Air Pollution

DOCUMENT RESUME ED 080 357 SE 016 599 AUTHOR Barker, K.; And Others TITLE Air Pollution.. INSTITUTION World Health Organization, Geneva (Switzerland).. PUB DATE 61 NOTE 437p.; WHO Monograph Series No. 46.. EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$16.45 DESCRIPTORS Air Pollution Control; *Environment; Environmental Research; *Essays; Interaction Process Analysis; Pollution; *Public Health; Special Health Problems ABSTRACT Pollution of the general environment, which exposes an entire population group for an indeterminate period of time, certainly constitutes a prqblem in public health..Serioms aid pollution episodes have resulted in increased mortality and a possible relationship between chronic exposure to a polluted atmosphere and certain diseases has been suggested. Thus, this monograph brings together a body of recent information on a number of aspects of air pollution for the benefit of public officials, and in particular public health officials, who are faced with the necessity of taking appropriate and effective action._Essays are titled: A Historical Review of Atmospheric Pollution; The Identification of the Air Pollution Problem; The Role of Meteorology in Air Pollution; Sampling, Analysis and Instrumentation in the Field of Air Pollution; Some Aspects of the Physical and Chemical Nature of Air Pollution; Effects of Air Pollution on Human Health; Effects of Air Pollution on Animals; Effects of Or Pollution on Plants; Economic and Social Aspects of Air Pollution; Control of Air Pollution by Site Selection and Zoning; Prevention and Control of Air Pollution by Process Changes or Equipment; Fuel Selection and Utilization; Air Pollution Legislation: Standards and Enforcement; and Radioactive Pollution of the Atmosphere(BL) ED 080357 A I ;,;0JP11111, [y1;,f4:i '1 'rt1;,;;1,11[1'[111111;,1,ii,, 911, i) AIR POLLUTION CONTRIBUTORS K. BARKER F. CAMBI E. J. CATCOTT Leslie A. CHAMBERS E. C. HALLIDAY A. HASEGAWA Harry HEIMANN H. P. JAMMET Morris KATZ -E. LECLERC Louis C. McCABE W. A. MACFARLANE Albert PARKER Andrew H. ROSE, Jr, Robert L. STENBURG David G. STEPHAN J. R. TAYLOR Moyer D. THOMAS Harry WEXLER WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION PALAIS DES NATIONS GENEVA 1961 of notin Series does names productsOrganizationProprietary theMonographin Health World mentioned. manufacturers' thenot expressed certainbyare views of SWITZERLAND forthe or which IN recommended natureletters. companies or capital PRINTED responsible similara specificendorsed ofinitial are Organization.ofare by aloneHealth theyothersto mentionthat Authors WorldThe distinguished the implypreference are CONTENTS Page Introduction 7 A historical review of atmospheric pollution E. C. Halliday. 9 The identification of the air pollution problem Louis C. McCabe 39 The role of meteorology in air pollution Harry Wexler . 49 Sampling, analysis and instrumentation in the field of air pollution F. Cambi 63 Some aspects of the physical and chemical nature of air pollution Morris Katz 97 Effects of air pollution on human health Harry Heimann . 159 Effects of air pollution on animals E. J. Catcott 221 Effects of air pollution on plants Moyer D. Thomas . 233 Economic and social aspects of air pollution E. Leclerc . 279 Control of air pollution by site selection and zoning J. R. Taylor, A. Hasegawa & Leslie A. Chambers 293 Prevention and control of air pollution by Process changes or equipment Andrew H. Rose. jr, David G. Stephan & Robert L. Stenburg 307 Fuel selection and utilization K. Barker & W. A. Macfarlane 345 Air pollution legislation: standards and enforcement Albert Parker 365 t Radioactive pollution of the atmosphere H. P. Jammer . 381 sil Index , 435 N IV 5 Introduction The problem of air pollution has existed for centuries. Smoke, ash, sulfur dioxide and other products of simple combustion have long been recognized as a nuisance, and a costly one. At the present time,the belief that air pollution not only is a source of discomfort but also may constitute a menace tohuman health has grown to a conviction.Serious air pollution episodes have certainly resulted in increased mortality, and independent investigations have suggested a possible relationship between chronic exposure to apolluted atmosphere and such diseases as acute bronchitis and primary lung cancer. There is a distinction between the pollution of air in a factory or other occupational environment, where the workersusually healthy adult males are exposed only during their working hours, and thepollution of the general enviromnent, which exposesan entire population group for an indeterminate period of time.Such a general exposure constitutes a problem ih public health, and is properly a matter of concern to public health authorities. The control of air pollution is no longer concerned merely with the products of simple combustion of conventional fuels.Industrial effluents discharged into the atmosphere are increasing in amount, in diversity and in complexity. As a consequence of developing industrialization, of the expanding use of inter- nal combustion engines, and of the greater densities of population exposed to air pollutants, the seriousness of the situation is rapidly increasing, andthe difficulties of applying effective controls are becoming progressively greater. This monograph brings together a body of recent information on a number of aspects of air pollution for the benefit of public officials, and in particular public health officials, who are faced with the necessity of taking appropriate and effective action. In order to ensure that the material included herein faith- fully reflected world trends in air pollution research, the individual chapters were submitted to a panel of experts in the field, five ofwhom contributed to the monograph.These authorities, who attended a meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Environmental Sanitation in 1957, are as follows ; Dr E. C. Halliday, Head, General Physics Division, National Physical Research Laboratory, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, Union of South Africa ; Dr Harry Heimann, formerly Chief, Operatiinal Research Section, Air Pollution Medical Program, US Public Health Service, Washington, D.C., USA ; Dr E. Leclerc, Professor of Industrial Chemistry and Sanitary Techniques, University of Liege, Belgium ; Dr Louis C. McCabe, President, Resources Research Inc.,7 Washington, D.C., USA ; Dr Albert 8 INTRODUCTION Parker, formerly Director of Fuel Research, Department of Scientific and Industrial- Research, London, England ; Dr C. A. Ragazzi, formerly Director, Municipal Office of Hygiene, Milan, Italy : and Dr M. N. Rao, Professor of Physiological and Industrial Hygiene, All-India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Calcutta, India. Thanks are due to Professor L. Silverman of Harvard University, who re-examined the material and gave valuable guidance on technical aspects. E. C. HALLIDAY, M.Sc., PH.D. A HISTORICAL REVIEW OF ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION Introduction Man cannot live without breathing oxygen diluted with some inert gas, and in the atmosphere there is a suitable mixture of oxygen and nitrogen. But in addition there is a variety of gases, vapours and aerosols, varying in content and concentration at different places over the surface of theearth, and these he needs must breathe in too. Some of the materials in question are physiologically inert, but othersproduce reactions which range from mild inconvenience to severe toxicity. A simple consideration -indicates that there has never been a truly unpolluted atmosphere, for decaying vegetable matter, decaying dead animals and the products of forest fires have emitted gaseous andparticulate matter since the world began. However, atmospheric pollution, as asubject for concern on the part of the general public, has come into existence only as the result of technology. The first technicaldevelopment of man was he use of fire, which produced carbon dioxide,smoke and ash; and the atmosphere of all towns, even in early civilizations, must have contained a con- siderable amount of pollution.Accounts of mediaeval towns in Europe indicate that the air was fouled not only by wood smoke but also by the odours of many domestic activities, of noxious trades such as tanning, and of the decaying rubbish in the streets caused by a most primitivesanitation system.Nevertheless, the citizens of the towns do not seem to have been unduly concerned by the quality of the atmosphere which they breathed. With the introduction of coal as a source of heat, signs of the rise of public dissatisfaction are noted by historians, and one might say that atmospheric pollution as a social problem dates from the beginning of the 14th century.But a scientific and technical review of the history of air pollution cannot commence much before the year 1850, for before that * Head, General Physics Division, National Physical Research Laboratory, Councilfor Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria,9 Union of South Africa. 10 E. C. HALLIDAY time, though there was much talk about the obnoxiousness of smoke, little knowledge was available and so no progress was made in the control of pollutants. An over-all view of the hundred years since the firststeps were taken in understanding the nature of air pollution indicates thattwo pro- cesses have been in operation. On the one hand, developing techniques have introduced new forms of pollution into the atmosphere and,on the other, town populations have become more intolerant of the types of pollution which they were having to breathe.With this growing dislike of pollutants, interest has spread

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