Industrialized countries, emission

For many industrialized countries, efforts to improve the outdoor air quality have been under way for the majority of this century. In many locations around the world, significant improvements have taken place. Air quality in many major cities such as London, New York, and Chicago has improved from the conditions present in the first half of the twentieth century. Mechanisms and control programs are in place in the developed countries to continue the improvement of ambient air quality. Considerable effort and energy have been expended to characterize, evaluate, and control air pollution emissions to the atmosphere. 

The most recent compilation of emission standards for processes and substances emitted from processes in the industrialized countries of the world was the companion Volume II of the source of Table 22-10 (see Jarrault in Suggested Reading). 

During the forties and fifties, episodes of severe air pollution occurred In a number of urban and Industrial areas. They were responsible for 111 health and In some cases caused death among the populations concerned. As the scientific and public Information base on the adverse effects of urban air pollution Increased, so did public demand for control measures. As a result, many Industrial countries Introduced comprehensive air pollution control laws at various times from the mid-fifties onwards. Industrial response to these laws led to the application of control techniques which effectively reduced the emissions of some pollutants. However there are other sources and factors which can obscure the benefits of these control actions. For example, consider urban growth. In 1980 there were 35 cities with populations over 4 million. By the year 2000 this number will nearly double to 66, and by the 2025, this number will more than double to an estimated 135 (9). In developing countries, from 1980 to the year 2000, It Is estimated that twice as many people will live In cities of a total population of 1 million or more In Latin America (101 million to 232 million) and East Asia (132 million to 262 million). Three times as many people will live In cities of 1 million or more In South Asia (106 million to 328 million) and four times as many In Africa (36 million to 155 million) (10). Accompanying this rapid growth are Increases In Industrial activity... 

Figure 1 shows that many Industrialized countries experience declining trends In SOj emissions. During 1974-1984, for example, there were decreases of 58% In Sweden, 39% In France, 19% In the... 

Persistent organic pollutants (POP) and heavy metals were in the focus of interest until the begiiming of the 1990s and intensive monitoring programs and ecotoxico-logical studies had been conducted. As a result, due to adoption of appropriate measures and elimination of the dominant pollution sources a drastic reduction of emission of these nonpolar hazardous compounds have been achieved and today these compounds are less relevant for the industrialized countries. 

On a global scale, there is little doubt that human activities associated with energy production, primarily of fossil fuels, have over the last few decades, altered the composition of atmospheric gases. World carbon emissions are expected to exceed 1990 levels by 39 percent in 2010. By 2020, this figure will be closer to 70 percent Two thirds of the total increase in carbon emissions will occur in non-industrialized countries. 

Previous production of pentachlorophenol, as well as the bleaching process in pulp and paper mills, has been shown to be a major source. Changes in industrial processes have resulted in a reduction of PCDD/PCDFs concentration in products. Whereas in the past the chemical industry and, to a lesser extent, the pulp and paper industry were considered to be the main sources of PCDD/PCDFs (and also the cause of many of today s contaminated sites in several industrialized countries), today s dioxin input is mainly due to thermal processes. There is still a considerable focus on waste incineration but, owing to requirements for dioxin reduction in stack gases set by several national authorities, the importance of this category has declined during the last years. Examples can be seen especially in the European emission inventories... 

Importantly, past and present human exposure to PCDD/PCDFs and PCBs results primarily from their transfer along the pathway atmospheric emissions air deposition -> terrestrial/aquatic food chains - human diet. Information from food surveys in industrialized countries indicates a daily intake of PCDD/PCDFs on the order of 50-200 pg I-TEQ/person per day for a 60 kg adult, or 1-3 pg I-TEQ/kg bw per day. If dioxin-like PCBs are also included, the daily total TEQ intake can be higher by a factor of 2-3. Recent studies from countries that started to implement measures to reduce dioxin emissions in the late 1980s clearly show decreasing PCDD/PCDF and PCB levels in food and, consequently, a lower dietary intake of these compounds by almost a factor of 2 within the past 7 years. 

Even where sewage is supposed to be treated prior to discharge, such as in the industrialized countries of North America and western Europe, untreated effluents are still periodically emitted. These emissions are the result of breaks in sewer lines, pump feilures, and combined sewer overflows (CSOs). CSOs occur in sanitary sewer systems that, intentionally or not, merge wastewaters with stormwater runoff The stormwater flows are usually too large for the treatment plants to handle, leading to the discharge... 

Total CO2 emission due to fossil fuel burning in 2001 was estimated at 24 Gt CO2 (6.6 GtC) per year with 47% of this emission made by industrial countries, 13% by countries with a transition economy, and 25% by the developing countries of the Pacific sector of Asia. The contribution of individual sources constituted car production 263 MtCyr-1, factories and building 1,173 MtCyr-1, road transport 1,150MtCyr-1, and housing 520MtCyr-1. 

With the explosive development of the economy and urbanization in China, more and more municipal solid wastes (MSWs) are generated. In 2000, 150 million tons of MSW were generated in China, and the total MSW dumped was 6 billion tons (Zhao, 2004). The MSW is mainly disposed of by three processes in China landfill, MSW incineration (MSWI), and compost. Whereas solid waste incinerators (SWI), especially MSW incinerators, have proven to be the most significant PCDD/F generators in industrialized countries, SWI are presently not considered as the biggest source in China because only a small portion of MSW are currently being disposed of by incineration. However, numerous MSW incinerators are under construction in various cities to save limited land space. The emission of dioxins will increase rapidly from the boom of MSWI in China. 

A mean level of PCDD/PCDFs has been reported at 35.6 pg I-TEQg 1 lipids in adipose tissue of citizens of France. Samples analyzed in 1999 were found to have similar levels to those reported for other European countries and the USA. No relation to sex or age of the tissue donor was apparent, and levels can be considered as representative of prevailing concentrations of these compounds in most industrialized countries (Schecter et al., 1994). There was no obvious trend of PCDD/F levels found in adipose tissue in citizens of Japan between 1970 and 1999 (Choi et al., 2002 Takenaka et al., 2002) (Table 16.2). However, in 2000, the concentration of PCDD/Fs was reported as only one-third of the amount in 1999 (Choi et al., 2002). This magnitude of decline seems unlikely over such a short time interval, but a longer term reduction is supported by the downward trend in emission levels of PCDDs and PCDFs following... 

Sulfur species are found in ambient air in most parts of North America and in most industrial countries. Their sources include natural emissions (biogenic and volcanic), smelting of ores and other industrial refining processes, and combustion of sulfurbearing fuels. This paper will focus on the combustion sources in the United States and some of the effects of their sulfur emissions. The environmental effects of sulfur in the environment have been of interest for many years and much of the information presented here has been drawn from the various conference proceedings and assessment documents that have been published in recent years (1-11). When specific references are not listed in the text, the information represents a consensus from these various sources. 

The level of emissions of SO2 and N0X, and their effects in the United States and in other industrialized countries have been the target of considerable debate. When SO2 and N0X are emitted into the atmosphere, a large fraction of these pollutants can be oxidized to sulfate and nitrate during atmospheric transport, and then deposited as acidic compounds (4-8). Acid rain is the popular term to describe this complex phenomenon. Acidic compounds can be deposited in both wet and dry forms, and this process is more properly referred to as acid deposition or acid precipitation. The wet forms of acid deposition include rain, snow, fog, and dew. Dry deposition occurs via absorption of SO2 and N0X on surfaces and via... 

World C02 emissions are expected to increase by 1.9% annually from 2001 to 2025. Much of the increase in these emissions is expected to occur in the developing world, where emerging economies such as China and India fuel their economic development mostly with fossil energy. China s C02 emissions in 2007 exceeded those of the United States, and emissions of the developing countries are expected to surpass those of the industrialized countries about the year 2018. In terms of per capita carbon dioxide emissions, the United States is still the "leader" with a 21 tons/per capita/per year emission (Russia 11.8, EU 8.6, China 5.1, India 1.8), and these emissions continued to increase in all parts of the world except the EU, where it has been reduced by 2%. 

Some air pollutants are transported far beyond their points of release. For example, otherwise pristine areas have received acid precipitation originating from industrial smokestack emissions hundreds of miles away. Dust from the Sahara Desert in Africa has been detected in South America, and radioactive debris from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown has been deposited in countries throughout Europe. 

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