other humans eliminate anything that detriments farming such as pests, weeds, and indigenous crops. This activity has resulted to the reduction of plants and animals and it has also increased the monoculture habitat. Due to the high demand of food over the past years, this has resulted to high agricultural farming methods. At the end of the 18th Century, in Europe there was a major impact on agriculture and advanced machinery that improved the efficiency of agriculture and the production of synthetic fertilizer to enhance the soil (Yadav, 2009). These synthetic fertilizers eventually become sources of air pollution. Sulphur oxide is a natural source of air pollution; it includes evaporation of sea spray, erosion from sulfate containing dust from arid soil and fumes from a volcano. Yearly, the total emission of these sources amount to 114 million metric tons, and about 90% of the sulphur is released in the air (Yadav, 2009). Anthropogenic sulfur is sulfur oxide from a mixture of sulfur containing fuel (coal and oil), a purification of sour natural gas, and industrial methods such as smelting of sulfide ores. The largest producers of this anthropogenic sulfur are China and the United States, from coal burning. Coal burning produces a lot of carbon monoxide with when released to the air is harmful to the human population. Sulfur oxide is a corrosive colorless gas, which has a direct effect on the plants and animals. When sulfur oxide is released into the air, it oxidizes to produce sulfur trioxide, which reacts with water vapor and dissolves in water droplets to form sulfuric acid; this acid is a major component of acid rain. Small particles or liquid droplet transports the acidic sulfate for long distances through air. Sulfur dioxide and sulfate ions are second to smoking as a cause of air pollution. In fact, 80% of the visibility in the United States has been reduced by sulfate particles and droplets (Yadav, 2009). Sulfur oxides, is a very reactive gas formed from nitrogen in fuel or a mixture heated in air to a temperature above 65degree Celsius in the presence of oxygen or bacteria in the soil. Nitrogen oxide oxidizes in the atmosphere to produce nitrogen oxide. Nitrogen oxide when combined with water it forms nitric acid, which causes atmospheric acidification. Nitrogen is a very reactive compound its about 230 million metric tons (Yadav, 2009). The United States produces the highest amount due to transportation and electric power generation. Carbon dioxide; when carbon is released in air, it forms carbon dioxide (Yadav, 2009). Carbon dioxide is considered to be nontoxic and it increases in atmospheric levels. This is because of increased human activities that have caused global climate warming that is harmful to the humans. Some of the factors that lead to abundance of carbon dioxide are burning of fossils and biomass. The production of carbon dioxide is very harmful to the environment and the body. Air pollution can be controlled to reduce its effects in the air, some of this mitigation strategies are: Moving pollution to remote areas: This was the earliest method of improving the air quality by moving to a remote location (Yadav, 2009). The unwanted traces of particles are the main cause of air pollution, and in recent times it has become so hard to get rid of the unwanted products, the only way to reduce the air pollution is to prevent its release. Nitrogen oxide control: The only way to prevent nitrogen oxide is to avoid creating it. A large amount of these emissions is through mining, and manufacturing can be prevented through conservation. Reduced stage burners where by a flow of air and fuel is controlled, can reduce the production of nitrogen oxide by 50%, another way is to burn fuel in high temperature in a poor oxygen zone, where there can be no formation of nitrogen oxide (Away, 2009). Then after the heating the residual are passed to an afterburner where more air is required and finally combustion occurs in an air-rich, fuel-poor, low temperature environment which reduces the formation of nitrogen. Control of hydrocarbons: A hydrocarbon is a compound that is produced by an incomplete combustion of fuel from chemical factories, painting, and other industrial processes (Yadav, 2009). A closed system reduces the escape of gases. High air-fuel in automobile engines and burners minimizes the hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emission. Monitoring the air-fuel inputs in exhaust gases minimizes all these pollutants. Sulfur recovery process: Instead of throwing away products that have problems in waste disposal; this sulfur can be eliminated from an effluent gas by a process that yields products such as sulfuric acid (Yadav, 2009). Catalytic are used in the recovery process to reduce sulfur and to create chemical compound that are collected and sold. Fuel switching and fuel cleaning: Soft coal with a high amount of sulfur content to lower the sulfur coal can greatly reduce sulfur emissions. The use of fuel such as natural gas can terminate all the sulfur emission as well as particulates and heavy metals. Natural gas may be expensive than coal, but people nevertheless prefer coal pollution. An alternative for the coal is the use of wind and solar power and this power system is becoming more competitive in the market. However, coal can be crushed and washed to remove all the sulfur and metal before combustion. This way there is improved lighting and heat content and will replace air pollution (Yadav, 2009). In conclusion air pollution has been defined differently by people, who have studied and researched about its effects. Some of the major causes of air pollution are sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide. As discussed, Biases in air pollution tend to affect the disadvantaged groups of people and their habitats. There are a number of ways of controlling the spread of air pollution, some of these mitigation steps are; control of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide control and the transfer of pollution to remote areas and away from human habitats. Air pollution has had it side effects on people who are near these pollutants and it has affected them severely. Reference list Rao, M. (1989), Air Pollution. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. American Lung Association. (2012). Disparities in the Impact of Air Pollution. Retrieved from: http://www.stateoftheair.org/2012/health-risks/health-risks-disparities.html Yadav, P.R. (2009). Environmental Air Pollution. New Delhi: Discovery Publishing House PVT. LTD. Read More