Essay On Outdoor Air Pollution

2183 Words9 Pages

Introduction
Clean air is considered to be a basic requisite of human health and wellbeing . But, worldwide air pollution continues to pose a significant threat to human health. WHO has defined air pollution as contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any physical, biological or chemical agent that modifies the natural properties of the atmosphere .

Air pollution is a major environmental risk to health. If we can reduce air pollution levels, countries can reduce the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma. Ambient (outdoor air pollution) is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone in developed and developing countries alike. Outdoor …show more content…

The common chemical constituents of particulate matter include sulphates, nitrates, ammonium, other inorganic ions such as ions of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and chloride, organic and elemental carbon, crustal material, particle-bound water, metals (including cadmium, copper, nickel, vanadium and zinc) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). In addition, biological components such as allergens and microbial compounds are found in PM …show more content…

Outdoor air pollution, mostly associated with particulates ranked sixth in importance among all health risks in South Asia where it contributed to 712,000 deaths in 2010. The size of particles is important as it determines the extent of penetration of particles into the respiratory system. Recent studies have identified fine particles called PM2.5 (particles with a mean aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 micrometres or smaller) as being especially harmful because they may reach and persist in the alveolar region of the lungs

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