The Importance Of Ammonia

Ammonia (NH3) – is very commonly found throughout the environment in the air, soil and water, and in plants and animals including humans. Ammonia occurs naturally and is produced by human activities. It is one of the sources of nitrogen that plants and animals need. Bacteria living in intestines do produce ammonia. Ammonia is a colorless gas. It has characteristic pungent odor which is cognizant to us because ammonia is a smell able in smelling salts, household and industrial cleaners (bleach), floor and window cleaning products. Exposure to high concentration of ammonia can cause serious burns on the skin and irritation in the eyes, mouth, throat and lungs. People with asthma are more sensitive to breathing ammonia. At higher dose, ammonia

About 4% of deaths in the United States can be attributed to air pollution, according to the Environmental Science Engineering Program at the Harvard School of Public Health. About 5,000 deaths every year are related to asthma. Air quality standard as recommended by WHO is less than 21 micrograms of PM10 (Particulate Matter -- 10 microns in diameter or smaller) per cubic meter. Worldwide, 3.7 million die every year as a result of exposure to fine particulate matter. In China air pollution is a huge problem. According to their won environment ministry, 9 out of 10 Chinese cities failed pollution test in 2015: only 8 out of 74 cities met national standards. Fine particulate matter hits record high which is 40 times the exposure limit recommended by the World Health Organization. Global Burden of Disease Study finds that China’s outdoor pollution is responsible for 1.2 million premature deaths in 2010, which is 40% of the total worldwide. Beijing has 121 micrograms (compared to Mexico City 30 and New York City 21). 300,000 people die each year only from ambient air pollution, mostly of heart disease and lung cancer. Un-breathable air in the smoggy, smelly skies above cities like Beijing, New Delhi and Jakarta is taking a major toll on global health. More than 3.2 million people suffered from premature deaths in 2010 from air pollution. Air pollution, for the first time ever, is on the world’s top-10 list of killers, and is moving up the rank faster than any other factor. Air pollution contributes to hardened arteries: for example, car exhaust and smog takes a toll on the heart, diesel soot, a carcinogen, is another major killer because it concentrates in cities along the transportation corridors impacting densely populated areas. Air pollution, as a whole, is responsible for up to 2 million premature deaths per year in China. China's polluted air environment is man-made, and mostly due to country's rapid development (the