Passenger Cars Contribute to Environmental Pollution

Automobile pollution is the amount of emissions produced by different automobiles running on roads. Increasing levels of air pollution from these automobiles especially passenger cars have become a real threat to the Indian populace as well as the environment.

In India, commercial vehicles and passenger cars are believed to contribute maximum to environmental pollution. Today, as the awareness of people regarding environmental pollution is consistently increasing, they are gathering up ways and measures to control pollution especially that from passenger cars.

Indian car manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, and Honda are continuously working on greener technologies to help keep the environment clean and give a green world to their valued customers as well as the others in the country who don't even own cars.

Common Car Pollutants

The key component responsible for car pollution is the combustion engine. Getting the combustion engine in a car going requires a mixture of air and fuel to be burnt within the engine's cylinders. The petrol used in this mixture is composed of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide. The unburnt quantity of these gases in the combustion engine emit out as pollutants.

Car pollution is increased further if the car is not tuned and maintained properly. The car should be regularly checked and maintained in order to keep the emission levels at minimum.

Key car pollutants that have a negative effect on the environment are:

• Carbon Monoxide: Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas produced in the internal combustion engine. More of this poisonous gas is produced if the air to fuel ratio is low. The key factor responsible for increased production of carbon dioxide is irregular maintenance of car engine. It is also said that cars produce about 90% of the total carbon monoxide content that majorly contributes to environmental pollution.
• Nitrogen Oxide: Nitrogen reacts with oxygen atoms when there is high pressure and high temperature. Both these atoms react together to form nitrogen oxide that is one of the most harmful gases for both the environment as well as human. These are also believed to contribute to acid rain formation and about 72% to global warming.
• Hydrocarbon: These are composed of hydrogen and water and are produced during combustion. Composed of different molecular weight substances, these often pose a great risk to human as well as the environment.

Long Term Solutions

Modern cars use catalytic convertors to reduce emissions from passenger cars. At present, the situation is gradually taken care of by these convertors but long term solutions will have to be conceived to have a safer environment.
Innovative new technologies are paving the way for alternative sources of fuels that produce lower emissions. The recent trend includes the usage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). For the future, car manufacturers are also eyeing water and air as possible sources of energy to drive cars.

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Are We Aware Of The Impact Of Ewaste On Our Health And Environment?

As swanky electronic gazettes have become the new lifestyle status symbols of the modern society, more and more people have started taking to adapting and flaunting latest technology equipments. The usage of mobiles, laptops, mp3 players, computer, LCD TVs and home equipments with advanced technologies have become common. With new upgrades in technology everyday, old equipments are fast phasing out because of obsolence. This obsolete, non-working, non-repairable but durable equipments obviously find there way into the garbage.

According to N.M. Taphani, Regional Officer, Pollution Control Board, this Electronic Waste is highly dangerous for environment and hence should not be disposed with the regular garbage. Electrical and electronic equipment are made up of a multitude of components, some containing toxic substances which can have an adverse impact on human health and the environment if not handled properly. They should be segregated and disposed as per the norms However, according to him the disposal of all domestic waste is the responsibility of Municipal Corporation or civic authorities. Hence, they have not been taking any action on the matter. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of the Government of India has developed a special guide for issues and problems created by eWaste. However, the workgroup for this divison are currently functional only in Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Vendors in the business of used computers says, they often come across non-working computer parts whose repairing may cost more than a new one. They usually throw such parts like display cards, network cards or mother boards of old computers into the nearest dustbin alongwith other garbage. According to Dealers of home equipments, used Television and Electronic equipments are purchased by dealers as buyback. This second hand equipments if working are usually resold to small vendors from nearby villages otherwise they are sold to scrap dealers in town. These scrap dealers in turn use some of the useful material from the equipments and throw away the rest of then things in garbage. According to Mobile phone showroom owners, when they come across non-repairable phones, they keep the working parts of the phone into their inventory and throw away the stripped phone. There are many people who change handphones almost every 6-8 months as the one he is using either gets outdated or becomes non-repairable due to extensive usage. They normally sell the old phones for peanuts to second hand vendors. Environmentalist Dr. Vinod Pandya say the toxins and chemicals released by disposing this waste creates dangerously harmful effects to human body. According to him, the quantity of eWaste is drastically increasing in our environment and if it is not controlled using specified methods, it will create unpredictable harm to the environment. According to an Assistant Engineer working in the Solid Waste Management department of the civic authorities, they do not collect Industrial Waste and Bio-medical Waste in their garbage. The rest of the waste collected is send to the Porcessing Plant. At processing plant they segregate solid wastes received during garbage collection, however, he is confident that they are not receivng any eWaste with the garbage. He believes that there are many Rag Tickers who pick up this waste material from dustbins and hence, these waste do not reach the Processing plant.

Sove of the eWaste generated due to common human activities are as follows :

1 Breaking, Recycling or disposing Releasing of toxins into the soil, air and groundwater Of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)

2 Burning of wires Induces formation of dioxins

3 Burning of Printed Circuit Boards Induces alarmingly high formation of dioxins

4 Destroying Circuit Breakers Creates Leaching of Mercury

5 Breaking or CRT Glass Leaching of Lead

Nischal Sanghavi, B.E.(Electronics), MBA, Businessman and Freelance writer for The Times of India.

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