Pollutant Sources
The table below represents typical industrial sources and their contribution to air pollutants. Many sources produce small amounts of each pollutant listed here, therefore, only the major contributions are indicated with an X.
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Pollution Inventories:
England and Wales: The Pollution Inventory collects information on releases of pollutants and transfers of waste off-site from businesses we regulate in England and Wales . You can report to, or view data from the Pollution Inventory here.
Scotland: The Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory is a register of site specific emissions to air and water for a range of specific pollutants. Users can access the database by searching by postcode, pollutant or company name.
National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI): The NAEI is funded by Defra , The National Assembly for Wales , The Scottish Executive and The Department of Environment, Northern Ireland . The NAEI compiles estimates of emissions to the atmosphere from UK sources such as cars, trucks, power stations and industrial plant. These emissions are estimated to help to find ways of reducing the impact of human activities on the environment and our health.
Summary of pollutant sources:
Ammonia
Major sources of Ammonia include livestock farming including pig and poultry farms. Other sources of ammonia emission include direct volatilisation from mineral fertilizers (particularly urea), agricultural crops and a wide range of non-agricultural sources including sewage, catalytic converters, wild animals, seabirds and industrial processes (Sutton et al . 1995, 2000).
Sulphur Dioxide
The main sources of SO2 emissions are power generation, industry and domestic solid fuel combustion, and shipping.
Nitrogen Oxides
Man-made emissions of nitrogen oxides come from power stations, motor vehicles, and other industrial and domestic combustion processes. Nitrogen oxides are produced naturally by lightning, and also, to a small extent, by microbial processes in soils.
Heavy Metals
Although heavy metals differ in their chemical properties, they are used widely in electronic components, machinery and materials. Consequently, they are emitted to the environment from a variety of anthropogenic sources to supplement natural background geochemical sources. Combustion processes are the most important sources of heavy metals, particularly, power generation, smelting, incineration and the internal combustion engine.
Dusts
Particles may be generated mechanically, for example by the wind, may be emitted directly to the atmosphere or may be formed by reactions in the atmosphere from precursor gases (e.g. Pruppacher & Klett, 1978). Anthropogenic sources include sulphates and nitrates from SO2 and NOx reactions, ammonium aerosols from reaction of ammonia emissions, most combustion processes in the form of soot and flyash and heavy metal particles, and particulates from mechanical generation including wear of tyre and brake linings, quarrying and dust from construction sites. Natural production of dusts include ash from volcanic eruptions or forest fires, sea salt particles or Saharan dust.
POPs
POPs in APIS are classified into three sectors: By-products or Contaminants (e.g. dioxins, furans and PAHs); Industrial Chemicals (e.g. PCBs and
hexabromobiphenyl); and
Pesticides (e.g. aldrin, lindane and DDT).
Sources include:
PAHs - road combustion is the largest source of PAH emissions contributing around half of the emissions in 2002. Wood treatment is another source of some of the lighter PAHs (e.g. fluorene and anthracene).
Dioxins and Furans - the largest source is still waste incineration, especially clinical waste, although emissions have fallen 86% between 1993 and 2002. Other smaller sources include domestic and industrial coal combustion and accidental fires.
PCBs - although now not used in manufacturing PCBs are still found in old appliances. Emissions from disposal are considered significant (e.g. waste incineration and refuse derived fuel production). Trace amounts can also be found in thermal processes such as scrap metal recycling. PCBs also occur in sewage sludge.
Pesticides - emissions of lindane (γ-HCH) and PCP (Pentachlorophenol) comes from treated wood. Lindane is also used as a pesticide in agriculture and some domestic products.
VOCs
VOCs comprise volatile hydrocarbons and other organic molecules released into the atmosphere. Anthropogenic sources include transport, solvent use and other industrial processes. Road transport alone accounts for 30% of VOC emissions. In the UK it is estimated that less than 5% of the VOCs (2.3 million tonnes per year, expressed in terms of carbon) emitted into the atmosphere, are emitted from vegetation.
Halogens
Fluoride emissions in the UK are almost entirely due to human activities: production of fluorides for a multitude of industrial uses; aluminium reduction; steel and phosphate fertiliser production; coal burning; and glass, ceramics and brick manufacture. The main natural sources of atmospheric fluorine compounds are volcanoes, fumaroles, forest fires and marine aerosols.
Ozone
Ozone, is not a primary pollutant and is not emitted directly into the atmosphere. Ozone, is a secondary pollutant produced by produced by photochemical reactions from nitrogen oxides (NOx ) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which include various hydrocarbons. NOx and VOCs originate from fossil fuel combustion and natural sources.
References
Sutton M.A., Place C.J., Eager M., Fowler D. and Smith R.I. (1995): Assessment of the magnitude of ammonia emissions in the United Kingdom. Atmospheric Environment 29 , 1393-1411.
Sutton M.A., Dragosits U., Tang Y.S. and Fowler D. (2000): Ammonia emissions from non-agricultural sources in the UK. Atmospheric Environment 34 855 - 869.
Pruppacher H.R. and Klett J.D. (1978): Microphysics of Clouds and Precipitation. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, NL. 715 pp.