What Are the Causes of Dirty Air?

The South Coast Air Quality Management District defines dirty air as an area of poor air quality usually affected by problems with ground-level ozone or smog and particulate matter in the air. The inhalation of dirty air has been linked to health risks such as respiratory problems and lung disease and can result in death.

Types

• The South Coast Air Quality Management District reports three main causes of dirty air. These are smog, ground-level ozone and particulate matter. The term "smog" is used to categorize a variety of air pollutants including the main ingredient, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Smog is formed when a number of gases collide after being released into the air and react with each other in the ultraviolet sunlight. A colorless and odorless pollutant ground level ozone is formed from volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides that are commonly released from combustion engines such as those in cars, trucks, buses and construction equipment. Particulate matter is according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District made up of solid and liquid particles released from power plants and disturbed soil dust. Carbon monoxide is another gas largely released by motor vehicles that is both colorless and odorless and can cause health problems.

Power Plants

• The Clean Air Task Force reports power plants being responsible for fine-particle pollution, which the South Coast Air Quality Management District refers to as PM2.5, as opposed to coarse air particles, called PM10. Pollution form power plants results in 38,200 non-fatal heart attacks per year according to the Clean Air Task Force, with 24,000 people losing their lives each year due to power plant-related pollution. People losing their lives as a result of exposure to fine-particle pollution from power plants die an average of 14 years earlier than those not affected by fine-particle pollution.

Threats

• The Environmental Defense Fund publicizes days with dangerous levels of pollution, such as smog and fine air particles, by providing an air pollution forecast. The forecasts are graded from code red, the strongest threat for everybody regardless of health, to code orange, where the air is unhealthy for people with conditions such as asthma, to code yellow, when the air is close to reaching unhealthy levels. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, repeated exposure to code red days can lead to serious health problems such as lung and heart disease in otherwise healthy people.