In the recent times, air pollution has been a rising concern among people all across the globe with pollution, at times, leading to thick veil of smog over developed cities. The air that is inhaled, contains pollutants that can lead to various health effects from minor irritations to fatal ailments such as cancer.
Local sources of air pollution could also have global effects. Air pollution is one of the leading contributors towards the rising levels of global warming. Unbeknownst, humans and even other living beings contribute largely towards this environmental adversity through everyday activities.
Such activities bring about the release of ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases. In order to remedy the resulting situations and to avoid any further contributions, recognizing and isolating such activities or habits is imperative. Here’s a list of everyday activities that are constantly adding to the existing air pollution:
Everyday human activities
After the industrial effluents, human activities are one of the major sources of air pollution and the resultant global warming. It is the use of emission releasing products along with certain activities that amount to the pollutants. Such human activities not only pollute the outside air but the indoor air too. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in U.S.A., the air indoors is five times more polluted than the air outside.
The burning of wood
To begin with, where many homes in the rural areas use wood-consuming stoves, people in semi-rural and urban areas burn wood during winters to keep themselves warm. Burning of wood releases many toxic pollutants including carbon compounds, and also contribute in the formation of smog.
The kitchen stoves we use
Though largely unavoidable, it is something that you must know. The gas kitchen stoves release nitrogen dioxide which is a highly reactive gas. A strong oxidizing agent by nature, nitrogen dioxide readily reacts with the oxygen and moisture in the air to form toxic nitrates and nitric acid. A better alternative to this is to use induction cooktops instead.
Packaged spray products
The use of products such as air fresheners, cleaners and body deodorants release harmful air polluting particulates such as volatile organic compounds which are also known to cause certain long term health effects. Most of the home paints available in the market come laden with toxic pollutants that release air borne particulates.
Household appliances
Another entry in the ‘unavoidable’ category, almost every house has household appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators which make use of ozone-depleting aerosol sprays to condition and modulate room temperature, and keep our eatables fresh and edible, respectively.
Our daily litter
The everyday garbage released out of houses gets dumped as landfills which generate methane, a highly inflammable gas. Methane can cause explosive compounds on reacting with the air.
Last but certainly not the least, bad habits like smoking, hookah and vaping, and burning crackers are tangible causes too.
Natural resources
It is a lesser known fact that many natural resources are active sources of air pollutants. For instance, areas with little or no vegetation directly contribute to air pollution in the form of dust. Besides, there exist some species of plants that are known to emit VOCs during the warmer days. These toxic compounds often react with the other pollutants such as the nitrogen and carbon compounds to produce a haze of secondary pollutants.
Naturally occurring or human-caused wildfires in forest areas release smoke which contains huge amounts of carbon compounds such as carbon monoxides, which could react with the moisture in the air to produce acids.
Other air pollutant creating natural sources include volcanic activities and radioactive decays in the Earth’s crust. Where volcanic activities lead to creation of ash, chlorine and sulfur particulates, radioactive decays produce radon gas which is a serious health hazard.
Industrial and vehicular emissions
Heavy industries and vehicles act as major sources of primary air pollutants. Industries like energy, shipping, manufacturing, and automobiles discharge air pollutants such as fine particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen and carbon compounds, ground-level ozone etc.
What is it that everyone should do to bring it down?
Natural resources of pollution are beyond our control, but we can certainly address the man-made ones: –
· Industrial gases on a worldwide scale should be properly treated before being discharged.
· Smoking and burning crackers isn’t really ideal, and should be avoided as much as possible.
· The automobile industry is exploring electric sources of mobility which would not have any emissions. Till the time it is realized on a mass scale, people, especially in metro cities, should opt for carpooling and public transport to reduce traffic as well as air pollution.
Besides limiting the use of such major polluting products, people seriously need to start considering installing air purifiers in their homes and offices for easy and quick removal of pollutants from the indoor environment. In this context, you have Kent, the leading air purifier brand in India, to fulfill your indoor air purifying needs.
