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Classification of pollutants

Pollutant classes

Different processes generate a wide variety of pollutants in the ambiance of workplaces. The graphic below shows a summary of subdivision of pollutant classes.

When suspended in a gas, liquids and solid material may also occur as airborn particulates. In colloquial use, they are called smoke, mist or steam. Moreover, small dust particulates are airborn. Particulate matter often takes several hours to settle. As airborn pollutants, in particular including hazardous gases, are hardly or not at all removed from the air by settling, they are especially hazardous for man, environment and machine. They can be carried a long way and display their damaging effects in a long distance from their origin.

Side effects are often unknown

The substances being used in a certain process cannot, in most cases, be used as a basis for determining hazards. By the feeding of energy (e.g. sparks) or by meeting with other substances (e.g. impurity), chemical reactions may cause generation of other substances which might have damaging effects on their own.

Database of hazardous substances