EVS PROJECT

SMOG

COMPILED BY –
SHREY NARULA
1stSEMESTER, 1st YEAR
BCOM LLB
A11921615044
 INDEX
 DEFINITION
 ETYMOLOGY
 CAUSES
 HEALTH EFFECTS
 AREAS AFFECTED
1. DELHI
2. LONDON
3. MEXICO
4.CHILE
5. IRAN
6.USA
7. MONGOLIA
8. SOUTHEAST ASIA
 POLLUTION INDEX
 CULTURAL REFERENCES
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Definition
Smog is a type of air pollutant. The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century as
a portmanteau of the words smoke and fog to refer to smoky fog. The word was then intended to
refer to what was sometimes known as pea soup fog, a familiar and serious problem in London from
the 19th century to the mid20th century. This kind of smog is caused by the burning of large
amounts of coal within a city; this smog contains soot particulates from smoke, sulphur dioxide and
other components.

Modern smog, as found for example in Los Angeles, is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular
emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with
sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine with the primary emissions to
form photochemical smog. In certain other cities, such as Delhi, smog severity is often aggravated
by stubble burning in neighboring agricultural areas. The atmospheric pollution levels of Los
Angeles, Beijing, Delhi, Mexico City and other cities are increased by inversion that traps pollution
close to the ground. It is usually highly toxic to humans and can cause severe sickness, shortened
life or death.

Etymology
Coinage of the term "smog" is generally attributed to Dr. Henry Antoine Des Voeux in his 1905
paper, "Fog and Smoke" for a meeting of the Public Health Congress. The July 26, 1905 edition of
the London newspaper Daily Graphic quoted Des Voeux, "He said it required no science to see that
there was something produced in great cities which was not found in the country, and that was
smoky fog, or what was known as 'smog.' The following day the newspaper stated that "Dr. Des
Voeux did a public service in coining a new word for the London fog." "Smog" also appears in a
January 19, 1893, Los Angeles Times article and is attributed to "a witty English writer."

Causes
Coal
Coal fires, used to heat individual buildings or in a power-producing plant, can emit significant clouds
of smoke that contributes to smog. Air pollution from this source has been reported in England since
the Middle Ages. London, in particular, was notorious up through the mid-20th century for its coal-
caused smogs, which were nicknamed 'pea-soupers.' Air pollution of this type is still a problem in
areas that generate significant smoke from burning coal, as witnessed by the 2013 autumnal smog
in Harbin, China, which closed roads, schools, and the airport.

Transportation emissions
Traffic emissions – such as from trucks, buses, and automobiles – also contribute. Airborne by-
products from vehicle exhaust systems cause air pollution and are a major ingredient in the creation
of smog in some large cities.

The major culprits from transportation sources are carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO and
NOx), volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide, and hydrocarbons. These molecules react with
sunlight, heat, ammonia, moisture, and other compounds to form the noxious vapors, ground
level ozone, and particles that comprise smog.

Photochemical smog
Photochemical smog was first described in the 1950s. It is the chemical reaction of sunlight, nitrogen
oxides and volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere, which leaves airborne and ground-level
ozone. This noxious mixture of air pollutants may include the following:

 Aldehydes
 Nitrogen oxides, such as nitrogen dioxide
 Peroxyacyl nitrates
 Tropospheric ozone
 Volatile organic compounds

All of these harsh chemicals are usually highly reactive and oxidizing. Photochemical smog is
therefore considered to be a problem of modern industrialization. It is present in all modern cities,
but it is more common in cities with sunny, warm, dry climates and a large number of motor
vehicles. Because it travels with the wind, it can affect sparsely populated areas as well.
Characteristic coloration for smog in California in the beige cloud bank behind the Golden Gate Bridge. The brown
coloration is due to the NOx in the photochemical smog.

Natural causes
An erupting volcano can also emit high levels of sulphur dioxide along with a large quantity of
particulate matter; two key components to the creation of smog. However, the smog created as a
result of a volcanic eruption is often known as vog to distinguish it as a natural occurrence.

The radiocarbon content of some plant life has been linked to the distribution of smog in some areas.
For example, the creosote bush in the Los Angeles area has been shown to have an effect on smog
distribution that is more than fossil fuel combustion alone.

Health effects

Highland Park Optimist Club wearing smog-gas masks at banquet, Los Angeles, circa 1954
Smog is a serious problem in many cities and continues to harm human health. Ground-level
ozone, sulfur dioxide, dioxide and carbon monoxide are especially harmful for senior citizens,
children, and people with heart and lung conditions such as emphysema, bronchitis, and asthma. It
can inflame breathing passages, decrease the lungs' working capacity, and cause shortness of
breath, pain when inhaling deeply, wheezing, and coughing. It can cause eye and nose irritation and
it dries out the protective membranes of the nose and throat and interferes with the body's ability to
fight infection, increasing susceptibility to illness. Hospital admissions and respiratory deaths often
increase during periods when ozone levels are high.

Levels of unhealthy exposure

The U.S. EPA has developed an Air Quality Index to help explain air pollution levels to the general
public. 8 hour average ozone concentrations of 85 to 104 ppbv are described as "Unhealthy for
Sensitive Groups", 105 ppbv to 124 ppbv as "unhealthy" and 125 ppb to 404 ppb as "very
unhealthy". The "very unhealthy" range for some other pollutants are: 355 μg m−3 - 424 μg
m−3 for PM10; 15.5 ppm - 30.4ppm for CO and 0.65 ppm - 1.24 ppm for NO2.

Premature deaths due to cancer and respiratory

disease
The Ontario Medical Association announced that smog is responsible for an estimated 9,500
premature deaths in the province each year.

A 20-year American Cancer Society study found that cumulative exposure also increases the
likelihood of premature death from a respiratory disease, implying the 8-hour standard may be
insufficient.

Smog and the risk of certain birth defects

A study examining 806 women who had babies with birth defects between 1997 and 2006, and 849
women who had healthy babies, found that smog in the Valley area of California was linked to two
types of neural tube defects: spina bifida (a condition involving, among other manifestations, certain
malformations of the spinal column), and anencephaly (the underdevelopment or absence of part or
all of the brain, which if not fatal usually results in profound impairment).

Smog and low birth weight

According to a study published in The Lancet, even a very small (5 μg) change in PM2.5 exposure
was associated with an increase (18%) in risk of a low birth weight at delivery, and this relationship
held even below the current accepted safe levels.

Areas affected

Beijing air on a day after rain (left) and a smoggy day (right)

Smog can form in almost any climate where industries or cities release large amounts of air
pollution, such as smoke or gases. However, it is worse during periods of warmer, sunnier weather
when the upper air is warm enough to inhibit vertical circulation. It is especially prevalent in geologic
basins encircled by hills or mountains. It often stays for an extended period of time over densely
populated cities or urban areas, and can build up to dangerous levels.

Delhi, India
During the autumn and winter months, some 500 million tons of crop residue are burnt, and winds blow from India's
north and northwest towards east. This aerial view shows India's annual crop burning, resulting in smoke and air
pollution over Delhi and adjoining areas.

Delhi is the most polluted city in the world and according to one estimate air pollution causes the
death of about 10,500 people in Delhi every year. During 2013-14, peak levels of
fine particulate matter (PM) in Delhi increased by about 44%, primarily due to high vehicular and
industrial emissions, construction work and crop burning in adjoining states. Delhi has the highest
level of the airborne particulate matter, PM2.5 considered most harmful to health, with 153
micrograms. Rising air pollution level has significantly increased lung-related ailments (especially
asthma and lung cancer) among Delhi's children and women. The dense smog in Delhi during winter
season results in major air and rail traffic disruptions every year. According to Indian meteorologists,
the average maximum temperature in Delhi during winters has declined notably since 1998 due to
rising air pollution.

Dense smog blankets Connaught Place, Delhi.

Environmentalists have criticised the Delhi government for not doing enough to curb air pollution and
to inform people about air quality issues. Most of Delhi's residents are unaware of alarming levels of
air pollution in the city and the health risks associated with it. Since the mid-1990s, Delhi has
undertaken some measures to curb air pollution – Delhi has the third highest quantity of trees among
Indian cities and the Delhi Transport Corporation operates the world's largest fleet of environmentally
friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. In 1996, the Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE) started a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court of India that ordered the
conversion of Delhi's fleet of buses and taxis to run on CNG and banned the use of leaded petrol in
1998. In 2003, Delhi won the United States Department of Energy's first 'Clean Cities International
Partner of the Year' award for its "bold efforts to curb air pollution and support alternative fuel
initiatives". The Delhi Metro has also been credited for significantly reducing air pollutants in the city.

However, according several authors, most of these gains have been lost, especially due to stubble
burning, rise in market share of diesel cars and a considerable decline in bus ridership. According to
CSE and System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), burning of agricultural
waste in nearby Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh regions results in severe intensification of smog
over Delhi. The state government of adjoining Uttar Pradesh is considering imposing a ban on crop
burning to reduce pollution in Delhi NCR and an environmental panel has appealed to India's
Supreme Court to impose a 30% cess on diesel cars.

United Kingdom

London

Victorian London was notorious for its thick smogs, or "pea-soupers", a fact that is often recreated (as here) to add an
air of mystery to a periodcostume drama

In 1306, concerns over air pollution were sufficient for Edward I to (briefly) ban coal fires in
London. In 1661, John Evelyn's Fumifugiumsuggested burning fragrant wood instead of mineral
coal, which he believed would reduce coughing. The Ballad of Gresham College the same year
describes how the smoke "does our lungs and spirits choke, Our hanging spoil, and rust our iron."

Severe episodes of smog continued in the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly in the winter, and were
nicknamed "pea-soupers," from the phrase "as thick as pea soup." The Great Smog of
1952 darkened the streets of London and killed approximately 4,000 people in the short time of 4
days (a further 8,000 died from its effects in the following weeks and months). Initially
a flu epidemic was blamed for the loss of life.
In 1956 the Clean Air Act started legally enforcing smokeless zones in the capital. There were areas
where no soft coal was allowed to be burned in homes or in businesses, only coke, which produces
no smoke. Because of the smokeless zones, reduced levels of sooty particulates eliminated the
intense and persistent London smog.

It was after this that the great clean-up of London began. One by one, historical buildings which,
during the previous two centuries had gradually completely blackened externally, had their stone
facades cleaned and restored to their original appearance. Victorian buildings whose appearance
changed dramatically after cleaning included the British Museum of Natural History. A more recent
example was the Palace, which was cleaned in the 1980s. A notable exception to the restoration
trend was 10 Downing Street, whose bricks upon cleaning in the late 1950s proved to be
naturally yellow; the smog-derived black colour of the façade was considered so iconic that the
bricks were painted black to preserve the image. Smog caused by traffic pollution, however, does
still occur in modern London.

Other areas
Other areas of the United Kingdom were affected by smog, especially heavily industrialized areas.

The cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, in Scotland, suffered smoke-laden fogs in 1909. Des Voeux,
commonly credited with creating the "smog" moniker, presented a paper in 1911 to the Manchester
Conference of the Smoke Abatement League of Great Britain about the fogs and resulting deaths.

One Birmingham resident described near black-out conditions in the 1900s before the Clean Air Act,
with visibility so poor that cyclists had to dismount and walk in order to stay on the road.

Mexico City, Mexico

Situated in a valley, and relying heavily on automobiles, Mexico City often suffers from poor air quality.

Due to its location in a highland "bowl", cold air sinks down onto the urban area of Mexico City,
trapping industrial and vehicle pollution underneath, and turning it into the most infamously smog-
plagued city of Latin America. Within one generation, the city has changed from being known for
some of the cleanest air of the world into one with some of the worst pollution, with pollutants
like nitrogen dioxide being double or even triple international standards.

Photochemical smog over Mexico City. December 2010.

Santiago, Chile
Similar to Mexico City, the air pollution of Santiago valley, located between the Andes and
the Chilean Coast Range, turn it into the most infamously smog-plagued city of South America.
Other aggravates of the situation reside in its high latitude (31 degrees South) and dry weather
during most of the year.

Tehran, Iran
In December 2005, schools and public offices had to close in Tehran, Iran and 1600 people were
taken to hospital, in a severe smog blamed largely on unfiltered car exhaust.

United States

A NASA astronaut photograph of a smog layer over central New York.

Counties in the United States where one or more National Ambient Air Quality Standards are not met, as of June
2007.

Smog was brought to the attention of the general US public in 1933 with the publication of the book
"Stop That Smoke", by Henry Obermeyer, a New York public utility official, in which he pointed out
the effect on human life and even the destruction of 3,000 acres (12 km2) of a farmer's spinach
crop. Since then, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has designated over 300 U.S.
counties to be non-attainment areas for one or more pollutants tracked as part of the National
Ambient Air Quality Standards. These areas are largely clustered around large metropolitan areas,
with the largest contiguous non-attainment zones in California and the Northeast. Various U.S. and
Canadian government agencies collaborate to produce real-time air quality maps and forecasts.

Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley

Because of their locations in low basins surrounded by mountains, Los Angeles and the San Joaquin
Valley are notorious for their smog. The millions of vehicles in these regions combined with the
additional effects of the San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles/Long Beach port complexes frequently
contribute to further air pollution. While strict regulations by numerous California government
agencies overseeing this problem have decreased the number of Stage 1 smog alerts from several
hundred annually to just a few, these geologically predisposed entrapment zones collect pollution
levels from cars, trucks and fixed sources which still exceeds health standards and is a pressing
issue for the more than 25 million people who live there.

Major incidents in the US

 1943, July 26, Los Angeles, California: A smog so sudden and severe that "Los Angeles
residents believe the Japanese are attacking them with chemical warfare."
 1948, October 30–31, Donora, Pennsylvania: 20 died, 600 hospitalized, thousands more
stricken. Lawsuits were not settled until 1951.
 1966, November 24, New York City, New York: Smog kills at least 169 people.
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
In the late 1990s, massive immigration to Ulaanbaatar from the countryside began. An estimated
150,000 households, mainly living in traditional Mongolian gers on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, burn
wood and coal (some poor families burn even car tires and trash) to heat themselves during the
harsh winter, which lasts from October to April, since these outskirts are not connected to the city's
central heating system. A temporary solution to decrease smog was proposed in the form of stoves
with improved efficiency, although with no visible results. Coal-fired ger stoves release high levels of
ash and other particulate matter (PM). When inhaled, these particles can settle in the lungs and
respiratory tract and cause health problems. At two to 10 times above Mongolian and international
air quality standards, Ulaanbaatar's PM rates are among the worst in the world, according to a
December 2009 World Bank report. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that health costs
related to this air pollution account for as much as 4 percent of Mongolia's GDP.

Southeast Asia

Singapore's Downtown Core on 7 October 2006, when it was affected by forest fires in Sumatra, Indonesia

Smog is a regular problem in Southeast Asia caused by land and forest fires in Indonesia,
especially Sumatra and Kalimantan, although the term haze is preferred in describing the problem.
Farmers and plantation owners are usually responsible for the fires, which they use to clear tracts of
land for further plantings. Those fires mainly
affect Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, and
occasionally Guam and Saipan. The economic losses of the fires in 1997 have been estimated at
more than US$9 billion. This includes damages in agriculture production, destruction of forest lands,
health, transportation, tourism, and other economic endeavours. Not included are social,
environmental, and psychological problems and long-term health effects. The second-latest bout of
haze to occur in Malaysia, Singapore and the Malacca Straits is in October 2006, and was caused
by smoke from fires in Indonesia being blown across the Straits of Malacca by south-westerly winds.
A similar haze has occurred in June 2013, with the PSI setting a new record in Singapore on June
21 at 12pm with a reading of 401, which is in the "Hazardous" range.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reacted. In 2002, the Agreement on
Transboundary Haze Pollution was signed between all ASEAN nations. ASEAN formed a Regional
Haze Action Plan (RHAP) and established a co-ordination and support unit (CSU). RHAP, with the
help of Canada, established a monitoring and warning system for forest/vegetation fires and
implemented a Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS). The Malaysian Meteorological Department
(MMD) has issued a daily rating of fire danger since September 2003. Indonesia has been
ineffective at enforcing legal policies on errant farmers.

Pollution index

Smog in São Paulo, Brazil

The severity of smog is often measured using automated optical instruments such
as Nephelometers, as haze is associated with visibility and traffic control in ports. Haze however can
also be an indication of poor air quality though this is often better reflected using accurate purpose
built air indexes such as the American Air Quality Index, the Malaysian API (Air Pollution Index) and
the Singaporean Pollutant Standards Index.

In hazy conditions, it is likely that the index will report the suspended particulate level. The disclosure
of the responsible pollutant is mandated in some jurisdictions.

The Malaysian API does not have a capped value; hence its most hazardous readings can go above
500. Above 500, a state of emergency is declared in the affected area. Usually, this means that non-
essential government services are suspended, and all ports in the affected area are closed. There
may also be prohibitions on private sector commercial and industrial activities in the affected area
excluding the food sector. So far, state of emergency rulings due to hazardous API levels were
applied to the Malaysian towns of Port Klang, Kuala Selangor and the state of Sarawak during
the 2005 Malaysian haze and the 1997 Southeast Asian haze.
Cultural references

Claude Monet made several trips to London between 1899 and 1901, during which he painted views of the
Thames and Parliament which show the sun struggling to shine through London's smog-laden atmosphere.

 The London "pea-soupers" earned the capital the nickname of "The Smoke".
Similarly, Edinburgh was known as "Auld Reekie". The smogs feature in many London novels as
a motif indicating hidden danger or a mystery, perhaps most overtly in Margery Allingham'sThe
Tiger in the Smoke (1952), but also in Dickens's Bleak House (1852) and T.S. Eliot's "The Love
Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."
 The 1970 made-for-TV movie A Clear and Present Danger was one of the first American
television network entertainment programs to warn about the problem of smog and air pollution,
as it dramatized a man's efforts toward clean air after emphysema killed his friend.
 The history of smog in LA is detailed in Smogtown by Chip Jacobs and William J. Kelly.

Smog in New York City as viewed from the World Trade Center in 1988
German road sign until 2008, Verkehrsverbot bei Smog (No traffic allowed in smog conditions)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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