Pollution levels - Record the pollution level of a particular pollutant in five different rural sites and five different urban sites.

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Pollution Levels

Aim

The aim of this experiment is to record the pollution level of a particular pollutant in five different rural sites and five different urban sites.

Pollutants are substances that have an adverse effect on the environment.

The recordings of all the sites, urban and rural, must be of the same day, so that the experiment is fair.  The recordings must be hourly of each site for 24 hours (1 day).  This was to make the experiment as fair as possible.

To receive the hourly readings of each site I visited the following web-sites: -

WWW.AIRQUALITYARCHIVE.COM

WWW.METOFFICE.COM

The pollutant I have chose is sodium dioxide (SO2).

The date I have chose to record the levels of SO2 is 20/01/03.

Prediction

My prediction is that the SO2 levels in urban areas, will on average be more than the SO2 levels in rural areas.  This is because traffic, as well as industries are more in cities and towns rather than countryside’s, thus more pollution would be caused in urban areas.

Weather Forecast

The date I chose to measure the pollution levels in the different sites was Monday the 20th of January 2003.  I chose this date, as it was winter and the weather in all the sites was always different, as a result, I was forced to choose this winters day.  However the weather in all the sites coincides with the forecast below.

20 January 2003: - very wet in most places as complex low pressure crossed the UK to the North Sea.  There were frequent outbreaks of rain and showers.

Monitoring Pollution 

Pollution is measured to ensure that the Government standards of air quality, designed to protect human health and the environment are not exceeded.

Air quality management in the UK is governed by the Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which is administrated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Below is a picture of a monitoring station.

Below is a site map: -

 

The sites of which I have chose to record the SO2 levels are: -

  • Birmingham
  • Newcastle
  • Reading
  • Manchester
  • Bristol
  • Wirral Tranmere
  • Rochester
  • Swansea
  • Wicken Fen
  • Wrexham

Scientific Background

In both the developed and rapidly industrializing countries, the major historic problem has been air pollution.  Below is an introduction to the principal pollutants produced by industrial, domestic and traffic sources:

  • Sulphur dioxide (SO2)
  • Carbon monoxide (CO)
  • Ozone (O3)
  • Benzene (C6H6)
  • Toxic Organic Micropollutants
  • Acid rain
  • Particulate matter
  • Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
  • Hydrocarbons
  • 1,3 - Butadiene
  • Lead
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The following units of measurement are used throughout: -

  • ppb – parts per billion
  • ppm – parts per million
  • ,ugm   - microrganisms per cubic meter
  • ,um – micro meter (one millionth of a meter)

Before I discuss the main pollutants and their health effects, below is a diagram of how NO2 and SO2 are formed.

  • Burning fossil fuels is the main cause of atmospheric pollution.
  • ...

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