The Health Effects

Have you ever walked outside on a hot summer day and felt like the air was smothering you? Has it made your eyes water or perhaps prompted an irritating cough?

One cause of these types of symptoms could be poor air quality. Unfortunately, these are just some of the mild effects of air pollution, which can cover the spectrum from eye irritation to more serious health problems, such as asthma.

Ozone, Particulate Matter, Asthma and Respiratory Ailments

Taking small steps to improve air quality can help prevent health problems for everybody, especially people with asthma and other respiratory ailments.

• Asthma. When ozone or particulate matter levels are high, studies suggest that more asthma attacks occur that require a doctor's attention or additional medication. One reason for this is that ozone can make people more sensitive to allergens, the most common triggers of asthma attacks. Also, asthmatics are affected more severely than non-asthmatics by the reduced lung function and irritation that ozone and particulate matter cause in the respiratory system.¹
  
  
• Other Respiratory Ailments. Ozone and particulate matter pollution can be harmful to people with chronic lung diseases, such as emphysema and bronchitis. Both pollutants can aggravate these conditions and reduce the immune system's ability to fight off bacterial infections in the respiratory system.² Often the elderly are most likely to experience these conditions and, therefore, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution.
  
  
• Lung Damage. Ozone may cause permanent lung damage. When children's developing lungs are repeatedly exposed to ozone, it may lead to reduced lung function in adulthood. In adults, ozone exposure may accelerate the decline in lung function that occurs as part of the natural aging process.³

Particulate Matter: Small Pollutant, Big Impact

Usually it's the little things in life that make us the happiest. With air pollution, however, it's sometimes the littlest things that cause the most harm and unhappiness.

Fine particulate matter is one of the most serious air pollutants: the particles are so small that they can get right through the nasal passage, past the trachea and into the deepest parts of the lungs. The particles also can enter the bloodstream via the lungs.⁴

Particle pollution damages the body in ways similar to cigarette smoking and can cause heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer. Hundreds of studies have found associations between elevated particulate matter levels and premature deaths, hospital admissions and emergency room visits and aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms.⁵

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¹ AIRNow. 2007. Ozone and Your Health. http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=static.ozone2#2 (accessed March 16, 2007).

² AIRNow. 2007. Ozone and Your Health. http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=static.ozone2#2 (accessed March 16, 2007).

³ AIRNow. 2007. Ozone and Your Health. http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=static.ozone2#2 (accessed March 16, 2007).

⁴ American Lung Association. 2006. State of the Air: 2006. http://lungaction.org/reports/sota06_heffects1.html (accessed March 16, 2007).

⁵ California Air Resources Board and American Lung Association of California. 2004. Recent Research Findings: Health Effects of Particulate Matter and Ozone Air Pollution. http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/health/fs/PM-03fs.pdf (accessed March 16, 2007).