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Pollutants From Smokestacks

Smokestacks are a major source of toxic pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other sooty ozone particles, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. These pollutants can have devastating effects on the human body, and increase the incidence of respiratory problems and premature deaths. Over the last 40 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made its regulations more stringent to help curb pollutants from smokestacks.

  1. Health Effects

    • Nitrogen oxides are particularly dangerous because they play a large role in the development of smog during summer months. This smog triggers millions of asthma attacks in the United States every year, the Environmental Defense Fund says. In addition, nitrogen oxides raise levels of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere, which increases the incidence of respiratory and other health problems, and premature deaths. Nitrogen oxides also increase the incidence of acid rain, which degrades the quality of the water supply.

    History

    • Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970 to help limit the emissions of nitrogen oxides and other particulates into the atmosphere. The Clean Air Act was revised in 1990 to further reduce the emissions that smokestacks release into the atmosphere. The revisions made in 1990 helped prevent an estimated 200,000 premature deaths and 700,000 cases of chronic bronchitis from 1990 to 2010, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

    Sources

    • Coal-fired power plants are one of the primary sources of pollutants from smokestacks in the United States. More than 50 percent of all electricity generated in the United States comes from coal-fired power plants, the Union of Concerned Scientists says. There are about 600 coal-fired plants in the United States, and each burns an average of 1.4 million tons of coal each year.

    Smokestack Scrubbers

    • Smokestack scrubbers can reduce the emission of sulfur and other pollutants by as much as 90 percent, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Smokestack scrubbers are inside smokestacks and are made of wet limestone. As smoke passes through the limestone, sulfur molecules and other pollutants are trapped in the limestone, which prevents their being released into the atmosphere. However, this creates solid waste that's commonly disposed of in landfills.

    Quantity

    • A single 500-megawatt power plant releases 125,000 tons of ash into the atmosphere each year, the Union of Concerned Scientists reports. In addition, 193,000 tons of sludge from smokestack scrubbers are released annually. The majority of the sludge from smokestacks is deposited in on-site landfills, which can lead to contamination of local water supplies. Toxins such as mercury, arsenic, chromium and cadmium are commonly found in sludge, and can have devastating effects on the human nervous system.

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