Particulates


The table below identifies the type of phenomena that are described under the particulate category. The idea of a particle seems very innocuous, not a concept to inspire alarm. Yet even low levels of particulates adversely affect breathing and can cause lung damage, e.g.

  • miners who contracted silicosis as a result of inhaling continuous high levels of silica dust,
  • coal miners suffering from black lung disease from breathing in coal dust,
  • textile workers who suffered brown lung disease from inhaling cotton dust
  • workers exposed to asbestos causing asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma

 

Term Description
Aerosols Any tiny solid or liquid particle
Dusts Solid particles from grinding or crushing
Fumes Solid particles that appear as vapors condense
Mist, fog Liquid suspensions
Smoke, soot, ash Solid particles, generally carbon
Smog Combination of air pollutants can include all of the above, term originally meant smoke + fog


Larger particulates are usually trapped in the hairs and lining of the nose and throat and then coughed or sneezed out. Small particulates however, can penetrate deep into the smaller canals and pockets (alveoli) of the respiratory system where they can lodge and remain indefinitely. Toxic chemicals, metals etc can become attached to the surface of a particulate and this provides the ideal transport mechanism to allow access to body tissues, e.g. cadmium or nickel can be absorbed by the blood and cause heavy metal poisoning, usually affecting the nervous system, whilst organic chemicals are often also adsorbed on to soot and these can cause cancer.


Task 5. Smog is a secondary air pollutant, identify some of the common reactions that give rise to this phenomena, what is the difference between London and Los Angeles smog