Smoke produced by burning unrefined petroleum contains a mixture of gases and particulate matter including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , hydrogen sulfide, acidic aerosols, and soot. Soot is composed of solid particles embedded in tar. Non-toxic carbon dioxide accounted for approximately 96 percent of the relatively clean-burning Kuwaiti crude oil smoke. The other chemical elements and compounds in oil well smoke, however, can be toxic, carcinogenic (cancer-causing), and otherwise hazardous to human health, as well as ecologically and climatically disruptive in relatively small concentrations.
Considering the dramatic appearance and scale of the Kuwait oil fires, satellite and space shuttle images showed the plumes extending across the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf, and the smoke blocked the sunlight from large areas for weeks at time. the environmental and human health effects of the fires were much less significant than expected.
Considering the dramatic appearance and scale of the Kuwait oil fires, satellite and space shuttle images showed the plumes extending across the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf, and the smoke blocked the sunlight from large areas for weeks at time. the environmental and human health effects of the fires were much less significant than expected.