Mystery Air Pollutants

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Can you solve these air pollution mysteries?

Rn-222 (radon)

PM and CO

O3/ photochemical smog

Sally is visiting Lake Tahoe at ~6,000 feet and loves being among the conifer trees. They smell so good! It’s a bright sunny day and many people are driving around the scenic lake loop. Sally notices a beautiful blue haze filling the valleys. The more Sally runs up and down the trail, the worse Sally’s lungs feel. Sally gets an asthma attack. Luckily a friendly rabbit offers to share its inhaler with Sally.

Next Question

Correct! You're on fire! No cap!

Rn-222 (radon)

PM and CO

O3/ photochemical smog

Answer

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Sorry fam. Better luck next time!

Rn-222 (radon)

PM and CO

O3/ photochemical smog

Answer

Rn-222 (radon)

Carbon Monoxide

Ground Level Ozone

Sky has been having trouble with her natural gas heater. It keeps burning through natural gas, but it’s not keeping the house as warm as it used to. Sky’s dog, Ford, wakes her up in the night. Ford is freaking out. Sky has a splitting headache. (Sky doesn’t know it, but oxygen isn’t bonding well to her hemoglobin.) Ford insists they leave the house. Sky walks into the front yard. As they leave the house, her headache clears. If Ford hadn’t woken Sky up, Sky would probably have died.

Next Question

Correct! You left no crumbs!

Rn-222 (radon)

Carbon Monoxide

Ground Level Ozone

Answer

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Sorry fam. Better luck next time!

Rn-222 (radon)

Carbon Monoxide

Ground Level Ozone

Answer

PM 2.5

CFCs

Nitrous Oxide

Bai Chunxue, the head of respiratory medicine at Shanghai’s Zhongshan Hospital, sees the ever worsening haze as the upcoming cause of many deaths. To protect himself, Chunxue wears a facemask on his walk to work (less than one mile) and has moved his apartment to the 37th floor (as this pollution is the worst between 10th and 20th floors). He worries about dust that is fine enough to get through the face mask and settle in his lungs and heart. He advocates that the Chinese government close or relocate factories close to Beijing. Another doctor in Northern China just diagnosed the youngest person to be diagnosed with lung cancer at just eight years old.

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Correct! You understood the assignment!

PM 2.5

CFCs

Nitrous Oxide

Answer

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Sorry fam. Better luck next time!

PM 2.5

CFCs

Nitrous Oxide

Answer

Lead

Mercury

Arsenic

Gaia’s house has an old shed in back. Sometimes, Gaia and her sisters will go play in the shed. There is paint peeling off the walls. Gaia and her sisters have fun peeling the paint of the walls. One of them notices that the paint tastes sweet. The kids take turns peeling off the longest strips possible and eating them. When Gaia returns to school that fall, she has trouble focusing. She gets irritated more easily and no one wants to be her friend. Gaia can’t process words like she used to, and she has trouble reading chapter books.

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Correct! You're low key awesome!

Lead

Mercury

Arsenic

Answer

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Lead

Mercury

Arsenic

Answer

Mercury

Formaldehyde

NOx / SO2

There was a forest fire on the other side of the ridge from Philly’s pond. Philly did see the lightening and felt the rain pattering on the surface of his lake. Now the water feels terrible. Mucus forms in Philly’s gills and it's harder to breathe. Philly’s cells don’t maintain their electrolyte and fluid balance. Philly’s fertilized fish eggs don’t hatch.

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Correct! That's lit!

Mercury

Formaldehyde

NOx / SO2

Answer

Next Question

Correct! That's lit!

Mercury

Formaldehyde

NOx / SO2

Answer

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Sorry fam. Better luck next time!

Mercury

Formaldehyde

NOx / SO2

Answer

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Mercury

Formaldehyde

NOx / SO2

Answer

Rn-222 (Radon)

Formaldehyde

VOCs

Amal moved to North Dakota and is shopping for a home. He finds a home with a big basement where he can hold foosball parties and store his collection of airline barf bags. (He is trying to beat the world record to 6,290 air sickness bags.) The house is cheap. The owner passed away from lung cancer. Amal’s real estate agent suggests he test the house for [pollutant]. Once Amal does, he finds that levels are high. If he buys the house, he must seal cracks in the basement and increase ventilation in the house. So much for foosball parties…

Next Question

Correct! It slaps!

Rn-222 (Radon)

Formaldehyde

VOCs

Answer

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Sorry fam. Better luck next time!

Rn-222 (Radon)

Formaldehyde

VOCs

Answer

Asbestos

Particulate Matter

Mold

Fremont High School was built in the 1960’s. The insulation in the building has gotten old, and it was time to be replaced. However, the school district hired the cheapest contractors, without examining their credentials. Years later, many people who attended or worked at the school had lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.

Next Question

Correct! Way to lock in!

Asbestos

Particulate Matter

Mold

Answer

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Sorry fam. Better luck next time!

Asbestos

Particulate Matter

Mold

Answer

Arsenic

Mercury

Lead

Armagosa loves fish. She has tuna fish sandwiches for lunch almost every day. She and her partner often celebrate the end of the week by grilling swordfish steaks. She doesn’t realize that tunas are top predators and that toxins biomagnify the further one goes up the foodweb. This toxin then bioaccumulate in Armagosa’s body over her lifetime. When she’s in her second trimester of pregnancy, she learns about this, but it’s too late. Her newborn baby has hearing and vision problems, and needs to get tested for brain damage.

Next Question

Correct! Winning!

Arsenic

Mercury

Lead

Answer

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Arsenic

Mercury

Lead

Answer

NOx and VOCs leading to photochemical smog

Ozone

Sulfurous smog

The Great Smog of London, also known as the Big Smoke happened from December 5-9, 1952. A period of cold weather combined with certain wind conditions meant that airborne pollutants from burning coal were trapped around the city. It reduced visibility, even inside. It was so thick, people referred to it as “pea soup.” Government medical reports found that 4,000 people died as a direct result of the smog and 10,000 more people were made it by its effect on their respiratory tracts. This disaster leads to support for passage of air pollution protections in the United Kingdom.

Next Question

Correct! You slay!

Sulfurous smog

NOx and VOCs leading to photochemical smog

Ozone

Answer

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Sorry fam. Better luck next time!

Sulfurous smog

NOx and VOCs leading to photochemical smog

Ozone

Answer

You're the G.O.A.T.! What a glow up!