How is iron smelting harmful to the enviroment?
Iron smelting uses vast amounts if energy, and thus creates greenhouse gass emmissions. There is also the problem of large amounts of gangue (slag) produced as a waste product that needs to be disposed of. The ore from which the iron is smelted is often sulpide based , and this will also lead to large amounts of oxides of sulphur both in the gangue and released into the ait. This may lead to acid rain, and the slag itself is an acid producing waste product if it gets wet. The runnoff from a slag pile includeds metals dissolves in the acid, and this is also a pollutant.
