"AIR POLLUTION"

Ever since people first gathered in settlements there has been pollution. Pollution usually refers to the presence of substances that are either present in the environment where it doesn't belong or at levels greater than it should be.

Air pollution is caused by any undesirable substance, which enters the atmosphere. Air pollution is a major problem in modern society. Even though air pollution is usually a greater problem in cities, pollutants contaminate air everywhere. These substances include various gases and tiny particles, or particulates that can harm human health and damage the environment. They may be gases, liquids, or solids. Many pollutants are given off into the air as a result of human behavior. Pollution occurs on different levels: personal, national, and global.

Some pollutants come from natural sources.

◦Forest fires emit particles, gases, and VOCs (substances that vaporize into the atmosphere)

◦Ultra-fine dust particles created by soil erosion when water and weather loosen layers of soil, increase airborne particulate levels.

How does air pollution affect me?

Many studies have shown links between pollution and health effects. Increases in air pollution have been linked to decreases in lung function and increases in heart attacks. High levels of air pollution according directly affect people with asthma and other types of lung or heart disease. Overall air quality has improved in the last 20 years but urban areas are still a concern. The elderly and children are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution.

The level of risk depends on several factors:

◦the amount of pollution in the air,

◦the amount of air we breathe in a given time

◦our overall health.

Other, less direct ways people are exposed to air pollutants are:

◦eating food products contaminated by air toxins that have been deposited where they grow,

◦drinking water contaminated by air pollutants,

◦ingesting contaminated soil, and touching contaminated soil, dust or water.

The first phase of mobile source emission inventory based on the 2001 census (specifically, passenger car) for the Maracaibo Municipality, is presented in this work. The following gases were included in the inventory: carbon monoxide (CO), total hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). It was verified using the inventory, that the main pollution emitted to the atmosphere was the CO (5307,88 ton/year) representing the 86,42%, followed by the HC (6,96%) and NOx (6,62%). In Addition, Maracaibo downtown was the most important area that contributed to the pollution in the municipality (94,37%).This study is a tool to develop a calculus method to evaluate the remaining categories of the public transport, and also for the private sector; provides a methodology for the emission inventory generated by this source, more accurate than the applies in Venezuela and shows the first results to determine the contribution of these gases in the urban environmental pollution and the Heat Island effect.

In the inventory of air emissions from mobile sources made, we obtain an estimate of the total mass of pollutants being discharged into the atmosphere in Maracaibo: 5707.2636 ton / year of CO, HC and NOx, representing each of them: 6.96%, 86.44% and 6.62% respectively of the total.

Among the sectors studied, which contributes more pollutants is the center of Maracaibo (94.37% of total emissions from the municipality), as it is in this area which houses most of the stops along the routes in the municipality.

Public transport, cars specifically for office units in Maracaibo, have an age older than 25 years even though the productive age group for vehicles with this type of use is 10 years, and the maintenance of these units is low and in some zero cases, which can be inferred that the actual emissions discharged into the atmosphere must be higher than those estimated by the methodology. However, they represent a first estimate.

Recommendations :

• STOP! oil companies should stop extracting oil the lake, in this way to aroid and redunce water waste.




• Keep lake water cleaned to prevent diseases.




• To keep away the oil transformen ant oil and gasoline tending to get air the people liven in these area.




• There are can that contamination, until the point the city becomes pollution by these subtances.




• Air pollution brigs about now finish get sick for that reason.




• That´s way caner is beconming dangerous because of the electricity comparis that indicriminate solids, that are neet so good for heth.