Class Air Pollution

The atmosphere is a common good of humanity, it has no physical, geographical, or political boundaries. Understanding and caring for Earth's atmosphere is an obligation for all countries although sometimes history demonstrates otherwise. Episodes of air pollution with serious consequences for human health and the environment motivated the need to regulate the interaction between human activities and the atmosphere, translated into several protocols, conventions, and international agreements. This need for regulation also is at the origin of the implementation of monitoring networks of pollutants emissions from relevant anthropogenic activities and definition of reference documents on the best available technologies to develop such industrial activities. Activities related to the transformation and use of fossil energy stand out because they have a huge impact on pollutants emissions. Indoor air quality is critical to health and well-being and relies heavily on atmospheric air quality.

Not applicable

Air pollution. Historical cases. International agreements. Properties of pollutants: SOX, NOX, O3, PM, heavy metals, VOC, POP. Types of emission sources. Natural cycles (C, S, N, P) in the biosphere Transport and dispersion of pollutants. Pollutants transformation by free radicals, kinetic action, and photochemistry. Air Quality: legislation and regulators. Monitoring: sampling and surveillance networks. LCP emissions. Calculation of gaseous emissions. Emission factors. Emission limits. Databases. Emissions inventories. Reference Documents on Best Available Techniques. NOX emission treatment systems. Technologies for PM, aerosol, and POP emissions mitigation. Treatment of liquid and gaseous pollutants mixtures. Indoor Air Quality: biological and chemical contamination. Effects on human health. Air Handling Units.

Themes are presented and discussed in classes of theoretical-interactive type, supported by various didactic materials, including videos, websites, technical reports, case studies. TP classes focus on solving real problems by applying theoretical knowledge through problem-based learning (PBL) methods, using: 1) legislation, guidelines, normative and best technologies reference documents; 2) websites; 3) databases. The results analysis is the object of critical reflection, presentation, and discussion in class. Evaluation is continuous and distributed along the semester. Continuous evaluation includes: T1, T2 Written assessment tests WG - individual evaluation of the students, formative evaluation. The final score obtained by continuous evaluation is calculated by the formula: FS = 0.50xT1 + 0.50xT2

Tiwary, A.; Williams, I. 2019. Air Pollution: Measurement, Modelling and Mitigation. 4th Ed. CRC Press.  Seinfeld, J H; Pandis, S N. 2016. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: from Air Pollution to Climate Change. 3rd Ed. John Wiley & Sons. World Health Organization. 2021. WHO global air quality guidelines: particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide  [WHO guidelines]. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/345329  Portaria nº 138-G/2021 Estabelece os requisitos para a avaliação da qualidade do ar interior nos edifícios de comércio e serviços (…). Diário da República n.º 126/2021, 2º Suplemento, Série I 2021-07-01