Outdoor Air Pollution

6th gradeEnvironmental Health

This is What Air Pollution Looks Like…

How Much Do You Know About Pollution??

Climate Kids Trivia

EPA

• Environmental Protection Agency

– a government office that works to keep the air, the land, and the water clean.

– Clean air, land, and water help keep us healthy

AQI• Air Quality Index- The AQI is a health-based

scale meant to represent how healthy the air is each day.

Types of Air Pollution

•Ozone•Particulates•Smog

Ozone

• High in the atmosphere, Stratospheric Ozone helps to protect our skin from harmful UV rays.

• Here is how the ozone layer works

http://www.epa.gov/apti/ozonehealth/what.html

Ozone• Tropospheric or ground-level ozone –(what we breathe) can

be harmful to our health

Ground-level ozone is…– the result of reactions of man-made chemicals– primarily from chemical plants, gasoline pumps, oil-based

paints, autobody shops, and print shops. – Other significant sources are power plants, industrial

furnaces and boilers, and motor vehicles.

• Good up high, bad nearby This is how bad ozone forms

• http://www.epa.gov/apti/ozonehealth/what.html

Color & Health Words What to Do

GREEN is Good Just enjoy the clean air!

YELLOW is Moderate Air quality is fine for most people, including children like you. However, if you know you are extra sensitive to pollution, you might want to limit the time you spend playing outside.

ORANGE is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

People with lung disease, such as asthma, and active kids and grown-ups should limit how long or how hard they play or are active outside. Remember, it's important to think about how the air quality is making you feel! If you don't feel so great, take it a little easier.

RED is Unhealthy People with lung disease, such as asthma, and active kids and grown-ups should not spend a long time playing or being active outdoors. Everybody else should limit how long they are active outside .

PURPLE is Very Unhealthy People with lung disease, such as asthma, and active kids and grown-ups should not spend any time playing or being active outdoors. Everybody else should limit outdoor activities.

MAROON is Hazardous(usually not shown)

No one should play or be active outside.

Ozone and Your Health

• It’s good when it absorbs UV light, reducing human exposure to harmful UV radiation that causes skin cancer and cataracts.

• It’s bad when inhaled. It leads to a number of adverse health effects.

• http://www.epa.gov/apti/ozonehealth/what.html

Particulates

• Particulate matter is mostly dust and soot so small that it floats in the air.

• It is not good for you to breathe in too much of the tiny particulate matter.

• http://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.cfm?action=aqikids.air6

   Coarse Particles (PM10)

 Fine Particles (PM2.5)

 

  What they     are

 • smoke, dirt and

dustfrom factories, farming, and roads

• mold, spores, and pollen

• toxic organic compounds

• heavy metals

 

  How they’re   made

crushing and grinding rocks and soilthen blown by wind

 • driving

automobiles• burning plants

(brush fires and forest fires or yard waste)

• smelting (purifying) and processing metals

 

Where do Particulates Come From?

http://www.airinfonow.org/html/ed_particulate.html

Particulates and Your Health

– Particles in the air can make you cough.

– Particulate matter can also make it hard for you to take a deep breath and you might get more colds.

– If you already have asthma or problems with your heart, particulate matter could make you sick enough to go to the hospital

• http://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.cfm?action=aqikids.air6

Reduce Your Exposure to Particulates

• If the AQI is orange or worse, don't play near streets with heavy traffic. – Heavy traffic areas are highways and busy streets

where there are a lot of cars, buses, and trucks.

http://cfpub.epa.gov/airnow/index.cfm?action=aqikids.air6b

Environmental Jigsaw with Text Dependent Analysis

• You will read one of the following articles and answer the question provided.

– Cars and Power Plants Hurting Park– Clean Air Means Longer Lives– EPA: Let’s Get Rid of the Gasses– World Problems Clearing the Air With Bikes– The Air in Arvin

Air Quality Index Webquest

• Next class, we will complete a webquest on AQI. Meet in the Library Lab.

Smog

•Smog is a type of air pollution.

•Its name comes from a combination of smoke and fog.

•It is created by burning large amounts of coal. Which many big industries to to generate power.

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/SmogPollution.php

Health problems associated with Smog

•Smog can cause the following problems:–Inflamed breathing passages

–Eye and nose irritation

–Decreased immune function.

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/SmogPollution.php

When is Smog at its worst?

•Smog is at its worst during the warmer, sunnier weather.

•In the US, cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Houston can have dangerous Smog build ups.

When is smog at its worst? Continued

Particulate Smog: During cooler months, warm air higher in the atmosphere traps pollutants in the colder air which is closer to the ground.

The fine particulates scatter sunlight and reduce visibility.

Photochemical Smog: In the warmer months, ozone forms closer to the Earth’s surface and causes a Smog effect.

Nitrogen Dioxide + Sunlight + Hydrocarbons = Ozone

Its good up high but bad down low!

Smog City 2

Greenhouse Effect