LEARN / BLOG

What are the sources of air pollution?


WRITTEN BY

Anggid Primastiti

PUBLISHED

17/11/2022

LANGUAGE

EN / ID

English / Indonesia


Air pollution is dangerous for our health, and vehicles emission — which is often thought to be the main suspect — is not the only culprit. Air pollution sources are numerous, and many of them are around us without us realizing it.

In this article, we will introduce you to the sources of air pollution:

  • 📍 Point sources
  • 🚗 Mobile source
  • 🏭 Area source
  • 🏔️ Natural source


☝🏼 Now, let’s discuss it together!


Point sources

Point sources are immovable sources. It is called a point source because it is a specific source of pollution in an environment with a small scope. Point sources are found in our daily life and close to us, such as kitchen smoke or chimney in an industrial factory. If you find your neighbor burning a pile of garbage around your house, or perhaps a stall with a satay merchant burning his satay, the burning area can specifically be called a point source.


Mobile sources

Mobile sources are air pollution sources that can move. Typically, these can be divided into two groups: on-road mobile sources and non-road mobile sources.

🚗 On-road mobile sources are vehicles found on roads and highways, including cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles.

✈️ Non-road mobile sources include aircraft, boats, trains, lawnmowers, construction vehicles, dirt bikes, farm equipment, leaf blowers, and more.


Area sources

An area source is a region in which there are activities that produce air pollution, such as industrial areas, cities, and forest fires. If forest fires occur purely due to drought, not by human activity, they can also be called natural sources. A street filled with food stalls with rising smoke from their cooking, or what we call a street food area, is also a source area.


Natural sources

Apart from man-made sources, there are also natural sources of air pollution, such as erupting volcanoes, windblown dust, and forest fires caused by the summer drought. Other examples of natural sources of air pollution are organic compounds from plants, sea salt, and suspended soil.


Now you finally recognize the four main sources of air pollution. With this, you can understand that air pollution can come from activities that are close to your daily life.

That's why it's important to build good habits by regularly checking the air quality on the Nafas app. For a healthier body and life, let's start maximizing your use of Nafas with us.