Air Pollution: The Causes And Types Of Air Pollution

1 INTRODUCTION

"Everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being and to have the environment protected, for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that prevent pollution and ecological degradation ....” As per Section 24 of the South African Constitution, this lays the foundation for an individual’s human right that everyone is entitled to.

2 WHAT IS AIR POLLUTION?

The sufficient concentration of substances present in the air for a sufficient amount of time that is harmful to human, animal, plant, or to property, or which reasonably affects the comfortable enjoyment of life and property can be regarded as air pollution (Cheremisinoff, 2002). These substances include gases (SOx, NOx, CO, HCs, etc.), particulate matter (aerosols, dust, smoke, fumes) radioactive materials and many others.
3 TYPES OF AIR POLLUTION

3.1 OUTDOOR AIR POLLUTION

Outdoor air pollution can be defined as the discharge of various constituents in the form of air pollutants into the atmosphere. These constituents are released in concentrations that harm the wellbeing of living organisms or upsets how the environment usually functions, thus leading to deterioration of human health (Dimitriou and Christidou, 2011). Air pollutants can be in the form of solid particles, liquid droplets or gaseous. They can be products of either natural processes or human activities. The natural sources of air