Air Pollution Talk

Stay inside with the windows closed on high pollen days, if possible.

Use your air conditioner to help filter the air coming into the home. Central air systems are the best.

Remove indoor plants if they irritate or produce symptoms for you or your family.

Source: EPA

Many types of environmental exposures are more harmful for children than for adults. There are many reasons for this:

• Relative to their body weight, children eat, breathe, and drink more than adults do. So children take in higher concentrations of any toxins in their food, water, or air.
• As organs develop, they are more likely to be damaged by exposure to toxins.
• The ways that toxins are removed from the body are not fully developed in children.
• Children spend more time outdoors, where they may be exposed to outdoor air pollution and ultraviolet radiation.
• Children do more intense physical activity, causing them to breathe air pollutants more deeply into their lungs.
• Young children tend to put their hands, dirt, or objects into their mouths.

Source: Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The environment is everything around you, indoors or outdoors. The air you breathe, water you drink, the ground you walk on, and food you eat are all part of your environment. It’s important that you know what things in the environment can affect your health and what you can do to help protect yourself and your family.

Chemicals and other substances in the environment can cause serious health problems in women, such as cancer, lung disease, or reproductive system problems. They can also make health conditions worse. Scientists are studying the ways toxins in the environment may play a role in conditions such as breast cancer, endometriosis, and menopause. This fact sheet offers information about these toxins and steps you can take to limit exposure.

Source: Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Smokers are particularly at risk of developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Second-hand smoke exacerbates or worsens respiratory conditions such as COPD and asthma. Cigarette smoking is responsible for 90% of all chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

What you can do:

If you smoke, stop.

Avoid tobacco smoke.

Request that family members, friends or caregivers smoke outside.

Source: US Environmental Protection Agency

Air pollution, whether natural or man-induced, is neither good for man or any other life forms on planet earth. Naturally occuring air pollution can be caused by an erupting volcano spewing ashes in the atmosphere. Man-induced pollution, which was further increased by the industrial revolution, and be from factories, cars, and airplanes.

Although harmful to any living organism, life forms still seem to thrive and survive. The short term affects of air pollution may not be noticeable, but the long term affects of air pollution may be harmful in the long run. Years of inhaling different toxins, chemical etc. can be a cause of lung or other various types of cancer. Not only can this increase the rate of cancer, but increase the rate of other health problems, such as heart disease. We can do nothing about earth’s contribution to air pollution, be we can do something about our own.

Proportional to body weight, children eat, breathe, and drink more than adults. So they take in higher concentrations of the toxins in our environment. As children’s bodies develop, especially in the womb and newborns, they are vulnerable to damage from toxic substances. For example, a small amount of certain pesticides during a critical time in a child’s development could impact brain and body function, causing ADHD, reproductive health problems, as well as other problems. Some toxins, like mercury, can build up in body fat and be passed from mother to child during pregnancy or after birth through breast milk.

Office on Women’s Health