Air Pollution on Humans

Air pollution principally affects the respiratory, circulatory, and olfactory systems. The respiratory system is the principal route of entry for air pollutants, some of which may alter the function of the lungs. 

Hecdth effects data come from three types of studies clinical, epidemiological, and toxicological. Clinical and epidemiological studies focus on human subjects, whereas toxicological studies are conducted on animals or simpler cellular systems. Ethical considerations limit human exposure to low levels of air poUutants which do not have irreversible effects. Table 7-1 lists the advantages and disadvantages of each type of experimental informahon. 

Three Disciplinary Approaches for Obtaining Health Information 

Epidemiology Communities Natural exposure Difficulty of quantifying exposure 

Clinical studies Experimental Controlled exposure Artificial exposure 

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The harmful effects of air pollutants on human beings have been the major reason for efforts to understand and control their sources. During the past two decades, research on acidic deposition on water-based ecosystems has helped to reemphasize the importance of air pollutants in other receptors, such as soil-based ecosystems (1). When discussing the impact of air pollutants on ecosystems, the matter of scale becomes important. We will discuss three examples of elements which interact with air, water, and soil media on different geographic scales. These are the carbon cycle on a global scale, the sulfur cycle on a regional scale, and the fluoride cycle on a local scale. 

Effects of indoor air pollutants on humans are essentially the same as those described in Chapter 7. However, there can be some additional pollutant exposures in the indoor environment that are not common in the ambient setting. From the listing in Table 23-1, radon exposures indoors present a radiation hazard for the development of lung cancer. Environmental tobacco smoke has been found to cause lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. Biological agents such as molds and other toxins may be a more likely exposure hazard indoors than outside. 

Congress attempted to correct that deficiency and other air pollution problems in a series of amendments to the 1963 act passed in 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1969. The 1965 amendments, for example, authorized the secretary of health, education and welfare to establish nationwide standards for automobile exhaust emissions. This legislation and later amendments also authorized the surgeon general to study the effects of air pollutants on human health, expanded local air quality programs, set compliance deadlines for meeting new air quality standards, established air quality control regions (AQCRs), and authorized research on low emission fuels and more fuel-efficient automobiles. 

Table I. Effects of criteria air pollutants on human health, fauna and flora, amI structures and materials... 

Anderson JO, Thundiyil JG, Stolbach A (2011) Clearing the air a review of the effects of particulate matter air pollution on human health. J Med Toxicol. doi 10.1007/sl3181-011-0203-1... 

Most of the information on the effects of air pollution on humans comes from acute pollution episodes such as the ones in Donora and London. Illnesses may result from chemical irritation of the respiratory tract, with certain sensitive subpopulations being more affected (1) very young children, whose respiratory and circulatory systems are poorly developed, (2) the elderly, whose cardiorespiratory systems function poorly, and (3) people with cardiorespiratory diseases such as asthma, emphysema, and heart disease. Heavy smokers are also affected more adversely by air pollutants. In most cases the health problems are attributed to the combined action of particulates and sulfur dioxides (SO2) no one pollutant appears to be responsible. Table 4.2 summarizes some of the major air pollutants and their sources and effects. 

Berglund, B., Brunekreef, B., Knoppel, H., Lindvall, T., Maroni, M., Molhave, L. and Skov, P. (1991) Effects of indoor air pollution on human health. The Commission of the European Communities, Luxembourg, Report No. 10, EU-14086EN, pp. 1-43. 

Goldberg MS, Burnett RT, and Stieb D (2003) A review of time-series studies used to evaluate the short-term effects of air pollution on human health. Reviews on Environmental Health 18(4) 269-303. 

By the year 2000 at least 50% of adult residents should understand the adverse effects of indoor air pollutants on human health, and might take apprqpriate protection to decrease the concentration of indoor air pollutants to allowable levels. In 1995 the aim of the above objective will be 30%. 

System data for statistically evaluating the effects of specific air pollutants on human health. This system replaces the CHESS study... 

Chen, Z., Huang, X., Wang, Q. (2009). The effect of air pollution on human health in China A macro evaluation. In 3rd International Conference on Bioinfbrmatics and Biomedical Engineering, 2009, ICBBE 2009, pp. 1-4. 

Dejmek, J. et al.. Air pollution and pregnancy outcome, in Sram, R.J. (Ed.), Teplice Program Impact of Air Pollution on Human Health, Academia, Prague, 2001, pp. 127-137. 

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