Air Pollution
Air pollution is the
introduction of contaminant to the natural environment causing negative effects
on human, animal and ecosystem. Volcano ashes, forest fire, motor vehicles, and
industrial facilities are the main sources of air pollutions. Carbon monoxide,
sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone are the main pollutants of major
public concern – carbon monoxide from the combustion of fuel irritates lungs
and leads to respiratory problem; sulfur dioxide emitted from industrial
factories is the main element casuing acid rain; whilst methane of volatile
organic compounds resulting from argricultural activities is an very efficient
greenhouse gas leading to enhanced global warming.
Air Pollution as a Global Issue
According to World
Health Organization, an estimated of seven million people died because of air
pollution in 2012 (Khullar, 2014); whilst scientists found that toxic
pollutants have shown to have tremendous impact on argriculture leading to a
50% drop in crop yields in India comparing to 1980 due to serious air pollution
(Ghorayshi, 2014). To tackle this global issue, various nations have enforced
education encouraging the conservation of energy and introduced laws
restricting the emssions of toxic pollutants and greenhouse gas. However,
measures adopted have shown to have little impact – In Beijing, air pollution
has become a crisis impeding photosynthesis and potentially affect food supply
and leads to nuclear winter for argriculture despite of the tremendous efforts
made by the governemnt in addressing the issue (Kaiman, 2014).
Nanotechnology as an Effective Measure?
Nanoparticles are
particles at 1-100 nanometers in length and their small size enables enormous
possibilities for the future of science. The application of nanotechnology has
extended to the territory of environment conservation through reducing air
pollution, improving water purification, exploring renewal energy and
introducing green construction. The following part shall examines background of
the debute of green nanotechnology, context impact, and its adoption to tackle
air pollution.
Emerging Innovation Management Practices
There has been an controversial
relationship between environmental protection and economic growth – the story
of China can be seen as a typical example. China has surpassed the US and
became the world’s biggest economy by reaching US$17.6 trillion GDP in terms of
purchasing power parity in 2014 (Guan, 2014), however, the big power’s rapid
industrialization has come at the expenses of its environment and citizens’ health.
China’s energy consumption has jumped 130% from 2000 to 2010, turning it to be
the world’s largest source of carbon emissions with the concentration of
hazardous particles forty times higher than the safe-level determined by the
World Health Organinzation (Xu, 2014).
A
World Bank study in 2007 estimated that pollution has caused 5.8% of China’s
GDP for health care, premature death and material damages; and air pollution
has led to the death of 700,000 people per year; a MIT study even revealed that
air pollution alone has cost the country US$112 billion for the labor loss and
health care expenses (Pei, 2013). Environmental
degradation, shorter life expectancy and public pressure over air pollution
have led to an urgent needs for China to look for solution for sustainable
economic and environmental growth.
Effects of Technological Uses
Nanotechnology
is considered to be an effective measure in tackling air pollution from the
detection, prevention and reduction of problem.
Nanotechnology
enables the development of a more sensitive and cost-effective sensor detecting
pollutants at the molecular level to enhance the sustainability of environment
and protect human health.
Pollution
prevention means the reduction of pollutants at the source, and it can be
achieved by the adoption of nanotechnology using less energy during
manufacturing and avoiding the release of contaminants.
To
reduce air pollution by employing nanotechnology, catalyst and membranes are
the two ways doing it – toxic gases can be transferred to be harmless gases.
Context Impact and the Opportunity Presented by Globalization)
Despite
of the benefits offered by nanotechnology, potential risk cannot be ignored, as
some material in nanoscale can be toxic and harmful to human health – e.g.
airborne nanoparticles inhaled will lead to lung disease (Ian et al., 2012) and
worsen condition such as asthma and cancer. Thus, international stakeholders
have been working together to explore the environmental applications and impact
of nanotechnology. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are the
international organizations engaging in issues related to this disruptive
technology.
The
Environmental Protection Agency of the United States has been demonstrating to
be an active role in evaluating the potential impacts of nanoscale materials on
human health as well as the environment. The Agency is also actively pursuing a
comprehensive regulatory approach under Toxic Substances Control Act including
“Premanufacture notifications for new nanomaterials” and “an information
gathering rule on new and existing nanomaterials” (Environmental Protection
Agency 2015).
ISO has
set up a technical committee to set international standards for terminology and
metrology including “the specification for reference materials, test
methodologies, modeling and simulation, and science-based health, safety and
environmental practices” (Environmental Protection Agency 2015).
OECD
endeavors to understand the properties and potential risks of nanomaterials by
“testing and assessment, risk assessment and regulatory programmes, exposure
assessment and mitigation, cooperation on the environmentally sustainable use
of nanotechnology” (Environmental Protection Agency 2015).
How do they do it?
Detection:
An
effective monitoring systems to rapidly detect and identify the source of
pollution can help regulatory authorities to efficiently carry out measures to prevent
further deterioration. Nanotechnology enables the detection of pollutants in a
more effective and efficient way – Nanocontact sensor was introduced to detect
metal ions without the need of pre-concentration, e.g. Polymer nanospheres were
developed to measure organic contaminants in concentration as low as parts per
billion concentration (Ian et al., 2012).
Prevention:
As
air pollution has already been developed to be a global crisis and we do not
have an effective way to significantly reduce the impact yet, the prevention of
toxic gases emission serves as an important role to prevent further
deterioration of atmospheric pollution.
Nanotechnology
applied in our everyday life has reduced carbon emission – A National
Nanotechnology Initiative study found that the United States has saved up an
estimate of US$100 billion annually by the employment of nanotechnology-based
home lighting, reduced 10% of total energy consumption and cut down 200-million
tons of carbon emissions per year (Mehndiratta et al., 2012).
Mining
causes air pollution by emitting particulate matter such as methane leading to
global warming and sulfur dioxide causing acid rain. Mining activity can be
reduced if we consume less fossil fuel. Nanostructural grapheme paper was
introduced in 2011 and it is believed that it will be replacing metal material
and bringing revolution to the electrical and automotive industries in the
future because of it characteristics – “Compared to steel, the prepared GP is
six times lighter, five to six times lower density, two times harder with 10
times higher tensile strength and 13 times higher bending rigidity” (Aloisio,
2011). The use of lighter weight nano-composite materials can significantly
reduce weight of motor vehicles and airplanes, and it will result in less
energy consumption – According to The Mitre Corp., the use of nanomaterials in
airframes would reduce the weight of aircraft by 14.05% and lead to 9.8%
reduction in fuel consumption (Nanowerk, 2010).
Nanotechnology
has also contributed to the reduction in the use of toxic substances during
production process. The development and application of microemulsions
containing nano-sized compounds extracting specific molecules at the nanoscale
level can be used as a substitute to volatile organic compounds which is
commonly used in the cleaning industry but constantly blamed for its release of
toxic pollutants (Ian el at., 2012).
Reduction:
Catalysts
are used to transform vapors generating from vehicles and industrial activities
into harmless gasses. Catalysts made from nanoparticles perform better than
those made of larger particles as the precedence has a larger surface area
allowing more chemicals to interact for a more effective result. Catalysts in
use include a nanofibre catalyst made of manganese oxide removing volatile
organic compounds emitting from industrial facilities (Zhao, 2009), gold
nanoparticles embedded in a porous manganese oxide breaking down volatile
organic compounds in the air under room temperature, and nanocatalyst
containing cobalt and platinum removing nitrogen oxide from smokestacks
(Boysen, n.d. a).
Nanostructure
membranes such as carbon nanotubes are being explored and developed to separate
carbon dioxide from exhaust streams of industrial plants, and trap greenhouse
gas emissions caused by coal mining and power generation (Boysen, n.d. b). As
carbon nanotubes can effectively trap gases at hundred times faster than the
traditional membranes, it can be used in large-scale industrial plants and
power stations (Zhao, 2009).
Adoption
Scientists
have been working hard on the research and development of nanotechnology, and
its been adopted in some of the areas such as gas leak detectors and
ventilation control in factories, and nano-catalysts used on cars to transform
harmful vapors into harmless gases.
Other
than the above-mentioned adoption, nanotechnology has been applied in other
occasions – Sheffield University has invented nanotech denim jeans to break
down air borne pollutants with the power of a photocatalyst; and nanotech
poster was also developed to absorb toxic compounds from cars and a 10m by 20m
poster coated with microscopic and nanoparticles of titanium dioxide at an
additional GBP100 to the cost of each poster (Westcott, 2014). The technology
is still under development and it is believed that it will be applied on a
wider range of products in the near future to help tackling with pollution
issue.
Conclusion
Despite
the various benefits brought to us by the adoption of nanotechnology, the
potential risk and negative effects of it should not be neglected – chemicals
in nano-size can be harmful to human health causing diseases such as asthma and
cancer; nanoparticle pollution is also an emerging hot topic for investigation
nowadays; also, the production of nanomaterials such as nanocatalyst and
nanomembranes requires large amount of energy input nullifying its effects in
reducing CO2 gas emission and preventing global warming if fossil fuels are
used as energy input (Nanowerk, 2010). To save the planet with nanotechnology,
we still have a prolonged way of studies and scientific researches ahead. As a
member of this beautiful world, each of us can still contribute by reduce,
reuse and recycle.
Reference:
Aloisio,
Lisa (2011), ‘A breakthrough on paper that’s stronger than steel’, University
of Technology Sydney, 21st April 2011
Boysen,
Earl (n.d. a), ‘Air Pollution and Nanotechnology – How can nanotechnology
reduce air pollution’, UnderstandingNano.com, retrieved from
Boysen,
Earl (n.d. b), ‘Nanotechnology Applications: A Variety of Uses’,
UnderstandingNano.com, retrieved from
Environmental
Protection Agency (2015), ‘ Control of Nanoscale Materials under the Toxic
Substances Control Act’, Environmental Protection Agency, retrieved from
Ghorayshi,
Azeen (2014), “India air pollution ‘cutting crop yields by almost half’”, The
Guardian, 03rd November 2014
Guan,
Ng Han (2014), ‘China surpasses US as world’s largest economy based on key
measure’, Reuters, 10th October 2014
Ian Sofian Yunus , Harwin , Adi Kurniawan , Dendy Adityawarman
& Antonius Indarto (2012), ‘Nanotechnologies in water and air pollution
treatment’, Environmental Technology Reviews, 1:1, 136-148, DOI:
10.1080/21622515.2012.733966
Kaiman,
Jonathan (2014), ‘China’s toxic air pollution resembles nuclear winter, says
scientists’, The Guardian, 25th February 2014
Khullar,
Arshiya (2014), ‘WHO: Air pollution caused one in eight deaths’, CNN, 25th
March 2014
Mehndiratta
Poorva, Jian Arushi, Srivastava Sudha, Gupta Nidhi (2013), ‘Environmental
Pollution and Nanotechnology’, Environment and Pollution; Vol. 2, No. 2; 2013
Nanowerk
(2010), ‘Nanotechnologies to mitigate global warming’, Nanowerk, 04th
May 2010,
Pei,
Minxin (2013), ‘The hazardous conditions in Beijing and northern China is
merely of one many wake-up calls for the Chinese government. Will it be enough
to spark change?’ Fortune, 28th January 2013
Westcott,
Richard (2014), ‘Nanotech poster absorbs pollution’, BBC, 15th May
2014,
Xu,
Beina (2014), ‘China’s Environmental Crisis’, CFR Backgrounders, 25th
April 2014
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