Air Pollutant : Oxygen

Online, April 18, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Oxygen as an air pollutant

As the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declares carbon dioxide to be a pollutant, concomitant concern increases over the concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere. Oxygen as an air pollutant must be considered. Damage caused by unregulated oxygen gasses are startling. As an air pollutant, oxygen packs a wallop.

Iron Oxidation

Oxidation describes the family of chemical reactions wherein oxygen combines with another element to produce a free electron and material byproducts. The damaging effects of one form of oxidation, commonly referred to as rust, are evident to anyone who ever owned an automobile. A joint study by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration and the National Association of Corrosion Engineers calculates that corrosion in general costs the US economy 279 billion per year, or about 3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GNP).

Formation of Carbon Dioxide

Carbon is a highly stable element that exists in several different forms such as graphite, diamond, and coal. All three forms are extremely beneficial to modern society for a wide variety of applications. Unfortunately, carbon combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide has been classified as a pollutant by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration. The EPA used the 1990 Clean Air Act to reach their conclusion. Declaring carbon dioxide emissions as an air pollutant will increase costs to businesses such as manufacturing plants and power generating companies that burn coal.These costs will be passed on to customers, thereby causing inflation and higher prices for all strata of society. The poorest members of society will be affected the most.

One carbon dioxide molecule contains two oxygen atoms and only one carbon atom. Carbon has atomic number 6. Oxygen has atomic number 8.