Journal of Geography  & Natural Disasters
Acesso livre

Abstrato

Reducing Pollutants in the Air is Important for Human Health and the Environment

Henry Farad

Pollution prevention means eliminating or reducing the amount and toxicity of potentially harmful substances at their sources, prior to generation, treatment, off-site recycling or disposal. It emphasizes preventing or minimizing pollution, rather than controlling it once it is generated. Pollution prevention has expanded as new challenges have come into focus - addressing climate change, combating sprawl, and promoting the use of green building techniques and renewable energy. The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) continue to employ prevention as a way to make Connecticut’s environment cleaner and greener as we deal with these challenges. It makes a lot of sense! For years, environmental protection has focused on pollution control-cleaning up the pollution after it occurred rather than on prevention. The control approach has serious drawbacks, including high costs and increased liability. And when we try to clean up pollution, sometimes we just end up moving the pollutant from one place to another, such as from the air to the land or from the land to water. One example is factories using filters to clean the air before releasing it to the environment. When the filters are periodically cleaned, the pollutants are collected and often sent to a landfill for disposal. Pollution prevention is any practice that reduces.