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China has seen great economic development over the decades. This has taken place largely to the benefit of their population, but some problems have arisen. China air pollution has become quite a significant concern. They are aware of it of course and some progress has been made in rectifying it. That said, they have a long way to go.

Since 2007, China has been the world’s #1 emitter of greenhouse gases, making air pollution in Asia, including China, a serious global issue. It is at least as serious a problem for the Chinese people. China air quality contributes to the deaths of three quarters of a million people every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

China’s economic growth, combined with industrial equipment that could now be replaced with cleaner technology, is largely responsible for the current China air pollution situation. A major example is cement making. China’s construction and infrastructure-building boom have led the to this country becoming the world’s leading maker of cement. Just over half the worldwide output now comes from China. Concrete production is polluting and highly energy intensive and methods currently used in China compound the problems. Many producers use inefficient shaft kilns, which the West started to abandon at the beginning of the 20th Century. Overall, 6% of the nation’s electricity is used in operating cement-making plants, and much of it is wasted. These unscrubbed kilns also emit vast quantities of mercury, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and other substances of interest. Unscrubbed means the facility is operated without the use of additional technology specifically designed to reduce emissions.

Much of the power requirement of these kilns is met by old-fashioned, unscrubbed coal-burning power plants. Almost 70% of China’s electrical demands are met using coal. The overwhelming majority of China’s greenhouse gas emissions come from this type of source and fuel.

These issues came to the fore during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which opened with the city clouded in smog. Although the skies did clear up, to what degree air quality improved is a subject of speculation. The Chinese government closed the only independent agency monitoring air pollution in Beijing, the Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants (CERC), for the duration of the games. The data available comes from either independent, but untrained journalists, or the Chinese government and the impartiality of these numbers has been identified as suspicious. Even if the Chinese officials accurately reported China air quality statistics, the standards used for comparison leave something to be desired. While they consider any day with a particulate matter rating below 100 to be a “Blue Sky Day,” the WHO draws their line at 50.

They are making some efforts to reverse their trend towards ever-greater China air pollution. Their reforestation project, “the great wall of green,” will become the world’s single greatest re-planting of forest when completed. However, the country’s progress in other ways has been less promising. In 2000, their government promised that it would reduce the China air pollution by 10 percent by the year 2005. However, China grew to surpass the United States as the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter.

Everyone reacts differently to air pollution. Children, the elderly and those with heart or lung disease are most sensitive to the adverse health effects of air pollution. People with diabetes are also at greater risk because they are more prone to heart disease. Even Canadians who are relatively fit and healthy can experience symptoms when exercising or working outdoors if pollution levels are higher than usual.

This winter, pay attention to the air pollution readings in your area, even if the sky is blue and the air smells clean and fresh. Depending on the length of time you are exposed, your health status and the concentration of pollutants in your area, air pollution can make it harder to breathe, irritate your eyes, nose and throat and worsen chronic diseases such as heart disease, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma.

The Government of Canada is making it easier for Canadians and their families to plan their activities around the quality of the air in their communities. The new Air Quality Health Index is currently available in certain Canadian communities, with more to follow. The index measures three contaminants known to contribute to air pollution – ozone, fine particulates and nitrogen oxide – and gives out readings from one to 10 with health risks associated with each number. The higher the number, the greater the health risk.

This winter, take the guesswork out of planning your outdoor activities and see what the air quality is like in your area. The AQHI is available in parts of British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with more areas to follow as implementation expands across the country. The index measures air quality on a scale from one to 10 and offers suggestions for modifying your activity to reduce your level of exposure to air pollution, depending on your risk factors. For more information on the AQHI, please visit www.airhealth.ca.

The type of stroke that results when a blood clot travels to the brain — called an ischemic stroke — is more likely to occur on days when the air contains a larger concentration of particulate matter, according to a study published online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) examined air quality on a total of 37,000 days in nine cities. Risk of hospitalization for ischemic stroke was 1 percent higher on days with relatively high levels of air pollution, compared with low-air pollution days, reports lead author Gregory Wellenius, ScD, postdoctoral fellow in cardiology at BIDMC.

Third Cause of Death in US

“Although these effects sound relatively small,” says Wellenius, “given the large number of people exposed to air pollution and the large number of people at risk for stroke …. the actual number of strokes could be significant.”

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the US, affecting more than 700,000 individuals each year.

A “consistent increased risk” for cardiac health problems associated with exposure to ambient air particles was established in earlier research by Wellenius and coauthors Murray Mittleman, MD, DrPH, of BIDMC’s Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit and Joel Schwartz, PhD, of HSPH.

“Air pollution has been shown to trigger heart attacks and to aggravate the conditions of patients with congestive heart failure,” says Mittleman, who is also an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“These new findings, demonstrating that incidence of clot-based strokes also increase, [are] in keeping with our earlier data showing a relationship between air pollution and heart and lung disorders,” he notes.

The researchers also looked at the incidence of hemorrhagic stroke, which is caused by bleeding in the brain, during the same “high pollution” days, notes Wellenius, but found no association between the two.

Reducing Exposure May Lower Risk

The air pollution in question — particulate matter smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter — includes particles from car and truck exhaust, power plants and refineries. The measurements were provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency from nine US cities: Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, New Haven, Conn., Cleveland, Detroit, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

The authors analyzed hospital admissions among a group of Medicare patients with an average age of 79. Seventy-five percent of the patients were white, and 61 percent were female. Their findings showed that during the course of their study, there were 155,503 hospital admissions for ischemic stroke.

The final analysis demonstrated a 1.03 percent rise in ischemic stroke on the days with the highest pollution measures.

“We don’t know exactly what mechanisms are involved that trigger these cardiac events,” says Wellenius. “However, we do know that particulates in the air promote inflammation, which is a significant risk factor for cardiac events; that exposure to particulates can lead to changes in heart rate and blood pressure; and that pollution can cause changes in coaguable states (related to blood clotting abilities).”

The authors say that future research will focus on finding out which pollutants are most toxic, as well as which patients are at greatest risk for health problems stemming from air pollution.

“Taken together with previous work, these latest results support the idea that reducing exposure to particulate matter may reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks,” they conclude. 

Along with harming human health, air pollution can cause a variety of environmental effects. What, then, are the different air pollution effects on environment?

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First, acid rain is a form of precipitation that is formed primarily by nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. These acids fall to the earth either as wet precipitation (rain, snow, or fog) or dry precipitation (gas and particulates). In the environment, acid rain damages trees and causes soils and water bodies to acidify. Therefore, it contaminates drinking water and vegetation, and makes the water unsuitable for some fish and other wildlife. Acid rain damages aquatic life. In fact, it has damages Massachussets lakes, ponds, rivers, and soils, leading to damaged wildlife and forests. It also erodes buildings, and speeds the decay of statues and sculptures that are part of our national heritage.

Another effect is ozone depletion. Ozone is a gas that occurs both at ground-level and in the earth’s upper atmosphere, known as the stratosphere. Ozone forms a layer that protects life on earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. However, man-made chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons and halons deplete the ozone layer, causing increased amounts of UV radiation to reach the earth. A recently discovered result of air pollution are seasonal holes in the ozone layer in the atmosphere above Antarctica and the Arctic, coupled with growing evidence of global ozone depletion. This depletion can damage sensitive crops, such as soybeans, and reduce crop yields. It can also lead to more cases of skin cancer, cataracts, and impaired immune systems.

Finally, air pollution causes global climate change. By burning fossil fuels, we are producing what is known as the greenhouse effect. The earth’s atmosphere appears to be trapping more of the sun’s heat, causing the earth’s average temperature to rise in what we call global warming.

These are three examples of air pollution effects on environment.

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It is very vital to control air pollution as it is big cause of many harmful disorders for humans, which need a proper air pollution control system. Plenty of industries are not able to use the Air Pollution Control plants correctly due to lack of equipment/system design. Some industries also lack in correctly operation and maintenance practice. Air pollution control systems are a device which is used to clean the atmosphere particularly air. Usually it can control the air pollution. Mainly this useful device removes the harmful particles from the air. Actually harmful gases and particles are mixed with the environment by the exhaust of the industries. The gases after getting exhausted may hold many harmful particles which can highly pollute the environment.

The air pollution control systems can clean or neutralize those harmful particles. It is applied in wet condition to air, clean flue gas and other pollutants and dust particles. Water is one of our best natural resources and play extremely important part in our lives. There is no replacement for these naturally occurring items. Water, minerals, bio-diversity and gas are source of energy with several usages. But the vast dependency on this natural resources and leading to their exhaustion it is polluted day by day. So it required to take protection before the alarming situations.

 A water treatment plants is a facility where water is treated to make it suitable for the designated end-user. Several processes involved in this exercise, such facilities contain sedimentation, filtration, disinfection, chlorination, coagulation and so on. The most common water treatment plants are Wastewater Treatment, Surface Water Treatment, Containerized Water Treatment Plant, Ozone Based Water Plant, Seawater Treatment Plant, Package Wastewater Plant and Mobile Water Treatment. The most common of waste water treatment plant is to treat the waste water collected from homes, industries and many other sources. In order to make the waste water reusable, it is treated to take away physical, radioactive, chemical and biological pollutants. Sludge treatment and sewage treatment plants are the two most popular sub-types of wastewater purification plants. Wastewater treatment facilities frequently need the highest-performing anti-corrosive coatings, mainly in wastewater tanks and containers, because of the severely corrosive or acidic nature of elements and chemicals used in treating wastewater.

It often takes a unique kind of anti corrosive or acidic coatings to combat these harsh corrosive elements and preserve tank longevity. Now the days demand for mineral water is increasing at a rapid rate, as people become more health aware and take protection against water borne diseases. Mineral water possesses several attributes that are useful for the human health. It effectively helps in increasing energy, balancing hormones, improving digestion, reducing occurrence of several diseases. The mineral water plants or filtration system that contains an ion exchange stage, a carbon stage and a multi-media block joint with a micron filter to clear microscopic bacteria and other small contaminants. Generally mineral water plants need 6 main components like Purification, Bottle Manufacturing, Rinsing, Labeling, Heat Shrinking and Final Packing. One big advantage that technology has given human being is the powerful water filters that are now available.

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A study of more than 11.5 million Medicare patients aged over 65 has concluded that even short-term exposure to fine particle air pollution significantly increases the risk of contracting cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The study was conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, itself a department within the National Institute of Health.

This is the largest study ever conducted of the effect of fine particle air pollution and heart and lung disease, not only in the country but in the world. Fine particle air pollution is typically caused through power plant emissions or fuel exhaust emissions. These microscopic particles the size of dust or soot particles and around 30 times less than the thickness of a human hair, are able to lodge and accumulate deep within the respiratory system. Over time, lung function decreases while pre-existing conditions such as asthma are inflamed and aggravated.

It is not surprising that counties on the heavily industrialized Eastern seaboard have the highest rates of fine particle air pollution and so, the highest rates of lung and heart disease. Any location where there is heavy use of fossil fuels reports a substantial increase in the number of patients suffering from heart and lung conditions.

The extensive study delivered the proof that even small increases in the levels of fine particle air pollutants gave rise to a significantly higher level of hospital admissions for heart failure, heart and vascular conditions, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and infections of the respiratory system. Patients over the age of 75 years of age are particularly vulnerable and experience significantly higher rates of admissions for these conditions than the rest of the population.

Funding for this huge research study was provided by the U.S. Environmental protection Agency (EPA) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The research was conducted by a team at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the results were finally published in March, 2006 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The EPA’s Aerometric Information Retrieval Service provides a nationwide network of data collection locations. This retrieval network was used to collect the data on fine air particle concentrations from over 200 counties scattered across the country and provided data over a three-year period.

The EPA is involved because it has a primary function of controlling environmental pollution through the setting of standards and guidelines. The study demonstrates that there is a strong need for the establishment of air quality guidelines, particularly to safeguard the health of the elderly. The study particularly demonstrates that even minor fine air pollution levels, well below those of the existing national standards, are causing significant health implications for patients.

The question as to whether fine air pollution causes increased incidence of heart and lung diseases is now clearly established, however why are such minor levels of fine air pollution causing such high levels of disease? This in turn will lead to what can be done to counter the harmful effects of fine particle air pollution.

The US Environmental Protection Agency consistently works on new strategies aimed at providing a clearer strategy for industrial investment in air pollution controls. The tightening and widening of environmental legislations is one of the prime drivers of the air pollution control market. This market was created and is primarily driven by the mandates embodied in such regulations, since they call for reductions in hazardous air pollutants emitted from coal-fired power plants.

Regulations for the control of pollutants such as mercury are currently being formulated. This calls for technology advancement and the integration of new technology into the existing infrastructure and subsequently results in market growth with the rise in demand.

The Canadian government usually practices coordinating its emission reduction targets in line with US moves. Canada has 51 coal-fired plants producing 19% of the country’s electricity and 13% of its greenhouse gas emissions. However, 33 of these plants are expected to shutdown by 2025 unless the operators make substantial investments to cut emissions from these aging facilities. The regulations planned for the future are much stringent than he current ones for coal-fired power in the U S. The mandates require power plants to comply through different deadlines.

The Asia–Pacific region is witnessing significant growth in its air pollution control market on the back of its increasing coal-fired power capacity. This increasing capacity directly demands higher production of Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) and particulate matter removal equipment. Nitrous Oxide (NOX) removal is also expecting a promising future with upcoming regulations in certain Asia–Pacific countries.

GBI Research, a leading business intelligence provider, has released its latest research, “Air Pollution Control Market for Coal Fired Power Plants to 2020 – Increasing Plant Capacity to Present Growth Opportunities”. The report gives an in-depth analysis of the global Air Pollution Control Equipment (APCE) market for coal-fired power plants, covering four major regions – North America (USA and Canada), Europe, Asia–Pacific and the Rest of the World (South and Central America, the Middle East and Africa). The research analyzes the regulatory framework in the three most significant regions – North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, and the impact of regulations on the air pollution control market for coal-fired power plants. The report covers market revenue forecasts for the air pollution control market for all the regions mentioned, and it also provides a detailed forecast of the market’s revenues by product type – Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD), Nitrous Oxides (NOx), Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) and Fabric Filters up to 2020. The report also includes geographic and cost analysis data for each product type. This report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis by GBI Research’s team of industry experts.

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A new study has demonstrated the strong correlation between air pollution and air quality and the level of costs incurred in by elderly patients seeking medical attention. The study took in millions of Medicare records of both in- and out-patients between 1989 and 1991 all the patients were white and aged between 65 and 84 years.

The study was conducted by Professor Victor Fuchs, professor emeritus at Stanford University and assisted by Sarah Franks, a doctoral student at Berkeley, University of California. The study results were published in the November/December issue of Health Affairs, and the conclusive results demonstrate a direct linkage between air pollution and the level of health, particularly respiratory health in elderly patients. More than this, the study demonstrates that investment in improving air quality and reducing pollution leads to direct cost savings which are substantial.

At a time when there is a great debate centered around healthcare, and especially who will be footing the bill, the report clearly demonstrates that pollution control provides an excellent opportunity for improving the nation’s health, reducing the cost of healthcare and provides opportunities to improve the quality of life for the elderly.

Factors taken into consideration in the study, which took in 183 metropolitan areas, included regional geographical variations, per capita income, educational achievement, ethnic breakdown of the sample location, weight levels (particularly obesity levels) and cigarette usage.

There are clear differences between urban and rural areas within the study samples; metropolitan areas also varied widely in the quality of the air and pollution levels the study demonstrates that there is only a small difference in rates of surgery between high and low pollution sample locations, however this picture radically changes when medical intervention short of surgery is assessed.

Outpatient care has a 7% difference between high and low air pollution locations, but when we look at inpatient care the difference increases dramatically to 19% more people seeking treatment in the more highly polluted sample locations.

Population size and density has a very significant impact on air quality Florida and Blue Sky country (centered upon Montana) has the cleanest air but Florida had twice the outpatient treatment rate (this being a factor of the higher population size and density). Hospital admissions were found to be at their highest in the Deep South and South Western areas of the country.

Overall, differences in admissions to hospital for respiratory conditions between low and high air pollution locations are relatively low; the data must be interpreted with care because of the small difference. Nevertheless, there is a clear relationship between air pollution and the need for increased medical intervention for the elderly. As the authors state in the conclusion of the report, the results do not provide, “absolute proof” that high pollution areas result in higher spending on medical care, however the data results are highly persuasive.

Irrespective of whether the study constitutes “absolute proof” or not, there is a clear need for greater outpatient medical treatment for those living in highly populated and highly polluted areas. The correlation between high pollution levels and population levels also demonstrates just who is actually responsible for creating the problem with air quality in the first instance.