Air pollution" means the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances into the air resulting in deleterious effects of such a nature as to endanger human health, harm living resources and ecosystems and material property and impair or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the environment, and "air pollutants" shall be construed accordingly. (Verzosa, 2002)
Effects of Air Pollution
Air pollution originates from a variety of natural sources such as forest fires, volcanoes, and windblown dust as well as the more deleterious anthropogenic (man made) sources such as auto emissions, power plants, heating units, and primary metal smelters. Unlike natural pollution, anthropogenic pollution can be mitigated or controlled and thereby limit pollution damages and costs.
The six major or "traditional" air pollutants are carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and lead. A second category of pollutants is referred to as toxic or hazardous air pollutants. This category includes asbestos, benzene, vinyl chloride, beryllium, mercury, Radionuclides, and arsenic. The "traditional" air pollutants are known to be causes and/or aggravators of respiratory tract problems, eye and throat irritation, asthma, impairment of some cardiovascular functions, and lung damage to name a few. Toxic air pollution also has serious impacts on health. They have been found to contribute to lung disease, Leukemia, liver, spleen, kidney, and lymph damage, and a variety of cancers.
The American public is becoming increasingly aware of air pollution as a national and international problem. Everyone familiar with hot, quiet summer days in almost any large urban area is familiar with smog's visual blight. However, air pollution is not constrained to urban environments or even to hot summer days; it is an ongoing problem for many regions. While air pollution is visible locally, its sources are a combination of a wide variety of local and extra-local pollutants..............
