Generally speaking, the acid resistance of human body is higher than that of alkali resistance. For example, washing clothes with weak alkaline washing powder without gloves often makes hands rough, and leather workers often come into contact with lye, which is similar; But the cuticle of the skin is better when it meets acid. However, cornea and respiratory mucosa are very sensitive to acid. Acid rain or acid mist can obviously stimulate these organs, leading to pinkeye, bronchitis, cough and even lung diseases. Especially for some people with weak constitution, we should pay special attention to acid mist, because acid mist can be inhaled into the body, which will cause damage to respiratory mucosa and cause respiratory diseases.
People's skin can also be hurt by acid rain. When it rains lightly, many people walk in the rain without an umbrella, which is very wrong in the acid rain area. Some experts pointed out that the aging of the human body is actually an oxidation process; Acid rain contains strong oxidants, which will accelerate skin aging. In addition, acid rain falling on people's heads may also lead to hair loss.
All the above are the direct harm of acid rain to human body, and the indirect harm of acid rain to human body is more serious. Toxic metals in river water, such as mercury and lead, are introduced into the food chain due to acid rain, which is harmful to human health. The child's diarrhea is caused by drinking acidified water. Some scientists once thought that acid rain would lead to a large increase in patients with cancer, kidney disease and birth defects. Drinking acidified surface water and groundwater with high metal content seeping from soil, and eating fish in acidified lakes and rivers may be harmful to human health.
Generally speaking, metallic aluminum is tightly wrapped in soil and cannot be dissolved by water. However, acid rain activates aluminum in the soil and flows into rivers, lakes and seas in the form of ions or other soluble substances, which is harmful to freshwater fish and people after eating. In acidified groundwater, the concentrations of aluminum, copper, zinc and cadmium are often l ~ 2 orders of magnitude higher than those in neutral groundwater. Drinking water pipes are corroded by acidic groundwater, which will further dissolve aluminum, copper, zinc and cadmium into the water and accumulate harmful heavy metals in the human body.
Link: ubiquitous acid rain pollution
Few people visit the Antarctic and Arctic all the year round, but in the 1980s, Norwegian scientists detected acid rain (acid snow) in a large area of the Arctic Circle. Where did it come from? They believe that this is the atmospheric acid substance discharged from the industrial zone in the south of the Soviet Union, which drifted a few Qian Qian meters with the airflow and arrived here. Later, acid precipitation with a pH of 5.5 was also collected in the Antarctic region. The acidic substances contained in these acidic precipitation may come from further places. Acid rain seems to have no national boundaries or continental boundaries.
1In the first half of 1998, the Antarctic Great Wall Station measured eight times of Antarctic acid precipitation, one of which had a pH of 5.46. Interestingly, when the wind blows south or east, because there is no artificial emission in the Antarctic continent, the atmosphere is fresh and the measured precipitation is close to neutral; When the northwest wind blows, air pollutants from South America and the Asia-Pacific region will blow to the Antarctic Peninsula where China's Antarctic Station is located, encounter precipitation and form acid rain. Thus, Antarctica is not a "pure land".
Acid rain has sounded the alarm for mankind. In the 1990s, scientists collected "poisonous snow" containing toxic pesticides in the Antarctic and Arctic of the world of ice and snow. The formation of "poisonous snow" is very similar to acid rain or acidic snow. It is also a human activity, using artificial pesticides to kill insects in the fields to increase production, but pesticides have entered the environment; It is also transmitted remotely through the atmosphere; Also at high altitude, pollutants are washed away by rain and snow; It also finally landed on the ground, endangering human beings. From "acid rain" to "poisonous snow", can such a serious environmental deterioration trend not make people reflect? !