Coal pollution mitigation Since air is mostly nitrogen, combustion of coal often leads to production of nitrogen oxides. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are primary causes of acid rain. For many years--before greenhouse gasses were widely understood to be a threat-- it was thought that these by-products were the only drawback to using coal. These by-products are still a problem, but they have been greatly diminished in most advanced countries due to clean air regulations. It is possible to remove most of the sulfur dioxide (SO), nitrogen oxides (NO), and particulate matter (PM) emissions from the coal-burning process. For example, various techniques are
Nitrogen dioxide poisoning which nitrogen dioxide constitute one of the pollutants. While over 50% of the disease that results from these pollutants are common in developing countries and the effects in developed countries is also significant. An EPA survey in the U.S. suggests that 16 percent of United State's housing units are sited close to an airport, highway or railroad increasing in the United States the exposure risk of approximately 48 million people. A feasibility study of the ozone formed from the oxidation of nitrogen dioxide in ambient air reported by the WHO suggested that daily deaths of 1 to 2% is attributed