What is air pollution? List various air pollutants.
Air pollution: The release of harmful materials into the air is called air or atmospheric pollution. It is the degradation of air quality and atmospheric conditions. Air pollutants include gaseous materials, suspended particles, and radioactive substances. 1. The gaseous pollutants of the air come from combustion in motor vehicles and industries. These include CO, C02, NO, N02, S02, S03, hydrocarbons, fluorides, and photochemical oxidants such as peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), ozone (03), and aldehydes. PAN is a secondary pollutant formed in the air by the interaction between nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons in the presence of sunlight. It is more toxic than the primary pollutants. An increase in toxicity by the reaction among pollutants is called synergism.
