Ammonia:
An ammonia gas leak at a seafood processing and export unit in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur district impacted many people.
- Ammonia is a colorless, pungent gas composed of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH3.
- Ammonia gas can be dissolved in water. This kind of ammonia is called liquid ammonia or aqueous ammonia. Once exposed to open air, liquid ammonia quickly turns into a gas.
- It exists naturally in humans and in the environment.
- In the environment, ammonia is part of the nitrogen cycle and is produced in soil from bacterial processes.
- Ammonia is also produced naturally from decomposition of organic matter, including plants and animals.
- Manufactured mainly by the Haber–Bosch process (from nitrogen and hydrogen).
- The major use of ammonia is as a fertilizer.
- Ammonia is a basic building block for ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which releases nitrogen, an essential nutrient for growing plants.
- Additional uses include as a refrigerant, stabilizer, neutralizer, and purifier particularly in food transport and water treatment applications.
- It can also be used in the manufacture of plastics, explosives, fabrics, dyes, and pharmaceuticals.
- Exposure to high levels of ammonia in air may be irritating to a person’s skin, eyes, throat, and lungs and cause coughing and burns.
