Air pollution has significant effects on health and the environment. In France, despite a trend towards
WHAT ARE THE MECHANISMS OF AIR POLLUTION?
Natural phenomena (volcanic eruptions, forest fires ...) but especially human activities (transport industry, agriculture, residential heating ...) are the source of pollutant emissions, in the form of gases or particles, into the atmosphere. .
Once released into the air, these substances are transported under the effect of wind, rain, temperature gradients in the atmosphere and sometimes up to thousands of kilometers from the source of emission.
They can also undergo transformations by chemical reactions under the effect of certain meteorological conditions (heat, light, humidity, etc.) and by reactions in the air between these substances. This results in the appearance of other pollutants.
Air pollutants
There are two categories of air pollutants:
primary pollutants, directly emitted: nitric oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particles (or dust), heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ...
secondary pollutants resulting from physico-chemical transformations between air pollutants under the effect of particular weather conditions: ozone, nitrogen dioxide, particles) ...
The monitoring of air pollution is based on the measurement and analysis of the concentrations of these different pollutants and their variations in time and space.
WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION?
Air pollution has a negative impact on human health.
Consequences of pollution on health
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Short-term exposure (peak pollution) but especially long-term (chronic) exposure to air pollution has important impacts on health, especially for vulnerable or vulnerable people. Namely: pregnant women, infants and young children, people over 65, people suffering from cardiovascular diseases, heart failure, but also people who recognize themselves as sensitive during peak pollution and / or whose symptoms appear or are amplified during peaks (for example: diabetics, immunocompromised people, people suffering from neurological conditions or at risk of cardiac, respiratory, infectious).
A presentation of the effects of air pollution on health and health recommendations are available in the Questions and Answers External Air and Health of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Air pollution also has adverse environmental consequences in the short, medium and long term. These effects concern:
the buildings: the atmospheric pollutants deteriorate the materials of the facades (stone, cement, glass ...) by fouling and corrosive actions;
crops: too much ozone can lead to yield reductions of 5 to 20% depending on the crop;
ecosystems: they are impacted by air acidification and eutrophication. Indeed, some pollutants, leached by the rain, contaminate the soil and the water, disturbing the chemical balance of the plants. Others, in excess, can lead to a change in the distribution of species and an erosion of biodiversity.
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