Air Pollution, Sources and Characteristics

Air pollution is the presence of a substance in the air in sufficient concentration and perceptions time so as to be, or threaten to be, injurious to human, plant, or animal life or to the property or which reasonably interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property. Air pollutants arise from both man-made and not natural processes. The ambient air quality may be defined by the concentration of a set of pollutants that may be present in the ambient air we breathe in. These pollutants may be called as criteria pollutants. Sources and the nature of air pollutants like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, etc., have been discussed in this chapter.