home » information » recipe for pollution

Information

Recipe For Pollution

Air pollution is caused by particulates sent into the air. There are five main kinds of air pollution. They all make you sick, but they attack your body in different ways all at the same time, so your body fights back in different ways.

Toxic gases are mixed in with our regular air. They have technical sounding names like Nitrogen Oxide, Sulphur Dioxide, Ozone and one is just an acronym VOC. And they are making you sick. Instead of breathing proper air you are sucking in toxic gas as well. No wonder it is hard to breathe.

SO2 - Sulphur Dioxide

Colorless SO2 creates acid rain and the vast majority of SO2 comes comes from power plants.

Nox - Nitrogen Oxides

Nox comes from cars, trucks, buses and power plants. Short-term exposure to nitrogen oxides makes respiratory illnesses worse while long-term exposure can lower a person's resistance to respiratory infections and make existing chronic respiratory diseases worse. They also turn the air a bit brown.

VOCs - Volitile Organic Compounds

VOCs are surface chemicals in products like paint, new carpet and hairspray that turn into gas at room temperature. If you child sprays hairspray directly into his face, the VOCs could kill immediately.

Ozone

The most dangerous, ozone forms when sunlight shines on "NoX" or "VOC." High concentrations of ozone has a greater impact on the respiratory system. It may irritate the mucous membrane lining of the nasal passage, the throat and the trachea, causing cough, chest pain and throat and eye irritation. It may also increase the system's susceptibility to respiratory infection. In serious cases, it may impair the normal pulmonary function and trigger inflammation of the respiratory system. Photochemical smog also contains other compounds such as peroxyacyl nitrates and formaldehyde, which may cause eye irritation when the concentrations are high.

RSPs - Respirable Suspended Particles

Respirable suspended particles are tiny particles of less than 10 microns in diameter that can float in the air for weeks. When you breathe them, they penetrate deep into the your lungs and lymphatic system, making respiratory conditions like asthma worse, decreasing lung functions, increasing respiratory stress, and may even cause premature death. These tiny particles are so small you can't see them - they lodge in your lungs and stay there. Respirable suspended particles cause breathing diseases like coal miners' "Black Lung" and they come from power plants, diesel vehicles and second-hand tobacco smoke.