Table of Contents

1.1 Introduction to Air Pollution..................................................................................2

1.2 Effect of Air Pollution............................................................................................ 3
1.3 Challenges Faced in Managing Air Pollution..........................................................5
2.1 Suggestion and Solution Taken Regarding Air Pollution........................................6
2.1.1 Malaysia......................................................................................................... 6
2.1.2 Overseas........................................................................................................ 8
2.2 Challenges to implement the suggestion.............................................................9
3.1 Potential un-ethical problems.............................................................................10
3.2 Suggestion to overcome un-ethical problems....................................................10
4.0 Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 11
5.0 References.......................................................................................................... 12

1.1 Introduction to Air Pollution

Air is one of important natural resources for the planet because it

contains the gases that are necessary to support plants, animals and other
organisms. It contains greenhouse gases which keep the planet naturally
warmer than it would be otherwise, maintaining an average global
temperature above freezing that allows water to exist in its liquid state, a
necessary condition for most life.
Air pollution and concerned about air quality is not new. Air pollution is
defined as the presence in or introduction into the air of a substance which
has harmful or poisonous effects. The particulates, biological molecules and
other harmful substances goes into Earths atmosphere and causing
diseases, allergies, death to humans, damage to other living organisms such
as animals and trees, or the natural or built environment.
Pollutant, which is a substance in the air that can have adverse effects
on humans and the ecosystem and it can either exists as solid particles,
liquid droplets or gases. It is classified into two that is primary and
secondary. Primary pollutants are usually produced from a process for
example sulfur dioxide released from factories while secondary pollutants are
form in the air when primary pollutants react or interact for example
particulates that is created from gaseous primary pollutants and compounds
in photochemical smog.
There are numerous locations, activities or factors which are
responsible for releasing pollutants into the atmosphere and these sources
can be classified into two major categories. It may come from anthropogenic
which is man-made sources for example traditional biomass burning, smokes
from vehicles and also fumes from an aerosol sprays or it might causes from
a natural sources such as methane gas that is emitted by digestion of food
by animals such as cattle, smoke and carbon monoxide from wildfires and
also volcanic activity which produce sulfur, chlorine and ash particulates.

1.2 Effect of Air Pollution

In terms of health effects, air pollution is a significant risk factor for a
number of a pollution-related diseases and health conditions such as stroke,
lung cancer, heart disease and also respiratory infections. Difficulty in
breathing, wheezing, coughing, asthma and worsening of existing respiratory
and cardiac conditions is an example of symptoms that the person is
breathing in polluted air. Individual reactions to air pollutants depend on the
type of pollutant a person is exposed to, the degree of exposure and the
individuals health status and genetics (Vallero, 13 Aug 2014).
In the year of 2014, The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated
that for every year air pollution causes the premature death of some 7
million people worldwide (WHO, 2014). India also has more deaths from
asthma than any other nation according to the World Health Organization. In
December 2013 air pollution was estimated to caused fatality to 500,000
people in China each year (Chen, 2014). Furthermore, annual premature
European deaths caused by air pollution are estimated to be 430,000 and an
important cause of these deaths is nitrogen dioxide and other nitrogen
oxides (NOx) emitted by road vehicles (EMIS, 2016).

Figure 1: Deaths from air pollution in 2004

Apart from all the deaths recorded that have been stated above, air
pollution was also said to be the main cause of cancer. In 2011, a large
Danish epidemiological study found an increased risk of lung cancer for
patients who lived in areas with high nitrogen oxide concentrations. In
addition, Danish study also likewise noted evidence of possible associations
between air pollution and other forms of cancer, including cervical cancer
and brain cancer (Raaschou-Nielsen, 2011).
Air pollution also contribute in agricultural effects for example in India,
it was reported that air pollution by black carbon and ground level ozone had
cut crop yields in the most affected areas by almost half in 2010 when
compared to 1980 levels (Ghorayshi, 2014). Bhopal Disaster that occurred in
India in 1984 that were written as one of world historical disasters was also
caused by an air pollution crisis.
Malaysia is one of the worst affected when it comes to haze that is
caused by air pollution. The main cause of this haze is the slash and burn
practice by farmers and peat fires blown by the wind from Indonesia which
mainly affects the Peninsular Malaysia, East Malaysia and also Kalimantan. A
state of emergency was announced in 2005 at Port Klang as the Air Pollution
Index (API) went above the 500 level (Joshi, 2005).

1.3 Challenges Faced in Managing Air Pollution

The majority of the population in world is aware of the dangers of air
pollution. Nowadays, people are becoming more inclined towards using ecofriendly products and making a major shift towards sustainability. However,
there are many challenges faces in order to sustain the air quality in the
atmosphere.
In previous years, rapid industrialization contributed to most of the
pollution causing elements in the atmosphere. Most of the energy sources
depended on the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum, which
emit many harmful gases and substances in the environment. As a result
from this, people are now aware of serious environmental issues such as
global warming and depletion of the Ozone layer. Even a decade ago, people
ignored issues like ice cap melting, sea level rise, extinction of wildlife and
other similar issues as serious they do today. Recently air pollution and
issues related to pollution have made people think differently.
Air pollution issues are not only limited to outdoor air quality, indoor air
quality must be considered as well if the person is living in a highly
populated or industrious area. Smoke from increasing amount of automobiles
and factories contribute to the degradation of air quality in urban areas.
Maintaining the indoor air quality at safe levels is also a big concern in many
cities around the world since a lot of construction works were carried out as
the time goes by.

Many of the modern cities around the world have unhealthy levels or
higher than normal levels of ozone pollutants and particle pollution. These
pollutants are caused by a variety of emissions and can easily travel long
distances. Studies by experts show that both ozone and particle pollution in
the air can cause difficulty in breathing, asthma attack and other similar
respiratory diseases. Airborne lead has been associated with serious health
issues in adults. Lead has been linked with heart disease, high blood
pressure and even cancer in adults. It has also been found to cause learning
disabilities, neurological diseases, and lower IQ in children.
Today, signs of air pollution are less visible but even though it is less
visible and less widespread, neglecting current air pollution issues can easily
harm people in the future. Many of the pollution causing element in the air
can easily harm public health even if they are present in the air at negligible
levels. As the time passed, if pollutants and greenhouse gases such as
carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide accumulate in the atmosphere, serious
environmental hazards such as global warming or climatic changes may
result. Moreover, it would also put the lives of the future generations in
jeopardy.

2.1 Suggestion and Solution Taken Regarding Air Pollution

2.1.1 Malaysia
Malaysia is a newly industrializing country and it is developing
quickly, so

it has to contend with increasing air pollution generated by

the increasing of transportation and industries. Therefore, the Malaysian

Department of

Environment and other organizations in concerned with air

pollution control are

implementing pollution control measures so that the

air quality in greater urban

areas could be sustainably improved.

At the national level, the project advises the Malaysian

Department of

Environment in developing and implementing a modern air

pollution control policy for example an exhaust emission ceilings for

automobiles and industry are

defined together with the partner

authority. Moreover, improving fuel quality is

essential since this is the

only way to meet modern exhaust emission standards

for new vehicles

and reduce emissions from old vehicles.

At the municipal level in the other hand, local public transport
such as

LRT and buses and also non-motorized transport are promoted.

Environmental

communication and intensive information campaigns for

project activities raise the awareness of broad segments of the population

about the importance of the environment. The Malaysian Department of
Environment also promotes the

Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities and

private sector technology transfer between Malaysia and Europe. Regarding

the haze disease in 1997, Malaysia and Indonesia together with other
members of the ASEAN community, signed
Trans boundary Haze Pollution in 2002 however

the ASEAN Agreement on

Indonesia is the only

country that has not ratified the agreement. Few years later,

a repeat

incident has forced Malaysia and Singapore to pressure Indonesia to

ratify

it (Giam, 2006).

Figure 2: Current Air Pollutant Index of Malaysia

2.1.2 Overseas
In order to reduce air pollution, various control techniques and
strategies

were carried out throughout the world. The most basic level is

land-use planning

that is likely to involve zoning and transport

infrastructure planning. In most

developed countries, land-use planning is

an important part of social policy,

ensuring that land is used efficiently for

the benefit of the wider economy and

population, as well as to protect

the environment.

In United States of America, great progress has been made in

achieving

national air quality standards, which EPA originally established in

1971 and

updates periodically based on the latest science. One sign

of this progress is that visible air pollution is less frequent and widespread
than it was in the 1970s. EPA in recent years revised standards for five of the
six common pollutants subject to

national air quality standards. Next, EPA

made the standards more protective

because new, peer-reviewed

scientific studies showed that existing standards

were not enough to

protect public health and the environment.

Air pollution problems have plagued many of its larger cities over
recent

years, hence Chinas cabinet has outlined measures aimed at

improving the

problems. One of the main measures is a target to reduce

emissions from heavily polluting industries by 30% by the end of 2017. In

January and February of 2013,

air pollution levels in the capital of

Beijing and a number of other cities rose to

been critical levels. As a result, the government

what are believed to have

announced that six

heavily polluting industries including iron and steel, cement

and

petrochemicals would have to comply with special emission limits from the
start of March. In addition, new measures that is announced is to
enhance

control if PM2.5 pollution, which are fine particulates that

measure less than 2.5 microns in diameter.

Figure 3: Beijing air quality form 2008-2015

2.2 Challenges to implement the suggestion

As suggestions and solutions were given above, there were still
challenges faced in order to implement the suggestion. First and foremost
are the people attitudes itself and their concern about environment. To fix
the condition of current air actually should start with the changing of attitude
of the people for example the greediness in development of building in the
urban cities. This construction of building emits a lot of harmful substances
and also dust that could harm the respiratory system of other living things
around the area. Hence, the developer themself need to have awareness on
the air quality despite only think about their wealth.
In addition, the increasing of automobiles that emits fumes that can
cause air pollution also is a form of challenges that have to be faced. People
today are still not aware of good practices that can help aid the air quality for
10

example carpooling practices and also public transport. If the amount of

automobiles could be decrease on the road, less harmful fumes will be
emitted and this will result in a better air quality in the atmosphere.

3.1 Potential un-ethical problems

People who voluntarily pollute their own air through smoking

Burning wood in residential fireplaces and wood stoves or burning

agricultural fields or forests

Burning fossil fuels in factories, power plants, steel mills, smelters,
diesel- and gasoline-powered motor vehicles (cars and trucks) and
equipment generates a large part of the raw material for fine particles

3.2 Suggestion to overcome un-ethical problems

Tighten the controls for power plant emissions to reduce emissions.

Introducing cleaner fuel standards and switching to electric vehicles.

Restrict the construction of power plants and other energy-intensive

industries near residential areas.

Improve urban planning to increase green spaces.

Take air quality into consideration when conducting environmental

assessments for major projects; for example, flyovers and highways
should be far away from residential areas

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4.0 Conclusion
The presence of dangerous and unnatural substances causing
imbalance in the air atmosphere and became a health hazard to living
things. Major human activities like industries, agriculture, transportation and
also energy generation are the example of causes of pollution. Transportation
has been the main reason for air pollution in most of cities around the world.
Vehicular traffic releasing carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide
has caused a large scale air pollution in cities. Pollution of air is the major
cause human health problems such as respiratory problem, lung or also
cancer. Control of air pollution has been a formidable challenge to human
civilization. As the pollution of the world is growing, the control of pollution
will become harder. Several measures that have been stated earlier some of
them have been adopted and a lot of improvement can be done to overcome
or at least reduce the air pollution.

12

5.0 References

Chen, M. (2014). Air pollution killing up to 500,00 Chinese each year, admits
former health minister. The Daily Telegraph.

EMIS. (2016, 03 01). Europian Parliament News. Retrieved 11 28, 2016, from
Europian Parliament Web site: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/newsroom/20160222STO15305/car-emissions-taking-tests-out-of-the-lab-and-ontothe-road

Ghorayshi, A. (2014, November 3). The Guardian . Retrieved 11 28, 2016,

from The Guardian Web site:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/03/india-air-pollutioncutting-crop-yields-by-almost-half

Giam, G. (2006, 10 13). Haze problem: Bilateral pressure on Indonesia works

best. Singapore Angle.

Joshi, V. (2005, August 11). Mongabay. Retrieved 11 28, 2016, from Mongabay
Web site: https://news.mongabay.com/2005/08/indonesian-forest-fires-againcause-haze-in-malaysia/

Raaschou-Nielsen, O. (2011). Air pollution from traffic and cancer incidence: a

Danish cohort study. Environmental Health 2011.

Vallero, D. (13 Aug 2014). Fundamentals of Air Pollution, 5th Edition.

Academic Press.

WHO. (2014, March 25). 7 million premature deaths annually linked to air
pollution.

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