Airborne Pollutant Descriptions | Criteria Air Contaminants | SMOG | Air Pollutants | CASA
The air is mostly made up of three gasses:
- Nitrogen (78%)
- Oxygen (21%)
- Argon (1%)
The air contains a vast range of other gasses and particles in much smaller quantities. Some of these, known as air pollutants, can impact human health and the environment.
Some air pollutants come from natural sources, such as forest fires, lightning, and plants. Other sources are man-made, including the combustion of fossil fuels by cars, industries, and in homes.
Some air pollutants have impacts on our health, the environment, or both. These impacts may be immediate (acute), long-term (chronic), or both.
The CASA network continually monitors common air pollutants, select volatile organic compounds, and wind speed and wind direction at various air monitoring sites located around industry and communities in the Sarnia area. Several of the CASA stations monitor an even wider range of air pollutants on a non-continuous basis, which involves collecting samples every six or twelve days, which are sent for laboratory analysis.
Pollutants described on this page:
Pollutants measured continuously (hourly):
Pollutants measured both continuously (hourly) and non-continuously:
Pollutants measured non-continuously:
