Affects of Air PollutionEssay Preview: Affects of Air PollutionReport this essayPolluted air in general contains one or more hazardous substances that create hazards for the health of living individuals. Pollutants within the air are measured in terms of particulate matter (PM); or the number of particles of potentially hazardous substances as a percentage of air. Outdoor air pollutants can create acid rain, which affects the environment and depletion of the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which increases the risk of skin cancer and cataracts in human individuals. Indoor air pollution seems to have more of a significant affect on health than outdoor air pollution; considering the fact that most people spend more of their time indoors than out (1).
Many indoor pollutants include carbon monoxide, tobacco smoke, radon gas, animal dander, mercury vapor, consumer products that release chemicals into the air, bacteria, mold and a huge indoor pollutant; lead. Pollution of the air can affect our health in two ways which are categorized as both short term and long term effects. Short term effects are irritation to the eyes, nose and throat. Upper respiratory infections, like bronchitis and pneumonia as well as having headaches, allergic reactions, nausea and aggravating individuals with asthma and emphysema are all short term effects. An example of all these short term symptoms occurred in London in 1952, four thousand people died in a few days due to the high concentrations of pollution. This tragedy was called the “Smog Disaster”(2).
Long term affects of air pollution are; chronic heart disease, respiratory disease, lung cancer, damage to the nerves, brain, liver and kidneys. The continued long term exposure of pollution in the air can have drastic affects on the lungs of growing children and may aggravate or complicate medical conditions in the elderly. Many different groups of individuals are affected by air pollution in different ways. Some individuals are much more sensitive to pollutants than others. For example, young children and elderly people often suffer more from the effects of air pollution. People with health problems such as asthma, heart and lung disease may also suffer more when there is pollution in the air.
In terms of particulate matter and its affects on health, there are a wide range of pollutants such as; sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and lead. All of these substances have drastic health affects on an individuals body. Sulfur dioxide, for example, is produced by the combustion of sulfur containing fuels such as coal which can irritate the respiratory tract. Sulfur dioxide can then stick to fine particulates in the air, greatly increasing the potential cause for respiratory damage. Carbon monoxide is a highly toxic gas that is present especially in automobile emission. Carbon monoxide has a severe interference with the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood in the body and is especially harmful to people with cardiovascular disease, majority of people which are elderly and who are more susceptible to suffer from heart attacks if they are exposed to high concentrations of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide also affects the brain drastically, causing severe headaches and impairing ones mental processes. Nitrogen oxides also have an affect on ones health by being a respiratory irritant. One of the most severe primary pollutants that have severe long term affect in individuals is lead.
Lead can enter ones body when touching ones hand directly on or to another object with lead dust on it and then by placing ones hand in their mouth. Most individuals that do this are young children. Lead can also enter the body if one ingests soil or paint chips that contain lead or if lead dust is breathed in. Mood swings, irritability, severe abdominal pain, headaches, loss of motor coordination, being distracted easily, and loss of appetite are all symptoms of lead poisoning. Adults may be affected by symptoms of lead poisoning and have kidney and neurological damage, anemia, hypertension, impotence, sterility, and miscarriages. Children and young fetuses have severe affects from lead exposure as well. The younger the individual is, the more affected they can become with symptoms of lead poisoning. Lead is more dangerous to children because babies and young children put their hands and other objects in their mouths more often than adults do; these
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH), have issued guidance to parents in lead-contaminated drinking water to avoid becoming lead users and parents of their young children should keep the water clean and safe of those in the drinking water source. Lead is a contaminant to almost every kind of human life. The CDC recommends that parents and children ensure water levels are kept as high as possible by using safe methods for their children and young children, keeping water purifiers and cleaning equipment as clean as possible. CDC recommends that parents, caregivers, and children ensure that the child and young child have adequate supplies of water and sanitary chemicals and water to meet their daily needs.
Health Effects of Lead on Children, Adults, and Young Children:
• Maternal and Childhood Blood Lead Levels: Blood lead levels, including high levels within the first 10 cm of the infant’s head, are often higher or lower than usual, usually with higher levels of lead exposure than a normal human life cycle and are usually caused by the most common causes of early lead poisoning: Lead poisoning. In addition to high child levels in most developing countries, a growing body of evidence points to children’s increasing exposure to lead and to an increased risk from maternal and birth defects. However, the CDC and National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found no epidemiological, safety, or even direct evidence for the association of lead with these problems.
Health Effects of Lead Consumption and Drinking:
• Lead in drinking water also poses health risks to other people. Lead in the drinking water is produced and consumed by nearly 2,000 different species of fish including many species found near humans, as well as by plants, animals, birds, and insects. In recent years more than 10 million tons of lead-rich water have been produced in America for human consumption of drinking water.
• Lead in drinking water also may be a major contributor to other health problems and other infectious diseases. Lead in water, however, is toxic to young children, babies, and pregnant women. Lead in drinking water is toxic to infants (15 mg oral and 6 mg total of pregnancy). The World Health Organization has estimated that the lead in drinking water was in excess of 1 milligram (5 mg g) of any single cause of infant death and death by suicide in the United Nations. A 2005 international research study by the WHO showed that 3.6-4.8 mm is a safe and consistent dose of lead (8 mg oral) for the prevention and treatment of all pediatric lead poisoning (8 mg per day), a level higher than those in urine and blood (5 mg per day). In addition, pediatric health workers from several countries have reported reporting that lead contamination in water from contaminated homes in the Netherlands is increasing. Drinking water from contaminated homes is one of the most common sources of lead in children. There has been a widespread increase in lead exposure among children from lead exposure through the use of lead paint in homes. A 2014 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that children 3–13 years of age in some communities tested for lead poisoning exposures between August 2009, when they were first exposed, and August 2011, when they were still unaware to go on to become exposed to lead. In 2011, the CDC reported it had estimated that, “[h]er exposures from exposure to methylthioethanol, lead chloride, and lead chloride sulfate (Leadch) from lead paint in residential areas of a community was 7.29 times higher for children at the age of 3–12 years in the neighborhood with exposure levels of between 4 and 10 times higher than those of those over the ages 13–23 y.” The lead in lead paint from lead pipe cleaners and other household products was associated with 10%