The air pollution by sulfur dioxide

The SO2 in the air in France amounted to 446 000 tonnes in 2007 against 1.33 million tonnes in 1990 and 3.2 million tonnes in 1980. In 2007, the major emitters of sulfur dioxide are energy conversion (49%) and manufacturing (33%). The sharp decline since 1980 (-86%) due to lower consumption of 'fossil fuels following the implementation of the power program, for actions to conserve energy and use less fuel sulfur. The latest advances (-67% between 1990 and 2007) result of the actions by manufacturers to promote the use of lower sulfur fuels and energy efficiency of plants and the industrialization of the French economy. Transport (-97%) and manufacturing (-66%) are the sectors most affected by this decline.
The international commitments of France imposes a further reduction in SO2 emissions. The Gothenburg Protocol of 1 December 1999 sets a maximum level of emissions for France 400 000 tonnes in 2010. The European directive of October 23, 2001 provides for an emissions cap of 375 000 tonnes in 2010. To meet these commitments, France leverages technology to limit sulfur content of liquid fuels and lower emission limits for combustion plants.

The air pollution inside homes and health

More than half the world's population rely on dung, wood, crop waste or coal to meet its basic energy needs. Cooking and heating with solid fuels of this type using open fires or stoves without chimneys pollute the air indoors. This smoke in homes contains all sorts of pollutants harmful to health, including small particles of soot or dust that could penetrate deep into the lungs. The smoke in poorly ventilated dwellings may contain a hundred times more small particles than what is considered acceptable for outdoor air. The exposure of women and children is particularly important because they are the ones who spend the most time near the fireplace. Each year, the air pollution inside homes is responsible for the deaths of 1.6 million people - or 1 death every 20 seconds.

Effects on health particularly deadly

The World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an assessment of the role played by various risk factors in disease burden, it became clear that air pollution inside homes is the eighth largest risk factors the most important and is responsible for 2.7% of the global burden of disease. The air pollution inside homes due to the use of solid fuels is responsible for 1.6 million deaths worldwide attributable to pneumonia, chronic respiratory and lung cancer -- the global burden of disease attributable to it (calculated adjusted life years of disability or DALYs, a measure combining years of life lost due to disability and death because of) being five times greater than the load morbidity due to air pollution outside.
In developing countries where mortality is high, the smoke inside the house is responsible for about 3.7% of the global burden of disease, making it the cause of death after the most deadly malnutrition, unprotected sex and lack of safe water and sanitation.

Pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory

Worldwide, pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory represent the single largest cause of death among children under five years. Exposure to air pollution inside homes more than doubles the risk of pneumonia and is thus responsible for more than 900 000 of the 2 million annual deaths from pneumonia. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Women exposed to smoke inside the houses have three times as likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), such as chronic bronchitis than women who cook and heat with electricity, gas and d ' other cleaner fuels. Among males, exposure to this neglected risk factor nearly doubles the risk of chronic respiratory diseases. Thus, the air pollution inside homes is responsible for approximately 700 000 deaths in the world on 2.7 million attributable to COPD.

Disproportionate effects on children and women

Household practices regarding energy use varies greatly from one region to another world, and therefore the number of victims of air pollution inside homes. While over two-thirds of child deaths due to smoke in the houses due to acute lower respiratory tract are observed in the WHO regions of Africa and South-Eastern Asia, more 50% of COPD deaths attributable to air pollution inside homes occurs in the Western Pacific Region.
In most societies, it is women who are responsible for cooking and, as required by the local cuisine, they spend between three and seven hours per day in the kitchen preparing food. Thus, 59% of all deaths attributable to air pollution in homes are women. Young children are often carried on the backs of their mothers or installed near the warm hearth. Consequently, toddlers spend long hours breathing the smoke in the house during the first year of life, when their airways grow and where they are, therefore, particularly vulnerable to agents hazardous pollutants. Therefore 56% of all deaths from air pollution to indoor occur among children under five.

The Millennium Development Goals and the international

Tackling air pollution inside houses linked to domestic use of energy is consistent with the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly with regard to the reduction of child mortality ( Objective 4), gender equality and empower women (Goal 3), promotion of income generation and eradicating extreme poverty (Goal 1) and research of environmental sustainability (Goal 7). The WHO considers the "proportion of population using solid fuels for cooking as an indicator for measuring progress towards integrating the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs of the country. Yet, the central role of household energy is not taken into consideration in policies designed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The work of WHO

The WHO, which is the agency responsible for public health worldwide, promotes the integration of health policies and programs and national energy. WHO collects and evaluates data concerning the effects of household energy on health and the effectiveness of interventions on improving the health status of children, women and other vulnerable groups.

Emissions of heavy metals in air

The main heavy metals emitted into the atmosphere by human activities are zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), selenium (Se) arsenic (As), mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd). These pollutants can be highly toxic and damage the soil, surface waters, forests and crops. Between 1990 and 2007, emissions of heavy metals have declined sharply, particularly for lead (-97%) due to its suppression in gasoline, chromium (-90%), zinc (-86%) and mercury (-70%). Emissions of copper only slightly decreased during the same period (-4.5%) due to increased road and rail traffic at the source of most emissions (catenary wear and brake pads ). Under the Aarhus Protocol on Heavy Metals adopted June 24, 1998, France undertook to limit its emissions of lead, cadmium and mercury in 2000 to a level lower than 1990. These goals were already achieved before the coming into force of this Protocol (December 29, 2003).

Pesticides in the atmosphere

The air contamination by pesticides is a new component of air pollution that is misinformed. This is due in part to the recent awareness of this form of pollution, lack of standards on pesticides in the air, but also the diversity of active molecules used. Pesticides are intentionally applied to large scale in the environment, destroy the plants considered pests and protect crop plants and crops from attack by insects, fungi, rodents. Pesticides can enter the atmosphere directly in the application but after their filing volatilizing or under the influence of wind. Currently, the lack of any national or European standards on pesticides in the air, authorized associations to monitor the air quality (AASQA) drew up regional lists of molecules to be monitored. All studies conducted by AASQA show, without exception, the presence of pesticides in the atmosphere. The percentage of detecting specific molecules is never zero. It may even reach 100% (when the molecule is observed in all samples).