Smelting is an industrial process involving the extraction of metal from ore. During this process, impurities in ore—including arsenic, lead, and cadmium—may be released from smoke stacks, contaminating air, water, and soil with toxic-heavy metals. The problem of public health harm from smelter emissions received little official attention for much for the twentieth century. Though people living near smelters periodically complained that their health was impaired by both sulfur dioxide and heavy metals, for much of the century there was strong deference to industry claims that smelter operations were a nuisance and not a serious threat to health. It was only when the majority of children living near the El Paso, Texas, smelter were discovered to be lead-exposed in the early 1970s that systematic, independent investigation of exposure to heavy metals in smelting communities began. Following El Paso, an even more serious led poisoning epidemic was discovered around the Bunker Hill smelter in northern Idaho. In Tacoma, Washington, a copper smelter exposed children to arsenic—a carcinogenic threat. Thoroughly grounded in extensive archival research, Tainted Earth traces the rise of public health concerns about nonferrous smelting in the western United States, focusing on three major facilities: Tacoma, Washington; El Paso, Texas; and Bunker Hill, Idaho. Marianne Sullivan documents the response from community residents, public health scientists, the industry, and the government to pollution from smelters as well as the long road to protecting public health and the environment. Placing the environmental and public health aspects of smelting in historical context, the book connects local incidents to national stories on the regulation of airborne toxic metals. The nonferrous smelting industry has left a toxic legacy in the United States and around the world. Unless these toxic metals are cleaned up, they will persist in the environment and may sicken people—children in particular—for generations to come. The twentieth-century struggle to control smelter pollution shares many similarities with public health battles with such industries as tobacco and asbestos where industry supported science created doubt about harm, and reluctant government regulators did not take decisive action to protect the public’s health.

A major opportunity for using satellite observations of tropospheric chemical concentrations is to improve our scientific understanding of atmospheric processes by integrated analysis of satellite, aircraft, and ground-based observations with global and regional scale models. One endpoint of such efforts is to reduce modeling biases and uncertainties. The idea of coupling these observations with a regional scale air quality model was the starting point of this research. The overall objective of this research was to improve the NO2́3 emission inventories by integrating observations from different platforms and regional air quality modeling. Specific objectives were: 1) Comparison of satellite NO2́2 retrievals with simulated NO2́2 by the regional air quality model. Comparison of simulated tropospheric gas concentrations simulated by the regional air quality model, with aircraft and ground-based observations; 3) Assessment of the uncertainties in comparing satellite NO2́2 retrievals with NO2́3 emissions estimates and model simulations; 4) Identification of biases in emission inventories by data assimilation of satellite NO2́2 retrievals, and ground-based NO, NO2́2 and O2́3 observations with an iterative inverse method using the regional air quality model coupled with sensitivity calculations; 5) Improvement of our understanding of NO2́3 emissions, and the interaction between regional and global air pollution by an integrated analysis of satellite NO2́2 retrievals with the regional air quality model. Along with these objectives, a lightning NO2́3 emission inventory was prepared for two months of summer 2004 to account for a significant upper level NO2́3 source. Spatially-resolved weekly NO2́2 variations from satellite retrievals were compared with estimated NO2́3 emissions for different region types. Data assimilation of satellite NO2́2 retrievals, and ground-based NO, NO2́2 and O2́3 observations were performed to evaluate the NO2́3 emission inventory. This research contributes to a better understanding of the use of satellite NO2́2 retrievals in air quality modeling, and improvements in the NO2́3 emission inventories by correcting some of the inconsistencies that were found in the inventories. Therefore, it may provide groups that develop emissions estimates guidance on areas for improvement. In addition, this research indicates the weaknesses and the strengths of the satellite NO2́2 retrievals and offers suggestions to improve the quality of the retrievals for further use in the tropospheric air pollution research.

Trace gases are those that are present in the atmosphere at relatively low concentrations. Small changes in their concentrations can have profound implications for major atmospheric fluxes, and thereore, can be used as indicators in studies of global change, global biogeochemical cycling and global warming. This new how-to guide will detail the concepts and techniques involved in the detection and measurement of trace gases, and the impact they have on ecological studies. Introductory chapters look at the role of trace gases in global cycles, while later chapters go on to consider techniques for the measurement of gases in various environments and at a range of scales. A how-to guide for measuring atmospheric trace gases. Techniques described are of value in addressing current concerns over global climate change.

This textbook discusses engineering principles relating to air pollution and greenhouse gases (GHGs); it focuses on engineering principles and designs of related devices and equipment for air emission control for a variety of industries such as energy, chemical, and transportation industries. The book aims primarily at senior undergraduate and graduate students in mechanical, chemical and/or environmental engineering departments; it can also be used as a reference book by technical staff and design engineers who are interested in and need to have technical knowledge in air pollution and GHGs. The book is motivated by recent rapid advances in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and their control technologies. In addition to classic topics related to air pollution, this book is also featured with emerging topics related to air pollution and GHGs. It covers recent advances in engineering approaches to the reduction of GHG emissions including, but are not limited to, green energy technologies and carbon sequestration and storage. It also introduces an emerging topic in air pollution, which is referred to as Nano Air Pollution. It is a growing concern in air pollution, but largely missing in similar books, likely because of recent rapid advances in nanotechnology has outpaced the advances in nano air pollution control.

Of the major conclusions and recommendations -- Introduction -- Gaseous pollutants and natural trace gases -- Gaseous pollutants and natural trace gases -- Water pollutants -- Particles in the atmosphere.