The impact of harmful gas emissions from cars on the environment

Cars, trucks, buses that use fossil fuels are the biggest air polluters.It is common knowledge that the entire traffic emits more than half of nitrogen oxides into the air, which makes it one of the main reasons for global warming in the world. It is also the cause of many serious diseases.

Pollutants from cars contribute to different types of air pollution. When hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides combine with sunlight, they produce ozone. High in the atmosphere, ozone protects us from the sun's ultraviolet rays. When holes in the ozone layer allow ozone to reach Earth, it contributes to smog and causes respiratory problems.

Air pollution from cars, trucks and buses is divided into primary and secondary pollution. Primary pollution is emitted directly into the atmosphere; secondary pollution is the result of chemical reactions between pollutants in the atmosphere (which directly affects people with chronic diseases and infants). The main pollutants from motor vehicles are:

• Particulate matter. One type of soot particles is visible in car exhaust systems. Tiny particles – less than one-tenth the diameter of a human hair – pose a serious threat to human health because they can penetrate deep into the lungs. Particles can be a primary pollutant or a secondary pollutant of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. Exhaust gas from diesel engines contributes the most to particulate pollution.
• Volatile organic compounds. These pollutants react with nitrogen oxide in the presence of sunlight to form the ozone layer, the main component of smog. Although useful in the upper atmosphere, this gas irritates the respiratory system of people around the world, causing coughing, choking and reduced lung capacity. Volatile organic compounds emitted from cars, trucks and buses – which include toxic air pollutants such as benzene, xylene, toluene – have been linked to various types of cancer.