PM - How Particulate
Matter Affects
the Way We Live & Breathe
Published by the US EPA
Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards
November 2000
Even though emissions of particulate matter have decreased
significantly since the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970, there were
still over 20 million people living in areas with PM concentrations above
the national standard in 1999.
![Smokestacks photo [courtesy of EPA - Environmental Protection Agency]](images/smoksilh.jpg)
Table of Contents
PM: What is it?
Where does it come from?
Chief Causes for
Concern
Health and Environmental Impacts of PM
Particulate matter, or PM, is the term for particles found in
the air, including dust, dirt, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.
Particles can be suspended in the air for long periods of time. Some
particles are large or dark enough to be seen as soot or smoke. Others
are so small that individually they can only be detected with an electron
microscope.
Some particles are directly emitted into the air. They come from a
variety of sources such as cars, trucks, buses, factories, construction
sites, tilled fields, unpaved roads, stone crushing, and burning of wood.
[courtesy of EPA - Environmental Protection Agency]
Other particles may be formed in the air from the chemical change of
gases. They are indirectly formed when gases from burning fuels react with
sunlight and water vapor. These can result from fuel combustion in motor
vehicles, at power plants, and in other industrial processes.
[courtesy of EPA - Environmental Protection Agency]
PM. . ..
- is associated with serious health effects.
- is associated with increased hospital admissions and emergency room
visits for people with heart and lung disease.
- is associated with work and school absences.
- is the major source of haze that reduces visibility in many parts of
the United States, including our National Parks.
- settles on soil and water and harms the environment by changing the
nutrient and chemical balance.
- causes erosion and staining of structures including culturally
important objects such as monuments and statues.
Health problems for sensitive people can get worse if they are exposed
to high levels of PM for several days in a row.
Particulate Matter causes a wide variety of health and
environmental impacts.
![lungs [courtesy of EPA - Environmental Protection Agency]](images/lungs.jpg) |
Health effects
- Many scientific studies have linked breathing PM to a series
of significant health problems, including:
- aggravated asthma
- increases in respiratory symptoms like coughing and
difficult or painful breathing
- chronic bronchitis
- decreased lung function
- premature death
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![eye [courtesy of EPA - Environmental Protection Agency]](images/eye.jpg) |
Visibility impairment
- PM is the major cause of reduced visibility (haze) in parts
of the United States, including many of our national parks.
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![fish and plant [courtesy of EPA - Environmental Protection Agency]](images/fishplnt.jpg) |
Atmospheric deposition
- Particles can be carried over long distances by wind and
then settle on ground or water. The effects of this settling
include:
- making lakes and streams acidic
- changing the nutrient balance in coastal waters and large
river basins
- depleting the nutrients in soil
- damaging sensitive forests and farm crops
- affecting the diversity of ecosystems
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![monument [courtesy of EPA - Environmental Protection Agency]](images/monument.jpg) |
Aesthetic damage
- Soot, a type of PM, stains and damages stone and other
materials, including culturally important objects such as
monuments and statues.
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Reference:
http://www.epa.gov/air/urbanair/pm/index.html |
