Peter Brimblecombe, Brian Reid, Tim Jickels

Timetable

Reading and other materials

Much of the formal reading material is on a separate WWW page (which hint at relativel importance) this should be your prime guide to reference and extra reading. Where I give lectures using powerpoint I will try to make these available through this webpage, although do remember these represent the materials I will talk to and are not the lecture. They are often in colour and illustrative with animations, so are best viewed as powerpoint files rather than printed out.

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Peter Brimblecombe

Week 1

INTRODUCTORY WEEK TO AIR POLLUTION
• Mon 11-12 Sources of air pollution.Slides in powerpoint: Fuel and combustion processes and the nature of hydrocarbons as fuels. Metals as fuels. The Zeldovich cycle and prompt nitrogen. Sulphur and chlorine as impurities. the incorporation of chlorine, nitrogen and sulfur into organic compounds into polycyclicaromatichydrocarbons (PAH) that become asociated with air-borne particulate materials. --- tobe continued Tuesday -----Trace substances in fuel: naturally occuring vanadium, nickel. Additives: lead and methylpentadienyltricarbonylmanganese. A range of high temperature processes should also be considered: e.g. boron as a rather neglected pollutant especially volatalized from coal. A reference for this lecture would be P. Brimblecombe Air Composition and Chemistry (Chaps. 6.1-6.2), but it is a common topic in many texts.

  For an overview of UK emissions by sector see pie diagrams prepared for the course:

  1. carbon monoxide
  2. nitrogen oxides
  3. sulfur dioxide
  4. volatile organic compounds

• Tues 17-18 The role of chlorine in the production of dioxin and and the notion of "secondary risk" in replacing one pollutant with another with more subtle impacts. Nickel smelting and brickmaking as sources of sulfur dioxide, hydrogen fluoride and mercaptans (see reading in Air Composition and Chemistry. Fluorosis in livestock is an important impact of fluoride deposition. Emissions of metals arise from traces in fuel and the production of dioxin. History of primary air pollutants: slides in powerpoint: Thinking about the earliest air pollution in the ancient world and the impact of health effects and religious interpretations and early administration. The relationship between water and air in Roman nusiance law. The the driving force for the introduction of coal to 13th C London. How fuel change drove the public reaction and the importance of miasmatic theory of disease. Available approaches to lowering the pollution: remove sources beyond walls (zoning), change fuel, fines... continuing the history of primary sources. Industrial versus domestic coal use. The work of Archbishop Laud, Sir Kenelme Digby, Margaret Cavendish and John Evelyn.
• Wed 12-13 Then on to photochemical smog Slides in powerpoint: How was smog discovered and unravelled in Los Angeles by Tucker, Haagen-Smit and Leighton? What was so important about the 20th C, most especially the change to liquid fuels and how volatile fuels form peroxy radicals and initiate oxidation chain reactions in the atmosphere. The key reactions in the NOx psuedo-equilibrium and photo-stationary state, the role of organics and the OH radical (see reading in Air Composition and Chemistry). The production of aldehydes and PAN.
  
• Fri 14.00 Possibly free

Week 2

• Mon 11-12 Early legislation and control. Slides in powerpoint: The evolution of air pollution control - early philosophies: fuel bans, zoning, chimney heights, "burn your own smoke" and the role of careful stoking. Air pollution in the 19th C and the influence of the Public Health Act 1875 and other sanitary legislation.The growing professionalisation of the sanitary inspectorate. Develpoment of the environmental health officer and the increasing role of women in Victorian England, but their move to "health visiting". The notion of icons in the battle for sanitary reform. Iconography of environmental pollution. Development of technology for bunring fuels effectively. Low NOx burners and air pollutants. The use of scrubbers to remove sulfur dioxide from exhaust streams, the effect on plume rise and the Wellman-Lord process. Alternate fuels for automibiles, fuel volatility, lean burn and the catalytic converter.
• Tues 17-18 - Battersea powerstation to the Clean Air Act Slides in powerpoint:: . Battersea power station and controlling the perception of air pollution. See BOWLER, C. & BRIMBLECOMBE, P., Battersea Power Station and environmental issues 1929-1989, Atmospheric Environment, 25B, (1991) pp. 143-51.The Great Smog and it's commemoration and pictures. There is a nice website on legislation that starts with the history and takes it through to the present day. The pressures for the Clean Air Act (1956) and the reluctance because of problems such as availability of smokeless fuel and issues of individual freedom. How innovative was the legislation? The Clean Air Act (1956) and an analysis of its effects? Special concerns its focus on smoke and SO2 and the slow implementation outside areas required to have smokeless zones.
• Wed 12-13 Regulating Air Quality Slides in powerpoint: Initial discussion about dispersive sources of air pollution: agriculture, mining, demolition and vehicles (especially Sb from brake pads)The characteristic decline of primary air pollutants.The neglect of urban air in Britain of the 1980's and the reinterest following the paper Our Common Inheritance which required the design of the UK monitotring network. The creation of DoE, its professionalization and the development of review groups (most especially QUARG) were important for UK to contribute to EU. The principles and philosophy of European Union Directive 96/62/EC and its daughter directives. Gloom over urban air pollution. The importance of chemical reactions for air pollution control policy - the example of Mexico city. The role of POCP (photochemical ozone creation potential) and problems of benzene in fuels and reducing NOx emissions alone, as illustrated in the classic diagram of ozone contours as a function of NOx and hydrocarbons. (read Chapter 6 of Air Composition and Chemistry if you are having problems). The omissions from 96/62EC- no fluorine or 1,3 butadiene.
• Fri 14.00 Norwich stinks fieldwork

Week 3

• Mon 11-12 Journalistic essay with Tim Jickells
• . Tues 17-18 Complexities of NOx in winter Britain. The chemical and political problems with winter NO2. Air quality management as a strategy for air pollution control: AQM vs emission control - emission control is still relevant such as controlling air pollutants in Seychelles where resources are limited and perhaps pollution is low and may not be secondary. Unravelling the complexity of AQM. What are the advantages of emission control? The basis of US policy and note the role of the UK in the early stages of formulating its approach to AQM. The need for sophisticated approaches when dealing with secondary pollutants. Fuel volatility and the catalytic converter. Fuel volatility. Methanol, LPG and biofuels. The diesel and greenhouse gases. Secondary organic aerosols and naonparticles. see also reformulation measures. The 21st Century Slides in powerpoint: Air quality management and recent legislative developments particularly CAFE.
• Wed 12-13
• Fri 14.00 Norwich stinks calculations and mini lecture on odour.

Tim Jickells Weeks 4-6

Week 7

• Monday 11-12 Health Part 1. Slides in powerpoint: - carcinogens and classic pollutants. Early examples of pollution affect on health. Carcinogens and classical toxins. Dose-response relationships, thresholds and the importanceof time. The problem of concentration and exposure time can be seen in the National Air Quality Strategy. Carbon monoxide and regulation of a pollutant with well understood biochemistry and its regulation reflects the importance of HbCO in blood. The classical coupling of sulfur dioxide and smoke shows the role of synergisms and although these are no longer important in SO2 regulations it remains a pollutant of relevance with very short times for health effects (10-15 min) exceedences, rather than long term smoke-SO2 standards. Sulfur dioxide and its afect on asthmatics. Ozone as a secondary pollutant and oxidative processes in lung tissue. Benzene and 1,3 butadiene, fluorides, sulfides and other less-regulated pollutants. Lead as a neurotoxin and non-classical toxin. Is its potential impact on criminality cause or a reflection of other drivers effect?
• Tues 17-18 Slides in powerpoint: Particles and their effect on health. How do particles of various sizes penetrate into the respiratory tract and alveoli. How do very fine particles cause injury? Additional chemical factors that can induce inflammation and impose health outcomes such as stroke or heart attack. Especially iron and vanadium. New work on the ability of particles to deliver oxidative stress and deplete antioxidants. Inpacts on brain functionConstitutional issues and meeting legislative standards.
• Wed 12-13 Indoor air pollution
• Fri 14-17 Blade runner.

Week 8

INDOORS, ART AND COMMUNICATION
• Mon 11-12 Effects on materials Slides in powerpoint: Effects on materials. The mechanism of sulfate/gypsum crust formation and potential differences in a modern diesel smoke laden atmosphere. Building stone and the long term change to its damage by sulphur and nitrogen deposition and changes to biological activity on building surafces. Damage to metal and changes over time and mechanisms of iron corrosion. Future damage to coper, zinc and polymers. Impact of changes on architectural design and the end of gothic era c1900. Diesel soots and the impact on the appearance of buildings. Changes in colour, blackenning and using aesthetics to set air pollution standards. Soiling patterns and the aesthetic impact.
• Tues 17-18 Art and air pollution Slides in powerpoint: Psychological issues and the perception of pollution. The representation of air pollution represented in art: classical landscapes, the impressionists, British painters of the late 19th C. Painters and photographers in London c1870-1930. Power and progress, money, icons, ambiguity. Stamps, records and book covers as communication. Battersea power station triggering public concern and the transitions of views of its smoke. Air Pollution in Cinema and the impending apocalypse. Try also a student essay on hysteria. There are some topics we touched on such as communicating air pollution Slides in powerpoint: that were treated in separate lectutres in previous years. Some further issues such as biofuels and other energy sources. Modern European issues: lack of PSD concepts & other social issues. The importance of odour, reporting pollutant concentrations and other factors relating to social visions of air pollutants. We did not cover indoor air pollution as in past years: Slides in powerpoint:, but this is added for information as it was presented to the masters students. Indoor air and its historical roots. The types of compounds we find in indoor air: MVOC, allergens, radon and gases. Indoor and outdoor sources and the nature of indoor air chemistry. Reactions of ozone on surfaces. The social and political issues: gender, poverty, freedom, Sick Building Syndrome and inter-agency issues.
• Wed 12-13 Great fog? 21 Century AP, Communication?
• Fri 14.00 Literature seminars

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  Brian Reid

  Week 9-11

  Friday week 9 16th March will be presentation of journalistic essay plans.

  HOMEPAGES:

  ENV 3A08

  Peter Brimblecombe

  School of Environmental Sciences

  
  
  

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  Image from http://www.epa.gov/epahome/Citizen.html