Air Pollution "A world Health Problem" | Health and Safety

Hi, and welcome to this overview of air pollution. Air pollution nowadays is considered as a major public health issue right around this world. In this blog, we discuss about outdoor air pollution, what are the types of pollutants and sources. We’ll also take a look at ways to reduce air pollution and see how air quality is monitored. Moving from there we discuss indoor air pollution, the consequences, the sources of pollution, and ways in which we can reduce it.

What is air pollution?

Air pollution occurs when the air is contaminated with any kind of chemical-physical or biological agents. it is the world’s largest environmental health risk, leading to millions of deaths around the world each year. Although anyone can be affected by air pollution people who are most vulnerable include elderly children and people with chronic lung or heart disease. Let’s take a look at outdoor air pollution first the outdoor air can be polluted by natural sources or human sources natural or biogenic sources of air pollution include pollen bush fires or dust from deserts. Pollution of the air from human sources also called anthropogenic air pollution, is commonly due to industries burning of fossil fuels and the use of Motor Vehicles.

There are hundreds of different types of air pollutants. Let’s take a quick look at a few important ones. Starting with the interesting subject of PM (i.e. Particulate Matter) it is a complex mixture of small particles and liquid droplets that are mainly from industry or motor vehicle exhaust dust storms or bushfires. Particulate Matter is classified according to the diameter of the particles the health effects of particulate matter are mostly due to particles that are less than 10 micrometers in diameter these particles can reach the deepest parts of the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Second, Nitrogen dioxide usually formed when fuel is burned at a high temperature. Common sources are the exhaust of automobiles industry, Power Plants, and Gas Stovetops. Moving to the third and the interesting form of source of air pollution, Carbon monoxide which is colorless and odorless generated when the carbon and fuel don't burn completely. The main source of carbon monoxide is motor vehicle exhausts and therefore carbon monoxide levels are very high in areas with heavy traffic. Other sources include industry incinerators and bushfires. What is Sulfur dioxide? it is a gas that can be produced when sulfur-containing fuels are burned during industrial processes, like in Power Plants and refineries in which lead is produced mostly as a result of metal and ore processing. Motor vehicle exhaust used to be a major source of lead pollution however regulatory efforts to reduce lead and fuel have led to a massive reduction in lead emissions. Ozone may be a gas that's not emitted on to the air but is made as a results of sunlight working on other chemicals within the air. Ground-level ozone is a pollutant whereas ozone that occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere has a protective function. There are hundreds of other air pollutants that can lead to adverse health effects,

Consequences and the end results due to the exposure of these pollutants can result in a wide range of short and long-term health effects? The health effect will depend upon factors just like the sort of pollutant concentration, length of exposure, and individual characteristics of the person exposed thereto. It can range from minor symptoms like irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat to more severe conditions like heart and lung disease or cancer. It can also lead to increased hospital admissions and an increase in death rates. In 2019 outdoor air pollution was estimated to have caused 4.2 million deaths around the world. In addition to causing health effects, air pollution can also lead to damage to the property, reduced visibility and have other effects on the environment like acid rain.

What can we do to reduce air pollution?

Well, there are many different ways to reduce air pollution requires the combined efforts of governments. Industry and individuals, for example, governments can take actions like developing standards, regulating the level of pollutants in the air, developing policies to reduce the environmental impact of development and using clean energy sources.

The industry can take steps like reducing their emissions to the environment taking measures to stop pollution accidents or developing technology to scale back emissions like electric cars. At a private level reducing the reliance on fossil fuels are often achieved with actions like walking using conveyance or choosing energy-efficient means of living and transportation.

Let's have a look now at how air quality is monitored, most of the countries have national laws and regulations to control air pollution, these usually set out air quality standards that has got to be adhered to those standards are began by each country and can depend upon factors like technological feasibility, economic considerations, capacity for air quality management political and social factors. These standards specify the concentration of a number of selected pollutants called criteria pollutants that are allowed in the air. A useful way to track air pollution against the national standards is a measure called the AQI (i.e. Air Quality Index). This term is a simple numerical or color-coded representation of how clean the air is. There are different ways of calculating the AQI but it's essentially a measure to what the level of a pollutant is compared to what the national standard is.

The air quality index can be calculated for the different pollutants from the above-generated formulae and the different health-related concerns depending on the AQI is given shown by the below-formulated diagram as per the AQI for your reference.

Now that we've got a look at the outdoor air pollution and how-to monitor air pollution. let's have a look at indoor air pollution now although the indoor air quality is affected by outdoor air. The quality of indoor air can be significantly different, this is because there could be many sources of indoor pollutants. the most common source of indoor pollution in the world is solid fuels like wood, charcoal, dung or crop wastes, that are used for cooking or heating around the world. Over three billion people use simple stoves or open fires to cook or heat their homes. These methods are inefficient and can lead to the generation of pollutants like particulate matter which can result in concentrations indoors of up to 100 times more than that of the outdoor air. other sources include tobacco smoke, chemicals released from building materials, furnishings and household products, pesticides, asbestos-containing insulation and products used for household cleaning factors like inadequate ventilation and in some cases heat and humidity can worsen indoor air pollution. Exposure to indoor air pollution can lead to health effects similar to those caused by outdoor air pollution.

In 2019 the World Health Organization estimated that 3.8 million people died due to illness that could be attributed to household air pollution caused by the use of solid fuel there are many ways to scale back the indoor air pollution/contamination including controlling the pollution at the source itself. This includes actions like changing from solid fuels to cleaner and more energy-efficient solutions like biogas, electricity or solar power improving cooking devices and reducing the need for open fire heating by constructing energy-efficient housing making improvements to the indoor environment. This may include increasing ventilation through windows or chimneys or other design features like having the kitchen separate from the house. Behavioral changes like properly maintaining stoves and chimneys can reduce the buildup of pollutants exposure to indoor pollution also can be reduced with actions like using pot lids to conserve heat and minimize cooking time.

So, that's a look at air pollution an important public health issue we've had a look at outdoor air pollution. Different types of pollutants and their sources, ways to reduce pollution and how air quality is monitored we've also talked about indoor air pollution, what are problems associated with source of pollution and ways to reduce it.