How is air pollution affecting your health?

Posted By Suborna Fermi Posted on Nov 23, 2022

Air pollution is a deadly threat to our health. The air we breathe in is completely filled with harmful toxic elements including nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and other pollutants. Because of this air pollution, nearly 7 million cases of premature deaths are reported in a year across the globe.

Air pollution not only damages our mother nature, it also hugely affects every living being as well. To be more specific, in the case of humans, air pollution can cause critical health issues such as heart attack, stroke, lung disease, chronic pulmonary disease, and respiratory infection.

3 major health effects of air pollution:

Air pollutants cause oxidative stress and inflammation to the human body cells, which initially cause respiratory disease and cancer.

• Cancer: Some studies have shown that women are more prone to develop breast cancer due to air pollution. Some toxic substances, especially methylene chloride (used in paint removers) increases the chances of breast cancer. Besides, exposure to the gasoline component benzene can cause leukemia and non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
• Heart disease: Certain air pollutants can cause damage to the blood vessels and stimulate the calcification of the arteries. There is a increased risk of developing hemorrhagic stroke to the menopausal women who have daily exposure to nitrogen oxide. Traffic related air pollution can decrease the high density lipoprotein or good cholesterol which can lead to developing cardiovascular disease.
• Respiratory disease: Our respiratory system is highly affected because of the air pollution. It affects our lung function, and is responsible for asthma, emphysema, chronic pulmonary disease and other respiratory diseases. Air pollutants, especially nitrogen oxide and particulate matter are highly responsible for chronic bronchitis.

Aside from all this, air pollution also affects pregnant women as well. It can cause hypertensive disorders to the mother, which apparently results in premature birth, low-birth weight, metal and fetal illness, and eventually death.