ABSTRACT
Organic pollutants may have a strong effect on atmospheric quality. The effects of organic pollutants in the atmosphere may be divided into three major categories. The first consists of direct effects from exposure to pollutants in air. An example is cancer caused by inhalation of air contaminated with vinyl chloride. A second effect is from transported pollutants that are moved through the atmosphere some distance from the source and accumulate in a reservoir other than the atmosphere, for example, in the fat tissue of wildlife, which, in turn, may be toxic to predators that consume it. The final and usually most important influence of organic compounds discharged to the atmosphere is the formation of secondary pollutants, especially photochemical smog (discussed in detail in Chapter 12) produced by atmospheric chemical reactions. In the case of pollutant hydrocarbons in the atmosphere, the formation of secondary pollutants is the more important effect. In some localized situations, particularly the workplace, direct effects of organic air pollutants may be equally important.
