Sulfur Pollutants

Solar pollutants come from the burning of coal oil and other dirty fuels plus factories and metals melters. The main pollutant is sulfur dioxide(SO2) which then turns into Sulfur acid and that acid is released into the air and causes acid rain and with acid rain, harms Forest, Lakes and even buildings and can make it hard for people to breathe countries such as Canada and the US have a produce (SO2) by cleaning fuels washing cold and using scrubbers to catch pollution before it escapes.Freedman(2018)

Nitrogen Pollutants

Nitrogen pollutants mainly come from cars, trucks and power plants so anything that burns fuel really hot these gases and NO and NO2 form with nitrogen and oxygen in the air mix during burning. This will help make both acid rain and smog, but when they mix with sunlight and hard hydrocarbons, they create ozone 03, which can burn your eyes, hurt your lungs as well as damage plantsFreedman(2018)

Hydrocarbon and Volatile Organic Compound Pollutants

Hydrocarbon and VOC pollution are made up of chemicals that are composed of varying concentrate such as hydrogen carbon methane is (CH4). One example of hydrocarbon methane occurs naturally in the digestive gases of animals with human activity; it contributes to the atmospheric methane to the raising of livestock and the combustion and production of fossil fuels Methane is known as a greenhouse gas. The primary concern with hydrocarbons is that the air is converted into ozone in the lower atmosphere.Freedman(2018)

Air Quality Index

The AQI, or Air Quality Index, is a scale that measures how clean or polluted the air is and how it might affect your health. It runs from 0 to 500, with lower numbers (0–50) meaning the air is clean and safe to breathe, and higher numbers (over 100) showing unhealthy air, especially for kids, older people, and those with asthma. The AQI is based on major pollutants like ozone, particle pollution , carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. It’s used kind of like a daily air “score” so people know if it’s safe to be outside or if they should limit outdoor activities. Freedman(2018)

 

 

Los Angeles, CA and Helotes, Texas both have moderate AQIs of 54, while El Centro, CA has the highest AQI at 625, which is extremely dangerous. El Centro also has the highest levels of O₃ (44) and PM2.5 (160), indicating significantly higher air pollution. The air quality in Los Angeles is the cleanest overall, with slightly lower levels of ozone and PM2.5 than in Helotes.

PM2.5

PM2.5 is made up of super tiny particles in the air that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers  which means you can’t see them. They come from things such as cars, fires, and factories. Because they’re so small they can go deep into your lungs and even get into your blood. Breathing in a lot of PM2.5 can cause coughing, shortness of breath, asthma attacks, and heart problems over time Freedman(2018)

Ozone

The ozone is a gas made of three type of oxygen atoms. It is good when it’s high up in the atmosphere because it protects us from the sun’s rays but becomes it’s harmful near the ground. Ground-level ozone forms when sunlight reacts with pollution from cars and factories. It is a big part of smog and that cause your chest feel tight, burn your eyes, and make it harder to breathe. Freedman(2018)