Air pollution -- who's responsible?

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.

Photo by Petr Kratochvil

 

Air pollution has been widely recognized as one of the world's most serious problems, causing numerous effects on individuals' health and the environment. The EPA has noted that air pollution has been getting worse. According to the Washington Post, air pollution is responsible for killing more people than high cholesterol. Some of the most dangerous effects of air pollution include its contribution to climate change, or global warming, and its affect on humans' lungs. Breathing in air pollution can lead to diseases like asthma and even lung cancer. There are numerous government and international agencies and special interest groups that strive to address the problem of air pollution. Just a few of these include the Environmental Protection Agency, State Department of Natural Resources, and Greenpeace.

Air pollution has both human and natural causes, but many people believe that humans' contribution to air pollution results in the most severe problems. One of the leading causes of air pollution is factory work. To produce goods, refine oil, and engage in mechanical fabrication, factories emit harmful gasses into the atmosphere, which cause air pollution. As more and more companies are becoming conscious of the effects of the pollution they create, they are trying many different ways to reduce or control air pollution. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources lists several air pollution control methods that manufacturers can utilize. These include bag houses or fabric filters, scrubbers or wet collectors, adsorbers, cyclones, vapor condensers, electrostatic preciptitators, flares, afterburners, and catalytic oxidizers. Another method of controlling air pollution is by using regenerative thermal oxidizers. Companies can use regenerative thermal oxidizers from OxidizerService.com to control a wide variety of emissions, including volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and odors. This method of emissions or air pollution control has become popular for two reasons. First, it can be used across multiple industries. Second, it is relatively inexpensive.

Air pollution is a serious problem and new environmental standards are requiring companies across industries to do their part to control their emissions. Luckily, new technology has resulted in a number of solutions that companies can utilize to curb how much they pollute the air.

If you work in a factory that is contributing to the air pollution problem, consider sharing this post with someone in the company who might be able to utilize one of the above recommendations.

After all, caring for the environment isn't someone else's responsibility. It's our responsibility.