There are millions of cars on the road in the United States, and each one is a source of air pollution. Especially in large cities, the amount of pollution that all the cars produce together can create big problems.

To solve those problems, cities, states and the federal government create clean-air laws that restrict the amount of pollution that cars can produce. Over the years, automakers have made many refinements to car engines and fuel systems to keep up with these laws. One of these changes came about in 1975 with an interesting device called a catalytic converter. The job of the catalytic converter is to convert harmful pollutants into less harmful emissions before they ever leave the car's exhaust system.

Catalytic converters are amazingly simple devices, so it is incredible to see how big an impact they have. Pollutants are produced by the engine and a catalytic converter deals with each of these pollutants to help reduce vehicle emissions.