What is Sulfur Oxide Gases or SOx?
Sulfur dioxide, or SO2, belongs to a group called sulfur oxide gases (SOx). These gases dissolve easily in water. Sulfur is prevalent in all raw materials, including crude oil, coal, and ore that contains common metals like aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, and iron.
SOx gases are formed when fuel containing sulfur, such as coal and oil, is burned, and when gasoline is extracted from oil, or metals are extracted from ore. SO2 dissolves in water vapor to form acid, and interacts with other gases and particles in the air to form sulfates and other products that can be harmful to people and their environment.
Where does Sulfur Oxides Come From?
Sulfur oxides are present naturally at low concentrations in Earth's atmosphere, and at much higher concentrations in polluted urban environments.Natural sources include volcanoes, sea spray, biological decay, and forest fires. Fossil fuel combustion accounts for 75 to 80% of human production of sulfur oxides in the air. Coal burning generates about half of the sulfur oxide emissions we release, while burning oil accounts for 25 to 30%. Smelting, manufacture of sulfuric acid, conversion of wood pulp to paper, and incineration of refuse are other man made sources of atmospheric sulfur oxides.
How do Sulfur Oxides (SOx) effect my family and my community?
Sulfur Oxides contribute to the formation of acid rain, which damages trees and makes soils, lakes, and streams acidic. It contributes to the formation of atmospheric particles that cause visibility impairment. Sulfur oxide can be transported over long distance and the pollutants formed can be transported over long distances and deposited far from the point of origin. This means that problems with this pollutant are not confined to areas where it is emitted.
Sulfur Oxides contribute to respiratory illness, particularly in children and the elderly, and aggravates existing heart and lung diseases. Sulfur oxides causes a wide variety of health and environmental impacts because of the way it reacts with other substances in the air. Particularly sensitive groups include people with asthma who are active outdoors and children, the elderly, and people with heart or lung disease. High levels of sulfur oxides emitted over a short period, such as a day, can be particularly problematic for people with lung disease. Sulfur dioxide acts as an acid. Inhalation results in labored breathing, coughing, and/or a sore throat and may cause permanent pulmonary damage.
Peak levels of sulfur oxides in the air can cause temporary breathing difficulty for people with asthma who are active outdoors. Longer-term exposures to high levels of sulfur oxides and particles cause respiratory illness and aggravate existing heart disease. These gases and particles also react with other chemicals in the air to form tiny sulfate particles. When these are breathed, they gather in the lungs and are associated with increased respiratory symptoms and disease, difficulty in breathing and premature death.
Sulfur oxides, when mixed with water and contacted by skin, frostbite may occur. When it makes contact with eyes there can be redness and pain.
What Can I Do For My Community and My Family To Decease SOx?
Locally, there is little to do to decrease SOx. However, your community can work with local sources and groups like major shipping lines. There have been studies have linked diesel fumes and other types of port-related pollution to cancer, respiratory illness and other medical problems. If shippers switch to low-sulfur diesel fuel while running auxiliary engines, this could cut sulfur oxides by 80 percent and particulate emissions by 75 percent while ships are in port.Sulfur dioxide emission rates are directly related to the sulfur levels in coal, oil, and synthetic (processed) fuels. By switching to low-sulfur fuels, such as low-sulfur coal, or converting to synthetic fuels that have low-sulfur levels could be a good way for large industrial facilities to restrict its production of sulfur dioxide in boilers.