Nitrogen oxide
{{#badges: CoalSwarm}} Nitrogen is the most common part of the air we breathe: about 80% of the air is nitrogen. When air is heated, like in coal boilers, nitrogen atoms break apart and join with oxygen, forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) (rhymes with "socks"). NOx can also be formed from the atoms of nitrogen that are trapped inside coal.[1]
In atmospheric chemistry and air pollution and related fields, nitrogen oxides refers specifically to NOx (NO and NO2).[2]
In the air, NOx is a pollutant. Coal combustion release oxides of nitrogen, which react with volatile organic compounds in the presence of sunlight to produce ground-level ozone, the primary ingredient in smog. Asthma exacerbations have been linked specifically to exposure to ozone. Nitrogen oxide also contributes to fine particulate matter (PM), found in soot, which is also linked to a host of serious health effects.[3]
Exposures to ozone and PM are both correlated with the development of and mortality from lung cancer. Recent research suggests that nitrogen oxides and PM2.5, along with other pollutants, are associated with hospital admissions for potentially fatal cardiac rhythm disturbances. Cities with high nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations have death rates four times higher than those with low NO2 concentrations, suggesting a potential correlation.[3]
NOx also harms the environment, contributing to acidification of lakes and streams (acid rain).[4]
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is another compound of oxygen and nitrogen that can be a product of the reaction that occurs between nitrogen and oxygen during fossil fuel combustion. It is also a major greenhouse gas and air pollutant. Considered over a 100 year period, it has 298 times more impact per unit weight than carbon dioxide.[5]
Aging coal plants "grandfathered" in after passage of the Clean Air Act have been particularly linked to large quantities of harmful emissions.[6][7]
Resources
References
- ↑ "Knocking the NOx Out of Coal" DOE, accessed September 2010.
- ↑ United States Clean Air Act
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 Alan Lockwood, Kristen Welker-Hood, Molly Rauch, Barbara Gottlieb,"Coal's Assault on Human Health" Physicians for Social Responsibility Report, November 2009
- ↑ "The Health Risks of Burning Coal for Energy" The Environmental Defense Fund, September 5, 2006
- ↑ 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) by Working Group 1 (WG1), Chapter 2 "Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing" which contains information on global warming potential (GWP) of greenhouse gases.
- ↑ "Deadly Power Plants? Study Fuels Debate" MSNBC.com, June 9, 2004
- ↑ "America's Biggest Polluters: Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Power Plants in 2007" Environment America, November 24, 2009
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