Preface
Air pollution is a very complex societal problem. It has been recognized as such for centuries. Unlike the evolution of many scientific phenomena, its cause and effect relationships have been reasonably deductive. For example, in the fourteenth century, King Edward II decreed that the cause of London's air pollution problem was attributed to burning coal, and incidentally, anyone found burning coal while Parliament was meeting would be executed. That is a supreme example of a science-based decision followed by strong execution; literally!
Of course, scientific cause and effect relationships have greatly improved since. Present-day air pollution expertise came into its own in the middle of the twentieth century, when air pollution episodes in Europe and the United States were becoming all too common; in several instances leading to immediate disease and death. The experts at that time likely would not have even referred to themselves as air pollution experts; preferring to be called meteorologist, engineer, physicist, chemist, or earth scientist. The scientific disciplines of atmospheric science, and more specifically atmospheric physicist or chemist or environmental engineer, have grown in expertise and confidence exponentially since the first edition of this book. In the years since, the information on air quality and knowledge of how and why the atmosphere becomes polluted have allowed for continuously improving decisions that have led to a much cleaner atmosphere.
Air pollution was a seemingly intractable problem for most of the developed world in the previous century. The improvement has been remarkable, especially for the health-related criteria air pollutants. More recently, substantial and sustained progress has also been made decreasing atmospheric concentrations of hazardous air pollutants, better known as the air toxics.
In spite of the exponential growth of information, knowledge, and technologies to address air pollution, scientists and policy makers continue to be confronted with many daunting problems. For example, much of the progress has been in the developed and richest parts of the world. Considerable numbers of people of the developing and poorer parts of the world have seen little improvement. Indeed, in the fastest growing economies and the regions with the greatest increases in industrialization, the problems have worsened dramatically.
These growing economies in many instances are retracing the steps taken by the United States, Japan, and Europe during the petrochemical revolution after World War II, which led to so many pollution problems and episodes. Repeating the problems is unnecessary for most of the known air pollutants, if viewed from a scientific and control technology perspective. The challenge for criteria pollutant prevention may largely be geopolitical and cultural. Thus, this edition recognizes these obstacles by updating and increasing attention substantially to the technical solutions that can prevent repeating poor decision making that plagued the developed nations in the previous century.
Indeed, I have modified the fifth edition of Fundamentals of Air Pollution substantially. These changes were necessary, given the changes in how air pollution is being addressed.
First, the book includes much more detail related to the effects on the three types of receptors, i.e. humans, ecosystems, and materials. In particular, the fifth edition takes the view that air pollution knowledge begins with the adverse outcome, with separate chapters devoted to the major effects, i.e. respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrinal, neurological, and cancer. Previous editions addressed these in a more cursory manner, but this edition gives details on how the effects from various air pollutants occur.
The fourth edition introduced the concept of systems science and sustainability to air quality. The fifth edition integrates this perspective throughout. For example, a separate chapter on life cycle analysis (LCA) in energy production, i.e.
Chapter 4, has been added to demonstrate the difference between typical command and control technologies vs preventive and regenerative approaches. The LCA is revisited throughout the text, with an overarching desire to prevent the pollution rather than treat it.
Another major change is the addition of biogeochemical cycling. This was added in the fourth edition during specific topics, especially discussions of sulfur and nitrogen. However, for a complete view of air pollution, separate chapters have now been added on water, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and metal and metalloid cycles. Other substances, e.g. phosphorous and potassium, which did not require separate chapters but share similarities to the substances being discussed, are addressed in these cycling discussions as well.
Another major enhancement is air pollutant exposure. This book incorporates very recent changes in the state of exposure science, including attention to human activities and models. The air quality and emission standards have changed substantially for many air pollutants since the fourth edition. I have painstakingly updated these for North America and Europe, but they will continue to change with demands for cleaner air throughout the world. They are also changing as new compounds are added to the lists of chemicals of concern. The six criteria pollutants will continue to be extremely important, but numerous other air pollutants, notably the air toxics, will have to be addressed. Thus, this new addition places added emphasis on the person and microenvironments, where the lion's share of exposure to air pollutants occurs.
The control technology discussions have also been completely updated, with expanded use of illustrations and inclusion of modifications and improvements. The laws of thermodynamics and motion that underpin the technologies are now addressed in these discussions, e.g. heat and energy transfer, drag and buoyancy, gravitation, electromagnetic principles, and diffusion and Brownian forces.
Another systems approach is an update to the partitioning discussions that had been added in the fourth edition. There are now separate chapters for inherent properties of air pollutants and the kinetics and equilibria associated with these pollutants in the environment. Although air pollution is correctly most concerned about the air pollutant's behavior in the atmosphere, other media (e.g. water, soil, and biota) are now discussed in more detail to demonstrate the interconnectedness of these compartments. For example, the air pollution expert needs to know how a pollutant may have formed in soil or how it may find its way to biotic tissue, in addition to how it behaves in the troposphere.
These enhancements and additions allow the fifth edition to be more representative of the entire life cycle of air pollution. As such, it can be used as the text for two semesters of air pollution engineering, as well as two semesters of air pollution science (perhaps using every chapter, but with less emphasis on
chapters 30 and
31).
The text may also be used for a single semester of an introduction to air pollution risk assessment and management:
| Part I | Foundations of Air Pollution |
| Chapter 5 | Life Cycle Analysis of Air Pollutants |
| Chapter 6 | Inherent Properties of Air Pollutants |
| Chapter 7 | Hazard Assessment of Air Pollutants |
| Chapter 8 | Exposure Assessment of Air Pollutants |
| Chapter 9 | Respiratory Effects of Air Pollutants |
| Chapter 10 | Cardiovascular Effects of Air Pollutants |
| Chapter 12 | Reproductive and Hormonal Effects of Air Pollutants |
| Chapter 15 | Air Pollution's Impact on Materials and Structures |
| Chapter 19 | Air Pollutant Persistence and Bioaccumulation |
| Part V | Addressing Air Pollution |
| Part VI | The Future for Air Pollution Science and Engineering |
