effects of air pollution on animals essay

Essay on Effects Of Pollution On Animals

Students are often asked to write an essay on Effects Of Pollution On Animals in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Effects Of Pollution On Animals

Introduction.

Pollution is a big problem for our world. It not only affects people, but animals too. Different types of pollution harm animals in different ways. Let’s learn about how pollution affects animals.

Air Pollution

Water pollution.

Water pollution is another big issue. When harmful substances enter water bodies, they harm aquatic life. Fish and other water creatures can get sick or even die from the polluted water.

Land Pollution

Land pollution affects animals too. When we throw away trash, it can end up in places where animals live. They can get hurt by sharp objects or get stuck in plastic waste.

250 Words Essay on Effects Of Pollution On Animals

Pollution is harmful to everyone, including animals. It is caused by harmful substances released into the environment. This essay will explore how pollution affects animals.

Air pollution is very harmful to animals. It can cause breathing problems and diseases. For example, birds can get sick from polluted air, which can lead to their death.

Water pollution is another big problem for animals. When harmful substances get into water, they can poison animals that drink from or live in it. Fish, for instance, can die from polluted water, which affects the whole food chain.

Land pollution can also harm animals. When trash is not properly disposed of, animals can eat it and get sick. For example, a bird might mistake a piece of plastic for food and choke on it.

In conclusion, pollution has a big impact on animals. It can cause them to get sick or even die. We must do our part to reduce pollution and protect our animal friends.

500 Words Essay on Effects Of Pollution On Animals

Pollution is a big problem that affects all living beings on Earth. It is when harmful substances mix with the environment and cause damage. Animals, like humans, are victims of pollution. This essay will talk about the effects of pollution on animals.

Land pollution hurts animals in many ways. When we throw away trash like plastic, it can harm animals. Many animals mistake plastic for food and eat it. This can make them very sick or even cause death. Land pollution also destroys the homes of animals. When their homes are destroyed, animals have to find new places to live. This can be very hard and some animals may not survive.

Air pollution affects animals too. When the air is polluted, it can harm the lungs of animals. This can make it hard for them to breathe. Air pollution can also change the climate. This can make it too hot or too cold for some animals to survive.

Noise Pollution

Noise pollution is when there is too much noise in the environment. This can be very stressful for animals. It can scare them and make it hard for them to find food or a mate. Noise pollution can also hurt the ears of some animals, like bats and dolphins, that use sound to navigate.

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Pollution's Effects on Animals

How Does Pollution Affect Dolphins?

Pollution comes in many forms and impacts a wide variety of creatures. The effects of land, air and water pollution on animals and birds can be devastating. Pollution created by human activity factors into the decline of many threatened or endangered species, and also adversely impacts humans, fisheries, tourism and more.

Effects of Pollution on Amphibians

Amphibians such as frogs and salamanders are the poster child for the negative effects of water pollution because they have such incredibly sensitive skin. They have the unique ability to absorb oxygen through their skin, but this also leaves them susceptible to absorbing dangerous chemicals as well.

Pesticides, nitrogen-based fertilizers and heavy metal contaminants all pose a direct danger to these creatures. These pollutants often find their way into water systems via runoff after heavy rain. In addition to directly killing amphibians, these pollutants can also weaken their immune system (as may have been the case in the extinction of the Monteverde golden toad ) and cause physical deformities or abnormalities.

Pollution and Birds

Amphibians are far from the only animals affected by pollution in water. Fish and invertebrates also end up with these contaminants in their systems as well. Though small amounts might not kill the fish, those chemicals stay in their system. This poses a danger to the predators in the food web, such as birds of prey.

Peregrine Falcons showed this danger explicitly when their populations plummeted due to the use of the pesticide DDT. The birds fed on fish and small mammals affected by DDT in their environment, and the chemicals within their prey built up inside the falcons through ​ bioaccumulation ​. This caused sickness in Peregrine Falcons and weak eggshells in breeding females; reproductive success plummeted, and the birds became an endangered species.

Outlawing DDT and similar pesticides resulted in a successful population recovery of this species and removal from the endangered species list.

Sea Lions and Bioaccumulation

Birds of prey are not the only predators impacted by the bioaccumulation of pollutants. Sea lions and other marine mammals are yet another example of animals affected by pollution. In the case of sea lions, fertilizer runoff results in harmful algal blooms. This algae releases a neurotoxin known as domoic acid. Fish eat this harmful algae and accumulate it in their bodies, and the sea lions eat the fish.

Through bioaccumulation, the sea lions ingest high levels of toxic domoic acid, resulting in domoic acid toxicosis . The condition causes neurological issues, seizures, aborted pregnancy, and if untreated, death. Decreasing pesticide and fertilizer use can reduce harmful algal blooms and protect sea lions and their entire ecosystem.

Marine Debris

Sea lions and other marine mammals are far from the only sea creatures impacted by oceanic pollution, and chemical pollution is absolutely not the only dangerous form of ocean pollution. ​ Marine debris ​ also poses a danger to many different animals in the ocean - this term refers to any man-made object that has been discarded and found its way into the ocean.

Many different types of marine debris cause harm to oceanic animals. Marine mammals, birds, turtles and sharks often become entangled in discarded fishing gear such as nets and lines. Plastic objects get mistaken for food items, and many animals ingest them. Plastic bags are a particularly troublesome form of marine debris.

Sea Turtles Eat Plastic

Sea turtles in particular ingest large amounts of plastic debris. Plastic bags pose a problem in particular because they look similar to jellyfish or algae, the primary prey to some sea turtle species. In fact, researchers believe that over half of the world's sea turtles have consumed plastic at one time or another.

Ingesting plastic can result in decreased ability to digest foods and intestinal blockage. The plastic generally cannot pass through their system and typically results in death unless treated. Recycling plastics can help reduce the amount of marine debris in the oceans and protect sea turtles and other wildlife.

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• AmphibiaWeb: Chemical Contaminants
• Animal Diversity Web: Peregrine Falcon
• National Ocean Service: What Is Nutrient Pollution?
• The Marine Mammal Center: Red Tides and Domoic Acid Toxicity
• World Wildlife Fund: What Do Sea Turtles Eat? Unfortunately, Plastic Bags
• U.S. Department of the Interior: Marine Debris Impacts
• Rainforest Trust: Thirty Years After the Last Golden Toad Sighting, What Have We Learned?

About the Author

Marina Somma is a freelance writer and animal trainer. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Marine and Environmental Biology & Policy from Monmouth University. Marina has worked with a number of publications involving animal science, behavior and training, including animals.net, SmallDogsAcademy and more.

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Effects of Air Pollution

Air pollution affects all things. It is harmful to our health, and it impacts the environment by reducing visibility and blocking sunlight, causing acid rain, and harming forests, wildlife, and agriculture. Greenhouse gas pollution, the cause of climate change, affects the entire planet.

Harming Human Health

According to the World Health Organization , an estimated seven million people die each year from air pollution. More than 4,000 people died in just a few months due to a severe smog event that occurred in London in 1952. Ground-level ozone causes muscles in the lungs to contract, making it difficult to breathe. Exposure to high ozone levels can cause sore throat, coughing, lung inflammation, and permanent lung damage.

Ozone pollution affects our lungs, making it difficult to breathe. UCAR

Symptoms from short-term exposure typically resolve quickly, but long term exposure is linked to serious illness and disease in multiple body systems. Children, the elderly, and people with ongoing illnesses are more vulnerable to air pollution than other groups. Urban populations are also at greater risk due to high concentrations of pollution within cities. Check the current air quality in your area to determine if you should take precautions such as reducing or avoiding outdoor activity.

Harming Animals and Plants

Brown patches on these potato leaves are evidence of moderate ozone damage.

Danica Lombardozzi/NCAR

Wildlife can experience many of the same negative health effects of air pollution that humans do. Damage to respiratory systems is the most common effect on animals, but neurological problems and skin irritations are also common.

Plants and crops grow less when exposed to long-term air pollution. Ozone pollution harms plants by damaging structures called stomata, which are tiny pores on the underside of leaves that allow the plant to "breathe." Some types of plants can protect themselves by temporarily closing their stomata or producing antioxidants, but others are particularly sensitive to damage. Between 1980 and 2011, nine billion dollars-worth of soybeans and corn were lost in the US as a result of ozone pollution. When acid rain, lead toxicity, and exposure to nitrogen oxides change the chemical nature of the soil, plants are robbed of the nutrients that they need to grow and survive. This impacts agriculture, forests, and grasslands.

There are many other ways that air pollution affects living things, such as damaging the habitat, water, and food sources that plants and animals need to survive.

Causing Acid Rain

Acid rain damages buildings. UCAR/NAME

Burning fossil fuels releases sulfur and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. Acid rain forms when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide mix with water droplets in the atmosphere to make sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Winds can carry these pollutants for thousands of miles, until they fall to the Earth's surface as acid rain, which damages the leaves of vegetation, increases the acidity of soils and water, and is linked to over 500 deaths each year. Buildings and other structures are also impacted by acid rain, which causes an estimated five billion dollars of property damage each year. Acid rain dissolves mortar between bricks, causes stone foundations to become unstable, and is destroying ancient buildings and statues carved from marble and limestone.

Reducing Sunlight

High levels of particulate pollution from all types of burning reduces the amount of sunlight that reaches the surface and even changes  the appearance of the sky . When less sunlight is available for photosynthesis, forests grow at a slower rate and crops are less productive. Hazy skies not only reduce visibility, but also impact the weather and even the climate .

Making a Hole in the Ozone Layer

In 2019 the ozone hole over Antarctica (shown in blue) was the smallest it has been since the hole was discovered. Since the banning of CFCs, the ozone hole continues to shrink, but scientists warn that complete recovery is still uncertain.

The hole in the ozone layer is caused by air pollutants . Chemicals used as refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), contain chlorine atoms. Releasing chlorine atoms into the atmosphere destroys ozone. A single chlorine atom can destroy thousands of ozone molecules. The ozone layer blocks harmful ultraviolet-C (UVC) and ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation from the Sun — it protects us in a way that is similar to putting sunscreen on your skin to prevent sunburn. The ozone hole puts all living things at risk by increasing the amount of ultraviolet radiation that reaches the surface. Exposure to this radiation increases the risk of skin cancer in humans, restricts growth and development in plants, slows the development of fish and amphibians, and reduces the number of phytoplankton in marine ecosystems. It also causes natural and synthetic materials to breakdown at an accelerated rate.

Adding Too Much Nitrogen to the Land

Gaseous ammonia (NH3) from agriculture and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from car, truck, and airplane emissions increase the amount of nitrogen in soils. Plants need nitrogen to grow, but too much nitrogen can limit the growth of some plants and increase the growth of others, disrupting the balance of species within an ecosystem. This disruption is negatively impacting grasslands and other fragile environments around the world.

This map shows global ammonia hotspots identified over a 14-year period. Warm colors represent an increase in ammonia, while cool colors represent a decrease in ammonia. NASA

Effects of Greenhouse Gas Pollution

Greenhouse gas pollution is causing climate change. As a result, ecosystems are changing faster than plants and animals can adapt, and many species are going extinct. Marine ecosystems are vulnerable to ocean acidification caused when carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere is dissolved in seawater. Ocean acidification makes it difficult for many marine species to grow shells and skeletons.

Melting ice sheets, warming oceans, and extreme weather conditions are examples of how climate changes caused by greenhouse gas pollution threaten ecosystems across the Earth. In many cases, the decline of one or a few species due to air pollution can topple the balance of entire ecosystems.

• Air Quality Activities
• How Does Ozone Damage Plants?
• Ozone in the Troposphere
• The Changing Nitrogen Cycle
• The Greenhouse Effect

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Essay Effects of Air Pollution on Animals

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• Reduced fertility and birth defects
• Developmental issues
• Respiratory damage
• Damage to neurological function
• Weakening of the immune system

1. Supporting evidence

Increase in elderly and infant deaths, 1. respiratory system, 2. cardiovascular system., 3. nervous system, 2. supporting evidence, harm to animals.

• By affecting the living quality of their environment or habitat
• By affecting their food supply availability and quality

3. Supporting evidence

Damage to plant life.

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Air pollution.

Air pollution consists of chemicals or particles in the air that can harm the health of humans, animals, and plants. It also damages buildings.

Biology, Ecology, Earth Science, Geography

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Air pollution consists of chemicals or particles in the air that can harm the health of humans, animals, and plants. It also damages buildings. Pollutants in the air take many forms. They can be gases , solid particles, or liquid droplets. Sources of Air Pollution Pollution enters the Earth's atmosphere in many different ways. Most air pollution is created by people, taking the form of emissions from factories, cars, planes, or aerosol cans . Second-hand cigarette smoke is also considered air pollution. These man-made sources of pollution are called anthropogenic sources . Some types of air pollution, such as smoke from wildfires or ash from volcanoes , occur naturally. These are called natural sources . Air pollution is most common in large cities where emissions from many different sources are concentrated . Sometimes, mountains or tall buildings prevent air pollution from spreading out. This air pollution often appears as a cloud making the air murky. It is called smog . The word "smog" comes from combining the words "smoke" and " fog ." Large cities in poor and developing nations tend to have more air pollution than cities in developed nations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) , some of the worlds most polluted cities are Karachi, Pakistan; New Delhi, India; Beijing, China; Lima, Peru; and Cairo, Egypt. However, many developed nations also have air pollution problems. Los Angeles, California, is nicknamed Smog City. Indoor Air Pollution Air pollution is usually thought of as smoke from large factories or exhaust from vehicles. But there are many types of indoor air pollution as well. Heating a house by burning substances such as kerosene , wood, and coal can contaminate the air inside the house. Ash and smoke make breathing difficult, and they can stick to walls, food, and clothing. Naturally-occurring radon gas, a cancer -causing material, can also build up in homes. Radon is released through the surface of the Earth. Inexpensive systems installed by professionals can reduce radon levels. Some construction materials, including insulation , are also dangerous to people's health. In addition, ventilation , or air movement, in homes and rooms can lead to the spread of toxic mold . A single colony of mold may exist in a damp, cool place in a house, such as between walls. The mold's spores enter the air and spread throughout the house. People can become sick from breathing in the spores. Effects On Humans People experience a wide range of health effects from being exposed to air pollution. Effects can be broken down into short-term effects and long-term effects . Short-term effects, which are temporary , include illnesses such as pneumonia or bronchitis . They also include discomfort such as irritation to the nose, throat, eyes, or skin. Air pollution can also cause headaches, dizziness, and nausea . Bad smells made by factories, garbage , or sewer systems are considered air pollution, too. These odors are less serious but still unpleasant . Long-term effects of air pollution can last for years or for an entire lifetime. They can even lead to a person's death. Long-term health effects from air pollution include heart disease , lung cancer, and respiratory diseases such as emphysema . Air pollution can also cause long-term damage to people's nerves , brain, kidneys , liver , and other organs. Some scientists suspect air pollutants cause birth defects . Nearly 2.5 million people die worldwide each year from the effects of outdoor or indoor air pollution. People react differently to different types of air pollution. Young children and older adults, whose immune systems tend to be weaker, are often more sensitive to pollution. Conditions such as asthma , heart disease, and lung disease can be made worse by exposure to air pollution. The length of exposure and amount and type of pollutants are also factors. Effects On The Environment Like people, animals, and plants, entire ecosystems can suffer effects from air pollution. Haze , like smog, is a visible type of air pollution that obscures shapes and colors. Hazy air pollution can even muffle sounds. Air pollution particles eventually fall back to Earth. Air pollution can directly contaminate the surface of bodies of water and soil . This can kill crops or reduce their yield . It can kill young trees and other plants. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide particles in the air, can create acid rain when they mix with water and oxygen in the atmosphere. These air pollutants come mostly from coal-fired power plants and motor vehicles . When acid rain falls to Earth, it damages plants by changing soil composition ; degrades water quality in rivers, lakes and streams; damages crops; and can cause buildings and monuments to decay . Like humans, animals can suffer health effects from exposure to air pollution. Birth defects, diseases, and lower reproductive rates have all been attributed to air pollution. Global Warming Global warming is an environmental phenomenon caused by natural and anthropogenic air pollution. It refers to rising air and ocean temperatures around the world. This temperature rise is at least partially caused by an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases trap heat energy in the Earths atmosphere. (Usually, more of Earths heat escapes into space.) Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that has had the biggest effect on global warming. Carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels (coal, gasoline , and natural gas ). Humans have come to rely on fossil fuels to power cars and planes, heat homes, and run factories. Doing these things pollutes the air with carbon dioxide. Other greenhouse gases emitted by natural and artificial sources also include methane , nitrous oxide , and fluorinated gases. Methane is a major emission from coal plants and agricultural processes. Nitrous oxide is a common emission from industrial factories, agriculture, and the burning of fossil fuels in cars. Fluorinated gases, such as hydrofluorocarbons , are emitted by industry. Fluorinated gases are often used instead of gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs have been outlawed in many places because they deplete the ozone layer . Worldwide, many countries have taken steps to reduce or limit greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming. The Kyoto Protocol , first adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, is an agreement between 183 countries that they will work to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. The United States has not signed that treaty . Regulation In addition to the international Kyoto Protocol, most developed nations have adopted laws to regulate emissions and reduce air pollution. In the United States, debate is under way about a system called cap and trade to limit emissions. This system would cap, or place a limit, on the amount of pollution a company is allowed. Companies that exceeded their cap would have to pay. Companies that polluted less than their cap could trade or sell their remaining pollution allowance to other companies. Cap and trade would essentially pay companies to limit pollution. In 2006 the World Health Organization issued new Air Quality Guidelines. The WHOs guidelines are tougher than most individual countries existing guidelines. The WHO guidelines aim to reduce air pollution-related deaths by 15 percent a year. Reduction Anybody can take steps to reduce air pollution. Millions of people every day make simple changes in their lives to do this. Taking public transportation instead of driving a car, or riding a bike instead of traveling in carbon dioxide-emitting vehicles are a couple of ways to reduce air pollution. Avoiding aerosol cans, recycling yard trimmings instead of burning them, and not smoking cigarettes are others.

Downwinders The United States conducted tests of nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site in southern Nevada in the 1950s. These tests sent invisible radioactive particles into the atmosphere. These air pollution particles traveled with wind currents, eventually falling to Earth, sometimes hundreds of miles away in states including Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Washington. These areas were considered to be "downwind" from the Nevada Test Site. Decades later, people living in those downwind areascalled "downwinders"began developing cancer at above-normal rates. In 1990, the U.S. government passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. This law entitles some downwinders to payments of $50,000.

Greenhouse Gases There are five major greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere.

• water vapor
• carbon dioxide
• nitrous oxide

London Smog What has come to be known as the London Smog of 1952, or the Great Smog of 1952, was a four-day incident that sickened 100,000 people and caused as many as 12,000 deaths. Very cold weather in December 1952 led residents of London, England, to burn more coal to keep warm. Smoke and other pollutants became trapped by a thick fog that settled over the city. The polluted fog became so thick that people could only see a few meters in front of them.

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Effects Of Air Pollution On Animals

This study, conducted in 1961, summarizes the knowledge at the time about the effects of air pollution on animals. This is one of the only major studies that addresses the issue of animals and air pollution.

This articles summarizes the outcome of major air pollution disasters and provides a review of animal-based laboratory experiments. The author finds that a dearth of knowledge regarding the specific characteristics of each animal species, as well as other environmental factors, influence the effects that air pollution will have on animals.

Highlights from media coverage of the study :

• A well-known smog incident in Donora, PA in 1948 is known to have made 15% of dogs sick and even killed 10 dogs out of the 229 included in survey records. Sicknesses included respiratory and digestive issues as well as refusal to eat. Out of 165 cats included in survey records, 12 got sick and 3 died. Poultry farmers also reported that their birds got sick, and 40% of those sick birds died.
• The sulfur dioxide from the London fog incident of 1952 reportedly affected cattle with bronchiolitis, emphysema, and heart failure. Some cattle died or were euthanized.
• In 1950 in Poza Rica, Mexico, hydrogen sulfide is reported to have killed 100% of canaries and approximately 50% of other animals who were exposed to the pollution.
• In lab tests, ozone has been shown to adversely affect dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and mice. It impacted their respiratory systems and also led to deaths.

E.J. Catcott, World Health Organization, 1961 Worldwide|United States (National)

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REVIEW article

Environmental and health impacts of air pollution: a review.

• 1 Delphis S.A., Kifisia, Greece
• 2 Laboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
• 3 Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Service de Médicine Interne, Lausanne, Switzerland
• 4 School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

One of our era's greatest scourges is air pollution, on account not only of its impact on climate change but also its impact on public and individual health due to increasing morbidity and mortality. There are many pollutants that are major factors in disease in humans. Among them, Particulate Matter (PM), particles of variable but very small diameter, penetrate the respiratory system via inhalation, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, reproductive and central nervous system dysfunctions, and cancer. Despite the fact that ozone in the stratosphere plays a protective role against ultraviolet irradiation, it is harmful when in high concentration at ground level, also affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular system. Furthermore, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), dioxins, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are all considered air pollutants that are harmful to humans. Carbon monoxide can even provoke direct poisoning when breathed in at high levels. Heavy metals such as lead, when absorbed into the human body, can lead to direct poisoning or chronic intoxication, depending on exposure. Diseases occurring from the aforementioned substances include principally respiratory problems such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, bronchiolitis, and also lung cancer, cardiovascular events, central nervous system dysfunctions, and cutaneous diseases. Last but not least, climate change resulting from environmental pollution affects the geographical distribution of many infectious diseases, as do natural disasters. The only way to tackle this problem is through public awareness coupled with a multidisciplinary approach by scientific experts; national and international organizations must address the emergence of this threat and propose sustainable solutions.

Approach to the Problem

The interactions between humans and their physical surroundings have been extensively studied, as multiple human activities influence the environment. The environment is a coupling of the biotic (living organisms and microorganisms) and the abiotic (hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere).

Pollution is defined as the introduction into the environment of substances harmful to humans and other living organisms. Pollutants are harmful solids, liquids, or gases produced in higher than usual concentrations that reduce the quality of our environment.

Human activities have an adverse effect on the environment by polluting the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the soil in which plants grow. Although the industrial revolution was a great success in terms of technology, society, and the provision of multiple services, it also introduced the production of huge quantities of pollutants emitted into the air that are harmful to human health. Without any doubt, the global environmental pollution is considered an international public health issue with multiple facets. Social, economic, and legislative concerns and lifestyle habits are related to this major problem. Clearly, urbanization and industrialization are reaching unprecedented and upsetting proportions worldwide in our era. Anthropogenic air pollution is one of the biggest public health hazards worldwide, given that it accounts for about 9 million deaths per year ( 1 ).

Without a doubt, all of the aforementioned are closely associated with climate change, and in the event of danger, the consequences can be severe for mankind ( 2 ). Climate changes and the effects of global planetary warming seriously affect multiple ecosystems, causing problems such as food safety issues, ice and iceberg melting, animal extinction, and damage to plants ( 3 , 4 ).

Air pollution has various health effects. The health of susceptible and sensitive individuals can be impacted even on low air pollution days. Short-term exposure to air pollutants is closely related to COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), cough, shortness of breath, wheezing, asthma, respiratory disease, and high rates of hospitalization (a measurement of morbidity).

The long-term effects associated with air pollution are chronic asthma, pulmonary insufficiency, cardiovascular diseases, and cardiovascular mortality. According to a Swedish cohort study, diabetes seems to be induced after long-term air pollution exposure ( 5 ). Moreover, air pollution seems to have various malign health effects in early human life, such as respiratory, cardiovascular, mental, and perinatal disorders ( 3 ), leading to infant mortality or chronic disease in adult age ( 6 ).

National reports have mentioned the increased risk of morbidity and mortality ( 1 ). These studies were conducted in many places around the world and show a correlation between daily ranges of particulate matter (PM) concentration and daily mortality. Climate shifts and global planetary warming ( 3 ) could aggravate the situation. Besides, increased hospitalization (an index of morbidity) has been registered among the elderly and susceptible individuals for specific reasons. Fine and ultrafine particulate matter seems to be associated with more serious illnesses ( 6 ), as it can invade the deepest parts of the airways and more easily reach the bloodstream.

Air pollution mainly affects those living in large urban areas, where road emissions contribute the most to the degradation of air quality. There is also a danger of industrial accidents, where the spread of a toxic fog can be fatal to the populations of the surrounding areas. The dispersion of pollutants is determined by many parameters, most notably atmospheric stability and wind ( 6 ).

In developing countries ( 7 ), the problem is more serious due to overpopulation and uncontrolled urbanization along with the development of industrialization. This leads to poor air quality, especially in countries with social disparities and a lack of information on sustainable management of the environment. The use of fuels such as wood fuel or solid fuel for domestic needs due to low incomes exposes people to bad-quality, polluted air at home. It is of note that three billion people around the world are using the above sources of energy for their daily heating and cooking needs ( 8 ). In developing countries, the women of the household seem to carry the highest risk for disease development due to their longer duration exposure to the indoor air pollution ( 8 , 9 ). Due to its fast industrial development and overpopulation, China is one of the Asian countries confronting serious air pollution problems ( 10 , 11 ). The lung cancer mortality observed in China is associated with fine particles ( 12 ). As stated already, long-term exposure is associated with deleterious effects on the cardiovascular system ( 3 , 5 ). However, it is interesting to note that cardiovascular diseases have mostly been observed in developed and high-income countries rather than in the developing low-income countries exposed highly to air pollution ( 13 ). Extreme air pollution is recorded in India, where the air quality reaches hazardous levels. New Delhi is one of the more polluted cities in India. Flights in and out of New Delhi International Airport are often canceled due to the reduced visibility associated with air pollution. Pollution is occurring both in urban and rural areas in India due to the fast industrialization, urbanization, and rise in use of motorcycle transportation. Nevertheless, biomass combustion associated with heating and cooking needs and practices is a major source of household air pollution in India and in Nepal ( 14 , 15 ). There is spatial heterogeneity in India, as areas with diverse climatological conditions and population and education levels generate different indoor air qualities, with higher PM 2.5 observed in North Indian states (557–601 μg/m 3 ) compared to the Southern States (183–214 μg/m 3 ) ( 16 , 17 ). The cold climate of the North Indian areas may be the main reason for this, as longer periods at home and more heating are necessary compared to in the tropical climate of Southern India. Household air pollution in India is associated with major health effects, especially in women and young children, who stay indoors for longer periods. Chronic obstructive respiratory disease (CORD) and lung cancer are mostly observed in women, while acute lower respiratory disease is seen in young children under 5 years of age ( 18 ).

Accumulation of air pollution, especially sulfur dioxide and smoke, reaching 1,500 mg/m3, resulted in an increase in the number of deaths (4,000 deaths) in December 1952 in London and in 1963 in New York City (400 deaths) ( 19 ). An association of pollution with mortality was reported on the basis of monitoring of outdoor pollution in six US metropolitan cities ( 20 ). In every case, it seems that mortality was closely related to the levels of fine, inhalable, and sulfate particles more than with the levels of total particulate pollution, aerosol acidity, sulfur dioxide, or nitrogen dioxide ( 20 ).

Furthermore, extremely high levels of pollution are reported in Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, followed by Milan, Ankara, Melbourne, Tokyo, and Moscow ( 19 ).

Based on the magnitude of the public health impact, it is certain that different kinds of interventions should be taken into account. Success and effectiveness in controlling air pollution, specifically at the local level, have been reported. Adequate technological means are applied considering the source and the nature of the emission as well as its impact on health and the environment. The importance of point sources and non-point sources of air pollution control is reported by Schwela and Köth-Jahr ( 21 ). Without a doubt, a detailed emission inventory must record all sources in a given area. Beyond considering the above sources and their nature, topography and meteorology should also be considered, as stated previously. Assessment of the control policies and methods is often extrapolated from the local to the regional and then to the global scale. Air pollution may be dispersed and transported from one region to another area located far away. Air pollution management means the reduction to acceptable levels or possible elimination of air pollutants whose presence in the air affects our health or the environmental ecosystem. Private and governmental entities and authorities implement actions to ensure the air quality ( 22 ). Air quality standards and guidelines were adopted for the different pollutants by the WHO and EPA as a tool for the management of air quality ( 1 , 23 ). These standards have to be compared to the emissions inventory standards by causal analysis and dispersion modeling in order to reveal the problematic areas ( 24 ). Inventories are generally based on a combination of direct measurements and emissions modeling ( 24 ).

As an example, we state here the control measures at the source through the use of catalytic converters in cars. These are devices that turn the pollutants and toxic gases produced from combustion engines into less-toxic pollutants by catalysis through redox reactions ( 25 ). In Greece, the use of private cars was restricted by tracking their license plates in order to reduce traffic congestion during rush hour ( 25 ).

Concerning industrial emissions, collectors and closed systems can keep the air pollution to the minimal standards imposed by legislation ( 26 ).

Current strategies to improve air quality require an estimation of the economic value of the benefits gained from proposed programs. These proposed programs by public authorities, and directives are issued with guidelines to be respected.

In Europe, air quality limit values AQLVs (Air Quality Limit Values) are issued for setting off planning claims ( 27 ). In the USA, the NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards) establish the national air quality limit values ( 27 ). While both standards and directives are based on different mechanisms, significant success has been achieved in the reduction of overall emissions and associated health and environmental effects ( 27 ). The European Directive identifies geographical areas of risk exposure as monitoring/assessment zones to record the emission sources and levels of air pollution ( 27 ), whereas the USA establishes global geographical air quality criteria according to the severity of their air quality problem and records all sources of the pollutants and their precursors ( 27 ).

In this vein, funds have been financing, directly or indirectly, projects related to air quality along with the technical infrastructure to maintain good air quality. These plans focus on an inventory of databases from air quality environmental planning awareness campaigns. Moreover, pollution measures of air emissions may be taken for vehicles, machines, and industries in urban areas.

Technological innovation can only be successful if it is able to meet the needs of society. In this sense, technology must reflect the decision-making practices and procedures of those involved in risk assessment and evaluation and act as a facilitator in providing information and assessments to enable decision makers to make the best decisions possible. Summarizing the aforementioned in order to design an effective air quality control strategy, several aspects must be considered: environmental factors and ambient air quality conditions, engineering factors and air pollutant characteristics, and finally, economic operating costs for technological improvement and administrative and legal costs. Considering the economic factor, competitiveness through neoliberal concepts is offering a solution to environmental problems ( 22 ).

The development of environmental governance, along with technological progress, has initiated the deployment of a dialogue. Environmental politics has created objections and points of opposition between different political parties, scientists, media, and governmental and non-governmental organizations ( 22 ). Radical environmental activism actions and movements have been created ( 22 ). The rise of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) are many times examined as to whether and in which way they have influenced means of communication and social movements such as activism ( 28 ). Since the 1990s, the term “digital activism” has been used increasingly and in many different disciplines ( 29 ). Nowadays, multiple digital technologies can be used to produce a digital activism outcome on environmental issues. More specifically, devices with online capabilities such as computers or mobile phones are being used as a way to pursue change in political and social affairs ( 30 ).

In the present paper, we focus on the sources of environmental pollution in relation to public health and propose some solutions and interventions that may be of interest to environmental legislators and decision makers.

Sources of Exposure

It is known that the majority of environmental pollutants are emitted through large-scale human activities such as the use of industrial machinery, power-producing stations, combustion engines, and cars. Because these activities are performed at such a large scale, they are by far the major contributors to air pollution, with cars estimated to be responsible for approximately 80% of today's pollution ( 31 ). Some other human activities are also influencing our environment to a lesser extent, such as field cultivation techniques, gas stations, fuel tanks heaters, and cleaning procedures ( 32 ), as well as several natural sources, such as volcanic and soil eruptions and forest fires.

The classification of air pollutants is based mainly on the sources producing pollution. Therefore, it is worth mentioning the four main sources, following the classification system: Major sources, Area sources, Mobile sources, and Natural sources.

Major sources include the emission of pollutants from power stations, refineries, and petrochemicals, the chemical and fertilizer industries, metallurgical and other industrial plants, and, finally, municipal incineration.

Indoor area sources include domestic cleaning activities, dry cleaners, printing shops, and petrol stations.

Mobile sources include automobiles, cars, railways, airways, and other types of vehicles.

Finally, natural sources include, as stated previously, physical disasters ( 33 ) such as forest fire, volcanic erosion, dust storms, and agricultural burning.

However, many classification systems have been proposed. Another type of classification is a grouping according to the recipient of the pollution, as follows:

Air pollution is determined as the presence of pollutants in the air in large quantities for long periods. Air pollutants are dispersed particles, hydrocarbons, CO, CO 2 , NO, NO 2 , SO 3 , etc.

Water pollution is organic and inorganic charge and biological charge ( 10 ) at high levels that affect the water quality ( 34 , 35 ).

Soil pollution occurs through the release of chemicals or the disposal of wastes, such as heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and pesticides.

Air pollution can influence the quality of soil and water bodies by polluting precipitation, falling into water and soil environments ( 34 , 36 ). Notably, the chemistry of the soil can be amended due to acid precipitation by affecting plants, cultures, and water quality ( 37 ). Moreover, movement of heavy metals is favored by soil acidity, and metals are so then moving into the watery environment. It is known that heavy metals such as aluminum are noxious to wildlife and fishes. Soil quality seems to be of importance, as soils with low calcium carbonate levels are at increased jeopardy from acid rain. Over and above rain, snow and particulate matter drip into watery ' bodies ( 36 , 38 ).

Lastly, pollution is classified following type of origin:

Radioactive and nuclear pollution , releasing radioactive and nuclear pollutants into water, air, and soil during nuclear explosions and accidents, from nuclear weapons, and through handling or disposal of radioactive sewage.

Radioactive materials can contaminate surface water bodies and, being noxious to the environment, plants, animals, and humans. It is known that several radioactive substances such as radium and uranium concentrate in the bones and can cause cancers ( 38 , 39 ).

Noise pollution is produced by machines, vehicles, traffic noises, and musical installations that are harmful to our hearing.

The World Health Organization introduced the term DALYs. The DALYs for a disease or health condition is defined as the sum of the Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to premature mortality in the population and the Years Lost due to Disability (YLD) for people living with the health condition or its consequences ( 39 ). In Europe, air pollution is the main cause of disability-adjusted life years lost (DALYs), followed by noise pollution. The potential relationships of noise and air pollution with health have been studied ( 40 ). The study found that DALYs related to noise were more important than those related to air pollution, as the effects of environmental noise on cardiovascular disease were independent of air pollution ( 40 ). Environmental noise should be counted as an independent public health risk ( 40 ).

Environmental pollution occurs when changes in the physical, chemical, or biological constituents of the environment (air masses, temperature, climate, etc.) are produced.

Pollutants harm our environment either by increasing levels above normal or by introducing harmful toxic substances. Primary pollutants are directly produced from the above sources, and secondary pollutants are emitted as by-products of the primary ones. Pollutants can be biodegradable or non-biodegradable and of natural origin or anthropogenic, as stated previously. Moreover, their origin can be a unique source (point-source) or dispersed sources.

Pollutants have differences in physical and chemical properties, explaining the discrepancy in their capacity for producing toxic effects. As an example, we state here that aerosol compounds ( 41 – 43 ) have a greater toxicity than gaseous compounds due to their tiny size (solid or liquid) in the atmosphere; they have a greater penetration capacity. Gaseous compounds are eliminated more easily by our respiratory system ( 41 ). These particles are able to damage lungs and can even enter the bloodstream ( 41 ), leading to the premature deaths of millions of people yearly. Moreover, the aerosol acidity ([H+]) seems to considerably enhance the production of secondary organic aerosols (SOA), but this last aspect is not supported by other scientific teams ( 38 ).

Climate and Pollution

Air pollution and climate change are closely related. Climate is the other side of the same coin that reduces the quality of our Earth ( 44 ). Pollutants such as black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, and aerosols affect the amount of incoming sunlight. As a result, the temperature of the Earth is increasing, resulting in the melting of ice, icebergs, and glaciers.

In this vein, climatic changes will affect the incidence and prevalence of both residual and imported infections in Europe. Climate and weather affect the duration, timing, and intensity of outbreaks strongly and change the map of infectious diseases in the globe ( 45 ). Mosquito-transmitted parasitic or viral diseases are extremely climate-sensitive, as warming firstly shortens the pathogen incubation period and secondly shifts the geographic map of the vector. Similarly, water-warming following climate changes leads to a high incidence of waterborne infections. Recently, in Europe, eradicated diseases seem to be emerging due to the migration of population, for example, cholera, poliomyelitis, tick-borne encephalitis, and malaria ( 46 ).

The spread of epidemics is associated with natural climate disasters and storms, which seem to occur more frequently nowadays ( 47 ). Malnutrition and disequilibration of the immune system are also associated with the emerging infections affecting public health ( 48 ).

The Chikungunya virus “took the airplane” from the Indian Ocean to Europe, as outbreaks of the disease were registered in Italy ( 49 ) as well as autochthonous cases in France ( 50 ).

An increase in cryptosporidiosis in the United Kingdom and in the Czech Republic seems to have occurred following flooding ( 36 , 51 ).

As stated previously, aerosols compounds are tiny in size and considerably affect the climate. They are able to dissipate sunlight (the albedo phenomenon) by dispersing a quarter of the sun's rays back to space and have cooled the global temperature over the last 30 years ( 52 ).

Air Pollutants

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports on six major air pollutants, namely particle pollution, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead. Air pollution can have a disastrous effect on all components of the environment, including groundwater, soil, and air. Additionally, it poses a serious threat to living organisms. In this vein, our interest is mainly to focus on these pollutants, as they are related to more extensive and severe problems in human health and environmental impact. Acid rain, global warming, the greenhouse effect, and climate changes have an important ecological impact on air pollution ( 53 ).

Particulate Matter (PM) and Health

Studies have shown a relationship between particulate matter (PM) and adverse health effects, focusing on either short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic) PM exposure.

Particulate matter (PM) is usually formed in the atmosphere as a result of chemical reactions between the different pollutants. The penetration of particles is closely dependent on their size ( 53 ). Particulate Matter (PM) was defined as a term for particles by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ( 54 ). Particulate matter (PM) pollution includes particles with diameters of 10 micrometers (μm) or smaller, called PM 10 , and extremely fine particles with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers (μm) and smaller.

Particulate matter contains tiny liquid or solid droplets that can be inhaled and cause serious health effects ( 55 ). Particles <10 μm in diameter (PM 10 ) after inhalation can invade the lungs and even reach the bloodstream. Fine particles, PM 2.5 , pose a greater risk to health ( 6 , 56 ) ( Table 1 ).

Table 1 . Penetrability according to particle size.

Multiple epidemiological studies have been performed on the health effects of PM. A positive relation was shown between both short-term and long-term exposures of PM 2.5 and acute nasopharyngitis ( 56 ). In addition, long-term exposure to PM for years was found to be related to cardiovascular diseases and infant mortality.

Those studies depend on PM 2.5 monitors and are restricted in terms of study area or city area due to a lack of spatially resolved daily PM 2.5 concentration data and, in this way, are not representative of the entire population. Following a recent epidemiological study by the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, MA) ( 57 ), it was reported that, as PM 2.5 concentrations vary spatially, an exposure error (Berkson error) seems to be produced, and the relative magnitudes of the short- and long-term effects are not yet completely elucidated. The team developed a PM 2.5 exposure model based on remote sensing data for assessing short- and long-term human exposures ( 57 ). This model permits spatial resolution in short-term effects plus the assessment of long-term effects in the whole population.

Moreover, respiratory diseases and affection of the immune system are registered as long-term chronic effects ( 58 ). It is worth noting that people with asthma, pneumonia, diabetes, and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases are especially susceptible and vulnerable to the effects of PM. PM 2.5 , followed by PM 10 , are strongly associated with diverse respiratory system diseases ( 59 ), as their size permits them to pierce interior spaces ( 60 ). The particles produce toxic effects according to their chemical and physical properties. The components of PM 10 and PM 2.5 can be organic (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, benzene, 1-3 butadiene) or inorganic (carbon, chlorides, nitrates, sulfates, metals) in nature ( 55 ).

Particulate Matter (PM) is divided into four main categories according to type and size ( 61 ) ( Table 2 ).

Table 2 . Types and sizes of particulate Matter (PM).

Gas contaminants include PM in aerial masses.

Particulate contaminants include contaminants such as smog, soot, tobacco smoke, oil smoke, fly ash, and cement dust.

Biological Contaminants are microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, mold, and bacterial spores), cat allergens, house dust and allergens, and pollen.

Types of Dust include suspended atmospheric dust, settling dust, and heavy dust.

Finally, another fact is that the half-lives of PM 10 and PM 2.5 particles in the atmosphere is extended due to their tiny dimensions; this permits their long-lasting suspension in the atmosphere and even their transfer and spread to distant destinations where people and the environment may be exposed to the same magnitude of pollution ( 53 ). They are able to change the nutrient balance in watery ecosystems, damage forests and crops, and acidify water bodies.

As stated, PM 2.5 , due to their tiny size, are causing more serious health effects. These aforementioned fine particles are the main cause of the “haze” formation in different metropolitan areas ( 12 , 13 , 61 ).

Ozone Impact in the Atmosphere

Ozone (O 3 ) is a gas formed from oxygen under high voltage electric discharge ( 62 ). It is a strong oxidant, 52% stronger than chlorine. It arises in the stratosphere, but it could also arise following chain reactions of photochemical smog in the troposphere ( 63 ).

Ozone can travel to distant areas from its initial source, moving with air masses ( 64 ). It is surprising that ozone levels over cities are low in contrast to the increased amounts occuring in urban areas, which could become harmful for cultures, forests, and vegetation ( 65 ) as it is reducing carbon assimilation ( 66 ). Ozone reduces growth and yield ( 47 , 48 ) and affects the plant microflora due to its antimicrobial capacity ( 67 , 68 ). In this regard, ozone acts upon other natural ecosystems, with microflora ( 69 , 70 ) and animal species changing their species composition ( 71 ). Ozone increases DNA damage in epidermal keratinocytes and leads to impaired cellular function ( 72 ).

Ground-level ozone (GLO) is generated through a chemical reaction between oxides of nitrogen and VOCs emitted from natural sources and/or following anthropogenic activities.

Ozone uptake usually occurs by inhalation. Ozone affects the upper layers of the skin and the tear ducts ( 73 ). A study of short-term exposure of mice to high levels of ozone showed malondialdehyde formation in the upper skin (epidermis) but also depletion in vitamins C and E. It is likely that ozone levels are not interfering with the skin barrier function and integrity to predispose to skin disease ( 74 ).

Due to the low water-solubility of ozone, inhaled ozone has the capacity to penetrate deeply into the lungs ( 75 ).

Toxic effects induced by ozone are registered in urban areas all over the world, causing biochemical, morphologic, functional, and immunological disorders ( 76 ).

The European project (APHEA2) focuses on the acute effects of ambient ozone concentrations on mortality ( 77 ). Daily ozone concentrations compared to the daily number of deaths were reported from different European cities for a 3-year period. During the warm period of the year, an observed increase in ozone concentration was associated with an increase in the daily number of deaths (0.33%), in the number of respiratory deaths (1.13%), and in the number of cardiovascular deaths (0.45%). No effect was observed during wintertime.

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Carbon monoxide is produced by fossil fuel when combustion is incomplete. The symptoms of poisoning due to inhaling carbon monoxide include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, and, finally, loss of consciousness.

The affinity of carbon monoxide to hemoglobin is much greater than that of oxygen. In this vein, serious poisoning may occur in people exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide for a long period of time. Due to the loss of oxygen as a result of the competitive binding of carbon monoxide, hypoxia, ischemia, and cardiovascular disease are observed.

Carbon monoxide affects the greenhouses gases that are tightly connected to global warming and climate. This should lead to an increase in soil and water temperatures, and extreme weather conditions or storms may occur ( 68 ).

However, in laboratory and field experiments, it has been seen to produce increased plant growth ( 78 ).

Nitrogen Oxide (NO 2 )

Nitrogen oxide is a traffic-related pollutant, as it is emitted from automobile motor engines ( 79 , 80 ). It is an irritant of the respiratory system as it penetrates deep in the lung, inducing respiratory diseases, coughing, wheezing, dyspnea, bronchospasm, and even pulmonary edema when inhaled at high levels. It seems that concentrations over 0.2 ppm produce these adverse effects in humans, while concentrations higher than 2.0 ppm affect T-lymphocytes, particularly the CD8+ cells and NK cells that produce our immune response ( 81 ).It is reported that long-term exposure to high levels of nitrogen dioxide can be responsible for chronic lung disease. Long-term exposure to NO 2 can impair the sense of smell ( 81 ).

However, systems other than respiratory ones can be involved, as symptoms such as eye, throat, and nose irritation have been registered ( 81 ).

High levels of nitrogen dioxide are deleterious to crops and vegetation, as they have been observed to reduce crop yield and plant growth efficiency. Moreover, NO 2 can reduce visibility and discolor fabrics ( 81 ).

Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2 )

Sulfur dioxide is a harmful gas that is emitted mainly from fossil fuel consumption or industrial activities. The annual standard for SO 2 is 0.03 ppm ( 82 ). It affects human, animal, and plant life. Susceptible people as those with lung disease, old people, and children, who present a higher risk of damage. The major health problems associated with sulfur dioxide emissions in industrialized areas are respiratory irritation, bronchitis, mucus production, and bronchospasm, as it is a sensory irritant and penetrates deep into the lung converted into bisulfite and interacting with sensory receptors, causing bronchoconstriction. Moreover, skin redness, damage to the eyes (lacrimation and corneal opacity) and mucous membranes, and worsening of pre-existing cardiovascular disease have been observed ( 81 ).

Environmental adverse effects, such as acidification of soil and acid rain, seem to be associated with sulfur dioxide emissions ( 83 ).

Lead is a heavy metal used in different industrial plants and emitted from some petrol motor engines, batteries, radiators, waste incinerators, and waste waters ( 84 ).

Moreover, major sources of lead pollution in the air are metals, ore, and piston-engine aircraft. Lead poisoning is a threat to public health due to its deleterious effects upon humans, animals, and the environment, especially in the developing countries.

Exposure to lead can occur through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal absorption. Trans- placental transport of lead was also reported, as lead passes through the placenta unencumbered ( 85 ). The younger the fetus is, the more harmful the toxic effects. Lead toxicity affects the fetal nervous system; edema or swelling of the brain is observed ( 86 ). Lead, when inhaled, accumulates in the blood, soft tissue, liver, lung, bones, and cardiovascular, nervous, and reproductive systems. Moreover, loss of concentration and memory, as well as muscle and joint pain, were observed in adults ( 85 , 86 ).

Children and newborns ( 87 ) are extremely susceptible even to minimal doses of lead, as it is a neurotoxicant and causes learning disabilities, impairment of memory, hyperactivity, and even mental retardation.

Elevated amounts of lead in the environment are harmful to plants and crop growth. Neurological effects are observed in vertebrates and animals in association with high lead levels ( 88 ).

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons(PAHs)

The distribution of PAHs is ubiquitous in the environment, as the atmosphere is the most important means of their dispersal. They are found in coal and in tar sediments. Moreover, they are generated through incomplete combustion of organic matter as in the cases of forest fires, incineration, and engines ( 89 ). PAH compounds, such as benzopyrene, acenaphthylene, anthracene, and fluoranthene are recognized as toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic substances. They are an important risk factor for lung cancer ( 89 ).

Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs)

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as toluene, benzene, ethylbenzene, and xylene ( 90 ), have been found to be associated with cancer in humans ( 91 ). The use of new products and materials has actually resulted in increased concentrations of VOCs. VOCs pollute indoor air ( 90 ) and may have adverse effects on human health ( 91 ). Short-term and long-term adverse effects on human health are observed. VOCs are responsible for indoor air smells. Short-term exposure is found to cause irritation of eyes, nose, throat, and mucosal membranes, while those of long duration exposure include toxic reactions ( 92 ). Predictable assessment of the toxic effects of complex VOC mixtures is difficult to estimate, as these pollutants can have synergic, antagonistic, or indifferent effects ( 91 , 93 ).

Dioxins originate from industrial processes but also come from natural processes, such as forest fires and volcanic eruptions. They accumulate in foods such as meat and dairy products, fish and shellfish, and especially in the fatty tissue of animals ( 94 ).

Short-period exhibition to high dioxin concentrations may result in dark spots and lesions on the skin ( 94 ). Long-term exposure to dioxins can cause developmental problems, impairment of the immune, endocrine and nervous systems, reproductive infertility, and cancer ( 94 ).

Without any doubt, fossil fuel consumption is responsible for a sizeable part of air contamination. This contamination may be anthropogenic, as in agricultural and industrial processes or transportation, while contamination from natural sources is also possible. Interestingly, it is of note that the air quality standards established through the European Air Quality Directive are somewhat looser than the WHO guidelines, which are stricter ( 95 ).

Effect of Air Pollution on Health

The most common air pollutants are ground-level ozone and Particulates Matter (PM). Air pollution is distinguished into two main types:

Outdoor pollution is the ambient air pollution.

Indoor pollution is the pollution generated by household combustion of fuels.

People exposed to high concentrations of air pollutants experience disease symptoms and states of greater and lesser seriousness. These effects are grouped into short- and long-term effects affecting health.

Susceptible populations that need to be aware of health protection measures include old people, children, and people with diabetes and predisposing heart or lung disease, especially asthma.

As extensively stated previously, according to a recent epidemiological study from Harvard School of Public Health, the relative magnitudes of the short- and long-term effects have not been completely clarified ( 57 ) due to the different epidemiological methodologies and to the exposure errors. New models are proposed for assessing short- and long-term human exposure data more successfully ( 57 ). Thus, in the present section, we report the more common short- and long-term health effects but also general concerns for both types of effects, as these effects are often dependent on environmental conditions, dose, and individual susceptibility.

Short-term effects are temporary and range from simple discomfort, such as irritation of the eyes, nose, skin, throat, wheezing, coughing and chest tightness, and breathing difficulties, to more serious states, such as asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, and lung and heart problems. Short-term exposure to air pollution can also cause headaches, nausea, and dizziness.

These problems can be aggravated by extended long-term exposure to the pollutants, which is harmful to the neurological, reproductive, and respiratory systems and causes cancer and even, rarely, deaths.

The long-term effects are chronic, lasting for years or the whole life and can even lead to death. Furthermore, the toxicity of several air pollutants may also induce a variety of cancers in the long term ( 96 ).

As stated already, respiratory disorders are closely associated with the inhalation of air pollutants. These pollutants will invade through the airways and will accumulate at the cells. Damage to target cells should be related to the pollutant component involved and its source and dose. Health effects are also closely dependent on country, area, season, and time. An extended exposure duration to the pollutant should incline to long-term health effects in relation also to the above factors.

Particulate Matter (PMs), dust, benzene, and O 3 cause serious damage to the respiratory system ( 97 ). Moreover, there is a supplementary risk in case of existing respiratory disease such as asthma ( 98 ). Long-term effects are more frequent in people with a predisposing disease state. When the trachea is contaminated by pollutants, voice alterations may be remarked after acute exposure. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be induced following air pollution, increasing morbidity and mortality ( 99 ). Long-term effects from traffic, industrial air pollution, and combustion of fuels are the major factors for COPD risk ( 99 ).

Multiple cardiovascular effects have been observed after exposure to air pollutants ( 100 ). Changes occurred in blood cells after long-term exposure may affect cardiac functionality. Coronary arteriosclerosis was reported following long-term exposure to traffic emissions ( 101 ), while short-term exposure is related to hypertension, stroke, myocardial infracts, and heart insufficiency. Ventricle hypertrophy is reported to occur in humans after long-time exposure to nitrogen oxide (NO 2 ) ( 102 , 103 ).

Neurological effects have been observed in adults and children after extended-term exposure to air pollutants.

Psychological complications, autism, retinopathy, fetal growth, and low birth weight seem to be related to long-term air pollution ( 83 ). The etiologic agent of the neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's) is not yet known, although it is believed that extended exposure to air pollution seems to be a factor. Specifically, pesticides and metals are cited as etiological factors, together with diet. The mechanisms in the development of neurodegenerative disease include oxidative stress, protein aggregation, inflammation, and mitochondrial impairment in neurons ( 104 ) ( Figure 1 ).

Figure 1 . Impact of air pollutants on the brain.

Brain inflammation was observed in dogs living in a highly polluted area in Mexico for a long period ( 105 ). In human adults, markers of systemic inflammation (IL-6 and fibrinogen) were found to be increased as an immediate response to PNC on the IL-6 level, possibly leading to the production of acute-phase proteins ( 106 ). The progression of atherosclerosis and oxidative stress seem to be the mechanisms involved in the neurological disturbances caused by long-term air pollution. Inflammation comes secondary to the oxidative stress and seems to be involved in the impairment of developmental maturation, affecting multiple organs ( 105 , 107 ). Similarly, other factors seem to be involved in the developmental maturation, which define the vulnerability to long-term air pollution. These include birthweight, maternal smoking, genetic background and socioeconomic environment, as well as education level.

However, diet, starting from breast-feeding, is another determinant factor. Diet is the main source of antioxidants, which play a key role in our protection against air pollutants ( 108 ). Antioxidants are free radical scavengers and limit the interaction of free radicals in the brain ( 108 ). Similarly, genetic background may result in a differential susceptibility toward the oxidative stress pathway ( 60 ). For example, antioxidant supplementation with vitamins C and E appears to modulate the effect of ozone in asthmatic children homozygous for the GSTM1 null allele ( 61 ). Inflammatory cytokines released in the periphery (e.g., respiratory epithelia) upregulate the innate immune Toll-like receptor 2. Such activation and the subsequent events leading to neurodegeneration have recently been observed in lung lavage in mice exposed to ambient Los Angeles (CA, USA) particulate matter ( 61 ). In children, neurodevelopmental morbidities were observed after lead exposure. These children developed aggressive and delinquent behavior, reduced intelligence, learning difficulties, and hyperactivity ( 109 ). No level of lead exposure seems to be “safe,” and the scientific community has asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce the current screening guideline of 10 μg/dl ( 109 ).

It is important to state that impact on the immune system, causing dysfunction and neuroinflammation ( 104 ), is related to poor air quality. Yet, increases in serum levels of immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM) and the complement component C3 are observed ( 106 ). Another issue is that antigen presentation is affected by air pollutants, as there is an upregulation of costimulatory molecules such as CD80 and CD86 on macrophages ( 110 ).

As is known, skin is our shield against ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and other pollutants, as it is the most exterior layer of our body. Traffic-related pollutants, such as PAHs, VOCs, oxides, and PM, may cause pigmented spots on our skin ( 111 ). On the one hand, as already stated, when pollutants penetrate through the skin or are inhaled, damage to the organs is observed, as some of these pollutants are mutagenic and carcinogenic, and, specifically, they affect the liver and lung. On the other hand, air pollutants (and those in the troposphere) reduce the adverse effects of ultraviolet radiation UVR in polluted urban areas ( 111 ). Air pollutants absorbed by the human skin may contribute to skin aging, psoriasis, acne, urticaria, eczema, and atopic dermatitis ( 111 ), usually caused by exposure to oxides and photochemical smoke ( 111 ). Exposure to PM and cigarette smoking act as skin-aging agents, causing spots, dyschromia, and wrinkles. Lastly, pollutants have been associated with skin cancer ( 111 ).

Higher morbidity is reported to fetuses and children when exposed to the above dangers. Impairment in fetal growth, low birth weight, and autism have been reported ( 112 ).

Another exterior organ that may be affected is the eye. Contamination usually comes from suspended pollutants and may result in asymptomatic eye outcomes, irritation ( 112 ), retinopathy, or dry eye syndrome ( 113 , 114 ).

Environmental Impact of Air Pollution

Air pollution is harming not only human health but also the environment ( 115 ) in which we live. The most important environmental effects are as follows.

Acid rain is wet (rain, fog, snow) or dry (particulates and gas) precipitation containing toxic amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. They are able to acidify the water and soil environments, damage trees and plantations, and even damage buildings and outdoor sculptures, constructions, and statues.

Haze is produced when fine particles are dispersed in the air and reduce the transparency of the atmosphere. It is caused by gas emissions in the air coming from industrial facilities, power plants, automobiles, and trucks.

Ozone , as discussed previously, occurs both at ground level and in the upper level (stratosphere) of the Earth's atmosphere. Stratospheric ozone is protecting us from the Sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. In contrast, ground-level ozone is harmful to human health and is a pollutant. Unfortunately, stratospheric ozone is gradually damaged by ozone-depleting substances (i.e., chemicals, pesticides, and aerosols). If this protecting stratospheric ozone layer is thinned, then UV radiation can reach our Earth, with harmful effects for human life (skin cancer) ( 116 ) and crops ( 117 ). In plants, ozone penetrates through the stomata, inducing them to close, which blocks CO 2 transfer and induces a reduction in photosynthesis ( 118 ).

Global climate change is an important issue that concerns mankind. As is known, the “greenhouse effect” keeps the Earth's temperature stable. Unhappily, anthropogenic activities have destroyed this protecting temperature effect by producing large amounts of greenhouse gases, and global warming is mounting, with harmful effects on human health, animals, forests, wildlife, agriculture, and the water environment. A report states that global warming is adding to the health risks of poor people ( 119 ).

People living in poorly constructed buildings in warm-climate countries are at high risk for heat-related health problems as temperatures mount ( 119 ).

Wildlife is burdened by toxic pollutants coming from the air, soil, or the water ecosystem and, in this way, animals can develop health problems when exposed to high levels of pollutants. Reproductive failure and birth effects have been reported.

Eutrophication is occurring when elevated concentrations of nutrients (especially nitrogen) stimulate the blooming of aquatic algae, which can cause a disequilibration in the diversity of fish and their deaths.

Without a doubt, there is a critical concentration of pollution that an ecosystem can tolerate without being destroyed, which is associated with the ecosystem's capacity to neutralize acidity. The Canada Acid Rain Program established this load at 20 kg/ha/yr ( 120 ).

Hence, air pollution has deleterious effects on both soil and water ( 121 ). Concerning PM as an air pollutant, its impact on crop yield and food productivity has been reported. Its impact on watery bodies is associated with the survival of living organisms and fishes and their productivity potential ( 121 ).

An impairment in photosynthetic rhythm and metabolism is observed in plants exposed to the effects of ozone ( 121 ).

Sulfur and nitrogen oxides are involved in the formation of acid rain and are harmful to plants and marine organisms.

Last but not least, as mentioned above, the toxicity associated with lead and other metals is the main threat to our ecosystems (air, water, and soil) and living creatures ( 121 ).

In 2018, during the first WHO Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health, the WHO's General Director, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called air pollution a “silent public health emergency” and “the new tobacco” ( 122 ).

Undoubtedly, children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, especially during their development. Air pollution has adverse effects on our lives in many different respects.

Diseases associated with air pollution have not only an important economic impact but also a societal impact due to absences from productive work and school.

Despite the difficulty of eradicating the problem of anthropogenic environmental pollution, a successful solution could be envisaged as a tight collaboration of authorities, bodies, and doctors to regularize the situation. Governments should spread sufficient information and educate people and should involve professionals in these issues so as to control the emergence of the problem successfully.

Technologies to reduce air pollution at the source must be established and should be used in all industries and power plants. The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 set as a major target the reduction of GHG emissions to below 5% by 2012 ( 123 ). This was followed by the Copenhagen summit, 2009 ( 124 ), and then the Durban summit of 2011 ( 125 ), where it was decided to keep to the same line of action. The Kyoto protocol and the subsequent ones were ratified by many countries. Among the pioneers who adopted this important protocol for the world's environmental and climate “health” was China ( 3 ). As is known, China is a fast-developing economy and its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is expected to be very high by 2050, which is defined as the year of dissolution of the protocol for the decrease in gas emissions.

A more recent international agreement of crucial importance for climate change is the Paris Agreement of 2015, issued by the UNFCCC (United Nations Climate Change Committee). This latest agreement was ratified by a plethora of UN (United Nations) countries as well as the countries of the European Union ( 126 ). In this vein, parties should promote actions and measures to enhance numerous aspects around the subject. Boosting education, training, public awareness, and public participation are some of the relevant actions for maximizing the opportunities to achieve the targets and goals on the crucial matter of climate change and environmental pollution ( 126 ). Without any doubt, technological improvements makes our world easier and it seems difficult to reduce the harmful impact caused by gas emissions, we could limit its use by seeking reliable approaches.

Synopsizing, a global prevention policy should be designed in order to combat anthropogenic air pollution as a complement to the correct handling of the adverse health effects associated with air pollution. Sustainable development practices should be applied, together with information coming from research in order to handle the problem effectively.

At this point, international cooperation in terms of research, development, administration policy, monitoring, and politics is vital for effective pollution control. Legislation concerning air pollution must be aligned and updated, and policy makers should propose the design of a powerful tool of environmental and health protection. As a result, the main proposal of this essay is that we should focus on fostering local structures to promote experience and practice and extrapolate these to the international level through developing effective policies for sustainable management of ecosystems.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

IM is employed by the company Delphis S.A.

The remaining authors declare that the present review paper was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords: air pollution, environment, health, public health, gas emission, policy

Citation: Manisalidis I, Stavropoulou E, Stavropoulos A and Bezirtzoglou E (2020) Environmental and Health Impacts of Air Pollution: A Review. Front. Public Health 8:14. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00014

Received: 17 October 2019; Accepted: 17 January 2020; Published: 20 February 2020.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2020 Manisalidis, Stavropoulou, Stavropoulos and Bezirtzoglou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Ioannis Manisalidis, giannismanisal@gmail.com ; Elisavet Stavropoulou, elisabeth.stavropoulou@gmail.com

† These authors have contributed equally to this work

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Air Pollution Effects on the Health and Environment Essay

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According to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, there are six principal air pollutants, the excess of which critically affects the health, lifestyle, and welfare of the population. They are carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particle pollution, and sulfur dioxide. Increasing the level of each of them will most likely have critical consequences, and should be regulated by governmental services. Still, to my mind, the priority should be given to the regulation of particle pollution as the most dangerous issue.

Particle pollution or “Particulate matter,” PM, is an effect caused by contamination of air by the particles of different origin. They might be dust, small droplets of nitric and sulfuric acids, coal and metal particles, organic chemicals, etc. The particles are subdivided into two groups. The size of “inhalable coarse particles” lies within the range of 2.5 and 10 micrometers (“The United States Environmental Protection Agency: Particulate Matter” par. 3). “Fine particles” are 2.5 micrometers and smaller (“The United States Environmental Protection Agency: Particulate Matter” par. 4). The particles are majorly concentrated along the roadways and in the areas of dusty industries. Forest fires, being a significant issue recently all over the U.S., are a substantial source of PM (Langmann et al. 109). Gas emissions from cars, industries, and power plants also contribute to particle pollution.

The level of particle pollution is regulated both by primary and secondary standards, meaning that high levels of PM will affect both sensitive categories of people and the welfare such as animals, crops, and buildings. The health dangers lay within lungs and heart disease that might cause death, as well as asthma, heart attacks, respiratory symptoms, etc. In general, 500,000 deaths occur due to particle pollution annually (Nel, 804). The damage to welfare and environment can be described as contamination of water bodies with acids, affecting the nutrient balance of soils and coastal waters, destroying forests and crops. Acid rains “resulted by sulfur oxides transformation into acids, especially sulfuric acid, besides causing leaf burns, contribute to the acidity increase of naturally acid soils and to lowering the buffering capacity of base saturated top soils” (Lacatusu, Cimpeanu and Lungu 818) are also the result of particle pollution. PM can also cause discomfort and danger, conducting a reduction of visibility.

The factor that demonstrates the extreme danger and the priority of dealing with an issue of particle pollutions is that its standard was reviewed in 2012 the latest date if compare to revisions of other major pollutants (“The United States Environmental Protection Agency: National Ambient Air Quality Standards” par.3). The general recommendations to reduce particle pollution on the household level include not to burn leaves, use the energy sources thoughtfully, avoid using fireplaces and dust-producing devices. These measures are high, but some more effective means should be provided on the state level. They might be introducing the policy of power plants emission reduction by providing more environmental-friendly technologies. This also refers to encouraging using a vehicle with low rates of dangerous emissions. The practice of short-term air pollution forecasts and the regulation of the industrial and household emissions in the area, based on those forecasts (Berlyand 12), seems to be a good idea. The policy of forest fires prevention also should be improved.

Particle pollution is one of the major issues affecting the environment all over the United States. As is, it occurs due to industrial problems and natural catastrophes and might result in drastic consequences for the population’s health and welfare; the environmental policy should be reviewed to reduce the rates of pollution.

Works Cited

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Lacatusu, Radu, Carmen Cimpeanu, Mihaela Lungu. “Soil pollution by acid rains and heavy metals in Zlatna region, Romania.” Sustaining the Global Farm, Purdue University (2001): 817-820. Print.

Langmann, Bärbel, Bryan Duncan, Christiane Textor, Jörg Trentmann, Guido R. vander Werf. “Vegetation fire emissions and their impact on air pollution and climate.” Atmospheric Environment 43.1 (2009): 107-116. Print.

Nel, André. “Air pollution-related illness: effects of particles.” Science 308.5723 (2005): 804-806. Print.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency: National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) 2015. Web.

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• Sulphur Dioxide as an Air Pollutant in the UAE
• Atmospheric Chemistry - Pollution
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• Economic Impact of Industrial Pollution in China
• Expanding the Bayway Refinery
• Chicago (A-D)
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Air Pollution Effects on Terrestrial and Aquatic Animals

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Air pollution has adversely affected animals since the advent of the industrial revolution (Newman 1980). Currently, the greatest threat to animal biodiversity from air pollution occurs in industrial countries where regional impacts (e.g., acid precipitation, ozone) are causing widespread direct and indirect effects to animals and their habitats. In Eastern Europe, local, regional, and transboundary air pollution is severe. Future threats will occur as underdeveloped countries that have minimal air pollution controls industrialize. Of particular concern are those areas, such as the tropical forest of the Amazon Basin, that harbor the world’s greatest biodiversity including many species yet to be described (Wilson 1988).

The beauty and genius of a work of art may be reconceived, though its first material expression be destroyed; a vanished harmony may yet again inspire the composer; but when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again. William Beebe (1906)

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Impact of Air Pollution on Terrestrial Ecosystems

Responses of Tropical and Subtropical Plants to Air Pollution

Air Pollution and Its Associated Impacts on Atmosphere and Biota Health

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Newman, J.R., Schreiber, R.K., Novakova, E. (1992). Air Pollution Effects on Terrestrial and Aquatic Animals. In: Barker, J.R., Tingey, D.T. (eds) Air Pollution Effects on Biodiversity. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3538-6_10

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Air Pollution: Everything You Need to Know

How smog, soot, greenhouse gases, and other top air pollutants are affecting the planet—and your health.

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What is air pollution?

What causes air pollution, effects of air pollution, air pollution in the united states, air pollution and environmental justice, controlling air pollution, how to help reduce air pollution, how to protect your health.

Air pollution  refers to the release of pollutants into the air—pollutants that are detrimental to human health and the planet as a whole. According to the  World Health Organization (WHO) , each year, indoor and outdoor air pollution is responsible for nearly seven million deaths around the globe. Ninety-nine percent of human beings currently breathe air that exceeds the WHO’s guideline limits for pollutants, with those living in low- and middle-income countries suffering the most. In the United States, the  Clean Air Act , established in 1970, authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to safeguard public health by regulating the emissions of these harmful air pollutants.

“Most air pollution comes from energy use and production,” says  John Walke , director of the Clean Air team at NRDC. Driving a car on gasoline, heating a home with oil, running a power plant on  fracked gas : In each case, a fossil fuel is burned and harmful chemicals and gases are released into the air.

“We’ve made progress over the last 50 years in improving air quality in the United States, thanks to the Clean Air Act. But climate change will make it harder in the future to meet pollution standards, which are designed to  protect health ,” says Walke.

Air pollution is now the world’s fourth-largest risk factor for early death. According to the 2020  State of Global Air  report —which summarizes the latest scientific understanding of air pollution around the world—4.5 million deaths were linked to outdoor air pollution exposures in 2019, and another 2.2 million deaths were caused by indoor air pollution. The world’s most populous countries, China and India, continue to bear the highest burdens of disease.

“Despite improvements in reducing global average mortality rates from air pollution, this report also serves as a sobering reminder that the climate crisis threatens to worsen air pollution problems significantly,” explains  Vijay Limaye , senior scientist in NRDC’s Science Office. Smog, for instance, is intensified by increased heat, forming when the weather is warmer and there’s more ultraviolet radiation. In addition, climate change increases the production of allergenic air pollutants, including mold (thanks to damp conditions caused by extreme weather and increased flooding) and pollen (due to a longer pollen season). “Climate change–fueled droughts and dry conditions are also setting the stage for dangerous wildfires,” adds Limaye. “ Wildfire smoke can linger for days and pollute the air with particulate matter hundreds of miles downwind.”

The effects of air pollution on the human body vary, depending on the type of pollutant, the length and level of exposure, and other factors, including a person’s individual health risks and the cumulative impacts of multiple pollutants or stressors.

Smog and soot

These are the two most prevalent types of air pollution. Smog (sometimes referred to as ground-level ozone) occurs when emissions from combusting fossil fuels react with sunlight. Soot—a type of  particulate matter —is made up of tiny particles of chemicals, soil, smoke, dust, or allergens that are carried in the air. The sources of smog and soot are similar. “Both come from cars and trucks, factories, power plants, incinerators, engines, generally anything that combusts fossil fuels such as coal, gasoline, or natural gas,” Walke says.

Smog can irritate the eyes and throat and also damage the lungs, especially those of children, senior citizens, and people who work or exercise outdoors. It’s even worse for people who have asthma or allergies; these extra pollutants can intensify their symptoms and trigger asthma attacks. The tiniest airborne particles in soot are especially dangerous because they can penetrate the lungs and bloodstream and worsen bronchitis, lead to heart attacks, and even hasten death. In  2020, a report from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health showed that COVID-19 mortality rates were higher in areas with more particulate matter pollution than in areas with even slightly less, showing a correlation between the virus’s deadliness and long-term exposure to air pollution. 

These findings also illuminate an important  environmental justice issue . Because highways and polluting facilities have historically been sited in or next to low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, the negative effects of this pollution have been  disproportionately experienced by the people who live in these communities.

Hazardous air pollutants

A number of air pollutants pose severe health risks and can sometimes be fatal, even in small amounts. Almost 200 of them are regulated by law; some of the most common are mercury,  lead , dioxins, and benzene. “These are also most often emitted during gas or coal combustion, incineration, or—in the case of benzene—found in gasoline,” Walke says. Benzene, classified as a carcinogen by the EPA, can cause eye, skin, and lung irritation in the short term and blood disorders in the long term. Dioxins, more typically found in food but also present in small amounts in the air, is another carcinogen that can affect the liver in the short term and harm the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems, as well as reproductive functions.  Mercury  attacks the central nervous system. In large amounts, lead can damage children’s brains and kidneys, and even minimal exposure can affect children’s IQ and ability to learn.

Another category of toxic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are by-products of traffic exhaust and wildfire smoke. In large amounts, they have been linked to eye and lung irritation, blood and liver issues, and even cancer.  In one study , the children of mothers exposed to PAHs during pregnancy showed slower brain-processing speeds and more pronounced symptoms of ADHD.

Greenhouse gases

While these climate pollutants don’t have the direct or immediate impacts on the human body associated with other air pollutants, like smog or hazardous chemicals, they are still harmful to our health. By trapping the earth’s heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases lead to warmer temperatures, which in turn lead to the hallmarks of climate change: rising sea levels, more extreme weather, heat-related deaths, and the increased transmission of infectious diseases. In 2021, carbon dioxide accounted for roughly 79 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, and methane made up more than 11 percent. “Carbon dioxide comes from combusting fossil fuels, and methane comes from natural and industrial sources, including large amounts that are released during oil and gas drilling,” Walke says. “We emit far larger amounts of carbon dioxide, but methane is significantly more potent, so it’s also very destructive.” 

Another class of greenhouse gases,  hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) , are thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide in their ability to trap heat. In October 2016, more than 140 countries signed the Kigali Agreement to reduce the use of these chemicals—which are found in air conditioners and refrigerators—and develop greener alternatives over time. (The United States officially signed onto the  Kigali Agreement in 2022.)

Pollen and mold

Mold and allergens from trees, weeds, and grass are also carried in the air, are exacerbated by climate change, and can be hazardous to health. Though they aren’t regulated, they can be considered a form of air pollution. “When homes, schools, or businesses get water damage, mold can grow and produce allergenic airborne pollutants,” says Kim Knowlton, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University and a former NRDC scientist. “ Mold exposure can precipitate asthma attacks  or an allergic response, and some molds can even produce toxins that would be dangerous for anyone to inhale.”

Pollen allergies are worsening  because of climate change . “Lab and field studies are showing that pollen-producing plants—especially ragweed—grow larger and produce more pollen when you increase the amount of carbon dioxide that they grow in,” Knowlton says. “Climate change also extends the pollen production season, and some studies are beginning to suggest that ragweed pollen itself might be becoming a more potent allergen.” If so, more people will suffer runny noses, fevers, itchy eyes, and other symptoms. “And for people with allergies and asthma, pollen peaks can precipitate asthma attacks, which are far more serious and can be life-threatening.”

More than one in three U.S. residents—120 million people—live in counties with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the  2023  State of the Air  report by the American Lung Association (ALA). Since the annual report was first published, in 2000, its findings have shown how the Clean Air Act has been able to reduce harmful emissions from transportation, power plants, and manufacturing.

Recent findings, however, reflect how climate change–fueled wildfires and extreme heat are adding to the challenges of protecting public health. The latest report—which focuses on ozone, year-round particle pollution, and short-term particle pollution—also finds that people of color are 61 percent more likely than white people to live in a county with a failing grade in at least one of those categories, and three times more likely to live in a county that fails in all three.

In rankings for each of the three pollution categories covered by the ALA report, California cities occupy the top three slots (i.e., were highest in pollution), despite progress that the Golden State has made in reducing air pollution emissions in the past half century. At the other end of the spectrum, these cities consistently rank among the country’s best for air quality: Burlington, Vermont; Honolulu; and Wilmington, North Carolina. 

No one wants to live next door to an incinerator, oil refinery, port, toxic waste dump, or other polluting site. Yet millions of people around the world do, and this puts them at a much higher risk for respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, neurological damage, cancer, and death. In the United States, people of color are 1.5 times more likely than whites to live in areas with poor air quality, according to the ALA.

Historically, racist zoning policies and discriminatory lending practices known as  redlining  have combined to keep polluting industries and car-choked highways away from white neighborhoods and have turned communities of color—especially low-income and working-class communities of color—into sacrifice zones, where residents are forced to breathe dirty air and suffer the many health problems associated with it. In addition to the increased health risks that come from living in such places, the polluted air can economically harm residents in the form of missed workdays and higher medical costs.

Environmental racism isn't limited to cities and industrial areas. Outdoor laborers, including the estimated three million migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the United States, are among the most vulnerable to air pollution—and they’re also among the least equipped, politically, to pressure employers and lawmakers to affirm their right to breathe clean air.

Recently,  cumulative impact mapping , which uses data on environmental conditions and demographics, has been able to show how some communities are overburdened with layers of issues, like high levels of poverty, unemployment, and pollution. Tools like the  Environmental Justice Screening Method  and the EPA’s  EJScreen  provide evidence of what many environmental justice communities have been explaining for decades: that we need land use and public health reforms to ensure that vulnerable areas are not overburdened and that the people who need resources the most are receiving them.

In the United States, the  Clean Air Act  has been a crucial tool for reducing air pollution since its passage in 1970, although fossil fuel interests aided by industry-friendly lawmakers have frequently attempted to  weaken its many protections. Ensuring that this bedrock environmental law remains intact and properly enforced will always be key to maintaining and improving our air quality.

But the best, most effective way to control air pollution is to speed up our transition to cleaner fuels and industrial processes. By switching over to renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar power), maximizing fuel efficiency in our vehicles, and replacing more and more of our gasoline-powered cars and trucks with electric versions, we'll be limiting air pollution at its source while also curbing the global warming that heightens so many of its worst health impacts.

And what about the economic costs of controlling air pollution? According to a report on the Clean Air Act commissioned by NRDC, the annual  benefits of cleaner air  are up to 32 times greater than the cost of clean air regulations. Those benefits include up to 370,000 avoided premature deaths, 189,000 fewer hospital admissions for cardiac and respiratory illnesses, and net economic benefits of up to $3.8 trillion for the U.S. economy every year.

“The less gasoline we burn, the better we’re doing to reduce air pollution and the harmful effects of climate change,” Walke explains. “Make good choices about transportation. When you can, ride a bike, walk, or take public transportation. For driving, choose a car that gets better miles per gallon of gas or  buy an electric car .” You can also investigate your power provider options—you may be able to request that your electricity be supplied by wind or solar. Buying your food locally cuts down on the fossil fuels burned in trucking or flying food in from across the world. And most important: “Support leaders who push for clean air and water and responsible steps on climate change,” Walke says.

• “When you see in the news or hear on the weather report that pollution levels are high, it may be useful to limit the time when children go outside or you go for a jog,” Walke says. Generally, ozone levels tend to be lower in the morning.
• If you exercise outside, stay as far as you can from heavily trafficked roads. Then shower and wash your clothes to remove fine particles.
• The air may look clear, but that doesn’t mean it’s pollution free. Utilize tools like the EPA’s air pollution monitor,  AirNow , to get the latest conditions. If the air quality is bad, stay inside with the windows closed.
• If you live or work in an area that’s prone to wildfires,  stay away from the harmful smoke  as much as you’re able. Consider keeping a small stock of masks to wear when conditions are poor. The most ideal masks for smoke particles will be labelled “NIOSH” (which stands for National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) and have either “N95” or “P100” printed on it.
• If you’re using an air conditioner while outdoor pollution conditions are bad, use the recirculating setting to limit the amount of polluted air that gets inside. 

This story was originally published on November 1, 2016, and has been updated with new information and links.

This NRDC.org story is available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as grammar); you can’t resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you can’t republish our material wholesale or automatically—you need to select stories individually; you can’t republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should drop us a note to let us know when you’ve used one of our stories.

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air pollution , release into the atmosphere of various gases , finely divided solids, or finely dispersed liquid aerosols at rates that exceed the natural capacity of the environment to dissipate and dilute or absorb them. These substances may reach concentrations in the air that cause undesirable health, economic, or aesthetic effects.

Major air pollutants

Criteria pollutants.

Clean, dry air consists primarily of nitrogen and oxygen —78 percent and 21 percent respectively, by volume. The remaining 1 percent is a mixture of other gases, mostly argon (0.9 percent), along with trace (very small) amounts of carbon dioxide , methane , hydrogen , helium , and more. Water vapour is also a normal, though quite variable, component of the atmosphere, normally ranging from 0.01 to 4 percent by volume; under very humid conditions the moisture content of air may be as high as 5 percent.

There are six major air pollutants that have been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “criteria” pollutants — criteria meaning that the concentrations of these pollutants in the atmosphere are useful as indicators of overall air quality. The sources, acceptable concentrations, and effects of the criteria pollutants are summarized in the table.

The gaseous criteria air pollutants of primary concern in urban settings include sulfur dioxide , nitrogen dioxide , and carbon monoxide ; these are emitted directly into the air from fossil fuels such as fuel oil , gasoline , and natural gas that are burned in power plants, automobiles, and other combustion sources. Ozone (a key component of smog ) is also a gaseous pollutant; it forms in the atmosphere via complex chemical reactions occurring between nitrogen dioxide and various volatile organic compounds (e.g., gasoline vapours).

Airborne suspensions of extremely small solid or liquid particles called “particulates” (e.g., soot, dust, smokes, fumes, mists), especially those less than 10 micrometres (μm; millionths of a metre) in size, are significant air pollutants because of their very harmful effects on human health. They are emitted by various industrial processes, coal- or oil-burning power plants, residential heating systems, and automobiles. Lead fumes (airborne particulates less than 0.5 μm in size) are particularly toxic and are an important pollutant of many diesel fuels .

Except for lead, criteria pollutants are emitted in industrialized countries at very high rates, typically measured in millions of tons per year. All except ozone are discharged directly into the atmosphere from a wide variety of sources. They are regulated primarily by establishing ambient air quality standards, which are maximum acceptable concentrations of each criteria pollutant in the atmosphere, regardless of its origin. The six criteria pollutants are described in turn below.

Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Air Pollution — Air Pollution: Causes and Effects

Air Pollution: Causes and Effects

• Categories: Air Pollution Environmental Issues Pollution

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Words: 723 |

Updated: 30 November, 2023

Words: 723 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

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Air Pollution Essay: Hook Examples

• The Silent Killer: Delve into the invisible threat that surrounds us every day, affecting our health, environment, and future generations – air pollution.
• Gasping for Breath: Paint a vivid picture of individuals struggling to breathe in polluted cities, highlighting the urgency of addressing this pressing issue.
• Nature’s S.O.S: Explore how wildlife and ecosystems send distress signals through the impact of air pollution, underscoring the interconnectedness of all living beings.
• The Economic Toll: Uncover the hidden costs of air pollution on healthcare, productivity, and quality of life, revealing the far-reaching consequences of our actions.
• Clean Air, Clear Future: Imagine a world where we embrace cleaner technologies and sustainable practices, offering a vision of hope and change in the fight against air pollution.

Works Cited

• Agarwal, A., & Agarwal, S. (2020). Air Pollution: Sources, Effects, and Control. CRC Press.
• Cohen, A. J., Brauer, M., Burnett, R., Anderson, H. R., Frostad, J., Estep, K., … & Balakrishnan, K. (2017). Estimates and 25-year trends of the global burden of disease attributable to ambient air pollution: an analysis of data from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2015. The Lancet, 389(10082), 1907-1918.
• Guttikunda, S. K., & Gurjar, B. R. (2012). Role of meteorology in seasonality of air pollution in megacity Delhi, India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 184(5), 3199-3211.
• He, G., Ying, Q., Ma, Y., Cheng, L., Wang, Y., & Liu, Y. (2016). Health risks of air pollution in China: a special focus on particulate matter. Environmental Pollution, 211, 17-30.
• Heyder, J., Gebhart, J., Rudolf, G., & Schiller, C. (1986). St deposition in the human respiratory tract as determined by cyclone techniques. Environmental Health Perspectives, 66, 149-159.
• Khan, M. N., Islam, M. M., Siddiqui, M. N., & Islam, M. S. (2019). Sources and Impact of Air Pollution on Human Health. In Sustainable Environment and Transportation (pp. 307-334). Springer.
• Kumar, P., Kumar, A., & Goyal, P. (2020). Air Pollution: Measurement, Modelling and Mitigation. CRC Press.
• Lelieveld, J., Evans, J. S., Fnais, M., Giannadaki, D., & Pozzer, A. (2015). The contribution of outdoor air pollution sources to premature mortality on a global scale. Nature, 525(7569), 367-371.

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How air pollution is destroying our health

WHO data show that almost all of the global population (99%) breathe air that exceeds WHO  guideline limits  and contains high levels of  pollutants , with low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) suffering from the highest exposures.

Ambient (outdoor) air pollution in both cities and rural areas is causing fine particulate matter which results in strokes, heart diseases, lung cancer, and acute and chronic respiratory diseases.  

Additionally, around 2.6 billion people are exposed to dangerous levels of household air pollution from using polluting open fires or simple stoves for cooking fuelled by kerosene, biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and coal.

First Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health

To rally the world towards major commitments to fight this problem, WHO and partners convened the first  Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health  in Geneva on 29 October – 1 November 2018. The conference raised awareness of this growing public health challenge and shared information and tools on the health risks of air pollution and its interventions.

This conference showcased some of WHO’s work on air pollution, including the findings of its Global Platform on Air Quality and Health. This platform, whose diverse membership includes researchers, civil society, UN agencies and other partner institutions, reviewed the data on air quality and health. For example, the platform worked on techniques to more accurately attribute air pollution coming from different sources of pollution. Ongoing work includes improving estimates of air quality by combining the data from various air quality monitoring networks, atmospheric modelling and satellite remote sensing.

Health impacts of air pollution

There are two main types of air pollution: ambient air pollution (outdoor pollution) and household air pollution (indoor air pollution). Ambient air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone in low-, middle-, and high-income countries as its source – combustion of fossil fuel – is ubiquitous. Household air pollution is mainly caused by the use of solid fuels (such as wood, crop wastes, charcoal, coal and dung) and kerosene in open fires and inefficient stoves. Most of these people are poor and live in low- and middle-income countries.

Exposure to smoke from cooking fires causes 3.2 million premature deaths each year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, where polluting fuels and technologies are used every day, particularly at home for cooking, heating and lighting. Women and children, who tend to spend more time indoors, are affected the most. LMIC also suffer the greatest from exposure ambient air pollution with 3.68 million premature deaths each year, which is almost 8 times the mortality rates in high income countries (0.47 million).

The main pollutants are:

-  particulate matter, a mix of solid and liquid droplets, with larger particles (PM 10 ) arising from pollen, sea spray and wind-blown dust from erosion, agricultural spaces, roadways and mining operations, while finer particles (PM2.5) can be derived from primary sources (for example combustion of fuels in power generation facilities, industries or vehicles) and secondary sources (for example chemical reactions between gases)

-  nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), a gas from combustion of fuels in processes such as those used for furnaces, gas stoves, transportation, industry and power generation;

-  sulfur dioxide, another gas mainly from the combustion of fossil fuels for domestic heating, industries and power generation; and

-  ozone at ground level, caused by a chemical reaction of gases, such as NO 2 , in the presence of sunlight. The pollutant that is most commonly monitored by regulatory frameworks and for which a lot of evidence of adverse health impact is available is particulate matter followed by nitrogen dioxide.

Household air pollution

How air pollution affects our body

Particles with a diameter of 10 microns or less (≤ PM 10 ) can penetrate and lodge deep inside the lungs, causing irritation, inflammation and damaging the lining of the respiratory tract. Smaller, more health-damaging particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (≤ PM 2.5 – 60 of them make up the width of a human hair) can penetrate the lung barrier and enter the blood system, affecting all major organs of the body. These pollutants increase the risk of heart and respiratory diseases, as well as lung cancer and strokes.

Ozone is a major factor in causing asthma (or making it worse), and nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide can also cause asthma, bronchial symptoms, lung inflammation and reduced lung function. In 2021 WHO updated the Global Air Quality Guidelines, which recommend the maximum safe level for PM 2.5 annual average concentration of 5 μg/m 3  or less. The guidelines provide evidence of the damage air pollution inflicts on human health, at even lower concentrations than previously understood. The updated guidelines provide recommendations on air quality guideline levels as well as interim targets for six key air pollutants. They also offer qualitative statements on good practices for the management of certain types of particulate matter (PM), for example, black carbon/elemental carbon, ultrafine particles, and particles originating from sand and dust storms, for which there is insufficient quantitative evidence to derive AQG levels.

Air pollution has a disastrous effect on children; there were more than 5 million deaths of children under the age of 5 years. More than 27% of those deaths – 1.7 million – were attributable to environmental factors, with air pollution foremost among them. Globally, lower respiratory infections are the second leading cause of death for children under 5 years. Every year, 442 000 children (as of 2022) younger than 5 years die prematurely from breathing polluted air. Evidence suggests that air pollution could also harm children before they are born (reduced birth weight) through their mothers' exposure. There is emerging evidence linking air pollution exposure to cancer, neurodevelopmental and metabolic diseases in children.

As well as affecting our health, pollutants in the air are also causing long-term environmental damage by driving climate change, itself a major threat to health and well-being. 

Already in 2018, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that coal-fired electricity must end by 2050 if we are to limit global warming rises to 1.5 °C. If not, we may see a major climate crisis in just 20 years.

Affordable strategies exist to reduce emissions from energy, transport, waste management, housing and industrial sectors. These interventions often carry other benefits like reduced traffic and noise, increased physical activity and better land use – all of which contribute to improving health and well-being. WHO also supports cities with the data, tools and capacity to select, implement and track clean and healthy policies at the city level. Better air quality will benefit all of us, everywhere.

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What Are The Effects Of Air Pollution On Animals?

Pollution comes in many forms, from plastic pollution to chemical substances entering our waterways. But one of the biggest forms of pollution is pollution of the air. This is a growing global environmental problem which comes in many forms and therefore causes many different direct and indirect problems. We now know many of these pollutants are having adverse effects on our own health and so this raises the question that, if air pollution is so bad for us, what are the effects of air pollution on animals?

In short, air pollution affects animals both directly and indirectly and the amount it affects a certain animal will vary greatly depending on a number of factors. Direct effects include:

• Inhalation of gases and particles in the air
• Ingestion of particles in food or water
• Absorption of gases through the skin

Indirect effects include:

• Climate change

Ocean acidification

Ozone layer depletion.

As you can see there are plenty of potential effects of air pollution on animals. Some of these are quite well understood and some are not. In this article, I will briefly try and summarise what we know.

What is an air pollutant?

A substance that causes air pollution is known as an air pollutant and is defined as:

“a substance in the air that can have damaging effects on humans and the wider ecosystem”.

This could be a solid particle, such as dust or soot emitted from a coal-fired power station. But it could also be a gas, invisible to the naked eye, such as carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), the most well known ‘greenhouse gas’.

It is important to note that for a substance to be an air pollutant, it doesn’t have to have originated from human activities. Natural air pollutants also occur such as when a volcano erupts, or a forest fire begins naturally, this has been a natural process for a long time before humans were affecting animals (we are just making things much worse!).

The difference between primary pollutants and secondary pollutants.

Any substance directly emitted and instantly having adverse effects are primary pollutants. Secondary pollutants are caused by these primary pollutants reacting with another substance causing a new pollutant to form.

Tropospheric ozone or ground level ozone is an example of a secondary pollutant that forms near the earth’s surface when other primary pollutants react.

What are the main air pollutants?

Before we can understand why pollutants can have adverse effects on animals we need to have a quick rundown of the main culprits.

Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) – gas

I’m sure you have all heard of this one. The most well known of all the greenhouse gases .

Abundant in the atmosphere already, but thanks to us humans, now in far greater quantities following the industrial revolution and the rise in factories and vehicles emitting the gas at an alarming rate.

Nitrogen Oxides – gas

Another group of pollutants which includes nitrous oxide (N 2 O).

Nitrogen and oxygen are commonly found particles in the atmosphere which don’t react together at normal temperatures. However, under extreme temperatures (such as those found in a power plant or a car engine) they do and are released into the air.

Nitrous Oxide is actually a greenhouse gas with 298 times the ability of CO 2 when it comes to trapping heat (over a 100 year period). However, it is currently in much lower quantities than CO 2 and so is only thought to have 1/3 the effect on climate.

Sulphur Dioxide – gas

This is another one you may well have come across. Sulphur dioxide does not float around in the air like CO 2 however it does enter the atmosphere naturally during volcanic eruptions.

However, we have been adding significantly to the quantity of this pollutant by burning coal and petroleum to produce power.

Methane (CH 4 ) and other Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – gas

Another group of pollutants that contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Methane directly and the other VOCs with their ability to form ozone which makes methane last longer in the atmosphere.

Some of the main human-made sources of methane are decomposing food/ waste in landfill and also from animal agriculture (farting cows basically).

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

You may (and if not probably should) have a carbon monoxide detector in your home. This is because carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless and yet extremely deadly gas and can be formed when burning natural gas (such as in an oven).

The main man-made source of CO though is within vehicle exhaust fumes.

Airborne particulates

Unlike the invisible gases mentioned above, airborne particulates are very small particles of solid or liquid that are light enough to be suspended in the air for a length of time. Soot or dust are common examples of this type of pollutant.

These are produced naturally from volcanoes and forest fires and then by humans when we burn anything, such as in power plants.

So far I have mentioned some of the main offenders, but there are many more air pollutants on top of that including:

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) produced by refrigerators and aerosols
• Ammonia from farm waste
• Free radicals from burning fossil fuels

And the list goes on. But now we know the main air pollutants that we as humans have contributed towards over the years what are the effects of them on animals?

Direct effects of air pollution on animals

In humans, the direct health effects of air pollution are becoming more well known. With respiratory disease, heart disease and lung cancer among the worst.

The air pollutants responsible for these diseases are the airborne particles but also the nitrogen oxides emitted by road vehicles.

But as we are only really just beginning to understand the effects on humans the effects on most animals are still not that well known.

Pet animals

The effect of air pollution on pets, which spend much of their time in the same environments to humans, you would expect to be similar.

And studies have found adverse effects on dogs. A study in Mexico City, a city with notoriously high levels of air pollution, compared dogs living in the city with dogs living in an unpolluted area. They found that dogs in the polluted areas had inflamed brains and other signs indicative of disease (1). But there are still very few studies on the subject.

Indoor pollutants are also bad for pet animals with a study on cats showing a decrease in lung capacity when sharing a home with a smoker . So when a study showed that on a day in Beijing with particularly high pollution, standing outside is the equivalent of smoking 1.5 cigarettes an hour. From this, we can infer that when air pollution is bad it must surely have an adverse effect on these animals as well.

Arguably even more at risk to the direct effects of air pollution are birds. Unlike pets, they don’t spend time indoors and are often resident in our cities where air pollution levels are high.

A study in the early 1990s examined the effects in quite an extreme way by placing caged birds (coal tits and rock buntings) within close vicinity of a working coal-fired power plant. The mixture of particulates, nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide was shown to have adverse effects on the respiratory system of the birds (2).

More recently in 2017, a paper compiled a series of studies of air pollutants on birds dating back as far as 1950 and found consistent evidence of adverse effects. Effects included respiratory illness, affected immune systems, changes in behaviour and less success in laying eggs and therefore producing young ( 3 ).

The same study mentioned above where birds were placed in cages by a coal-fired power station was repeated on small mammals (wood mice and house mice). Yet again the pollutants caused respiratory problems.

A study in Sao Paolo, Brazil, (another city with high levels of air pollution) placed mice outside in cages for 4 months. One cage with filtered clean air and the other with unfiltered polluted air. The study found that when exposed to the unfiltered air from an early age, the reproductive success of the females went down (4).

The indirect effects of air pollution on animals

This is where it starts to get complicated. It gets complicated because everything in the environment is inter-connected making it very hard to pinpoint exactly how these pollutants are indirectly affecting animals.

If air pollution is affecting just the tiniest of microbes, that could still have indirect implications for other animals further up the food chain. So I won’t try and explain every single impact in this article but I’ll highlight a few of the more interesting/ concerning.

Indirect effects caused by climate change

As mentioned earlier in the article, many of the man-made air pollutants contribute to the greenhouse effect. Acting as a blanket in the atmosphere trapping heat in. The more of these gases we release the worse this effect becomes.

The warming effect caused by this is what we refer to as ‘global warming’ although because the earth’s climate is a complex system of weather patterns, climate can be effective in many different ways and all these can affect wildlife.

The number of studies linking climate change to impacts on wildlife is increasing all the time. The key thing to remember again is that everything is linked and so if climate change starts to affect even the smallest plants or insects, it will also more than likely affect the largest animals eventually.

Many species have evolved together over millions of years, with certain insects relying on certain plants to survive. If those plants are impacted by warming temperatures the insects will suffer and then the animal which eats the insects may also suffer, you get the picture. It doesn’t take much, a slight change in the life cycle of one animal can completely ruin that of another if they can’t alter to be in sync.

One of the main effects of climate change that has been observed is a change in range, i.e where certain animals are found. A study in Britain of 329 different species showed that 275 moved further north, most likely due to the warmer climate .

Rising ocean temperatures are causing corals, which are the foundation of huge ecosystems, to ‘bleach’. This is where corals expel algae living in their tissues leaving them looking white or ‘bleached’. This doesn’t kill the corals straight away but does lead to a higher rate of mortality .

The list of impacts is vast and ever growing. But as I say the important thing to note with all these indirect impacts is the fact that the slightest change to one plant or animal species can affect many others.

Other indirect effects of air pollution on animals

Ocean acidification occurs when the increasing amount of CO 2 from air pollution is absorbed by the oceans. The absorption of CO 2 changes the pH of the seawater i.e makes it more acidic.

As with climate change if this change occurred slowly, like it might have done before humans arrived, then animals could potentially adapt to the different conditions. However, these changes are happening rapidly thanks to all the air pollution we are causing and animals just can’t adapt quickly enough.

This more acidic water makes it difficult for animals to create shells, and has actually been found to start dissolving the shells of existing ones (5).

The acidic water has also been found to alter other important functions of reef fish such as communication and reproduction .

Acid rain is formed when sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide air pollution combines with water in the atmosphere causing it to become acidic. When this water falls as rain it can then have some bad consequences for wildlife.

The clearest effects of this are on aquatic animals in streams, lakes, swamps and marshes. The acid rain has been found to react with soils to release aluminium which washes into waterways. This aluminium causes acidification and has effects on the survival of fish eggs for example.

The more acidic water also causes more mucus buildup on the gills of adult fish. This affects their ability to absorb oxygen and they can suffocate. This has lead to some pretty apocalyptic scenes of dead fish floating on the surface of ponds and lakes.

More acidic conditions have also lead to impacts on frogs, snails and other species. Frogs are slightly more resilient to acidic conditions than fish, but the shallow ponds they use to breed can be more rapidly affected by acid rain which quickly makes it impossible for frogs and other amphibians to breed in them.

Ozone (O 3 ) is a molecule in the atmosphere that occurs naturally and forms a layer, known as the ozone layer, that acts to absorb potentially harmful UVB rays from the sun. Those rays that cause us to tan (or burn) although too many of which would cause us to be covered in skin cancer.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are an air pollutant released by refrigerators and aerosols. These are broken down in the atmosphere to form, among other things, chlorine. The chlorine reacts with the ozone and this converts it to oxygen which no longer provides the protection from those UVB rays.

So what does this mean for wildlife?

Well it has been shown to affect the development of plants, which you now know will consequently affect many animal species too. It has also been shown to have effects on marine life (6).

More recent findings of the effects of air pollution on animals include:

Some air pollutants (such as ozone) have been found to interact with and break down the scent molecules produced by plants that bees use to find their food. This increases the amount of time they have to spend foraging and therefore causes a decrease in average lifespan (7).

Another study showed that plants in urban areas with high levels of nitrogen dioxide produced more chemicals to help defend themselves against insects that want to eat them. (8)

The list goes on.

Negative feedback cycles

Just to make things look even bleaker I need to mention negative feedback cycles. These are effects that are triggered by the things I have already mentioned that make things worse and worse.

One example is that as temperatures on the earth rise due to climate change ice begins to melt at the earth’s poles. Now as you know ice is white, and as you will also know a white surface is very good at reflecting sunlight. You might notice this on a hot day if you touch a black car and a white car, the black car will be hotter as it has absorbed more heat, whereas the white car will be cooler as it has reflected it. This is known as the ‘albido effect’.

Once ice has melted you are left with the earth’s surface or an ocean exposed underneath. Neither of these surfaces is as good at reflecting the heat of the sun as ice and so less heat energy is reflected back, more is absorbed and the earth heats up even more. Hence the term ‘negative feedback cycle’.

The list of the effects of air pollution on animals just keeps growing, as scientists carry out more studies and we see the effects of a longer time period (remember man-made air pollution is still a relatively recent phenomenon).

The fact is that the direct impacts of these substances are bad enough for many animals, but the indirect effects are making things even worse.

As I mentioned already animals and ecosystems have adapted to changing conditions on earth for millions of years. But those changes have mostly been slow. And when they have been rapid, such as when a large volcano erupts, this has lead to mass extinctions.

Since we started burning fossil fuels and producing motor vehicles, changes have been rapid and animals simply can’t keep up.

It is therefore clear that the effects of air pollution on animals is very bad indeed and I’m sure further studies will show those effects to be even worse than we think now. The quickest solution is to stop our pollution outputs as quickly as we can.

We have started to do this with some success in some areas. Bans on CFCs in some countries have led to a halt of ozone layer depletion and we are seeing the harmful UVB radiation reduced as a result of that. But for some other pollutants such as CO 2, because the effects perhaps aren’t so immediately obvious to humans, the desire to stop producing them is not enough.

We need to work hard to find solutions and to change policy to stop the effects of air pollution before it is too late. If not for ourselves, for the animals.

• Calderón-Garcidueñas, Lilian, et al. “Air pollution, cognitive deficits and brain abnormalities: a pilot study with children and dogs.” Brain and cognition  68.2 (2008): 117-127.
• Llacuna, S., et al. “Effects of air pollution on passerine birds and small mammals.”  Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology  24.1 (1993): 59-66.
• Sanderfoot, Olivia V., and Tracey Holloway. “Air pollution impacts on avian species via inhalation exposure and associated outcomes.”  Environmental Research Letters  12.8 (2017): 083002.
• Mohallem, Soraya Vecci, et al. “Decreased fertility in mice exposed to environmental air pollution in the city of Sao Paulo.”  Environmental research  98.2 (2005): 196-202.
• Bednaršek, N., et al. “Limacina helicina shell dissolution as an indicator of declining habitat suitability owing to ocean acidification in the California Current Ecosystem.”  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281.1785 (2014): 20140123.
• De Lange, Hendrika J., and Paul L. Van Reeuwijk. “Negative effects of UVB‐irradiated phytoplankton on life history traits and fitness of Daphnia magna.”  Freshwater Biology  48.4 (2003): 678-686.
• Fuentes, Jose D., et al. “Air pollutants degrade floral scents and increase insect foraging times.”  Atmospheric Environment 141 (2016): 361-374.
• Campbell, Stuart A., and Dena M. Vallano. “Plant defences mediate interactions between herbivory and the direct foliar uptake of atmospheric reactive nitrogen.”  Nature communications  9.1 (2018): 4743.

Rob Wreglesworth

Rob is the head writer at Innovate Eco sharing knowledge and passion cultivated over 10 years working in the Environmental Sector. He is on a mission to build a community of people that are passionate about solving environmental problems.

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• Biology Article
• Effects Of Air Pollution

Effects of Air Pollution

Effects of air pollution have impaired human health for a long time. Ever since the industrial revolution, humans have been pumping out large volumes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gases are a natural part of the earth’s atmosphere and help to maintain a stable temperature. Without greenhouse gases, the sun’s energy would escape back into space, freezing the earth into a giant snowball. However, when enough quantities of greenhouse gases accumulate, more of the sun’s energy gets trapped within the earth. Initially, global sea-level increases, ambient temperatures rise, weather becomes more unpredictable and violent. Once this process reaches a tipping point, a hypothetical phenomenon called the Runaway Greenhouse effect occurs.

More to Read: Greenhouse Effect

Of the many effects of air pollution, the most serious are the ones that affect human health. Pictured above: Smoke plumes from various factories.

Other Effects of Air Pollution

Global warming and greenhouse effect is one of the most notable effects of air pollution at the global level. On an individual level, air pollution causes the following effects on human health.

• Cardiovascular disease

One of the emerging risk factors for stroke is air pollution. This is especially true in developing countries like India, where air pollution is rampant.

• Lung Diseases

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma and other breathing-related illnesses have been scientifically linked to air pollution, especially due to vehicular emissions 

Studies have found that exposure to air pollution increased the risk of cancer. Most air pollutants contain carcinogenic substances that have the potential to cause a mutation.  

• Central Nervous System

There is sufficent data that exposure to air pollution has a detrimental effect on the nervous system. A 2014 study revealed that exposure to air pollution causes the same damaging effects on the brain as schizophrenia and autism.

Air pollution – Disaster

One of the most infamous cases of air pollution that caused a nation-wide crisis was the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. Nearly 500,000 people were accidentally exposed to an extremely toxic gas – Methyl isocyanate. The immediate death toll was reported to be over 8,000 and it increased in the following days of the event.

Explore more about the effects of air pollution or other related topics by registering at BYJU’S. 

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• Main Article – Air Pollution
• Air pollution Essay

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4 Causes and Effects of Air Pollution

Air pollution refers to the release of pollutants into the air, which can be harmful and impose significant health risks to the population, including increased chances of coronary and respiratory diseases, as well as preliminary deaths. Made up of chemicals and pollutant particles, air pollution is one of the biggest environmental problems of our lifetime . Read on to learn about the major causes and effects of air pollution. 

Sources of Air Pollution

1. burning fossil fuels.

The biggest contributors of air pollution are from industry sources and power plants to generate power, as well as fossil fuel motor vehicles. The continuous burning of fossil fuels releases air pollutants, emissions and chemicals into the air and atmosphere. 

In 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that about 68 million tons of air pollution were emitted into the atmosphere in the US, contributing to the “formation of ozone and particles, the deposition of acids, and visibility impairment.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates around 91% of the world’s population lives in places where air quality levels exceed limits. Developing and low-income countries experienced the greatest impacts from outdoor air pollution, particularly in the Western Pacific and South-East Asia regions. 

Climate change has an interrelated relationship with the environment and air pollution. As more air pollutants and greenhouse gases are released, this alters the energy balance between the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface , which leads to global warming. The global temperature increase in turns raises the production of allergenic air pollutants such as mold and extends pollen seasons. 

2. Ozone and Smog

Ozone is a gas that when it forms air pollution and reaches too close to the ground, it significantly reduces visibility. We call this smog. This form of air pollution occurs when sunlight reacts with nitrogen oxides released from car exhausts and coal power plants. The ozone typically forms a protective layer in the atmosphere to protect the population from ultraviolet radiation (UV), but as it transforms into smog, it is harmful to human health and poses higher risks of respiratory illnesses like asthma and lung cancer. 

3. Weather Conditions

Air pollution and poor air quality can be attributed to changing weather conditions. For example, dust storms in China would carry clouds of industrial pollutants and particulate pollution across the Gobi desert into neighbouring countries such as Korea and Japan during spring season. Likewise during periods of high air pressure, air becomes stagnant and pollutants are more concentrated over certain areas. 

4. Heatwaves and Wildfires

Heatwaves not only lead to an increase of temperature, but are some of the causes and effects of air pollution. Hotter, stagnant air during a heat wave increases the concentration of particle pollutants. Extreme heat wave events also have higher risks of large-scale wildfires, which in turn, releases more carbon emissions, smog and pollutants into the air. 

You might also like: 15 Most Polluted Cities in the World

Effects of Air Pollution 

Air pollution contributes to the death of 5 million every year and about 6% of the global population, according to Our World in Data . The lethal combination of outdoor air pollution and toxic emissions from burning fossil fuel has been one of the leading causes of chronic and often terminal health issues including heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and lower respiratory infections. 

The WHO estimates that nine out of 10 people breathe air that contains high levels of pollutants. In 2017, close to 15% of population deaths in low income countries like South and East Asia are attributed to air pollution, while the higher income countries experience only about 2%. 

The drastic difference in mortality numbers can be linked to legislations such as the Clean Air Act implemented by high-income countries like the US. Such legislations usually establishes national air quality standards and regulations on hazardous air pollutants. The UK in particular, saw a sharp 60% decline in air pollutant emissions between the 1970 and 2016. 

The environmental effects of air pollution are also vast, ranging from acid rain to contributing to birth defects, reproductive failure, and diseases in wildlife animals. Agriculture is also a victim of air pollution as increased pollutants can affect crop and forest yields, reduce growth  and increased plant susceptibility to disease from increased UV radiation caused by ozone depletion.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution has once again returned to the spotlight in relation to its role in transmitting virus molecules. Preliminary studies have identified a positive correlation between COVID-19-related mortalities and air pollution. China, being one of the most polluted countries in the world, can potentially link its high death toll during the pandemic to its poor air quality. Although, more research needs to be conducted to make any substantive correlation.

You might also like: History of Air Pollution: Have We Reached the Point of No Return?

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Effects of air pollution on human health and practical measures for prevention in Iran

Adel ghorani-azam.

Medical Toxicology Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Bamdad Riahi-Zanjani

Mahdi balali-mood.

Air pollution is a major concern of new civilized world, which has a serious toxicological impact on human health and the environment. It has a number of different emission sources, but motor vehicles and industrial processes contribute the major part of air pollution. According to the World Health Organization, six major air pollutants include particle pollution, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead. Long and short term exposure to air suspended toxicants has a different toxicological impact on human including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, neuropsychiatric complications, the eyes irritation, skin diseases, and long-term chronic diseases such as cancer. Several reports have revealed the direct association between exposure to the poor air quality and increasing rate of morbidity and mortality mostly due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Air pollution is considered as the major environmental risk factor in the incidence and progression of some diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, ventricular hypertrophy, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, psychological complications, autism, retinopathy, fetal growth, and low birth weight. In this review article, we aimed to discuss toxicology of major air pollutants, sources of emission, and their impact on human health. We have also proposed practical measures to reduce air pollution in Iran.

INTRODUCTION

Air pollution is a major problem of recent decades, which has a serious toxicological impact on human health and the environment. The sources of pollution vary from small unit of cigarettes and natural sources such as volcanic activities to large volume of emission from motor engines of automobiles and industrial activities.[ 1 , 2 ] Long-term effects of air pollution on the onset of diseases such as respiratory infections and inflammations, cardiovascular dysfunctions, and cancer is widely accepted;[ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ] hence, air pollution is linked with millions of death globally each year.[ 7 , 8 , 9 ] A recent study has revealed the association between male infertility and air pollution.[ 10 ]

Air pollution has now emerged in developing countries as a result of industrial activities and also increase the quantity of emission sources such as inappropriate vehicles.[ 11 , 12 , 13 ] About 4.3 million people die from household air pollution and 3.7 million from ambient air pollution, most of whom (3.3 and 2.6 million, respectively) live in Asia.[ 14 ] In Iran, as a developing country, the level of air pollutants has increased gradually since the beginning of industrialization in the 1970s, but it has reached a very harmful level in some megacities such as Tehran, Mashhad, Tabriz, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Arak, and Karaj over the past two decades. Iran is the world's third main polluted country in the world, which results in 16 billion $ annual loss.[ 15 ] In fact, four of the top ten air-polluted cities are in Iran. Ahvaz is the most air polluted city in the world with microdust blowing in from neighboring countries, and particulate levels three times that of Beijing, and nearly 13 times that of London.[ 16 ] Air pollution caused almost 4460 deaths in 2013 only in Tehran although the reality seemed higher and is getting worse every year.[ 17 ] Therefore, it is of great importance to describe the problem, particularly its toxic effects on human health and provide recommendations as a basis for environmental guidelines and standard protocols in the field of air pollution in Iran.

The present article is neither a systematic review nor a descriptive, educational study. It is a problem-based descriptive review in which the authors try to explain a problem which is the major health and ecological problem in developing countries like Iran. In this review, we have tried to summarize the toxicology of air pollutants and related diseases with a possible mechanism of action and appropriate management of the patients. Therefore, it shall be useful for the environmental and health professionals particularly policy makers, emergency physicians, and other clinicians who may be involved in air pollution and related diseases. In this paper, we also discuss sources of air pollution and proposed some feasible solutions which may be beneficial for the environmental legislators and decision makers.

DEFINITIONS

Air pollution is defined as all destructive effects of any sources which contribute to the pollution of the atmosphere and/or deterioration of the ecosystem. Air pollution is caused by both human interventions and/or natural phenomena. It is made up of many kinds of pollutants including materials in solid, liquid, and gas phases.[ 18 ] Air pollutions of indoors will not be specifically considered in this article.

The Pollutant Standard Index (PSI) is a numerical value and indicator of pollutants that is normally used to facilitate risk assessment. It is a numeric value between zero to 500.[ 19 ] PSI is a guideline for reporting air quality which was first introduced by Thom and Ott in 1974.[ 20 ] Hence, it would provide a method of comparing the relative contribution of each pollutant to total risk.[ 21 ] The calculation of PSI is based on the concentration of five major air pollutants including particulate matters (PMs), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O 3 ) in the air.

According to Johnson et al ., “air quality index (AQI) is defined as a measure of the condition of air relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species or to any human need.”[ 22 ] AQI is divided into ranges, in which they are numbered, and each range is marked with color codes. It provides a number from healthy standard level of zero to a very hazardous level of above 300 to indicate the level of health risk associated with air quality. Based on PSI, air quality is classified into six major indices, which is marked by color codes and each color corresponds to a different level of health concerns. Principally, green is defined as a color indicator for healthy air quality; while yellow, orange, red, purple, and maroon colors indicate as moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and hazardous air quality, respectively. These ranges and codes may differ in the different methods of classifications in different countries.[ 22 ]

TOXICOLOGY OF AIR POLLUTION

Effects of air pollutants on living organism will not only be limited to the human and animal health but also include the whole environment. Different geographical conditions, global climate changes, and the environmental variations affect the human health and the environment including the animal life.

Environmental damages

Ecologically, air pollution can cause serious environmental damages to the groundwater, soil, and air.[ 23 , 24 ] It is also a serious threat to the diversity of life. Studies on the relationship between air pollution and reducing species diversity clearly show the detrimental effects of environmental contaminants on the extinction of animals and plants species.[ 25 ] Air suspended toxicants may also cause reproductive effects in animals.[ 26 , 27 ] Acid rain, temperature inversion, and global climate changes due to the emissions of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere are other major ecological impacts of air pollution.[ 28 ]

Air pollutants and their toxicities

Every material in the air which could affect human health or have a profound impact on the environment is defined as air pollutants. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), particle pollution, ground-level O 3 , CO, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead (Pb) are the six major air pollutants which harm human health and also the ecosystem. There are many pollutants of suspended materials such as dust, fumes, smokes, mists, gaseous pollutants, hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and halogen derivatives in the air which at the high concentrations cause vulnerability to many diseases including different types of cancers.[ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ] The most important air pollutants and their toxic effects on different human body organs and related diseases have been briefly described below.

Particle pollutants

Particle pollutants are major parts of air pollutants. In a simple definition, they are a mixture of particles found in the air. Particle pollution which is more known as PM is linked with most of pulmonary and cardiac-associated morbidity and mortality.[ 33 , 34 ] They have varied in size ranging mostly from 2.5 to 10 μm (PM 2.5 to PM 10 ).

The size of particle pollutants is directly associated with the onset and progression of the lungs and heart diseases. Particles of smaller size reach the lower respiratory tract and thus have greater potential for causing the lungs and heart diseases. Moreover, numerous scientific data have demonstrated that fine particle pollutants cause premature death in people with heart and/or lung disease including cardiac dysrhythmias, nonfatal heart attacks, aggravated asthma, and decreased lung functions. Depending on the level of exposure, particulate pollutants may cause mild to severe illnesses. Wheezing, cough, dry mouth, and limitation in activities due to breathing problems are the most prevalent clinical symptoms of respiratory disease resulted from air pollution.[ 35 , 36 , 37 ]

Long-term exposure to current ambient PM concentrations may lead to a marked reduction in life expectancy. The increase of cardiopulmonary and lung cancer mortality are the main reasons for the reduction in life expectancy. Reduced lung functions in children and adults leading to asthmatic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are also serious diseases which induce lower quality of life and reduced life expectancy. Strong evidence on the effect of long-term exposure to PM on cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary mortality come from cohort studies.[ 38 , 39 , 40 ]

Ground-level ozone

O 3 with the chemical formula of O 3 is a colorless gas which is the major constituent of the atmosphere. It is found both at the ground level and in the upper regions of the atmosphere which is called troposphere. Ground-level ozone (GLO) is produced as a result of chemical reaction between oxides of nitrogen and VOCs emitted from natural sources and/or due to human activities. GLO is believed to have a plausible association with increased risk of respiratory diseases, particularly asthma.[ 41 ]

As a powerful oxidant, O 3 accepts electrons from other molecules. There is a high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the surface fluid lining of the respiratory tract and cell membranes that underlie the lining fluid. The double bonds available in these fatty acids are unstable. O 3 attacks unpaired electron to form ozonides and progress through an unstable zwitterion or trioxolane (depending on the presence of water). These ultimately recombine or decompose to lipohydroperoxides, aldehydes, and hydrogen peroxide. These pathways are thought to initiate propagation of lipid radicals and auto-oxidation of cell membranes and macromolecules. It also increases the risk of DNA damage in epidermal keratinocytes, which leads to impaired cellular function.[ 42 ]

O 3 induces a variety of toxic effects in humans and experimental animals at concentrations that occur in many urban areas.[ 43 ] These effects include morphologic, functional, immunologic, and biochemical alterations. Because of its low water solubility, a substantial portion of inhaled O 3 penetrates deep into the lungs but its reactivity is scrubbed by the nasopharynx of resting rats and humans in around 17% and 40%, respectively.[ 44 , 45 ] On ecological aspect, O 3 can reduce carbon assimilation in trees leading to deforestation which may affect global food security in long-term exposure.[ 46 , 47 ]

Carbon monoxide

CO is a colorless and odorless gas, which is produced by fossil fuel, particularly when combustion is not appropriate, as in burning coal and wood. The affinity of CO to hemoglobin (as an oxygen carrier in the body) is about 250 times greater than that of oxygen. Depending on CO concentration and length of exposure, mild to severe poisoning may occur. Symptoms of CO poisoning may include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, and finally loss of consciousness. The symptoms are very similar to those of other illnesses, such as food poisoning or viral infections.

No human health effects have been showed for carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels lower than 2%, while levels above 40% may be fatal. Hypoxia, apoptosis, and ischemia are known mechanisms of underlying CO toxicity.[ 48 ] The mechanism of such toxicity is the loss of oxygen due to competitive binding of CO to the hemoglobin heme groups. Cardiovascular changes also may be observed by CO exposures that create COHb in excess of 5%. In the early 1990s, Health Effects Institute performed a series of studies associated with cardiovascular disease to determine the potential for angina pectoris with COHb levels in the range of 2–6%.[ 49 ] The results showed that premature angina can occur under these situations but that the potential for the occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias remains uncertain. Thus, the reduction in ambient CO can reduce the risk of myocardial infarction in predisposed persons.

Sulfur dioxide

SO 2 is a colorless, highly reactive gas, which is considered as an important air pollutant. It is mostly emitted from fossil fuel consumption, natural volcanic activities, and industrial processes. SO 2 is very harmful for plant life, animal, and human health. People with lung disease, children, older people, and those who are more exposed to SO 2 are at higher risk of the skin and lung diseases.

The major health concerns associated with exposure to high concentrations of SO 2 include respiratory irritation and dysfunction, and also aggravation of existing cardiovascular disease. SO 2 is predominantly absorbed in the upper airways. As a sensory irritant, it can cause bronchospasm and mucus secretion in humans. Residents of industrialized regions encountered with SO 2 even at lower concentrations (<1 ppm) in the polluted ambient air might experience a high level of bronchitis.

The penetration of SO 2 into the lungs is greater during mouth breathing compared to nose breathing. An increase in the airflow in deep, rapid breathing enhances penetration of the gas into the deeper lung. Therefore, people who exercise in the polluted air would inhale more SO 2 and are likely to suffer from greater irritation. When SO 2 deposits along the airway, it dissolves into surface lining fluid as sulfite or bisulfite and is easily distributed throughout the body. It seems that the sulfite interacts with sensory receptors in the airways to cause local and centrally mediated bronchoconstriction.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the USA, the level of annual standard for SO 2 is 0.03 ppm. Due to its solubility in water, SO 2 is responsible for acid rain formation and acidification of soils. SO 2 reduces the amount of oxygen in the water causing the death of marine species including both animals and plants. Exposure to SO 2 can cause damages to the eyes (lacrimation and corneal opacity), mucous membranes, the skin (redness, and blisters), and respiratory tracts. Bronchospasm, pulmonary edema, pneumonitis, and acute airway obstruction are the most common clinical findings associated with exposure to SO 2 .[ 50 ]

Nitrogen oxide

Nitrogen oxides are important ambient air pollutants which may increase the risk of respiratory infections.[ 50 ] They are mainly emitted from motor engines and thus are traffic-related air pollutants. They are deep lung irritants that can induce pulmonary edema if been inhaled at high levels. They are generally less toxic than O 3 , but NO 2 can pose clear toxicological problems. Exposures at 2.0–5.0 ppm have been shown to affect T-lymphocytes, particularly CD8 + cells and natural killer cells that play an important role in host defenses against viruses. Although these levels may be high, epidemiologic studies demonstrate effects of NO 2 on respiratory infection rates in children.

Coughing and wheezing are the most common complication of nitrogen oxides toxicity, but the eyes, nose or throat irritations, headache, dyspnea, chest pain, diaphoresis, fever, bronchospasm, and pulmonary edema may also occur. In another report, it is suggested that the level of nitrogen oxide between 0.2 and 0.6 ppm is harmless for the human population.[ 51 ]

Pb or plumb is a toxic heavy metal that is widely used in different industries.[ 52 ] Pb pollution may result from both indoor and outdoor sources. It is emitted from motor engines, particularly with those using petrol containing Pb tetraethyl. Smelters and battery plants, as well as irrigation water wells and wastewaters, are other emission sources of the Pb into the environment.[ 52 , 53 ] Evaluation of the blood Pb level in traffic police officers shows that environmental pollution may be considered as a source of Pb exposure.[ 54 ] Fetuses and children are highly susceptible to even low doses of Pb.[ 55 ] Pb accumulates in the body in blood, bone, and soft tissue. Because it is not readily excreted, Pb can also affect the kidneys, liver, nervous system, and the other organs.[ 56 ]

Pb absorption by the lungs depends on the particle size and concentration. Around 90% of Pb particles in the ambient air that are inhaled are small enough to be retained. Retained Pb absorption through alveoli is absorbed and induces toxicity. Pb is a powerful neurotoxicant, especially for infants and children as the high-risk groups. Mental retardation, learning disabilities, impairment of memory, hyperactivity, and antisocial behaviors are of adverse effects of Pb in childhood.[ 57 , 58 ] Therefore, it is very important to reduce the Pb level of ambient air.[ 59 ]

Pb exposure is often chronic, without obvious symptoms.[ 60 ] It can affect the different parts of the body including cardiovascular, renal, and reproductive systems, but the main target for Pb toxicity is the nervous system.[ 61 ] Pb disrupts the normal function of intracellular second messenger systems through the inhibition of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Pb may also replace calcium as a second messenger resulting in protein modification through various cellular processes including protein kinase activation or deactivation.

Abdominal pain, anemia, aggression, constipation, headaches, irritability, loss of concentration and memory, reduced sensations, and sleep disorders are the most common symptoms of Pb poisoning. Exposure to Pb is manifested with numerous problems, such as high blood pressure, infertility, digestive and renal dysfunctions, and muscle and joint pain.

Other air pollutants

Other major air pollutants that are classified as carcinogen and mutagen compounds and are thought to be responsible for incidence and progression of cancer in human include VOCs such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, PAHs such as acenaphthene, acenaphthylene, anthracene, and benzopyrene, and other organic pollutants such as dioxins, which are unwanted chemical pollutants that almost totally produced by industrial processes and human activity.[ 62 , 63 , 64 ]

In Table 1 , the standard level of some conventional air pollutants is presented in which the values were defined as air quality standards that provide public welfare protection.

Standard level of criteria air pollutants and their sources with health impact based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency

As it can be easily understood, fossil fuel consumption shares the largest part of air contamination. Air pollutants can also be classified into anthropogenic and natural according to their source of emission. From anthropogenic aspect, air contamination occurs from industrial and agricultural activities, transportation, and energy acquisition. While from natural contaminant has different sources of emission such as volcanic activities, forest fire, sea water, and so on.[ 65 , 66 ]

Health hazards

In terms of health hazards, every unusual suspended material in the air, which causes difficulties in normal function of the human organs, is defined as air toxicants. According to available data, the main toxic effects of exposure to air pollutants are mainly on the respiratory, cardiovascular, ophthalmologic, dermatologic, neuropsychiatric, hematologic, immunologic, and reproductive systems. However, the molecular and cell toxicity may also induce a variety of cancers in the long term.[ 67 , 68 ] On the other hand, even small amount of air toxicants is shown to be dangerous for susceptible groups including children and elderly people as well as patients suffering from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.[ 69 ]

Respiratory disorders

Because most of the pollutants enter the body through the airways, the respiratory system is in the first line of battle in the onset and progression of diseases resulted from air pollutants. Depending on the dose of inhaled pollutants, and deposition in target cells, they cause a different level of damages in the respiratory system. In the upper respiratory tract, the first effect is irritation, especially in trachea which induces voice disturbances. Air pollution is also considered as the major environmental risk factor for some respiratory diseases such as asthma and lung cancer.[ 70 , 71 ] Air pollutants, especially PMs and other respirable chemicals such as dust, O 3 , and benzene cause serious damage to the respiratory tract.[ 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 ] Asthma is a respiratory disease which may be developed as a result of exposure to air toxicants.[ 78 ] Some studies have validated associations between both traffic-related and/or industrial air pollution and increasing the risk of COPD.[ 79 , 80 , 81 ] Treatment of respiratory diseases due to air pollution is similar to the other toxic chemical induce respiratory disorders.

Cardiovascular dysfunctions

Many experimental and epidemiologic studies have shown the direct association of air pollutant exposure and cardiac-related illnesses.[ 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 ] Air pollution is also associated with changes in white blood cell counts[ 86 ] which also may affect the cardiovascular functions. On the other hand, a study on animal models suggested the close relationship between hypertension and air pollution exposure.[ 87 ] The traffic-related air pollution, especially exposure to high levels of NO 2 , is associated with right and left ventricular hypertrophy.[ 88 , 89 ] In addition to the antidote therapy that exists only for a few cardiotoxic substances like CO, usual treatment of cardiovascular diseases should be carried out.

Neuropsychiatric complications

The relationship between exposure to air suspended toxic materials and nerve system has always been argued. However, it is now believed that these toxic substances have damaging effects on the nervous system. The toxic effect of air pollutants on nerve system includes neurological complications and psychiatric disorders. Neurological impairment may cause devastating consequences, especially in infants. In contrast, psychiatric disorders will induce aggression and antisocial behaviors. Recent studies have reported the relationship between air pollution and neurobehavioral hyperactivity, criminal activity, and age-inappropriate behaviors.[ 90 , 91 ] Studies have also revealed the association between air pollution and higher risk of neuroinflammation,[ 92 ] Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.[ 93 ] Some studies showed that aggression and anxiety in megacities are in close relationship with the high level of air pollutants.[ 94 , 95 , 96 ]

Other long-term complications

Skin is the body's first line of defense against a foreign pathogen or infectious agent and it is the first organ that may be contaminated by a pollutant. The skin is a target organ for pollution in which the absorption of environmental pollutants from this organ is equivalent to the respiratory uptake.[ 97 ] Research on the skin has provided evidence that traffic-related air pollutants, especially PAHs, VOCs, oxides, and PM affect skin aging and cause pigmented spots on the face.[ 98 , 99 , 100 ]

Theoretically, toxic air pollutants can cause damage to organs when inhaled or absorbed through the skin.[ 101 ] Some of these pollutants are hepatocarcinogen chemicals.[ 102 , 103 ] There are some proven data which highlighted the role of air pollutants, especially traffic-related air pollution on the incidence of autism and its related disorders in fetus and children.[ 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 ] Disrupting endocrine by chemical components of pollutants has been described as a possible mechanistic pathway of autism or other neurological disorders.[ 93 , 108 ] Some studies showed that there are relationships between air pollution exposure and fetal head size in late pregnancy,[ 109 ] fetal growth,[ 110 ] and low birth weight.[ 111 , 112 ]

Many of the diseases that are linked to immune system dysfunction can be affected by several environmental factors such as poor air quality.[ 113 , 114 ] Poor air quality can cause serious complications in the immune system such as an abnormal increase in the serum levels of the immunoglobulin (Ig); IgA, IgM, and the complement component C 3 in humans as well as chronic inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system.[ 115 ] Exposure to these immunotoxicants may also cause immune dysfunction at different stages which can serve as the basis for increased risks of numerous diseases such as neuroinflammation, an altered brain innate immune response.[ 93 , 116 ] Air pollutants modify antigen presentation by up-regulation of costimulatory molecules such as CD80 and CD86 on macrophages.[ 117 ]

The eye is a neglected vulnerable organ to the adverse effects of air suspended contaminants even household air pollution.[ 118 , 119 ] Clinical effects of air pollution on the eyes can vary from asymptomatic eye problems to dry eye syndrome. Chronic exposure to air pollutants increases the risk for retinopathy and adverse ocular outcomes. In addition, there are now evidence suggesting the association between air pollution and irritation of the eyes, dry eye syndrome, and some of the major blinding.[ 118 , 120 ] According to data, the level of air pollution is linked to short-term increases in the number of people visiting the ophthalmological emergency department.[ 121 , 122 ]

Air pollution in Iran

Air pollution in Iran as a developing country has recently caused several health and environmental problem. According to a report, the quality of air in Iran, especially in Tehran metropolis is very unhealthy and most of the pollution indices, specifically indices for CO and PM are above the standard and at sometimes at dangerous level.[ 123 ] Nonstandard motor engines and other traffic-related sources of air pollution are the most important cause of poor air quality. For example, more than 90% of the CO gas as an important air pollutant is generated by motor vehicles in Tehran.[ 124 ] Moreover, reports have shown that more than 80% of air pollution in Iran is attributed to motor vehicles.[ 125 , 126 ] Official reports show that in Tehran, 9.4% of the cars, 22.1% of vans, and 4.7% of taxis are carburetor vehicles. Around 9% of the vehicles in Tehran are responsible for the production of almost 400 tons pollutants annually.[ 127 ] Other reports demonstrated that cars are responsible for 80% of air pollution. Unpublished data show that a motorcycle produces air pollution 60 times more than a standard car. Based on reports, annual average of air toxicants including PM 10, SO 2 , NO 2 and O 3 in Tehran capital city of Iran with around 8.3 million inhabitants were 90.58, 89.16, 85, and 68.82 μg/m 3 , respectively. These values are more than standards defined by EPA and WHO. Therefore, as expected, air pollution is the main casualty of excess 2194 out of total 47284 deaths in a year. According to a recent report, SO 2 , NO 2 , and O 3 , respectively, have caused about additional 1458, 1050, and 819 cases of total mortality in 2011.[ 128 ] According to an official report in 2013, air pollution leaves almost 4,460 deaths annually only in Tehran.[ 129 ]

Reports of the World Bank in 2005 show that mortality due to urban air pollution in Iran has led to about 640 million dollars annual losses which contribute to 0.57% of the gross domestic product.[ 130 ] Another report has also shown that Iran is the world's third main polluted country in the world, which results in 16 billion $ annual loss for the country.[ 16 ] Many regulatory programs including planting projects have been developed to reduce urban air pollution in Iran, but due to lack of enough stewardship and standardization of new technologies including those related to car engines and also nonstandard energy production, no significant output has been obtained so far.[ 17 ]

Practical measures to reduce air pollution in Iran

The industrialization of societies is necessary to develop, but a long-term health problem and ecological impacts of such growth should always be considered prior to imposing a large financial burden on the societies. Therefore, it is suggested to adopt a balance between economic development and air pollution by legislating policies to control all activities resulting in air pollution.[ 131 , 132 , 133 ] There are some temporary but not trustworthy strategies to reduce air pollution in Iran. For example, increasing the price of fuels, planting trees around and inside the city, replacing old cars with modern ones, and increasing road taxes and car insurance may reduce the amount of air pollutants, but in order to keep the constancy or even optimization, these strategies should be continued. The most air-polluted capital cities of Asia are Delhi and Tehran.[ 134 ] Causes of air pollutions including cheap and low quality of vehicle's fuel particularly gas oil, nonstandard motor engines, inappropriate public transport, overuse of fossil fuel, lack of public awareness and transparency, legislation, and cooperation between different departments and green societies are similar in the two cities. Therefore, urgent and concerted actions at national and international levels are required.

Some mega capital cities in the other countries like London and Tokyo have controlled their air pollutions over the years following appropriate legislations and strict controls, whereas moving the capital cities in India and Pakistan in the last century have not solved the problem of air pollution in the long term in these countries. Therefore, moving capital city will not solve the problem of air pollution and only reduces the problem in the short term. Some recommended strategies to reduce the air pollution in Iran are summarized as the followings:

• Standardization of vehicle's fuel as much as possible and also finding a new source of energy for motor engines has attracted great attention. A great part of emission comes from vehicle exhaust, especially those which use diesel and gasoline. Using other clean source of energy such as compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), and alcohol is of great interests. Hence, exhorting researchers and also companies in the era of interest to find a way for replacing petrol and other fossil fuels with new suitable power generation sources will be beneficial.[ 135 , 136 ] Expanded of more CNG and LNG stations in big cities of Iran and producing more vehicles using CNG and LNG are recommended
• Standardization of motor engines and manufacturing engines with low fuel consumption is another strategy to reduce the level of air pollutants. Surely, motor vehicles will not use fossil fuel and derivatives anymore in the near future. Recently, some car makers in Japan and Western countries have made electrical cars that use electricity from a battery storage for low speeds which is usually enough for driving inside the cities with traffic and/or controlled speeds. Hence, designing new motor engines, companies of interests should look forward.[ 137 ] This might be implemented in Iran in the future
• Improving public transportation systems by using more subways (metro), trams, and electrical bus routes. Reducing the costs for the people who are using such systems is an optimal solution for lowering air pollution.[ 14 ] The people and governments will gain profits from reducing air contaminations in the long term, both economically and in cases of health issues.[ 138 , 139 , 140 ] At the present, there are only limited metro lines in Tehran, Mashhad, and Esfahan. It is recommended to expand the metro lines in these cities. Trams and electrical buses have unfortunately not been established in Iran. They should be implemented soon in big cities of Iran
• Increasing the cost of fuel in Iran can be considered as an effective solution to reduce the proportion of air contaminants. According to the report by Barnett and Knibbs, higher fuel price is associated with lower air pollution level[ 141 ]
• Imposing penalties for polluting industries and implementing low tax policy for clean technologies. Applying more taxes on automobiles in Iran, particularly on those older than 20 years to distinguish between dirty and clean vehicles. The government should establish exhorting plans for car makers and other producers who adhere to environmental standards. Moreover, exhorting plans should be designed for all sources of emissions. These plans may contain discount on taxes or other financial supports for customers and producers
• Since the phenomenon of air pollution was a global issue over the centuries since the industrial revolution, it is proposed to establish an interdisciplinary academic field on air pollution. It is also suggested that more communication and collaboration between specialists in different sciences including toxicology, environmental health, analytical chemistry, mechanics, and applied physics will be performed
• Continuous monitoring of air quality, designing and developing tools to identify the pollutants, finding the origin of the particles, and the use of particulate filter for diesel engines and other nonroad cars are other suggested practical approaches to reduce air pollution
• Extensive media campaign to increase public awareness about air quality, environmental, and public health issues.

Inadequate legislation and also a lack of appropriate policies in Iran result in higher levels of environmental pollution and its impact on the incidence of diseases, which will undeniably impose a heavy financial burden on the community. Increasing risk of diseases due to air contamination has necessitated defining the standard values for air quality and also a normal range for pollutants and daily control of air pollution. Thus, monitoring air quality plays an important role in developing regulatory policies.[ 142 ] These should be implemented in all big cities of Iran.

Regulatory programs should apply high taxes per unit of emission not only as a penalty for air polluters but also should give rise to the cost of pollution for them in order to ensure the efficient reduction of pollutants. Final achievement is to reduce the pollution and not only paying the cost of damages by polluters.[ 143 ]

Advantages and breakpoints of these strategies should be carefully documented. Tax on vehicles is the most controversial issue in controlling and management of air pollution. It would be helpful providing all necessary facilities including subway, and other transportation systems prior to applying penalties. In other word, taxes should be applied, but public transportation systems should be improved, and also its cost should be reasonable enough.

It is important to balance between all suggested strategies, and discuss all aspects of each plan. Each of these controlling policies has an impact on each other and also on the society. Ideally, an optimum solution for the problem of air pollution is that in which no additional problem resulted from controlling policies impose on the society. Therefore, a suitable controlling policy should contain penalties for each unit of air pollutants’ emission. The sources of emission vary from small unit of cigarettes to large volume of emission from motor engines of automobiles and industrial activities.[ 144 ]

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Air pollutions have major impacts on human health, triggering, and inducing many diseases leading to high morbidities and mortalities, particularly in the developing countries such as Iran. Therefore, air pollutions control is vital and should be on the top of priority list of the governments. The policy makers and legislators in these countries must update all laws and regulations related to air pollutions. Coordination between different departments involving in air pollutions must be leaded by a powerful environmental protection organization. An effective environmental protection organization should have enough budgets for administration, research, development, monitoring, and full control of the environment including air pollution.

Financial support and sponsorship

Conflicts of interest.

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTIONS

AGA, BRZ, and MBM contributed in study concept, design, and critical revision of the manuscript. AGA and BRZ participated in the drafting of the manuscript. MBM contributed in revision and final approval of the manuscript.

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10 Lines, Short & Long Essay On Air Pollution For Children

Key Points to Remember When Writing an Essay on Air Pollution

10-line essay on air pollution in english, a paragraph on ‘air pollution’ in 100 words, long essay on air pollution, what your child will learn from the essay.

The Earth provides us with all the elements that are essential for us to survive. But, are we appreciative of them, and nurture and preserve these elements the way we are supposed to? Air, one of the most important elements in nature, has been taken for granted for years and polluted to the extent that it has become harmful for all of us. Air pollution is one of the most alarming problems the world is facing today. It is, therefore, important for children to learn about the implications of air pollution on our health and the environment. From an academic perspective, this is also a great topic that children can write about. An easy essay is a good place, to begin with. It can nudge children towards doing their internet research on the topic, and present facts and their viewpoints as well. In this article, we share some useful ways of writing an essay on ‘Air Pollution’ for Classes 1, 2, and 3.

When you are asked to write an essay on ‘Air Pollution’, it is important to keep all of these tips in mind:

• Like all essays, this essay should also begin with an introductory paragraph about the topic. Air pollution can be introduced with the definition or a general idea about what it means and its origins.
• Since most school essays are not technical, avoid the overuse of scientific jargon. Use simple phrases and focus on the flow of concepts.
• Introduce ideas in the proper order, include cause-and-effects of the issue, and divide the essay into smaller, readable fragments.
• If you are writing specifically about the causes of air pollution, write about them in-depth. Do not talk too much about the effects and remedies. A small mention can be made of the latter, but the essay should focus on causes.
• Add plenty of factual data and personal opinions. The essay should be backed up by facts.
• Always add a concluding paragraph and tips to reduce air pollution.

10-line essays are the easiest essays to write. Children can memorise important facts about air pollution and the science behind it for the essay. Here is an example for you:

• Air is polluted by harmful substances called pollutants.
• Pollutants come from different sources, such as volcanic eruptions, vehicle gasses, forest fires, and other human activity.
• Deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels are two of the biggest sources of air pollution.
• Air pollution is harmful to humans since it can cause respiratory and skin diseases.
• Air pollution is also harmful to plants and animals.
• Air pollution can also damage non-living things, such as ancient monuments constructed from marbles and limestone.
• Air pollution adds to ozone layer depletion, global warming and climate change.
• Since air is present everywhere, pollution can damage delicate ecosystems in forests.
• We must take effective steps to reduce air pollution.
• We can reduce air pollution by planting more trees and burning fewer fossil fuels.

An essay for classes 1 & 2 can include simple facts about air pollution, such as its origins and effects. The concluding sentences can talk about how it can be avoided. Here is a short essay in the form of a paragraph on the topic:

Air pollution occurs when harmful gasses and dust are released into the atmosphere. There are many sources of air pollution, such as forest fires, human activities, and volcanic eruptions. Automobiles and power plants are the highest contributors. Air pollution causes diseases in humans and animals. It affects the delicate ecosystem on land and in water, and causes global warming and climate change. It is essential to raise awareness about air pollution. To reduce pollution, we have to adopt green solutions, reduce energy consumption, rely on renewable sources of energy, and plant more trees.

An essay in 350 words or more on the topic will require students to learn different facts about air pollution. They can also add their viewpoints based on the facts they know. Here is an example of an essay for Class 3:

Air contamination by harmful or toxic gasses and unwanted dust particles causes air pollution. These substances degrade the quality of air and reduce its purity. Some common air pollutants include gasses, such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and other greenhouse gasses like methane. These pollutants are released naturally by volcanic eruptions and forest fires. However, human activity since the industrial revolution has been the biggest source of pollutants.

Air pollution affects everything on Earth. In human beings, it causes respiratory and skin diseases, especially in people who have allergies. Air pollution can reach unhealthy levels in the city and is dangerous even for normal people. Being exposed to polluted air for a long period can lead to several different diseases. Air pollution affects plants and animals, too, and can disrupt ecosystems in the forests. It also affects life forms under the ocean as many pollutant gasses can dissolve in water and form acids.

Air pollution also affects non-living things, such as manmade structures and limestone caves in the forests. When gasses like sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide mix with rainwater, they form corrosive acids. These acids destroy ancient monuments which are made out of delicate natural materials. Acids produced in this way also pollute soil and damage forests.

Air pollution has long-term effects in the form of climate change. Greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane produced by human activities store excess heat in the atmosphere. Increasing temperatures change the weather and affect farming, which depends on seasonal rains. Although steps are being taken to reduce the ill effects of air pollution, much of the damage has already been done. So, it is important to act immediately to further control the damage.

There are a number of solutions for reducing air pollution, and it can start with every individual. It can be controlled by reducing the use of personal automobiles and switching to healthier modes such as cycling, using public transport, or resorting to methods such as carpooling. Since a majority of our power still comes from fossil fuels, decreasing power consumption can also significantly reduce air pollution.

It is important to understand that every small thing we do can make a difference in the outcome. It only takes a minute to decide and follow the measure that can help us save energy and reduce air pollution, too.

Essay writing is important for children to learn how to think and write methodically. The skills developed at this stage play a fundamental role in how they are able to formulate arguments from their thoughts. Writing an essay on air pollution requires them to learn about the topic and present it as a coherent write-up. Children will learn about its importance, improve their knowledge, and learn to express their thoughts about the same.

The three essays presented in this article talk about air pollution in a factual format. The 10-line essay is easy to remember and write for children. Longer essays need more structure, such as introduction, body and conclusion. As the level increases, writing the essay will require your child to learn important facts about air pollution and then express it in their own way.

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Causes and Effects of Climate Change

Fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

As greenhouse gas emissions blanket the Earth, they trap the sun’s heat. This leads to global warming and climate change. The world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history. Warmer temperatures over time are changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature. This poses many risks to human beings and all other forms of life on Earth.

Causes of Climate Change

Generating power

Generating electricity and heat by burning fossil fuels causes a large chunk of global emissions. Most electricity is still generated by burning coal, oil, or gas, which produces carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide – powerful greenhouse gases that blanket the Earth and trap the sun’s heat. Globally, a bit more than a quarter of electricity comes from wind, solar and other renewable sources which, as opposed to fossil fuels, emit little to no greenhouse gases or pollutants into the air.

Manufacturing goods

Manufacturing and industry produce emissions, mostly from burning fossil fuels to produce energy for making things like cement, iron, steel, electronics, plastics, clothes, and other goods. Mining and other industrial processes also release gases, as does the construction industry. Machines used in the manufacturing process often run on coal, oil, or gas; and some materials, like plastics, are made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels. The manufacturing industry is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

Cutting down forests

Cutting down forests to create farms or pastures, or for other reasons, causes emissions, since trees, when they are cut, release the carbon they have been storing. Each year approximately 12 million hectares of forest are destroyed. Since forests absorb carbon dioxide, destroying them also limits nature’s ability to keep emissions out of the atmosphere. Deforestation, together with agriculture and other land use changes, is responsible for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Using transportation

Most cars, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. That makes transportation a major contributor of greenhouse gases, especially carbon-dioxide emissions. Road vehicles account for the largest part, due to the combustion of petroleum-based products, like gasoline, in internal combustion engines. But emissions from ships and planes continue to grow. Transport accounts for nearly one quarter of global energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions. And trends point to a significant increase in energy use for transport over the coming years.

Producing food

Producing food causes emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases in various ways, including through deforestation and clearing of land for agriculture and grazing, digestion by cows and sheep, the production and use of fertilizers and manure for growing crops, and the use of energy to run farm equipment or fishing boats, usually with fossil fuels. All this makes food production a major contributor to climate change. And greenhouse gas emissions also come from packaging and distributing food.

Powering buildings

Globally, residential and commercial buildings consume over half of all electricity. As they continue to draw on coal, oil, and natural gas for heating and cooling, they emit significant quantities of greenhouse gas emissions. Growing energy demand for heating and cooling, with rising air-conditioner ownership, as well as increased electricity consumption for lighting, appliances, and connected devices, has contributed to a rise in energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions from buildings in recent years.

Consuming too much

Your home and use of power, how you move around, what you eat and how much you throw away all contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. So does the consumption of goods such as clothing, electronics, and plastics. A large chunk of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked to private households. Our lifestyles have a profound impact on our planet. The wealthiest bear the greatest responsibility: the richest 1 per cent of the global population combined account for more greenhouse gas emissions than the poorest 50 per cent.

Based on various UN sources

Effects of Climate Change

Hotter temperatures

As greenhouse gas concentrations rise, so does the global surface temperature. The last decade, 2011-2020, is the warmest on record. Since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one. Nearly all land areas are seeing more hot days and heat waves. Higher temperatures increase heat-related illnesses and make working outdoors more difficult. Wildfires start more easily and spread more rapidly when conditions are hotter. Temperatures in the Arctic have warmed at least twice as fast as the global average.

More severe storms

Destructive storms have become more intense and more frequent in many regions. As temperatures rise, more moisture evaporates, which exacerbates extreme rainfall and flooding, causing more destructive storms. The frequency and extent of tropical storms is also affected by the warming ocean. Cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons feed on warm waters at the ocean surface. Such storms often destroy homes and communities, causing deaths and huge economic losses.

Increased drought

Climate change is changing water availability, making it scarcer in more regions. Global warming exacerbates water shortages in already water-stressed regions and is leading to an increased risk of agricultural droughts affecting crops, and ecological droughts increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems. Droughts can also stir destructive sand and dust storms that can move billions of tons of sand across continents. Deserts are expanding, reducing land for growing food. Many people now face the threat of not having enough water on a regular basis.

A warming, rising ocean

The ocean soaks up most of the heat from global warming. The rate at which the ocean is warming strongly increased over the past two decades, across all depths of the ocean. As the ocean warms, its volume increases since water expands as it gets warmer. Melting ice sheets also cause sea levels to rise, threatening coastal and island communities. In addition, the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, keeping it from the atmosphere. But more carbon dioxide makes the ocean more acidic, which endangers marine life and coral reefs.

Loss of species

Climate change poses risks to the survival of species on land and in the ocean. These risks increase as temperatures climb. Exacerbated by climate change, the world is losing species at a rate 1,000 times greater than at any other time in recorded human history. One million species are at risk of becoming extinct within the next few decades. Forest fires, extreme weather, and invasive pests and diseases are among many threats related to climate change. Some species will be able to relocate and survive, but others will not.

Not enough food

Changes in the climate and increases in extreme weather events are among the reasons behind a global rise in hunger and poor nutrition. Fisheries, crops, and livestock may be destroyed or become less productive. With the ocean becoming more acidic, marine resources that feed billions of people are at risk. Changes in snow and ice cover in many Arctic regions have disrupted food supplies from herding, hunting, and fishing. Heat stress can diminish water and grasslands for grazing, causing declining crop yields and affecting livestock.

More health risks

Climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. Climate impacts are already harming health, through air pollution, disease, extreme weather events, forced displacement, pressures on mental health, and increased hunger and poor nutrition in places where people cannot grow or find sufficient food. Every year, environmental factors take the lives of around 13 million people. Changing weather patterns are expanding diseases, and extreme weather events increase deaths and make it difficult for health care systems to keep up.

Poverty and displacement

Climate change increases the factors that put and keep people in poverty. Floods may sweep away urban slums, destroying homes and livelihoods. Heat can make it difficult to work in outdoor jobs. Water scarcity may affect crops. Over the past decade (2010–2019), weather-related events displaced an estimated 23.1 million people on average each year, leaving many more vulnerable to poverty. Most refugees come from countries that are most vulnerable and least ready to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

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Children play on the shore of Manila Bay in the Philippines, which is polluted by plastic waste.

• ENVIRONMENT

The world's plastic pollution crisis, explained

Much of the planet is swimming in discarded plastic, which is harming animal and possibly human health. Can it be cleaned up?

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues , as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them. Plastic pollution is most visible in developing Asian and African nations, where garbage collection systems are often inefficient or nonexistent. But the developed world, especially in countries with low recycling rates , also has trouble properly collecting discarded plastics. Plastic trash has become so ubiquitous it has prompted efforts to write a global treaty negotiated by the United Nations.

Why was plastic invented?

Plastics made from fossil fuels are just over a century old. Production and development of thousands of new plastic products accelerated after World War II, so transforming the modern age that life without plastics would be unrecognizable today. In plastic, inventors found a light, durable material that can be used in everything from transportation to medicine.  

Plastics revolutionized medicine with life-saving devices, made space travel possible, lightened cars and jets—saving fuel and pollution—and saved lives with helmets, incubators, and equipment for clean drinking water.

The conveniences plastics offer, however, led to a throw-away culture that reveals the material’s dark side: today, single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Many of these products, such as plastic bags and food wrappers, have a lifespan of mere minutes to hours, yet they may persist in the environment for hundreds of years.

Plastics by the numbers

Some key facts:

• Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 20 years.
• Production increased exponentially, from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to 448 million tons by 2015. Production is expected to double by 2050.
• Every year, about eight million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations. That’s the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around the world.
• Plastics often contain additives making them stronger, more flexible, and durable. But many of these additives can extend the life of products if they become litter, with some estimates ranging to at least 400 years to break down.

How plastics move around the world

Most of the plastic trash in the oceans, Earth’s last sink, flows from land. Trash is also carried to sea by major rivers , which act as conveyor belts, picking up more and more trash as they move downstream. Once at sea, much of the plastic trash remains in coastal waters. But once caught up in ocean currents, it can be transported around the world.

On Henderson Island , an uninhabited atoll in the Pitcairn Group isolated halfway between Chile and New Zealand, scientists found plastic items from Russia, the United States, Europe, South America, Japan, and China. They were carried to the South Pacific by the South Pacific gyre, a circular ocean current.

Microplastics—a new health threat

Once at sea, sunlight, wind, and wave action break down plastic waste into small particles, often less than one-fifth of an inch across. These so-called microplastics are spread throughout the water column and have been found in every corner of the globe, from Mount Everest, the highest peak, to the Mariana Trench , the deepest trough.  

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The Haunting Art of Plastic Pollution

Microplastics are breaking down further into smaller and smaller pieces. Plastic microfibers, meanwhile, have been found in municipal drinking water systems and drifting through the air.

It's no surprise then that scientists have found microplastics in people. The tiny particles are in our blood, lungs, and even in feces . Exactly how much microplastics might be harming human health is a question scientists are urgently trying to answer. ( Learn more. )

Harm to wildlife

Millions of animals are killed by plastics every year, from birds to fish to other marine organisms. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by plastics. Nearly every species of seabird eats plastics.

Most of the deaths to animals are caused by entanglement or starvation. Seals, whales , turtles, and other animals are strangled by abandoned fishing gear or discarded six-pack rings . Microplastics have been found   in more than 100 aquatic species, including fish, shrimp, and mussels destined for our dinner plates. In many cases, these tiny bits pass through the digestive system and are expelled without consequence. But plastics have also been found to have blocked digestive tracts or pierced organs, causing death. Stomachs so packed with plastics reduce the urge to eat, causing starvation.

Plastics have been consumed by land-based animals, including elephants, hyenas, zebras, tigers, camels, cattle, and other large mammals, in some cases causing death .

Tests have also confirmed liver and cell damage and disruptions to reproductive systems,   prompting some species, such as oysters, to produce fewer eggs. New research shows that larval fish are eating nanofibers in the first days of life, raising new questions about the effects of plastics on fish populations.

Stopping plastic pollution

Once in the ocean, it is difficult—if not impossible—to retrieve plastic waste. Mechanical systems, such as Mr. Trash Wheel , a litter interceptor in Maryland’s Baltimore Harbor, can be effective at picking up large pieces of plastic, such as foam cups and food containers, from inland waters. But once plastics break down into microplastics and drift throughout the water column in the open ocean, they are virtually impossible to recover.

The solution is to prevent plastic waste from entering rivers and seas in the first place, many scientists and conservationists—including the National Geographic Society —say. This could be accomplished with improved waste management systems and recycling , better product design that takes into account the short life of disposable packaging, and a reduction in manufacturing of unnecessary single-use plastics.

Related Topics

• WATER POLLUTION
• TOXIC WASTE

We Made Plastic. We Depend on It. Now We’re Drowning in It.

In a first, microplastic particles have been linked to heart disease

One Stanley bottle helps the environment. But a whole collection?

‘Forever chemicals’ are hiding in your kitchen. Here’s where—and what you can do

We got rid of BPA in some products—but are the substitutes any safer?

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Volatile Organic Compounds' Impact on Indoor Air Quality

On this page:

Introduction

Health effects, levels in homes, steps to reduce exposure, standards or guidelines, additional resources.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Concentrations of many VOCs are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of products numbering in the thousands.

Organic chemicals are widely used as ingredients in household products. Paints, varnishes and wax all contain organic solvents, as do many cleaning, disinfecting, cosmetic, degreasing and hobby products. Fuels are made up of organic chemicals. All of these products can release organic compounds while you are using them, and, to some degree, when they are stored.

EPA's Office of Research and Development's "Total Exposure Assessment Methodology (TEAM) Study" (Volumes I through IV, completed in 1985) found levels of about a dozen common organic pollutants to be 2 to 5 times higher inside homes than outside, regardless of whether the homes were located in rural or highly industrial areas. TEAM studies indicated that while people are using products containing organic chemicals, they can expose themselves and others to very high pollutant levels, and elevated concentrations can persist in the air long after the activity is completed.

Sources of VOCs

Household products, including:

• paints, paint strippers and other solvents
• wood preservatives
• aerosol sprays
• cleansers and disinfectants
• moth repellents and air fresheners
• stored fuels and automotive products
• hobby supplies
• dry-cleaned clothing

Other products, including:

• building materials and furnishings
• office equipment such as copiers and printers, correction fluids and carbonless copy paper
• graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, permanent markers and photographic solutions.

Health effects may include:

• Eye, nose and throat irritation
• Headaches, loss of coordination and nausea
• Damage to liver, kidney and central nervous system
• Some organics can cause cancer in animals, some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans.

Key signs or symptoms associated with exposure to VOCs include:

• conjunctival irritation
• nose and throat discomfort
• allergic skin reaction
• declines in serum cholinesterase levels

The ability of organic chemicals to cause health effects varies greatly from those that are highly toxic, to those with no known health effect.

As with other pollutants, the extent and nature of the health effect will depend on many factors including level of exposure and length of time exposed. Among the immediate symptoms that some people have experienced soon after exposure to some organics include:

• Eye and respiratory tract irritation
• visual disorders and memory impairment

At present, not much is known about what health effects occur from the levels of organics usually found in homes.

• List of Contaminants and their MCLs: Organic Chemicals
• Information on VOCs in Water Sources

Studies have found that levels of several organics average 2 to 5 times higher indoors than outdoors. During and for several hours immediately after certain activities, such as paint stripping, levels may be 1,000 times background outdoor levels.

• Increase ventilation when using products that emit VOCs.
• Meet or exceed any label precautions.
• Do not store opened containers of unused paints and similar materials within the school.
• Identify, and if possible, remove the source.
• If not possible to remove, reduce exposure by using a sealant on all exposed surfaces of paneling and other furnishings.
• Use integrated pest management techniques to reduce the need for pesticides.
• Use household products according to manufacturer's directions.
• Make sure you provide plenty of fresh air when using these products.
• Throw away unused or little-used containers safely; buy in quantities that you will use soon.
• Keep out of reach of children and pets.
• Never mix household care products unless directed on the label.

Follow label instructions carefully.

Potentially hazardous products often have warnings aimed at reducing exposure of the user. For example, if a label says to use the product in a well-ventilated area, go outdoors or in areas equipped with an exhaust fan to use it. Otherwise, open up windows to provide the maximum amount of outdoor air possible.

Throw away partially full containers of old or unneeded chemicals safely.

Because gases can leak even from closed containers, this single step could help lower concentrations of organic chemicals in your home. (Be sure that materials you decide to keep are stored not only in a well-ventilated area but are also safely out of reach of children.) Do not simply toss these unwanted products in the garbage can. Find out if your local government or any organization in your community sponsors special days for the collection of toxic household wastes. If such days are available, use them to dispose of the unwanted containers safely. If no such collection days are available, think about organizing one.

Buy limited quantities.

If you use products only occasionally or seasonally, such as paints, paint strippers and kerosene for space heaters or gasoline for lawn mowers, buy only as much as you will use right away.

Keep exposure to emissions from products containing methylene chloride to a minimum.

Consumer products that contain methylene chloride include paint strippers, adhesive removers and aerosol spray paints. Methylene chloride is known to cause cancer in animals. Also, methylene chloride is converted to carbon monoxide in the body and can cause symptoms associated with exposure to carbon monoxide. Carefully read the labels containing health hazard information and cautions on the proper use of these products. Use products that contain methylene chloride outdoors when possible; use indoors only if the area is well ventilated.

Keep exposure to benzene to a minimum.

Benzene is a known human carcinogen. The main indoor sources of this chemical are:

• environmental tobacco smoke
• stored fuels
• paint supplies
• automobile emissions in attached garages

Actions that will reduce benzene exposure include:

• eliminating smoking within the home
• providing for maximum ventilation during painting
• discarding paint supplies and special fuels that will not be used immediately

Keep exposure to perchloroethylene emissions from newly dry-cleaned materials to a minimum.

Perchloroethylene is the chemical most widely used in dry cleaning. In laboratory studies, it has been shown to cause cancer in animals. Recent studies indicate that people breathe low levels of this chemical both in homes where dry-cleaned goods are stored and as they wear dry-cleaned clothing. Dry cleaners recapture the perchloroethylene during the dry-cleaning process so they can save money by re-using it, and they remove more of the chemical during the pressing and finishing processes. Some dry cleaners, however, do not remove as much perchloroethylene as possible all of the time.

Taking steps to minimize your exposure to this chemical is prudent.

• If dry-cleaned goods have a strong chemical odor when you pick them up, do not accept them until they have been properly dried.
• If goods with a chemical odor are returned to you on subsequent visits, try a different dry cleaner.

No federally enforceable standards have been set for VOCs in non-industrial settings. To learn more about VOC's, including current guidelines or recommendations set by various organizations for formaldehyde concentrations , visit Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Indoor Air Quality Scientific Findings Resource Bank .

ASHRAE: Indoor Air Quality Guide , Strategies 5.1 and 5.2

ASHRAE Standard 189.1-2014 , Sections 10.3.1.4 and 10.3.1.4 (b) 1

California Department of Public Health: Standard Method for the Testing and Evaluation of Volatile Organic Chemical Emissions from Indoor Sources Using Environmental Chambers (Emission Testing Method for California Specification 01350)

California Title 17 ATCM to Reduce Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products

Carpet and Rug Institute: Green Label Plus

Collaborative for High Performance Schools: High Performance Products Database

EPA: Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products

Indoor Air Fact Sheet No. 4 (revised) - Sick Building Syndrome

• Explains the term "sick building syndrome" (SBS) and "building related illness" (BRI). Discusses causes of sick building syndrome, describes building investigation procedures and provides general solutions for resolving the syndrome.
• Assists health professionals (especially the primary care physician) in diagnosis of patient symptoms that could be related to an indoor air pollution problem. Addresses the health problems that may be caused by contaminants encountered daily in the home and office. Organized according to pollutant or pollutant groups such as environmental tobacco smoke, VOCs, biological pollutants and sick building syndrome, this booklet lists key signs and symptoms from exposure to these pollutants, provides a diagnostic checklist and quick reference summary, and includes suggestions for remedial action. Also includes references for information contained in each section. This booklet was coauthored with the American Lung Association, the American Medical Association and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
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