1 Particulate Matter: Highly Widespread.

Chemical pollutants play a major role in the quality of Iowa’s air, these pollutants are released constantly into the air and are influenced by Iowa’s anthropogenic activities. Chemical pollutants include a wide variety of toxins including heavy metals (lead and mercury), VOCs, particulate matter and more. All chemical pollutants have the ability to reduce Iowa’s air, soil and water, all of these essential elements are highly and complexly interlinked and decreasing the quality of one will likely decrease the quality of the rest of the elements. Some of the most dangerous and toxic particulate matter that can be found in Iowa’s air year round comes from coal fired power plants, motor vehicles and wood burning. As stated previously Iowa is a primarily a rural state relying heavily on farming and harvesting season to bring in our states revenue. Some agriculture workers and their families are relying on the burning of wood and wood fired appliances to warm their homes and cook in a more cost effective manner. While likely saving money these individuals are exposing themselves directly to high levels of PM2.5 which can cause adverse and irreversible damage at times. (EG)

One of the major and very common sources of chemical pollutants in Iowa is the release of toxic elements from coal fired power plants. Iowa has yet to fully utilize natural power and relies heavily on coal to maintain power plants. The purpose of power plants is to generate electricity from various sources (for Iowa mainly coal) and provide electrical energy to homes, businesses and factories. All fossil electricity emission impacts Iowa’s environment and air quality, unlike renewable energy “renewable energy technologies are more durable; therefore, you will spend less on maintenance and repair. Overall, the operational cost of renewable energy stations is significantly less than traditional power stations.” (CITE). These power plants are actively emitting large amounts of mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and many other toxic substances into Iowa’s air, lowering the overall air quality. Something that should also be considered within our power plants is that coal contains more sulfur than any other fossil fuel which is one of the leading causes of acid rain. Coal is also able to produce a toxin called fly ash which includes a variety of substances that can cause adverse health effects, while fly ash is not the biggest contributor to low air quality in Iowa it is something that needs to be considered and decreased in the near future. The highly toxic chemical pollutants released from power plants impacts Iowa’s air quality, environment health and human health heavily. Stated before coal contains coal contains such high levels of sulfur which then goes onto form sulfur dioxide and aid in the production of acid rain. High levels of sulfur dioxide have been observed at several of Iowa’s power plants, counties in Iowa with the most power plants include Muscatieen and Ottumwa. (EG)