Air Pollution

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Air Pollution

• Todd Robinson and Sara Parr

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Air Pollution can be a problem!http//www.syriait
.net/photos/uncategorized/air_pollution_china.jpg
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Air Pollution

• Types of pollution
• How does air move
• How do you measure air pollution
• Ozone
• Particulate Matter
• Connections to human health

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Why should you come to our session?

• In Michigan,
• 9.3 (701,300) adults currently have asthma.
• Southwest MI experiences 18 days every year with
  air quality below EPA standards.

Figure for the US only. http//www.epa.gov/air/air
trends/sixpoll.html
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Air Pollution

• Todd Robinson and Sara Parr

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Air Pollution

• Generally anything that enters the air that is
  harmful to organisms (including plants)
• Some pollution comes from humans, others can come
  from plants and the environment (forest fires,
  dust, soil, etc.)
• Air quality has improved for some pollutants, and
  declined for others.

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NAAQS

• National Ambient Air Quality Standards
• Set by the EPA for wide-spread pollutants from
  numerous and diverse sources that are considered
  harmful to human health and the environment.
• Available at http//www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/

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Name the 6 types of air pollution
Pollutant Sources Effects






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Name the 6 sources of air pollution
Pollutant Sources Effects
Carbon Monoxide
Nitrogen Oxides
Sulfur Dioxide
Volatile Organic Compounds
Particulate Matter
Lead
Ozone
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Name the 6 sources of air pollution
Pollutant Sources Effects
Carbon Monoxide Fossil fuels
Nitrogen Oxides Fossil fuels
Sulfur Dioxide Fossil fuels
Volatile Organic Compounds Cars, fossil fuels
Particulate Matter MV, ID,dust, burning,
Lead ID
Ozone MV, ID
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Name the 6 sources of air pollution
Pollutant Effects
Carbon Monoxide Death, illness
Nitrogen Oxides Infections, cancer
Sulfur Dioxide Acid rain
Volatile Organic Compounds Cancer, smog
Particulate Matter Respiratory problems, cancer
Lead Damages everything
Ozone Lung damage
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The Great Lakes Airshed

• Air travels from one region to the next,
  spreading pollution.
• We receive pollution from Gary, Chicago, and
  Milwaukee.
• We give pollution to Canada and New England.

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How can we tell if air quality is getting better
or worse?

• Monitoring different pollutants requires
  different techniques.
• Some are really easy, and some are quite complex.

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Your task today

• To look at two different ways to monitor air
  pollution
• To predict where you would find high
  concentrations of ozone and particulate matter
• To examine patterns across the US and compare
  Michigan to other places

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Ozone detectors

• See student handout for particular instructions.
• Safety first Glassware is hot! Use pot-holders.
  Also, wear gloves when handling Potassium Iodide.
• We will make the paste first, and then let it
  cool while we work on other activities

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Particulate matter sticky traps

• Student handout has instructions about how to
  make these.
• Predict sites that you think might have high PM
  or high ozone levels, and write this on your
  sheet.
• We will look at some samples under a microscope

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Particulate Matter across the US

• Greengood
• Yellow moderate
• Orange
• unhealthy
• Redreally unhealthy

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Ozone levels

• Highest in summer, lowest in winter
• Ozone strips are graded by color
• No color changevery low ozone
• Lavender medium ozone
• Dark purplehigh ozone
• The ozone levels detected will be affected by
  humidity, with high humidity giving higher
  readings.

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Schonbein color chart
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Michigan Air Quality

• An extension is possible to compare air pollution
  where you live with air pollution in other areas
  of the country.
• http//www.epa.gov/air/data/