The world around us is a gift of God. A thrust to know and reconnoiter the environment around us is innate. Man has drastically explored and utilized the resources hidden in nature, but unfortunately in this sprint of development, the natural environment is severely affected. It is the need of the hour to focus on methodologies for environmental remediation. Many technologies have been developed to reduce the pollution causing factors. Use of nanotechnology for the sake of saving environment is an emerging field. Nano-technology is based on nano-sized (smaller than 1 micron) materials. Nanosize particles have initiated the advancement in new and low cost techniques for environmental pollution control including air pollution.
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Latest trends in nanotechnology have been adopted for its use in environmental remediation. Nano-materials are different from other macro and micro- molecules in their chemical and physical properties and are found to be more effective. Various nano-sized materials have been synthesized to reduce many upcoming health issues based on air pollution.
Air pollution comes from many different sources depending upon the mobility of the pollution emitting source. Static or stationary sources include power plants, factories, smelters and in-door sources such as dry cleaning operations and degreasing operations. Mobile sources which kept on enhancing toxic chemicals in air over a larger area include cars, buses, trucks, planes and trains. All these sources contribute in deteriorating the natural air quality. Pollutants from these sources range from green-house gases to volatile organic compounds and even solid particulate matter.
Attention to control the air quality in different regions has been made worldwide. Many countries have set limits in their regions for the emission of specific pollutants. Environmental protection agency (EPA), USA has categorized six major air pollutants as criteria air pollutants. This concept of “criteria air pollutants” is accepted worldwide.
A brief description of major air pollutants, their sources and health hazardous are discussed in Table 1.