Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the

atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or
cause damage to the climate or to materials. It is also the contamination of indoor
or outdoor surrounding either by chemical activities, physical or biological agents
that alters the natural features of the atmosphere.There are many different types
of air pollutants, such as gases (including ammonia, carbon monoxide, sulphur
dioxide, nitrous oxides, methane, carbon dioxide at high concentrations and
chlorofluorocarbons ), particulates ( both organic and inorganic), and biological
molecules. Air pollution can cause diseases, allergies, and even death to humans;
it can also cause harm to other living organisms such as animals and food crops,
and may damage the natural environment (for example, climate change, ozone
depletion or habitat degradation) or built environment (for example, acid rain).
Air pollution can be caused by both human activities and natural phenomena. Air
quality is closely related to the earth's climate and ecosystems globally many of
the contributors of air pollution are also sources of greenhouse emission i.e.,
burning of fossil fuel. Air pollution is a significant risk factor for a number of
pollution-related diseases, including respiratory infections, heart disease, COPD,
stroke and lung cancer [Growing evidence suggests that air pollution exposure may
be associated with reduced IQ scores, impaired cognition, increased risk for
psychiatric disorders such as depression and detrimental perinatal health.] The
human health effects of poor air quality are far reaching, but principally affect
the body's respiratory system and the cardiovascular system. Individual reactions
to air pollutants depend on the type of pollutant a person is exposed to, the
degree of exposure, and the individual's health status and genetics. Outdoor air
pollution attributable to fossil fuel use alone causes ~3.61 million deaths
annually, making it one of the top contributors to human death, with anthropogenic
ozone and PM2.5 causing ~2.1 million. Overall, air pollution causes the deaths of
around 7 million people worldwide each year, or a global mean loss of life
expectancy (LLE) of 2.9 years, and is the world's largest single environmental
health risk, which has not shown significant progress since at least 2015. Indoor
air pollution and poor urban air quality are listed as two of the world's worst
toxic pollution problems in the 2008 Blacksmith Institute World's Worst Polluted
Places report. The scope of the air pollution crisis is large: 90% of the world's
population breathes dirty air to some degree. Although the health consequences are
extensive, the way the problem is handled is considered largely haphazard or
neglected. Productivity losses and degraded quality of life caused by air pollution
are estimated to cost the world economy $5 trillion per year but, along with health
and mortality impacts, are an externality to the contemporary economic system and
most human activity, albeit sometimes being moderately regulated and monitored.
Various pollution control technologies and strategies are available to reduce air
pollution. Several international and national legislation and regulation have been
developed to limit the negative effects of air pollution. Local rules, when
properly executed, have resulted in significant advances in public health. Some of
these efforts have been successful at the international level, such as the Montreal
Protocol, which reduced the release of harmful ozone depleting chemicals, and the
1985 Helsinki Protocol, which reduced sulphur emissions, while others, such as
international action on climate change, have been less successful. Air pollution is
a familiar environmental health hazard. We know what we’re looking at when brown
haze settles over a city, exhaust billows across a busy highway, or a plume rises
from a smokestack. Some air pollution is not seen, but its pungent smell alerts
you. It is a major threat to global health and prosperity. Air pollution, in all
forms, is responsible for more than 6.5 million deaths each year globally, a number
that has increased over the past two decades. Air pollution is a mix of hazardous
substances from both human-made and natural sources. Vehicle emissions, fuel oils
and natural gas to heat homes, by-products of manufacturing and power generation,
particularly coal-fueled power plants, and fumes from chemical production are the
primary sources of human-made air pollution. Nature releases hazardous substances
into the air, such as smoke from wildfires, which are often caused by people; ash
and gases from volcanic eruptions; and gases, like methane, which are emitted from
decomposing organic matter in soils. Traffic-Related Air Pollution (TRAP), a
mixture of gasses and particles, has most of the elements of human-made air
pollution: ground-level ozone, various forms of carbon, nitrogen oxides, sulfur
oxides, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and fine
particulate matter. Ozone, an atmospheric gas, is often called smog when at ground
level. It is created when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial
boilers, refineries, and other sources chemically react in the presence of
sunlight. Noxious gases, which include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen
oxides (NOx), and sulfur oxides (SOx), are components of motor vehicle emissions
and byproducts of industrial processes. Image courtesy of EPA Particulate matter
(PM) is composed of chemicals such as sulfates, nitrates, carbon, or mineral dusts.
Vehicle and industrial emissions from fossil fuel combustion, cigarette smoke, and
burning organic matter, such as wildfires, all contain PM. A subset of PM, fine
particulate matter (PM 2.5) is 30 times thinner than a human hair. It can be
inhaled deeply into lung tissue and contribute to serious health problems. PM 2.5
accounts for most health effects due to air pollution in the U.S. Volatile organic
compounds (VOC) vaporize at or near room temperature—hence, the designation
volatile. They are called organic because they contain carbon. VOCs are given off
by paints, cleaning supplies, pesticides, some furnishings, and even craft
materials like glue. Gasoline and natural gas are major sources of VOCs, which are
released during combustion. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are organic
compounds containing carbon and hydrogen. Of more than 100 PAHs known to be
widespread in the environment, 15 are listed in the Report on Carcinogens. In
addition to combustion, many industrial processes, such as iron, steel, and rubber
product manufacturing, as well as power generation, also produce PAHs as a by-
product. PAHs are also found in particulate matter. Air Pollution and Climate
Change Air pollution and climate change affect each other through complex
interactions in the atmosphere. Air pollution is intricately linked with climate
change because both problems come largely from the same sources, such as emissions
from burning fossil fuels. Both are threats to people’s health and the environment
worldwide. Read more: Health Impacts of Air Quality. Over its 50-plus year history,
NIEHS has been a leader in air pollution research. The institute continues to fund
and conduct research into how air pollution affects health and the population
groups who are most affected. How does air pollution affect our health? When the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards were established in 1970, air pollution was
regarded primarily as a threat to respiratory health. In 1993, NIEHS researchers
published the landmark Six Cities Study, which established an association between
fine particulate matter and mortality. Air pollution exposure is associated with
oxidative stress and inflammation in human cells, which may lay a foundation for
chronic diseases and cancer. In 2013, the International Agency for Research on
Cancer of the World Health Organization (WHO) classified air pollution as a human
carcinogen. Research on air pollution and health effects continually advances.
Public health concern now includes cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory
diseases, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and reproductive, neurological, and immune
system disorders Cancer A large study of more than 57,000 women found living near
major roadways may increase a woman’s risk for breast cancer. The NIEHS Sister
Study found other airborne toxic substances, especially methylene chloride, which
is used in aerosol products and paint removers, are also associated with increased
risk of breast cancer. Occupational exposure to benzene, an industrial chemical and
component of gasoline, can cause leukemia and is associated with non-Hodgkin’s
Lymphoma. A long-term study, 2000-2016, found an association between lung cancer
incidence and increased reliance on coal for energy generation. Cardiovascular
Disease Fine particulate matter can impair blood vessel function and speed up
calcification in arteries. NIEHS researchers established links between short-term
daily exposure by post-menopausal women to nitrogen oxides and increased risk of
hemorrhagic stroke. For some older Americans, exposure to TRAP can result in
lowered levels of high-density lipoprotein, sometimes called good cholesterol,
increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease. According to a National
Toxicology Program (NTP) report, TRAP exposure also increases a pregnant woman’s
risk for dangerous changes in blood pressure, known as hypertensive disorders,
which are a leading cause of pre-term birth, low birth weight, and maternal and
fetal illness and death. Respiratory Disease Air pollution can affect lung
development and is implicated in the development of emphysema, asthma, and other
respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Increases in asthma prevalence and severity are linked to urbanization and outdoor
air pollution. Children living in low-income urban areas tend to have more asthma
cases than others. Research published in 2023 tied two air pollutants, ozone and
PM2.5, to asthma-related changes in children’s airways. PM and nitrogen oxide are
linked to chronic bronchitis. In 2020, a major public health challenge was
confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic and wildfires across the western U.S. Building
on a well-established connection between air pollution and respiratory-tract
infections, a study linked wildfire smoke with additional COVID-19 cases and
deaths. Whom does air pollution affect the most Air pollution affects everyone’s
health, but certain groups may be harmed more. Almost 9 out of 10 people who live
in urban areas worldwide are affected by air pollution. Children The NIEHS-funded
Children’s Health Study at the University of Southern California is one of the
largest studies of the long-term effects of air pollution on children’s respiratory
health. Among its findings: Higher air pollution levels increase short-term
respiratory infections, which lead to more school absences. Children who play
several outdoor sports and live in high ozone communities are more likely to
develop asthma. Children living near busy roads are at increased risk for asthma.
Children with asthma who were exposed to high levels of air pollutants were more
likely to develop bronchitis symptoms. Living in communities with higher pollution
levels can cause lung damage. Other studies on women and children NIEHS-funded
researchers from the University of California, Davis, Environmental Health Sciences
Center are conducting the Bio-Specimen and Fire Effects (B-SAFE) Study. This
ongoing project seeks to discover if and how recent wildfires and their smoke
affected pregnant women and their babies. Begun in 2017, study participants are
pregnant women who were living in Northern California when the 2018, 2019, or 2020
wildfires occurred there. Breathing PM 2.5, even at relatively low levels, may
alter the size of a child's developing brain, which may ultimately increase the
risk for cognitive and emotional problems later in adolescence. Prenatal exposure
to PAHs was associated with brain development effects, slower processing speed,
attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and other
neurobehavioral problems in urban youth. In New York City, prenatal exposure to air
pollution may play a role in childhood ADHD-related behavior problems. Prenatal
exposure to particulate matter was associated with low birth weight. Women exposed
to high levels of fine particulate matter during pregnancy, particularly in the
third trimester, may have up to twice the risk of having a child with autism.
Second and third trimester exposure to PM 2.5 might increase the chance of those
children having high blood pressure in early life. In California’s agricultural San
Joaquin Valley, women who were exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen
oxide, or nitrogen dioxide during their first 8 weeks of pregnancy were more likely
to have a baby with neural tube defects. In Marietta, Ohio, home to a
ferromanganese refinery, manganese concentrations in blood and hair, a biomarker of
air pollution exposure, were associated with lower child IQ scores. Older adults
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are a public health challenge for aging
populations. NIEHS-funded researchers at the University of Washington identified a
link between air pollution and dementias. This well-conducted study adds
considerable evidence that ambient air fine particles increase risk of dementias.
Conversely, a multi-year study published in 2022 shows improved air quality is
associated with lower risk of dementia in older women. The researchers also stated
this decline in dementia risk was equivalent to taking nearly 2 1/2 years off the
age of the women studied. Air pollution was linked to a greater chance of
developing several neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease,
Alzheimer's disease, and other dementias. Hospital admissions data from 63 million
older adults in the U.S., obtained over 17 years (2000-2016), was analyzed along
with estimated PM 2.5 concentrations by zip code to conduct the study. In older
adults, long-term exposure to TRAP may significantly hasten physical disabilities.
The risk is more pronounced among racial minorities and lower-income people.
Osteoporosis affects women more than men. A large study associated high levels of
air pollutants with bone damage, particularly in the lumbar spine, among
postmenopausal women. This study expands previous findings linking air pollution
and bone damage. Nutrients may counter some harmful effects from air pollution. A
2020 study found omega-3 fatty acids, obtained by eating certain fish, may protect
against PM 2.5-associated brain shrinkage in older women. Rural dwellers An NIEHS-
funded study found that concentrations of PM 2.5 in rural Washington State were
comparable to urban Seattle. In this study, as regional PM 2.5 increased, there
were increased asthma symptoms, such as limitation of activities, more wheezing,
and more nighttime waking, in rural children. In the rural U.S., large-scale animal
feeding operations might compromise regional air quality through emission of
pollutants, such as ammonia gas. A study found acute lung function problems in
children with asthma in such areas. Different genes Your genes play a role in
respiratory health. NIEHS-funded research discovered that people with specific gene
variants, which made them more likely to have lung inflammation, had a greater
chance of suffering from asthma if they lived close to major roadways. NIEHS and
community involvement NIEHS supports community participation in the research
process and encourages collaborative approaches that build capacity in communities
to address environmental health concerns. Community-engaged research and citizen
science are two types of collaborative research approaches. For example, NIEHS
helps residents of Imperial County, California track air pollution through a
network of 40 community-run monitors. In this county, long-term improvements in air
quality were associated with significant lung-function improvement in children. In
another example, NIEHS grant recipients developed community-level tactics and
public policies for reducing exposure to TRAP: Using high-efficiency particulate
air (HEPA) filtration. Building land-use buffers and vegetation barriers. Improving
urban design with gardens, parks, and street-side trees. Creating active-travel
options, such as bicycling and walking paths. THE (Trade, Health, Environment)
Impact Project brings together researchers and community groups to find solutions
for communities affected by trade-related pollution, such as ports and roadways
with trucking.