Air Pollution Essay

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AIR POLLUTION AND CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASES Name Course Tutor Date AIR POLLUTION AND CHRONIC RESPIRATORY DISEASES Air pollution is the introduction of harmful particulates into the atmosphere. Indoor and outdoor air pollution is the world's worst pollution problems. When we breathe in poor quality air, we bring pollutants into our lungs. Exposure to air pollution can bring about new cases of asthma, worsen existing respiratory illnesses and harm lung development creating additional risk factors for developing chronic lung diseases later in life (Holgate, S. T. (2009). Tobacco smoke is the single biggest risk to human health. Most smokers develop chronic bronchitis. Unfortunately, this also applies to non-smokers who are passively exposed to tobacco smoke. This increases their risk of developing lung cancer. Generally air pollution mostly arises from combustion. Combustion of coal and other solid fuel produces hydrocarbons and sulphur dioxide so does the combustion of liquid petroleum products. People with asthma are adversely affected by the pollution as it triggers asthma attacks. These by-products may also increase the risk of bronchitis and similar lung diseases. Thousands of deaths have been as a result of acute air pollution .A good example of this is the smog in 1950s that killed about 4,000 people in London as a result of the famous industrial revolution. There is good evidence to show that increasing concentration of pollutants like sulphur dioxide increases the risk of symptoms of lung diseases (Holgate, S. T. (2009). Harmful airborne pollutants can also arise within a household.4.3 million deaths in 2012 were attributed to household air pollution according to WHO (Bousquet, J., Khaltaev, N. G., Cruz, A. A., & World Health Organization. (2007). In developing countries, most people rely on biomass for energy such as wood and charcoal which

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