Particulate pollution

Particulate pollution is pollution of an environment that consists of particles suspended in some medium. There are three primary forms: atmospheric particulate matter, marine debris, and space debris.

Particle pollution, also called particulate matter or PM, is a mixture of solids and liquid droplets floating in the air. Some particles are released directly from a specific source, while others form in complicated chemical reactions in the atmosphere.

Sources of particulate pollution within a medium can be derived from either natural sources or are a result of anthropogenic processes.

Atmospheric particulate matter

Atmospheric particulate matter describes particulates suspended in a gas, and particularly in the atmosphere of the Earth.^[1]

Particulates in the atmosphere can be divided into two types, depending on the way they are emitted into the atmosphere. Primary particles, such as mineral dust, are defined as particulates emitted directly into the atmosphere.^[2] Secondary particles, such as ammonium nitrate, are particulates that are formed in the air through gas-to-particle conversion.^[2]

A wide variety of studies over the last few decades have concluded that atmospheric particulate matter can affect human health, leading to asthma, lung cancer and cardiovascular issues.^[1] Short-term exposure to atmospheric particulates, typically hours or days, can increase the likelihood for lung diseases such as bronchitis and asthma attacks.^[3] Prolonged exposure to atmospheric particulates have been associated with degrading lung function, chronic bronchitis, and premature death.^[3]^[4]

Marine debris and aerosols

Marine debris and aerosols refer to particulates suspended in a liquid, and particularly in water occurring on the surface of the Earth. Particulates in water are a kind of water pollution measured as total suspended solids, a water quality measurement listed as a conventional pollutant in the U.S. Clean Water Act, a water quality law.^[5]

Notably, some of the same kinds of particles can be suspended both in air and water, and pollutants specifically may be carried in the air and deposited in water, or fall to the ground as acid rain.^[6]

The majority of marine aerosols are created through the bubble bursting of breaking waves and capillary action on the ocean surface due to the stress exerted from surface winds.^[7] Amongst common marine aerosols, pure sea salt aerosols are the major component of marine aerosols with an annual global emission between 2,000-10,000 teragrams ( $2*10^{12}$ grams - $10*10^{12}$ grams) annually.^[7]

Through interactions with water, many marine aerosols help to scatter light, and aid in cloud condensation and ice nuclei (IN); thus, affecting the atmospheric radiation budget.^[7] Marine aerosols, when interacted with anthropogenic pollution, can affect biogeochemical cycles in marine and land ecosystems primarily through the depletion of acids such as ${\ce {HNO_3}}$ (nitric acid) and halogens.^[7]

Space debris

Space debris describes particulates in the vacuum of outer space, and specifically refers to particles originating with human activity that remain in geocentric orbit around the Earth. In conjunction, the International Association of Astronauts define space debris as "any man-made Earth orbiting object which is non-functional with no reasonable expectation of assuming or resuming its intended function or any other function for which it is or can be expected to be authorized, including fragments and parts thereof".^[8]

Classified by size and operational purpose, space debris are divided into four main subsets: inactive payloads, operational debris, fragmentation debris and microparticulate matter.^[8] Inactive payloads refer to any launched space objects that have lost the capability to reconnect to its corresponding space operator; thus, preventing a return to Earth.^[9] Contrastingly, operational debris describes the matter associated with the propulsion of a larger entity into space, which may include upper rocket stages and ejected nose cones.^[9] Fragmentation debris refers to any object in space that has become dissociated from a larger entity by means of explosion, collision or deterioration.^[10] Microparticulate matter describes space matter that typically cannot be seen singly with the naked eye, including particles, gases, and spaceglow.^[9]

In response to research that concluded that concluded that impacts from Earth orbital debris could lead to greater hazards to spacecraft than the natural meteoroid environment, NASA began the orbital debris program in 1979, which was initiated in the Space Sciences branch at the Johnson Space Center (JSC).^[11] Beginning with an initial budget of $70,000, the NASA orbital debris program began with the initial goals of characterizing hazards induced by space debris and creating mitigation standards that would minimize the growth of the orbital debris environment.^[12] By 1990, the NASA orbital debris program created a debris monitoring program, which included mechanisms to sample the low Earth orbit (LEO) environment for debris as small as 6mm using the Haystack X-band ground radar.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b Perrino, Cinzia (2010). "Atmospheric particulate matter". Biophysics and Bioengineering Letters. 3 (1): 35–43. ISSN 2037-0199.
^ ^a ^b Giere, R.; Querol, X. (2010-08-01). "Solid Particulate Matter in the Atmosphere". Elements. 6 (4): 215–222. doi:10.2113/gselements.6.4.215. ISSN 1811-5209.
^ ^a ^b EPA,OAR, US. "Health and Environmental Effects of Particulate Matter (PM) | US EPA". US EPA. Retrieved 2018-11-20.
^ Dockery, Douglas W.; Pope, C. Arden; Xu, Xiping; Spengler, John D.; Ware, James H.; Fay, Martha E.; Ferris, Benjamin G.; Speizer, Frank E. (1993-12-09). "An Association between Air Pollution and Mortality in Six U.S. Cities". New England Journal of Medicine. 329 (24): 1753–1759. doi:10.1056/nejm199312093292401. ISSN 0028-4793.
^ U.S. Clean Water Act, sec. 304(a)(4), 33 U.S.C. § 1314(a)(4).
^ EPA,OAR, US. "Health and Environmental Effects of Particulate Matter (PM) | US EPA". US EPA. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Fuzzi, S.; Baltensperger, U.; Carslaw, K.; Decesari, S.; Denier van der Gon, H.; Facchini, M. C.; Fowler, D.; Koren, I.; Langford, B. (2015-07-24). "Particulate matter, air quality and climate: lessons learned and future needs". Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 15 (14): 8217–8299. ISSN 1680-7316.
^ ^a ^b Chaddha, Shane (2010). "Space Debris Mitigation". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1586539. ISSN 1556-5068.
^ ^a ^b ^c Baker, H.A. (1989). Space Debris: Legal and Policy Implications. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 4. ISBN 0-7923-0166-8.
^ Committee on Space Debris, National Research Council (1995). Orbital Debris: A Technical Assessment. National Academies Press. p. 25. ISBN 0309051258.
^ ^a ^b Limiting Future Collision Risk to Spacecraft: An Assessment of NASA's Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Programs. Washington: National Academies Press. 2011. p. 7. ISBN 0309219779.
^ D.S.F. Portree, J.P. Loftus (1999). Orbital Debris: A Chronology. Washington: NASA. p. 29.

Article Evaluation - Particulate Pollution

Content

Within the article, "Particulate pollution", the content pertaining to the topic is all related to the topic in spite of having a limited amount of information to support it. To begin describing the principles behind particulate pollution, the original corrections specified three different forms of particulate pollution and gave a summary of each type in later sections (atmospheric particulate matter, marine debris, and space debris). At initial glance, I first noticed that for most subsections, all of the information centered around a single source, which would ordinarily be insufficient for the purpose of preventing bias or general knowledge of the topic. However, for these limited sources, most links to ancillary webpages are either broken, moved, or redirects the reader to another related Wikipedia article. To suffice for the absence of sources, more relevant sources could be added so that the reader can understand where each piece of information is derived from, as well as to show the purpose of adding a particular detail to the article. By adding more sources, this could lead to the discovery of more information, which will be needed in order to provide greater detail of the primary forms of particulate pollution. All in all, the layout and direction of the article is presented well, and greatly utilizes links to relevant Wikipedia articles.

Tone

This article takes a neutral stand on the matter of "particulate pollution". In doing so, previous authors have solely focused on the denotative aspects of particulate pollution and each subcategory.

Sources

Upon checking the legitimacy and operations of the sources, the two listed sources (U.S. Clean Water Act and an article published by the Environmental Protection Agency) contain hyperlinks that are unavailable. In spite of these sources being inoperable, the corporations that these sources come from are both neutral sources, and pertain to what can be defined as marine debris in this instance. As far as the other subcategories, no sources are listed, which challenges the legitimacy of the information provided.

Talk Page

For this particular article, there has been no contributors to any discussion pertaining to the topic; the only mention on the article's talk page is the assignment of a Spring 2018 editor from California State University. This article is currently rated as a high-importance, stub-class article in the WikiProject Environment section.

Bibliography

Perrino, Cinzia (2010). "Atmospheric Particulate Matter". Biophysics and Bioengineering Letters. 3 (1). ISSN 2037-0199. https://laboratoriocritico.uniroma1.it/index.php/CISB-BBL/article/view/8876/8846
Harrison, R.; Yin, J. (2000). "Particulate matter in the atmosphere: which particle properties are important for its effects on health?". Science of the Total Environment. 249 (1-3): 85-101. doi:10.1016/S0048-9697(99)00513-6. ISSN 0048-9697. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-9697(99)00513-6
Fuzzi, S. et al. (2015). "Particulate matter, air quality and climate: lessons learned and future needs". Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 15 (14): 8277-8299. ISSN 1680-7316. https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/15/8217/2015/acp-15-8217-2015.pdf
Giere, Reto and Querol, Xavier (2010). "Solid Particulate Matter in the Atmosphere". Elements. 6 (4): 215-222. doi:10.2113/gselements.6.4.215. ISSN 1811-5209. https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/msa/elements/article-standard/6/4/215/137857/solid-particulate-matter-in-the-atmosphere
Buseck, Peter R.; Pósfai, Mihály (1999). "Airborne minerals and related aerosol particles: Effects on climate and the environment". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 96 (7): 3372-3379. doi:10.1073/pnas.96.7.3372. ISSN 0027-8424. http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/96/7/3372.full.pdf

[:5-1] Perrino, Cinzia (2010). "Atmospheric particulate matter". Biophysics and Bioengineering Letters. 3 (1): 35–43. ISSN 2037-0199.

[:0-2] Giere, R.; Querol, X. (2010-08-01). "Solid Particulate Matter in the Atmosphere". Elements. 6 (4): 215–222. doi:10.2113/gselements.6.4.215. ISSN 1811-5209.

[:6-3] EPA,OAR, US. "Health and Environmental Effects of Particulate Matter (PM) | US EPA". US EPA. Retrieved 2018-11-20.

[4] Dockery, Douglas W.; Pope, C. Arden; Xu, Xiping; Spengler, John D.; Ware, James H.; Fay, Martha E.; Ferris, Benjamin G.; Speizer, Frank E. (1993-12-09). "An Association between Air Pollution and Mortality in Six U.S. Cities". New England Journal of Medicine. 329 (24): 1753–1759. doi:10.1056/nejm199312093292401. ISSN 0028-4793.

[5] U.S. Clean Water Act, sec. 304(a)(4), 33 U.S.C. § 1314(a)(4).

[6] EPA,OAR, US. "Health and Environmental Effects of Particulate Matter (PM) | US EPA". US EPA. Retrieved 2018-09-26.

[:1-7] Fuzzi, S.; Baltensperger, U.; Carslaw, K.; Decesari, S.; Denier van der Gon, H.; Facchini, M. C.; Fowler, D.; Koren, I.; Langford, B. (2015-07-24). "Particulate matter, air quality and climate: lessons learned and future needs". Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 15 (14): 8217–8299. ISSN 1680-7316.

[:3-8] Chaddha, Shane (2010). "Space Debris Mitigation". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1586539. ISSN 1556-5068.

[:2-9] Baker, H.A. (1989). Space Debris: Legal and Policy Implications. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 4. ISBN 0-7923-0166-8.

[10] Committee on Space Debris, National Research Council (1995). Orbital Debris: A Technical Assessment. National Academies Press. p. 25. ISBN 0309051258.

[:4-11] Limiting Future Collision Risk to Spacecraft: An Assessment of NASA's Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Programs. Washington: National Academies Press. 2011. p. 7. ISBN 0309219779.

[12] D.S.F. Portree, J.P. Loftus (1999). Orbital Debris: A Chronology. Washington: NASA. p. 29.

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