[edit] Primary and secondary pollutants

On a cautionary note, reference to primary and secondary pollutants does seem to be common elsewhere and as such might have had a place in the article--I base this only on a google search. As I am not familiar with them, might I ask, what are primary and secondary standards? Could both senses (re pollutants/re standards) be used if they are properly defined? -Onceler 15:55, 11 February 2006 (UTC)
As I was not aware of these terms with respect to standards myself, I'll mention this for future reference. Regarding
standards:
The EPA ranks regulations in accordance with who or what they are intended to protect as primary ("human health, including sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, and individuals suffering from respiratory disease") and secondary ("public welfare" such as "building facades, visibility, crops, and domestic animals"). This is per the article National Ambient Air Quality Standards as sourced from the EPA website. Does anyone know if these terms are based on any other more general or universal regulatory framework outside the EPA?
pollutants:
Primary and secondary had formerly been used in this article to refer respectively to pollutants which are released directly and those which form after the fact from some combination of primary pollutants and/or other substances. It would be worthwhile knowing whether there are alternate formal or more appropriate terms to indicate the same thing.
Again, my comment is to weigh in on the relevance of primary/secondary distinctions in both senses and that there need not be confusion within the article as long as references are made clearly and appropriate caveats noted. Something like the above bullets might be worthwhile putting in the article itself. Unless more appropriate terminology is found, it would be better for this article to include and clarify multiple-sense terms which might cause confusion instead of ducking the question for the sake of convenience. -Onceler 02:04, 7 March 2006 (UTC)