Air pollutants are numerous; each has its own peculiar characteristics.

Therefore it is usual to have these

pollutants classified by some design. Classification allows for the study of pollutants in subgroups on the
basis of some characteristic of interest or concern and also provides an ordering which makes it easier to
formulate air pollution control programs. Accordingly, the classification of air pollutants may be based
on:
1. How the pollutants are borne into the atmosphere.
2. The physical state of the pollutant.
3. The molecular composition of the pollutants.
4. The nature of the problem or health threat associated with the pollutants.

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO THE METHOD OF ENTRY INTO THE ATMOSPHERE

This classification contains two categories: (1) Primary and(2) secondary.
Primary PollutantsPrimary air pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere directly from
identifiable sources whether from mechanical or chemical reaction processes. Examples of such direct
discharge from an identifiable source into the atmosphere include the complete and incomplete
combustion of carbonaceous fuels from industrial processes and automobile engines yielding carbon
monoxide and carbon dioxide.
Secondary PollutantsThese pollutants are those which are formed as a result of some reaction in
the atmosphere. Thisreaction may occur between any combinations of air pollutants (including primary
pollutants) and natural components of the atmosphere. Some of these reactions require the presence of
sunlight and are called photo-chemical reactions. An example of such a reaction is the formation of ozone
from the interaction of organic and nitrous compounds in the presence of sunlight.

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO THE PHYSICAL STATE OF THEPOLLUTANT

According to their state of matter, pollutants may be classified as: (1) gaseous and (2) particulate.
Gaseous PollutantsMost air pollutants exhibit gaseous properties in that they tend to obey gas
laws, for example, there is apredictable interrelationship between their pressure, volume andtemperature.
In many ways these pollutants behave like air itselfand do not tend to settle out or condense over long
periods. However, they almost always undergo some form of chemical transformation while resident in
the atmosphere. Approximately 90% of air pollutants are gaseous.
Particulate PollutantsAny pollutant that is not gaseous is defined as a particulate pollutant or
particulate whether they exist in the form of finely divided solids or liquids. The larger particulates after
having been introduced into the air tend to settle out quickly and affect lives and property near the source.

The smaller and lighter particles travel further away, and eventually settle out great distances from the
source. The very smallest particulates exhibit certain gaseous characteristics, remaining suspended in the
atmosphere for long periods of time and are readily transported by wind currents.

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

Pollutants may also be classified according to their chemical structure. The basic classifications
are (1) organic and (2) inorganic.
Organic PollutantsOrganic compounds may be defined as those which contain carbon,
hydrogen, and may contain other elements. By this definition we exclude the very simple carbon
monoxide and carbon dioxide. These contain carbon, but no hydrogen.
Inorganic PollutantsInorganic pollutants may be defined as compounds which do not contain
compounds of carbon, with the exception of carbon oxides, like CO and CO 2, and carbon disulfide.
Many of the most commonly encountered pollutants are inorganic. You might be asking yourself why CO
2 is considered a pollutant. Isnt CO 2 beneficial in the maintenance of the earths ecological system by
providing a source of energy for manufacturing plants? The answer is yes, but the earths ecosystem can
utilize only so much carbon dioxide. The surplus of CO 2 in the atmosphere is believed to be one of the
contributors to the Greenhouse Effect. Excesses of this gas are believed to cause the global heating that
is now being experienced. The long-term outlook for this phenomenon is the melting of the polar icecaps
resulting in the oceans levels rising and threatening population areas that are located at the coastline.

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM

OR HEALTH THREAT POSED BY THE POLLUTANT
Under the Clean Air Act, the Congress of the United States established a classification system
which recognized two distinct categories of air pollutants: those air pollutants which because of their
universal nature or ubiquity, presented a threat to public health and welfare (called criteria pollutants);
and those pollutants, while not widespread, contribute to higher mortality rates in humans (called
hazardous pollutants).
Criteria PollutantsThese are air pollutants for which anational ambient air quality standard has
been established. In the selection of these standards, certain criteria are established using observed levels
of air pollution and the associated impacts on human health, vegetation and materials relating air quality
level to health and welfare effects. Six specificpollutants (nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide,
hydrocarbons,carbon monoxide, particulate matter and ozone) were identified in 1971 as the most
universal within the United States and the most significant pollutants contributing to the degradation of

the lower atmosphere or troposphere. Once national air quality standards were established each state was
given the responsibility to make sure those emissions from sources of air pollution in that state and
neighboring states do not violate these air quality standards by developing and implementing creative
plans for reducing source emissions. Recognizing that hydrocarbons in the atmosphere did not, as a class
of pollutants, create a singular and internally consistent ambient air quality problem, the class term was
dropped and lead was added as a new pollutant class.
Hazardous PollutantsThese are air pollutants for whichno air quality standard has been
established but nevertheless cause or contribute to an increase in the mortality rate or serious irreversible
or incapacitating illness. The hazardous pollutants listed by January 1988 are: asbestos, beryllium,
mercury, vinyl chloride, radionuclides, coke oven emissions, benzene and inorganic arsenic. In November
of 1990, the U.S. Congress passed Clean Air Act amendments (CAAA) into law which greatly expand the
list of regulated chemicalsHazardous Air Pollutants
(HAPs) to about 190. The EPAs mandate is to promulgate standards for the control of HAP emissions
from about 100 source categories, employing maximum achievable control technology (MACT). To date
greater than 95% of MACT standards have been published.

SOURCE CLASSIFICATIONS
The management and control of air pollution is generallyachieved through the regulation and
control of air pollution sources. For convenience, sources of air pollutants may be classified according to
the size or the nature of the pollutantactivity and source type characteristics.
CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO MAGNITUDE
For convenience of analysis, air pollution sources are dividedinto two classes (1) major sources
and (2) minor sources.
Major sourcesare sources whose emissions quantities are large enough to cause them to have a
dominant role in the pollution potential of an area. Prior to the 1990 CAAA, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency classified all sources that emitted or had the potential for emitting 100 tons/year of any
single pollutant as a major source.
Today, the definition has been revised and made more stringent. Depending upon an areas air
quality, emissions of as little as 10 tons/year would constitute a major source.
Major sources are fixed (stationary) and commonly occupy a limited area relative to a
community. They include:
1. Major industrial and manufacturing plants.
2. SteamElectric power plants.

3. Industrial and Municipal Incinerators.

4. Facilities that use solvents (surface coating, degreasing, dry cleaning, plastics manufacture,

rubber

manufacture) and lose petroleum products by evaporation.

5. Facilities that lose petroleum product from storage and marketing (tank farms, service stations)
operations.
6. Motor vehicles, aircraft, ships and railroads in which the combustion of fuels for transportation occurs.
7. Dumps, incinerators, etc. in which combustion of wastes occur.
8. Facilities or units in which the decomposition of organic wastes occur.
9. Sewage treatment plants.
Industrial plants constitute a highly varied and complex chemical system, each industry
presenting a unique air pollution problem. The characteristics of the emissions produced are directly
related to the peculiarities of the operation in question, that is, on the raw materials, the fuels, the process
method, the efficiency of the chosen process, the method and the type of air pollution control measures
applied.
Minor sourcesare those which cannot be cataloged practicallyon a source-by-source basis. They
may be stationary or mobile and are commonly spread throughout the community.
These sources are associated with:
1. Combustion of fuels in residences and commercial buildings and institutions for personal comfortand
convenience.
2. Service industries such as laundries, dry-cleaning plants, repair services, etc.
3. Animal processing.
4. Handling and use of paints, lacquers and other surface coatings containing organic solvents.
5. Food processing in restaurants, grills, coffee roasting, etc.

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO NATURE OF EMISSIONS

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies sourcesdepending on both the quantitative and
qualitative nature of the emissions. The source categories are:
1. NSPS (New Source Performance Standard) sources.These are sources for which national emissions
standards have been established. All sources built subsequent to the date of establishment of these
emissions standards must meet NSPS requirements.
2. SIP (State Implementation Plan) sources. These are sources built prior to the establishment of the
new source standards. These older SIP sources have no national emissions standards to follow per se,
but rather their level of emissions is determined on a source-by-source basis and depends on the air

quality of the area in which they are located. If the air quality is particularly poor, stricter operating
requirements are imposed.
3. NESHAP (National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants) sources. These are sources
which emit any of the nine hazardous pollutants which were discussed in the section on air pollutant
classification. These sources also have operating standards imposed on the equipment.
4. Transportation sources. These are sources of air pollution which do not necessarily remain stationary
but are mobile, and include cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, railroad locomotives and marine vessels.
These sources main emissions are carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and lead and
result from the internal combustion of fuel in their engines.
Climate Fluctuations
1. Long-term Cyclic Variations
There have been changes in the earths climate since the formation of the
planet about 5 billion years ago. It was only after a period of hundreds of millions of
years that these changes permitted the evolution of life. Change has continued, with
ice ages alternating with warmer eras, on a time scale of tens of thousands of years.
Samples of ice cores taken in Antarctica show a good correlation between Antarctic
temperature, as deduced from the isotopic composition of the ice, and levels of
carbon dioxide (IPCC 1995). An increase in the concentration of the latter from about
190 parts per million by volume (ppmv) coincided with an increase in the mean surface
temperature of the earth of about 4 degrees Celsius. The concentrations of methane,
another greenhouse gas, also show a similar correlation.
2. Emissions of Greenhouse Gases due to Human Activities
The majority of scientists believe that emissions of greenhouse gases from human
activity are the principal reason for the warming of the earth in recentdecades. Nine of
the ten hottest years on a global basis since measurements began have
occurredduring the past decade. The gases, which contribute most to climate change,
are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and halocarbons. .The burning of fossil fuels
and biomass is the largest single source of emissions for carbon dioxide, the gas
contributing the largest share to the greenhouse effect. Changes in land use, such as
clearing of forests for agriculture or residential development is also a major source of
carbon dioxide. The keeping of livestock, growing of paddy rice, urban garbage

dumps, and the production of fossil fuels are major sources of methane (which
although released in relatively small quantities taking residence time into account, its
impact as a greenhouse gas is 44 times that of CO2 on a weight by weight basis).
Chlorofluorocarbons, used as aerosols and for refrigeration, were also major
contributors to the greenhouse effect, until the emissions were drastically reduced after
the signing and implementation of the Montreal Protocol.
Impacts of Climate Fluctuations
1. Changes in Precipitation and Availability of Water
Global climate change is frequently referred toin the media as Global
Warming. This tends to focus attention on the anticipated increase in average surface
temperature of the world, estimated to be of the order of 2-4 degrees celsius, if present
trends continue. This is important as far as the causes of

consensus), but more

importantly in terms of impacts, changes in rainfall patterns and in the location and
frequency of extreme weather events, such as cyclones.
2. Impact on Agriculture
A change in the average temperature and precipitation is likely to have a
significant effect on crop yields either increasing or decreasing them depending on
crop types. In some areas, yields might increase, whilst in others they would decline
depending on. Countries in the region are beginning to assess the likely implications of
such changes on their food production. Initial simulations for studies sponsored by ADB
(1994) and the World Bank (Dinar et al 1997) suggest that an increase in mean
temperature might for example, reduce rice yields in
Bangladesh, India, Philippines, and the Republic ofKorea. The simulations also showed
that the yield of wheat in India might increase due to higher increased carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere, but could also reduce due to higher temperatures.
3. Sea-Level Fluctuation
Although recently revised downward, the expected rise in sea levels due to
climate change are still anticipated to range from 0.3 to 0.5 meters by the year 2100
(IPCC 1995) and could present a big challenge to most countries of the region.
Concerns have been expressed by the leaders of many small island nations such as, the
Maldives, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tonga, where most land is only a few meters above sea

level. Changes in the sea temperature are also likely to have serious impacts
particularly on coral reefs and migratory species of marine life. Other countries such as
Peoples Republic of China, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh have substantial parts of
their population living close to river deltas, including many of the Megacities of the
region, such as Calcutta and Shanghai. A rise in sea level could thus affect at least a
hundred million inhabitants and cause large economic losses.
4. Frequency of Storms
Changes in temperature are likely to be accompanied by changes in the
frequency and intensity of storms. Although it may be too early to predict how countries
may be affected, there are some indications that a few countries in the region are
already being affected by a larger number of destructive cyclones and storms.
5. Impact on Health
The health of humans and other species is affected by a number of
environmental factors, including the quality of the air and water, temperature ranges,
rainfall, and the presence of organisms and vectors that transmit diseases. Since the
precise impact of global climate change on these cannot yet be predicted, it is only
possible to provide a general indication of the types of health implications that can be
expected. One particular concern to the Asian and Pacific Region is the likely change
in the distribution of malariacarrying mosquitoes as a result of warmer surface
temperatures, possibly placing several hundred million people at risk every year (WRI
1998).