Impact Of Air Pollution on Human Health

Human life has become easier with industrialisation and technology advancement, but in turn, the environment has degraded. As one of the more popular environmental challenges, air pollution has global impacts on human health. Air pollution, whether it comes from city smog or factory emissions, raises particles and gasses that when inhaled pose an immediate and potentially lifelong threat. These are a few major pollutant gasses including, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), etc which causes a number of several types of health issues. These are respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and even early death. Vulnerable groups, such as children, the elderly, and those with pre-existing health conditions, are particularly at risk. With air quality deteriorating in many parts of the world, understanding its impact on health is crucial for implementing effective measures to reduce exposure and protect public health.

The health consequences of air pollution are severe and wide-ranging. Exposure to pollutants like PM2.5 has been linked to respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer. In fact, air pollution is responsible for approximately 7 million premature deaths annually, making it one of the leading environmental health risks globally . Cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, are also strongly associated with poor air quality. A 2020 study published in The Lancet found that long-term exposure to air pollution contributed to a 29% increase in global deaths from cardiovascular disease .The ongoing global rise in air pollution levels presents an urgent public health crisis that demands immediate action. Growing up in India, I have witnessed people around me suffer from diseases due to air pollution which made me aware about the growing concern of it. According to me, identifying the impact of air pollution at early stages and working solutions are important to prevent massive loss in terms of people, economy and environment in the future.  

The economic differences of each country vary in the kind of diseases the people face. For the nations across the globe having low income and better development, overpopulation of cities and towns has become a most uncontrollable process which results in such worst quality air as well. India, in particular, has recorded the highest number of deaths due to unfit air annually — 2.18 million cases per year (Balakrishnan, Kalpana, et al, 2019). On the other hand, air pollution in the U.S. is much more associated with respiratory and heart disease and premature death, but it also has a much better-supported health care system to deal with those impacts. Size of the affected country as well as rules and regulations set by different countries have a huge impact on air pollution. One example from the US is the passage of the Clean Air Act (EPA, 2024), which has dramatically reduced emissions of pollutants like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, with corresponding improvements in air quality over the last several decades. Personally, I think apart from Air Pollution, Lifestyle and Food consumption affects a person's principles of health to a great extent. The effects of air pollution are serious threats to human health but on the other hand, a country's economic policies can be crucial to its control as they often lead to ecosystem-wide types of pollution.

Air pollution does not only affect the environment, it is one of the greatest threats to human health that also leads to numerous diseases, such as respiratory, cardiovascular and even neurologic. As reported by the World Health Organization (WHO), 4.2 million premature deaths are attributed to ambient air pollution every year, mostly from heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer (WHO 2021). PM, or Particulate matter (PM2. Particularly, particulate matter with a diameter less than or equal to 5, i.e. PM2.5 is considerably disruptive as it can settle deep in the lungs and also enter the bloodstream. Recent research indicates that a rise of 10 µg/m³ in PM2. (Cohen et al., 2017) . These statistics highlight the importance of protecting public health and the environment from air pollution. To secure a future for the coming generations and preserve humankind along with the environment it is important to devise methods to overcome this issue. While air pollution cannot be completely eliminated, it can surely be reduced. I believe that conducting scientific data and studying the environment is crucial for the development of society as it makes us aware of the consequences of our actions and challenges us to evolve and create a sustainable future.

Although the health effects from air pollution are evident, some experts believe that by concentrating only on personal wills and technology advances, we could be reducing pollution in a big way while permitting economic development instead of loss. As an example, research indicates that while air pollution has risen in the US and worldwide overall, net improvements can still be achieved through simultaneous economic development. An example is China where clean energy policies and advanced pollution-control technologies resulted in a 42 % reduction of fine particulate matter in its top cities between 2013 and 2018 that was decoupled from economic growth (Zhang et al., 2020). Moreover, some studies indicate that factors such as lifestyle, as well as indoor air quality and general behaviors on health are necessary contributors to respiratory and cardiovascular illness (Jiang et al., 2017). While overhauls of entire economic systems may be very difficult to achieve without risking public pushback, improving healthcare infrastructure increases health-system preparedness (Bowe et al., 2019) and adopting personal-level preventive measures such as using air purifiers in homes, wearing masks when outdoors, and limiting outdoor activities during high-pollution days can serve in mitigating the health risks of ambient air pollution. From this perspective, it means that although regulatory policies are critical, the personal responsibility and innovative technological solutions available to address air pollution and related health risks can also be part of the answer.

To sum up, despite how industrialization and technological improvements have made human life better than ever, they have also caused major environmental harms and air pollution is a prime example of which as it represents one of the largest global public health risks. It is in fact a big human health issue, and air pollutants like NO₂ and SO₂ is mainly responsible for several severe respiratory and cardiovascular diseases which widely affect vulnerable individuals . Particularly the gravity of these health risks necessitate substantial regulatory responses, but individual behavior and technology can help too – as shown by improvements in air quality reported recently from China. The challenge will be to maintain economic growth while managing pollution to provide a prosperous but healthier and more sustainable future.

Citation:

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