Is the air smog toxic?

As our factories and enterprises gradually increase, the environmental quality and air quality have become particularly poor. For example, some big cities with more cars and more exhaust emissions will also have smog weather. We didn’t know what smog was before. We only knew that the sky is not as blue as before, and it is always foggy during the day. Later we learned that this is called smog. So is smog toxic? Does it have any effect on our body? Let’s take a look together!

Haze is a combination of fog and haze. Smog is common in cities. Many areas in China include fog and haze in warnings and forecasts as disastrous weather phenomena, collectively referred to as "haze weather."

Haze is the result of the interaction between specific climate conditions and human activities. The economic and social activities of a high-density population will inevitably emit a large amount of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5). Once the emissions exceed the atmospheric circulation capacity and carrying capacity, the concentration of fine particulate matter will continue to accumulate. At this time, if affected by calm and stable weather, large-scale smog is likely to occur.

Haze is mainly composed of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and inhalable particulate matter. Combined with fog, they make the sky gloomy and dark in an instant. The English abbreviation for particulate matter is PM. Beijing monitors fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which is pollutant particles with an aerodynamic equivalent diameter of less than or equal to 2.5 microns. This type of particle is both a pollutant itself and a carrier of toxic substances such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

The distribution of haze particles is relatively uniform, and the scale of haze particles is relatively small, ranging from 0.001 microns to 10 microns, with an average diameter of about 1-2 microns. The particles floating in the air cannot be seen by the naked eye. Since haze is composed of particles such as dust, sulfuric acid and nitric acid, it scatters more light with longer wavelengths, so it appears yellow or orange-gray.

The above content tells us that smog is toxic. We hate the bad environment and smog. Our country’s governance of air pollution is still not enough. We want to see blue sky and white clouds, not endless smog. We dare not breathe. We are particularly depressed living in this environment. The bigger the city, the more serious the smog. We should still do more for the blue sky and white clouds.