Transportation might be the most visible contributor to air pollution but it is not alone; have a look

Mumbai, May 17: When we think of air pollution, we likely think of vehicle emissions and their significant contribution to global climate change. But this is not only a culprit which causes air pollution. Transportation might be the most visible contributor to this, but it is not alone.

In a recent study led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), scientists found that the top contributor to urban air pollution is actually a close race between vehicle emissions and chemical products that are created from petroleum — products like perfume, cleaning agents, pesticides and paints.

The study’s most surprising finding is that these products contribute about as much to air pollution as the entire transportation sector, even though people use significantly more fuel than they do petroleum-based chemical products.

Well, one reason is that chemical products produce tiny particles capable of damaging human lungs at a rate twice as high as the transportation sector. The nature of these two pollutants and how we use them makes their impact different from one another.

Gasoline is typically stored in airtight vessels and is burned to release energy. Chemical products are designed to evaporate, so instead of storing them so rigidly, we apply them to our skin and our homes, purposely allowing them to enter the air.

The new study suggests the ratio is more like 50:50, partially because vehicle pollution standards have become so much more stringent in the past few decades.