Quick Notes

Open burning

Cigarettes

Forest fires

Construction sites

Asbestos factories

Limestone quarries

Agriculture and plantation activities

Air-conditioners

Refrigerators

Aerosol sprays

Electronic factories

Nuclear power plants

Exhaust of vehicles

Factories

 Smoke, soot, dust, carbon monoxide

Health

• Smoke and dust can cause breathing problems
• Sulphur dioxide can cause respiratory problems
• Carbon monoxide can cause headache, mental retardation and death
• Asbestos particles can cause lung cancer
• Lead particles can cause intellectual disability among children and babies

Buildings and infrastructures

• Dust and soot stain buildings
• Acid rain corrodes concrete and limestone buildings
• Acid rain speeds up iron rusting

Plants and animals

• Acid rain makes the soil acidic and less fertile
• Acid rain makes the source of water acidic and not suitable for aquatic life
• Smoke and haze decrease the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth and decrease the rate of photosynthesis

Climate

• Smoke from factories, vehicles and open burning lead to haze
• Excessive carbon dioxide contributes to greenhouse effect
• Excessive chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) causes the thinning of the ozone layer
• Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide cause acid rain

Law enforcement

• Fine smokers who smoke at restricted areas
• Fine individuals who conduct open burning
• Fine drivers whose vehicles emit excessive smoke
• Prohibit factories from being built at housing areas

Education

• Educate students about the effects of air pollution and ways to prevent it
• Organise anti-smoking campaigns
• Encourage the public to walk or ride bicycles
• Encourage the usage of public transport or car pooling

Science and Technology

• Implement hybrid technology in vehicles
• Choose refrigerators which use hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) instead of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)
• Install filters in smoke chimneys at factories
• Use catalytic converters on vehicles
• Replace the use of pesticide with biological control to control pest