Biologically, ecosystems are regarded as the basic units that make up the environment and in turn comprise both the living as well as the non-living things which mostly rely on vital natural resources such as water, soil and especially air. This means that contamination of the air in the surrounding environment (air pollution), which negatively affects the various components of the ecosystems, includes a threat to the survival of living things including humans (Genc et al., 2012). Basically, air pollution involves emission of harmful substances in the atmosphere, from anthropogenic, geogenic and biogenic sources, which have both short and long term negative effects on the environment. This paper discusses the negative effects of air pollution on human health, indicating that air pollution must be dealt with as human life depends on it.
Air Pollution
Fundamentally, air pollution is caused by natural processes and mostly by human activities involving contamination and high concentration of harmful gases such as sulfur dioxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, among others. This is represented by carbon emissions from transport machines such as vehicles (anthropogenic-manmade sources) as well as from natural occurrences like methane production by swamps or harmful volcanic emissions (biogenic and geogenic causes). In terms of human activities, the main sources of air pollution include the generation and consumption of energy especially in industrial processing and manufacturing, vehicular emissions, tobacco smoke, as well as the burning of solid wastes (Kjellstrom, Neller & Simpson, 2002).
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The adverse effects on human health through air pollution acknowledged by Genc et al. (2012) include various pulmonary and cardiovascular illnesses. Specifically, the author highlights negative health effects of air pollution that target the nervous system including chronic medical conditions such as stroke, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease as well as neurodevelopmental disorders (Genc et al., 2012). Microglial activation, oxidative stress as well as cerebrovascular dysfunction and neuroinflammation induced by air pollution also contribute to potential nervous system dysfunction. Considering that the nervous system is one of the most vital systems of the body which, if negatively affected, could destroy people, it is very important that different stakeholders especially governments contribute towards eradicating air pollution (Samet & White, 2004). Such negative consequences on human life highlight the need for effectively dealing with air pollution especially when the weak in society are most affected.
The negative effects of air pollution on human health are not restricted to the nervous system but also include growth and development especially of children as well as exacerbation of pre-existing medical conditions. This is acknowledged by Samet & White (2004) who agrees that air pollution worsens the health status of people with various medical conditions especially asthmatics and even potentially affects the physiological development of children. Specifically, the study by Gauderman et al. (2004) which involved a sample of over 1500 ten year olds, found out that air pollution led to chronic, negative effects on the children’s lung development which worsened as they grew into adulthood due to exposure to harmful gases. This is affirmed by Plummer, Smiley-Jewell & Pinkerton (2012) who also indicate that the negative effects of air pollution coincide with increased hospitalization and emergency room visits due to varied respiratory conditions.
Conclusion
Summarily, it is evident that air pollution has a lot of adverse effects on human health ranging from pulmonary, cardiovascular and nervous system illnesses to exacerbation of pre-existing medical conditions and negative effects on children’s growth and development. The major implication is that air pollution must be dealt with as human life depends on it, where efforts must integrate input from all stakeholders including individuals, communities, governments as well as non-governmental entities.
- Gauderman, W.J. et al. (2004). The effect of air pollution on lung development from 10 to 18 years of age. New England Journal of Medicine, 351: 1057–67.
- Genc, S., Zadeoglulari, Z., Fuss, S.H. & Genc, K. (2012). The adverse effects of air pollution on
the nervous system. Journal of Toxicology, 2012(Article ID 782462): 1-23. doi:10.1155/2012/782462 - Kjellstrom, T.E., Neller, A. & Simpson R.W. (2002). Air pollution and its health impacts: the
changing panorama. Medical journal of Australia, 177(11): 604-608. - Plummer, L.E. Smiley-Jewell, S. & Pinkerton, K.E. (2012). Impact of air pollution on lung
inflammation and the role of Toll-like receptors. International Journal of Interferon Cytokine and Mediator Research, 4: 43–57. - Samet, J.M. & White, R.H. (2004). Urban air pollution, health, and equity. Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health, 58: 3-5. doi:10.1136/jech.58.1.3
