n creating air pollution that eliminating them, or even policing them, have become next to impossible. The problem seems to have begun with the Industrial Revolution and has been with us ever since that time.
There are many different types of pollutants invading the atmosphere. The most deadly is carbon monoxide, emitted mainly from automobiles. Another deadly pollutant is ozone, caused by volatile organic compounds emissions from both stationary (business) and mobile (automotive) sources. Nitrogen dioxide is emitted by two main sources: transportation vehicles and stationary fossil fuel combustors, such as those found in utility company power plants and oil refineries. Sulfur dioxide levels in the atmosphere result primarily from stationary source combustion of coal and oil, as well as from nonferrous metal smelting operations.
Particulate emissions are still a major pollution problem, despite the decline in production of these particles due to reductions in industrial emissions. Some of the problems of these particulate emissions are mainly due to fugitive dust emissions from industrial sources, such as mineral processing plants, as well as from non-industrial sources, such as roadway and agri-cultural dust. The problem with these particles is not so much their magnitude as the fact that they can be inhaled by human beings and animals.
Lead gasoline additives, nonferrous smelting plants and battery plants are the primary contributors to atmospheric lead
pollutants. Transportation sources alone contribute 80 percent
Arsenic, radionuclides, cadmium and polycyclic organic matter are other chemicals which enter the atmosphere on a regular basis and can cause harm to human beings (Ruffner, 1987). Coke oven pollutants are also a problem to humans and can cause disease and/or death.
In addition to the above, there are a variety of chemical pollutants whose effects upon humans are known to be harmful. These include benzene,...