Air Pollution Facts

Air pollution is caused when air gets filled with too much gases, particulate matter, and droplets of liquid. In cities, the air gets polluted by exhaust fumes of vehicles, along with the pollutants given off by construction work and industry. In the country, dust given off by tractors working on fields, vehicles being driven on gravel or dirt tracks, smoke given off by crop, wood being burnt, and work carried out in rock quarries, are some of the causes of air pollution.

Another major air pollutant in cities is, ozone that occurs at ground level. Ozone forms when nitrous oxides and hydrocarbons react with sunlight. However, not everything about ozone is bad. In fact, its presence in the upper atmosphere is beneficial because it keeps out harmful ultra-violet rays, which is one of the major causes of skin cancer. Ozone only becomes problematic when it occurs near the ground where it can be inhaled. When inhaled, ozone causes reduced lung capacity, choking, and coughing.

Toxic air pollutants and chemicals like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides react with the water molecules in atmosphere to form acids. Acid rain contains high levels of hydrogen ions, which can damage trees, crops, vehicles (due to corrosion), pollute the water bodies and can harm other aquatic animals. Therefore, air pollution not only threatens the health of human beings and other living things on our planet but also damages and disturbs our environment to a great extent.

Facts about Air Pollution

Here are a few facts about the adverse effects of air pollution which will make you sit up and sniff the air around you apprehensively:

• According to a study, living in a major city, places people at a higher risk than living in the radioactive zone in Chernobyl.
• We breathe about 2 gallons of air every minute. Therefore, we need to worry about the quality of air we breathe, because breathing polluted air can take off 1-2 years off the typical human life-span.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 2 million premature deaths are caused each year due to air pollution in cities across the world.
• A recent study has revealed that exposure to fine particle matter in polluted air increases the risk of hospitalization due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Recently, 30 million adults and children in the US have been diagnosed with asthma.
• Vehicle emissions contribute up to 45% of carbon monoxide emissions in the US and about 95% in larger cities.
• According to a German study, people who breathe in the fumes of heavy traffic regularly have higher chances of getting hardening of the arteries, which is associated with the risk of heart attack.
• A Scottish study has shown that jogging with traffic around, results in reduced blood flow to the heart. This is particularly dangerous for people with stable heart disease, because it can trigger off cardiac arrhythmia or even a heart attack.
• Kids tend to spend more time playing outside and breathing more polluted air, which affects their health more than the adults. According to a study conducted on eight-year-olds in Mexico City, being exposed for a long time to high levels of polluted air reduces lung function and growth in children.
• A 20-year study conducted on the residents of Los Angeles, showed that the adverse effects of air pollution have been grossly underestimated. The researchers opine that chronic health problems due to particulate matter in the air may be double or even triple times greater than the estimates available currently.
• When the air is polluted, it causes irritation of throat, lungs and eyes. Some of the common symptoms are: a burning sensation in eyes, tightness in chest, and coughing. It exacerbates respiratory conditions like emphysema and asthma, and reduces the body's capacity to fight off infections of the respiratory system. Also, people afflicted with heart disease, like angina, are usually very sensitive to air pollution. People who exercise outdoors are also susceptible to the symptoms of air pollution, because it involves deeper and faster breathing.

Health, environmental, and economic impacts of air pollution are adverse and significant. However, there are different ways to prevent air pollution. No doubt the environmental protection agencies and government are taking steps to reduce it by implementing various policies. Nevertheless, these efforts will only prove fruitful if every citizen acts responsibly towards the environment and takes initiative at personal levels to reduce air pollution.