Air pollution derives from a range of industrial sources.
Air pollution permeates the modern world; whether indoors or outdoors, the quality of the air you breathe is heavily compromised by the deleterious effects of various man-made products and industries. Despite the massive scale of the issue, you can adopt specific remedies while withdrawing your reliance on air pollution's major causes. Collective efforts may forestall the worsening trend.
Cause: Radon
While it may not be the most famous source of air pollution, radon is a major cause of indoor air pollution, only second to smoking as a cause of lung cancer. It infiltrates buildings where the interior air pressure is less than that of the gases in the soil. Radon is colorless, odorless and tasteless. It naturally forms through uranium-238's radioactive decay.
Cause: Emissions from Building Materials
A secondary source of indoor air pollution derives from the very building materials and modern appliances we keep indoors. Cleaning fluids, carpeting, latex-based paints and caulking treatments and sealants, vinyl and linoleum materials and even some types of furniture all can emit low levels of air pollutants. One of the most common pollutants is formaldehyde.
Cause: Burning Fossil Fuels
The combustion of fossil fuels releases high levels of carbon dioxide into the air. Since 1860, before the rise of industrialization, the levels of carbon dioxide in the air have increased by about 10 percent. Sixty-five percent of all carbon dioxide emissions come from industrialized countries. Carbon dioxide is damaging because it restricts heat radiation from exiting Earth's atmosphere, producing the warming greenhouse effect.
Remedy: Indoor Plants
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's research into plants' effects on air quality found that several plant species were highly effective in removing common indoor air pollutants, such as formaldehyde and benzene. Effective species include the bamboo palm, English ivy, the spider plant, the peace lily, the Chinese evergreen and several philodendron varieties.
Remedy: Sealing Air Leaks
An effective means of eliminating radon exposure is to seal the gaps where air may leak indoors. In addition to shutting off the access for radon to leach, a well-sealed building is more energy efficient, thereby reducing its dependence on energy and lowering heating and cooling bills. Indirectly, the decreased need for energy requires less burning of fossil fuels, a secondary help to outdoor air quality.
Remedy: Alternative Energies
Adopting alternative energy sources can drastically improve outdoor air quality. Replacing fossil fuel combustion with cleaner technologies would decrease the production of carbon dioxide. If people reduce the burning of sulphur-rich coal and gas, they can lower the levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, two major air pollutants.
