Air Pollution Topics: Incineration Air Pollution from Vehicles, Engines, and Equipment L.A. Smog Case Study Meuse Valley

1. Air PollutionTopics:IncinerationAir Pollution from Vehicles, Engines, and EquipmentL.A. Smog Case StudyMeuse Valley, Belgium Presenters: Linsey Grover Brian Benner Kassi Miller Michelle Cook

2. The U.S. and its Waste • Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) : Commonly known as trash or garbage • 2001 229 MILLION tons of generated waste • = 4.62 pounds of waste a person generates per day

3. What Happens to our Waste? • There are many ways to rid of wastes • FOCUS: Incineration • DEF: A chemical transformation process of combustion that uses thermal oxidation at high temperatures ( > 1,400º F ) to convert waste to a decreased volume, non-hazardous material, or energy. • TYPE: Mass Burn

4. Why Chose Incineration? • 80% to 90% decrease of waste volume • Relatively cheap • Generate energy • Waste seems to “disappear” • Simple alternative to Landfills • Mass burn incinerators take unprocessed wastes

5. Decrease in Waste Volume, Increase in Pollution • Problems with Incineration: • Incinerators cannot destroy 100% of the wastes • Does not eliminate the need for landfills • Escaping gases

6. TOXIC EMISSIONS • Heavy Metals: Arsenic, Cd, Hg, Cr, Pb (these cannot be destroyed by incineration) • Can stick to tiny particles in emission gases which can escape pollution control equipment • Research: Through incineration 53% of heavy metals are released through gases • Problem: Cause cancer and Respiratory disease if inhaled, liver disease, and neurological disorders

7. PIC’s Products of Incomplete Combustion • Not in original waste • Newly formed during the burning process • Most harmful PIC: DIOXIN • Dioxin is formed as a byproduct when burning organic chemicals and plastics that contain chlorine

8. DIOXIN • Nastiest, most toxic man-made organic chemical • Fat soluble • Serious health effects with as little as few parts per trillion • Dioxin is a hormone disruptor • It binds to a cell’s hormone receptor and modifies the functioning and genetic mechanism of the cell • Causes a wide range of effects: cancer, birth defects, skin disorders, liver damage • It can be carried 100’s of miles on tiny specks of fly ash

9. That’s not all… Particulates Carry heavy metals and PIC’s Acid gases: Sulfur Oxides, Nitrous Oxides, and Hydrogen Chlorides Contributes to acid rain Contributes to smog formation

11. There are pollution control equipment, but even the best are not 100% effective • EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation is primarily responsible for regulating incinerators • Code of Federal Regulations for Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources (Updated April 29, 2005) gpoaccess.gov

12. Air Pollution • Air pollution in the United States comes from many types of engines, industries, and commercial operations. Pollution sources that move, such as trucks, snow blowers, bulldozers, and trains, are known as "mobile sources." Examples of all other non-mobile sources of air pollution include power plants, factories, and manufacturing processes. • Mobile sources pollute the air through combustion and fuel evaporation. These emissions contribute greatly to air pollution nationwide and are the primary cause of air pollution in many urban areas. • Mobile sources also produce several other important air pollutants, such as air toxics and greenhouse gases. Nationwide, mobile sources represent the largest contributor to air toxics. Air toxics are pollutants known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health or environmental effects. Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, contributing to global climate change.

13. On-road Vehicles • This category of mobile sources includes light-duty vehicles, light-duty trucks, heavy-duty vehicles, and motorcycles, used for transportation on the road. On-road vehicles may be fueled with gasoline, diesel fuel, or alternative fuels such as alcohol or natural gas. • Light-duty vehicles: Passenger cars • Light-duty trucks: Includes pickup trucks, minivans, passenger vans, and sport-utility vehicles. Those up to 6,000 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight (which includes passenger and cargo weight in addition to the weight of the vehicle) are known as "light light-duty trucks"; those that are 6,001 to 8,500 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight are known as "heavy light-duty trucks." • Heavy-duty vehicles: Vehicles of 8,501 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight and higher that are equipped with heavy-duty engines. Examples of heavy-duty vehicles include large pick-ups, buses, delivery trucks, recreational vehicles (RVs), and semi trucks. • Medium duty passenger vehicles: Vehicles between 8,500 and 10,000 pounds Gross Vehicle Weight that are designed primarily to transport people. Medium-duty passenger vehicles are a subset of heavy-duty vehicles, and consist primarily of large sport-utility vehicles and passenger vans. • Motorcycles: 2 or 3 wheeled vehicles designed for on-road use.

14. Non-road vehicles, Engines, and Equipment • This category of mobile sources includes non-road gasoline equipment and vehicles, non-road diesel equipment and vehicles, aircraft, marine vessels, locomotives, and assorted other engines and vehicles. Non-road gasoline, diesel, and "other" equipment and vehicles: These categories of mobile sources include equipment and vehicles fueled with diesel fuel, gasoline, propane, or natural gas in the following sectors: recreational, construction and mining, industrial, lawn and garden, farm, commercial, logging, airport service, railway maintenance, and recreational marine vessels. • Recreational engines and vehicles: Includes non-road motorcycles (dirt bikes), all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), golf carts, snowmobiles, and engines used in specialty vehicles, such as go-karts. • Construction equipment and vehicles: Includes asphalt and concrete pavers and paving/surfacing equipment, tampers/rammers, plate compactors, concrete pavers, rollers, scrapers, paving equipment, surfacing equipment, signal boards, trenchers, bore/drill rigs, excavators, concrete/industrial saws, cement and mortar mixers, cranes, graders, non-road trucks, crushing/processing equipment, rough terrain forklifts, rubber-tired loaders and dozers, tractors/loaders/backhoes, crawler tractors, skid steer loaders, non-road tractors, dumpers/tenders, and other construction equipment.

15. Lawn and garden equipment: Includes lawnmowers, weed trimmers, brush cutters, leaf blowers/vacuums, rear-engine riding mowers, front mowers, chainsaws (under 6 horsepower), tillers (under 6 horsepower), shredders (under 6 horsepower), lawn and garden tractors, wood splitters, snow blowers, chippers/stump grinders, and commercial turf equipment. • Farm equipment: Includes two-wheel tractors, agricultural tractors and mowers, combines, sprayers, balers, tillers (over 6 horsepower), swathers, hydropower units, and other agricultural equipment. • Commercial equipment: Includes generator sets, pumps, air compressors, gas compressors, welders, and pressure washers. • Logging equipment: Includes chainsaws and shredders (over 6 horsepower), skidders, and fellers/bunchers. • Airport service equipment and vehicles: Includes ground support equipment used in airport operations, such as maintaining and fueling aircraft, transporting and loading cargo, transporting passengers, handling baggage, servicing lavatories, and serving food. • Railway maintenance equipment: Includes specialized equipment used for installing and maintaining railroad track.

16. Recreational marine vessels: Includes pleasure boats and larger non-commercial vessels with inboard and outboard engines, stern drive engines, and sailboat auxiliary inboard and outboard engines. • Aircraft: All types of aircraft (ground equipment not included). • Marine vessels: Includes auxiliary and propulsion engines used by all types of commercial marine vessels, including harbor vessels, tugs, ocean-going ships, and commercial fishing vessels. • Locomotives: Includes diesel-powered engines only (coal-and wood-fired not included) used in freight and passenger rail, line-haul, local, and switch yard service.

17. Major Pollutants from Petrol and Diesel Engines Carbon Monoxide • ~Although you cannot see or smell carbon monoxide, this poisonous gas is a major air pollutant in many American cities. Carbon monoxide forms when carbon in fuel doesn't burn completely (incomplete combustion). The main source of carbon monoxide in our air is vehicle emissions. As much as 95 percent of the carbon monoxide in typical U.S. cities comes from mobile sources, according to EPA studies. • ~Carbon monoxide is harmful because it reduces oxygen delivery to the body's organs and tissues. It is most harmful to those who suffer from heart and respiratory disease. High carbon monoxide pollution levels also affect healthy people. Symptoms may include visual impairment, headache, and reduced work capacity. Unlike many other air pollutants, carbon monoxide levelsin the outside air typically peak during colder months.

18. Major Pollutants from Petrol and Diesel Engines Hydrocarbons • ~Hydrocarbons are a precursor to ground-level ozone, a serious air pollutant in cities across the United States. A key component of smog, ground-level ozone is formed by reactions involving hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides in the presence of sunlight. • ~Hydrocarbon emissions result from incomplete fuel combustion and from fuel evaporation. Today's cars are equipped with emission controls designed to reduce both exhaust and evaporative hydrocarbon emissions. • ~Ground-level ozone causes health problems such as difficulty breathing, lung damage, and reduced cardiovascular functioning. A number of hydrocarbons are also considered toxic, meaning they can cause cancer or other health problems.

19. Major Pollutants from Petrol and Diesel Engines Nitrogen Oxides • ~Nitrogen oxides form when fuel burns at high temperatures, such as in motor vehicle engines. Mobile sources are responsible for more than half of all nitrogen oxide emissions in the United States. Both on-road and non-road mobile sources are major nitrogen oxide polluters • ~Nitrogen oxides can travel long distances, causing a variety of health and environmental problems in locations far from their emissions source. These problems include ozone and smog, which are created in the atmosphere from nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and sunlight. On smoggy days, you might notice difficulty breathing or trouble seeing objects in the distance. Nitrogen oxide emissions also contribute to the formation of particulate matter through chemical reactions in the atmosphere.

20. Major Pollutants from Petrol and Diesel Engines Particulate Matter • ~Particulate matter is the term for solid or liquid particles found in the air. Some particles are large or dark enough to be seen as soot or smoke, but fine particulate matter is tiny and is generally not visible to the naked eye. Mobile source particulate emissions consist mainly of these very tiny particles, also known as PM2.5, because they are less than 2.5 microns in diameter. • ~Both on-road and non-road mobile sources emit fine particulate matter. Diesel-powered vehicles and engines contribute more than half the mobile source particulate emissions. • ~Fine particulate matter is a health concern because very fine particles can reach the deepest regions of the lungs. Health effects include asthma, difficult or painful breathing, and chronic bronchitis, especially in children and the elderly. Fine particulate matter associated with diesel exhaust is also thought to cause lung cancer and is therefore listed as a mobile source air toxic. Fine particulate matter can travel long distances on air currents and is also a major cause of haze, which reduces visibility, affecting cities and scenic areas throughout the United States.

21. Annual Emissions from a Passenger Car and a Light TruckPassenger Car

22. Light Truck

23. Gasoline-Electric Hybrid Vehicles • ~Hybrids, which combine a smaller gasoline engine with a battery-powered electric motor, can get double the mileage of conventional cars. Hybrids burn little fuel when they are slowing or idling, and some capture and then use later energy created during braking that would otherwise just produce heat. And because the gasoline engine is much smaller and operates at a steadier pace, it produces far less global warming pollution than conventional combustion engines. • ~To clear up a common misconception, hybrids don't have to be plugged in. They use the same gasoline that other cars do -- just less of it -- and they recharge their batteries while you drive. • The Toyota Prius has been available in the United States since 2000. The 2004 model is rated by the EPA at 60 miles per gallon in city driving, 51 on the highway. (The Prius gets better mileage off the highway, because in city driving it relies more on the battery.) • In 2002, Honda introduced a hybrid version of the Civic. The EPA rates the 2004 manual transmission version at 51 mpg on the highway and 46 in the city, with the continuously variable transmission model rated at 48 highway and 47 city.

24. More on Hybrids… • Ford became the first U.S. manufacturer to offer a hybrid when it rolled out the Escape SUV in August 2004. The front-wheel drive version is rated 36 mpg in the city and 31 on the highway. • Automakers are planning to introduce additional hybrids in the U.S. market, with Japanese manufacturers remaining in the lead. Toyota and Honda plan to release hybrid Lexus and Highlander SUVs in 2005, and Honda, Nissan and Toyota have all announced plans to produce hybrid versions of their mid-size sedans, the Accord, Altima and Camry. • Hyundai plans to sell hybrid vehicles to government fleets in late 2004 and GM has announced plans to produce "mild" hybrids in 2005 and 2006 and full hybrid SUVs in 2007. ("Mild" hybrids rely less on their battery packs than full hybrids).

25. So what's the problem? • Toyota's and Honda's hybrid sales are booming, and the Ford Escape has generated tremendous interest and rave reviews. Although American automakers are beginning to respond to increasing consumer interest in fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, hybrids still account for less than 1 percent of the new car market. American automakers have to put hybrids into mass production, too, and we need to spark demand for them.

26. All-new Toyota Prius Ford Fusion Ford Escape Hybrid

27. Air Pollution Solutions • Successful pollution solutions involve a variety of approaches. From better engine design to better transit options, programs to reduce mobile source pollution must address not only vehicles, engines, and equipment, but also the fuels they use and the people who operate them. The road to clean air also depends on extensive collaboration between EPA; vehicle, engine, and fuel manufacturers; state and local governments; transportation planners; and individual citizens. • This integrated approach to mobile source emission control is responsible for greatly reducing mobile source air pollution during the last 30 years. Technological advances in vehicle and engine design, together with cleaner, higher-quality fuels, have reduced emissions so much that the EPA expects the progress to continue, even as people drive more miles and use more power equipment every year. • Of course growth in use of vehicles, engines, and equipment works against the improvements gained by making individual vehicles or engines cleaner. If our reliance on mobile sources keeps growing without further action, overall mobile source pollution will eventually start to increase again.

28. Smog Case Study

29. The Problem The city of Los Angeles faces a distinct air pollution problem, that of Photochemical Smog. • It is a condition that occurs when sunlight hits organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and oxygen to form chemicals such as ozone and carbon dioxide. • This reaction produces the yellowish-brown tinge that highlights the skies over LA. • Careless emission of carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide in to the atmosphere has caused an increase in pulmonary disease and has had a detrimental effect on the environment.

30. The Causes of Smog • Automobiles are responsible for emitting the majority of pollutants into the atmosphere. • The Air Quality and Meteorology Yearly Report for 1974 mentioned that gasoline motor vehicles are responsible for 96.8% of carbon monoxide emissions released per day from major sources.

31. Causes of Smog Continued • As seen on the graph to the left, transportation accounts for 55% pollution emitted by major sources. The reason is because Angelinos have the longest driving times in the country.

32. Who’s Responsible? • The citizens of Los Angeles aren't the only ones responsible for the smog problem. There are geographical factors as well. In fact, smog has been observed in the present-day Los Angeles area ever since the days of the first Spanish founders. The majestic mountains that surround the area create a basin--a physical barrier that restricts the spreading of pollution over a larger area. • The Pacific Ocean's presence also presents problems. As a cool body of water, the Pacific creates an atmospheric inversion when cool air settles below warm air. • Emissions from automobiles and factories rise through the cool air, and reach the warm layer. There the temperature of the pollutants equal that of the warm air around them, and fail to rise. The pollution then becomes smog and will stay there for several weeks.

33. Air Temperature Inversion Pattern

34. Environmental Effects • Smog has proven to be a silent killer. • The effects on humans can range anywhere from eye irritations to lung cancer. • Other effects on humans are irritation of the nose and throat, increased mucus production and tendency to cough, headaches, and chest pain coupled with difficulty breathing without coughing. • Prolonged exposure to smog can cause permanent damage in the lungs, ultimately resulting in lung cancer. • Smog also has effects on vegetation and the animals that live in the ecosystem.

35. Solutions to the Problem • Since the 1970's the smog problem has been dying down due to regulation. • The South Coast Air Quality Management District has shown that there has been a declining trend in the number of days that Los Angeles has passed the federal standard. • Keeping regulations that are in place, and setting even more stringent ones will prove helpful in solving the smog problem as it has in the past. Particularly, regulation on the emission of trucks and trailers will surely benefit the cause. • Trucks and trailers are singly the "dirtiest" machines out there. Methanol-powered engines and hybrid engines will pave the way for the total elimination of fossil fuel engines.

36. Solution Continued… • These things might seem too big for anyone to do, but there are things that an individual can do to contribute significantly to the cause, such as: • Avoid unnecessary driving • Carpool • Routine car maintenance such as maintaining oil and gasoline filters and keeping tires properly inflated • Avoid hard driving • Consolidating trips • If the city does not work together as a whole, the problems that face the citizens of Los Angeles will only worsen.

37. Meuse Valley, Belgium

38. Meuse Valley, Belgium • December 3, 1930 thru December 5, 1930 • Thick mist • Several cases of acute pulmonary attacks • 60 deaths

39. The Causes • Temperature • Lack of wind • Smoke from factories • Fog

40. Sulfur Dioxide & Fluorine • SO2 • Early known cause of disaster • Fluorine was the later known cause of the disaster.

41. More on Fluorine • 1873 thru 1935 112 cases reported • Intoxication with: NaF Na2SiF6 HF 5 to 15 grams = lethal dose of NaF

42. The Results • Asthma like attacks • Coughing • Tone of voice • Occasional vomiting • Nausea

43. Air Pollution