The impact of air pollution on our health

 

Ecological problems, which are caused by us humans, are one of the biggest problems of our time we need to deal with. We are also the reason these problems occur, because not only do we destroy the nature, which we need to live, humans also destroy themselves by creating problems, which cause an immense amount of harm to our health. One of these problems is air pollution. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) about 4.2million people die every year due to ambient (outdoor) air pollution and 3.8 million people die due to household(indoor) air pollution- which makes a total of 8 million deaths every year.

Indoor Air Pollution

Household or indoor air pollution mainly occurs in Asian and African countries, where polluting fuels and technologies are used every day at their homes for cooking, heating and lighting in places with bad ventilation. The ones who are mainly affected are women and children who spend more time indoors, breathing the polluted air. But this can be avoided by using cleaner fuels and technologies to cook, heat and light. Another solution could also be cooking in a better ventilated area, for example at an outdoor cooking space.

Outdoor Air Pollution

In big cities with many cars, people and big buildings, it is very hard for the microscopic pollutants in the air to escape and for the fresh air to mix in with the polluted one, so the air we breath in can be healthy enough for us humans. The microscopic pollutants are heavier than the clean air and so they stay on the ground where we breath them in. The polluted air on the ground is much more harmful due to the high concentration of these pollutants. That being said, children stand an even higher risk of breathing in much more toxic air, which sometimes can also contain deadly chemicals, who only stay close to the ground and the concentration of the microscopic pollutants is even higher.

Damage done to our bodies

One of the biggest questions is how polluted the air can be, until it affects our health. The WHO asserts that an maximum safe level of particulate matter is an average concentration of 10μg/m3. And because the air is all around us it is also not possible to escape it, if it is polluted, no matter how rich the are you live in. The microscopic pollutants in the air slip past our body’s defences, get into our respiratory and circulator system, which then damages the lungs, heart and brain. This again leads to lung cancer, heart diseases and deaths caused by strokes.

Impact on Children

Not only is the air pollution damaging our health, it is even more harmful to our children. Their bodies are smaller and less able to detoxify the polluted air and they also inhale more air than adults, in proportion to the bodyweight. The WHO claims that about 543000 children, under the age of five, die of diseases linked to air pollution. Their lungs and brains are still developing and the microscopic pollutants can interfere with the progress and development. This can lead to disruptions with their cognitive abilities- which can cause neurodevelopmental disorders-, they are more likely to get asthma and cancer, but it also causes a higher possibility for infant mortality. As well as women who are pregnant and are exposed to polluted air, are more likely to give premature birth and their children are more likely to suffer from low birthweight.