By James Edgar Sia

Dr Maria Theresa Isla-Cabaraban of Xavier University's Chemical Engineering department gave a seminar titled “Modeling Aerosol Formation, Transport, and Removal” on July 30 at the Grand Caprice Restaurant, Cagayan de Oro City.

The CDO chapter of the Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers (PIChE) hosted the said seminar, attended by 37 professional chemical engineers and chemical engineering students.

In her discussion, Dr Cabaraban said that aerosols, which are fine liquid or solid particles suspended in air and which may be natural or manmade in origin, can be respiratory health hazards and a threat to the environment in high concentrations.

To illustrate the impact of aerosols, Dr Cabaraban cited the case of Mt Pinatubo, whose emissions from its eruption in 1991 caused global cooling for two years following the incident.

She also presented the different computer models currently being developed to predict the formation, transport, and removal of aerosols. These models simulate the physical and chemical processes that affect aerosols in the atmosphere and can be used in designing strategies to reduce air pollutants. ∎