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Detecting Air Pollution - Particulates in Your Neighbourhood

© Angela Plumb

All living things need to breathe, so air pollution is a concern for everyone. And it's not just limited to big cities and factories. Air pollution can be found anywhere.

Clean air is made up of 78% NITROGEN and 21% OXYGEN. The remaining 1% contains argon and carbon dioxide. Naturally occurring air also has some water vapour, smoke, pollen, dust and other chemicals. A chemical in the air is a POLLUTANT whenever it has the possibility of causing harm to living things or other materials, such as stone or metal. There are nine classes of air pollutants:

Classes 1-3 are oxides of carbon, oxides of nitrogen and oxides of sulphur. These chemicals come from cars (for example, carbon monoxide), or factories, or airplanes.

Class 4 consists of volatile organic compounds such as methane and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs were once a major part of aerosol containers.

Class 5 is suspended PARTICULATE MATTER such as dust, soot, pollen, salts, pesticides, oils and acids.

Class 6 is comprised of petrochemical oxidants that are formed in the atmosphere when various chemicals react.

Classes 7-9 are radioactive substances, heat and noise.

Over half the major outdoor air pollutants in North America comes of transportation. Have you ever had a smog warning in your city? The air gets heavy and smelly and it's hard for people to breathe. This can be especially dangerous for those who already have respiratory problems. Burning fuels to produce electricity and heat produces about 25% of air pollution. Industrial processes produce the remainder of the air pollution.

So don't feel as if there's nothing you can do. When you use mass transit, your bikes or walk, you are helping to reduce air pollution. When you save energy in the home, you are helping to reduce air pollution. Taking care of your material goods, reusing things and not buying unnecessary packaging helps to reduce air pollution by decreasing the amount of industrial processes required.

In the following activity, you will examine Class 5 air pollutants - particulates.

Particulates Around You

Purpose: To examine the amount of particulate matter the neighbourhood and to determine the areas of least and most particulate matter

You will need:
-3" by 5" index cards, cut in half
-petroleum jelly
-string
-hole punch
-masking tape
-push pins or thumb tacks
-pencil and paper for recording observations
-magnifying glass or microscope

Procedure:

1.Choose a number of place to hang your particulate collectors. You can choose places around your neighbourhood, your house, your backyard, etc. Choose different places - in a forest, by a roadside, in your kitchen.

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