Hey There, We Need Clean Air!
Do it for the Children
Air pollution is the release of pollutants, such as particulate matter, black carbon levels, ozone levels, and sulfur dioxide, into the atmosphere that are detrimental to human health and to the planet as a whole. We have been seeing adverse health effects continuing to rise from air pollution, greatly due to global warming. Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide and other air pollutants and greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth’s surface. Since global warming has been an ongoing and worsening event over the years, so have the air pollution levels around the world, because these two things go hand in hand. Air pollution can affect anyone, anywhere, however it affects vulnerable populations at an increased rate. It can exacerbate children’s health to concerning levels and not only does their health get affected, but their human capital, labor productivity, and educational performance are affected as well. Therefore, air pollution compromises the respiratory systems of many children and can lead to further negative effects for them.
Air pollution is detrimental to human health, especially children, so it is important to focus on resolving this issue for prolonged healthy living for all. As mentioned above, particulate matter, black carbon, ozone, and sulfur dioxide are all causes of air pollution (NIH, 2021).
Coarse particulate matter is known to cause nasal and upper respiratory tract health problems. Fine particles penetrate deeper into the lungs and cause heart attacks, strokes, asthma, and bronchitis, as well as premature death from heart ailments, lung disease and cancer (Craft and Roy, 2021). Studies show that higher PM2.5 exposure can impair brain development in children.
Populations with higher exposures to black carbon over a long period are at a higher risk for heart attacks and stroke. In addition, black carbon is associated with hypertension, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, and a variety of types of cancer (Craft and Roy, 2021).
Ozone at ground level (where it is part of what is commonly called smog) is a well-established respiratory irritant. Short-term exposure to ozone can cause chest pain, coughing and throat irritation, while long term exposure can lead to decreased lung function and cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Craft and Roy, 2021). In addition, ozone exposure can aggravate existing lung diseases.
Sulfur dioxide causes eye irritation, worsens asthma, increases susceptibility to respiratory infections and impacts the cardiovascular system (Craft and Roy 2021).
It is important for me to learn about air pollution because although I do not have asthma, I have many friends who do, and even my dog has asthma. Also, as someone planning to be a nurse, I am very interested in health effects, such as the ones listed above (especially if they can be prevented).
This graphic above does a great job at showing the sources of air pollution. The mobile sources include cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains. Evidence suggests that 13% of global incidence of asthma in children could be attributable to traffic-related air pollution (Tiotiu et al., 2020). A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. About 25% of cars and trucks are causing about 90% of pollution from the vehicle fleet (EPA, 2018). A move to electric vehicles is under way and this is a big solution we need to transition to completely. Stationary sources include power plants, oil refineries, industrial facilities, and factories. Area sources include agricultural areas, cities, and wood burning fireplaces. Lastly, natural sources are wind-blown dust, wildfires, and volcanoes.
Looking over a timeline of air pollution we can go back all the way to 1157, when “unendurable” air pollution from wood smoke was experienced at this time (Kovarik, 2020). Later on, rapid industrialization was also a huge contributor to air pollution. From gas lights, to steel, to smog, to cars, all these human responsibilities are the reason for the large amount of air pollution we have today.
In 1967 Congress had passed the Air Quality Act/Clean Air Act, which authorized planning grants to state air pollution control agencies (Kovarik, 2020). In 1970 General Motors president Edward Cole promised “pollution free” cars by 1980 and urged the elimination of lead additives from gasoline in order to allow the use of catalytic converters (Kovarik, 2020). Although this pollution free promise did not happen, it was an aim in the right direction, that is now trying to be executed by the increase in electric cars today. Also in 1970, the EPA announced all gasoline stations required to carry “non leaded” gasoline. In 2003, the Bush administration proposed “Clear Skies” legislation to Congress amending the Clean Air Act (the primary federal law governing air quality), (Kovarik, 2020). New, weaker targets would be set for emissions of sulfur dioxide, mercury, and nitrogen oxides from U.S. power plants. According to the NRDC, “the Clear Skies plan would allow three times more toxic mercury emissions, 50 percent more sulfur emissions, and hundreds of thousands more tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides. It would also delay cleaning up this pollution by up to a decade compared to current law and force residents of heavily-polluted areas to wait years longer for clean air compared to the existing Clean Air Act” (Kovarik, 2020). In 2015, President Obama noted the environmental history of air pollution in announcing plans to fight climate change through EPA’s Clean Power Plan (Kovarik, 2020). The plan essentially put limits on emissions from oil and coal plants, encouraged a shift to natural gas, and greatly encouraged a shift to renewable energy, which it says had “lower cost and greater availability” than in the past.
Although the US has attempted to “clean the air” and made some progress in doing so, we still have a long way to go in order to significantly reduce emissions in the air. 85% of future global population growth is predicted to occur in cities in the developing world, and in the absence of major policy shifts towards cleaner environments, the majority of children in the first half of this century are likely to grow up exposed to unsafe air both at home and outdoors (Brugha and Grigg, 2014).
The timeline of air pollution mentioned above was mainly about higher systems, such as the government, working at air pollution. Individuals can take steps in reducing carbon emissions too though. For example, driving cars less, using AC less, and promoting infrastructure changes are simple ways to reduce air pollution.
Air pollution can affect everyone, however, older people, children, low SES people, and people already with respiratory illnesses are more vulnerable to it. Focusing specifically on children as the main stakeholders, children are extremely vulnerable to air pollution. Children’s rapid biological development suggests that childhood is a particularly sensitive time and that children are believed to suffer greater effects from pollution than adults do (Larr and Neidell, 2016). Children’s lungs are still growing and developing, their immune and metabolic systems are still developing, they suffer from frequent respiratory infections, and they are more active outdoors than adults and therefore breathe in higher doses of outdoor pollutant (NSW, 2013). This can cause development of asthma or worsen pre-existing asthma, as well as other respiratory illnesses in children. Children are our future and should be taken care of with high priority. Therefore, focusing on children in regards to air pollution is very important because it can help us understand exactly how they are impacted and then find possible solutions to lowering those air pollutant levels. Air pollution also impacts children’s education by affecting their attendance rates and productivity in the classroom (Hanna and Oliva, 2016). These negative effects on children can last a lifetime, so it is important to tackle this problem before things get worse.
Besides vulnerable populations being the main stakeholders, outdoor athletes and wildlife are also greatly affected by air pollution. As an avid outdoor runner, I am constantly aware of the air quality and what my running conditions are like for the day. Fortunately I do not have asthma or any kind of respiratory illness, however, many of my running/athlete friends do. One of my good friends went to the emergency room multiple times during cross country season, because her asthma was severely affected by the air quality we ran in. I am also in connection to many college athletes, and they can attest that having good air quality outside to perform in, is very important and ideal.
As for wildlife — — animals, plants, and entire ecosystems can suffer effects from air pollution. Haze, like smog, is a visible type of air pollution that obscures shapes and colors (Rutledge et al., 2012). Hazy air pollution can even muffle sounds. Air pollution particles eventually fall back to Earth and can directly contaminate the surface of bodies of water and soil. This can kill crops or reduce their yield. It can kill young trees and other plants as well.
I am confident in writing about this topic because it is something very important to me, as it affects my daily activities. In addition, my college senior paper I wrote last semester was on climate change and the specific effects it has on children. I worked with the UT librarian to secure strong sources, and was having my work constantly reviewed by my professor, who is a doctor. Therefore, I believe I am credible to research and write about air pollution.
Sources:
Brugha, R., & Grigg, J. (2014). “Urban Air Pollution and Respiratory Infections”. Paediatric respiratory reviews, 15(2), 194–199. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.1016/j.prrv.2014.03.001
Craft, E., & Roy, A. (2021). “Health Impacts of Air Pollution”. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.edf.org/health/health-impacts-air-pollution
Hanna, Rema, and Paulina Oliva. “Implications of Climate Change for Children in Developing Countries.” Future of Children, vol. 26, no. 1, Spring 2016, pp. 115–132. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/foc.2016.0006.
Kovarik, B. (2020, September 10). “Air Pollution”. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://environmentalhistory.org/about/airpollution/
Larr, Allison S., and Matthew Neidell. “Pollution and Climate Change.” Future of Children, vol. 26, no. 1, Spring 2016, pp. 93–113. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/foc.2016.0005.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH). (2021, February 10). “Air Pollution and Your Health”. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/air-pollution/index.cfm#:~:text=Air%20pollution%20can%20affect%20lung,are%20linked%20to%20chronic%20bronchitis.
NSW Government (2013, April 30). “Who is Affected by Air Pollution”. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/environment/air/Pages/who-is-affected.aspx
Rutledge, K., Ramroop, T., Boudreau, D., et al. (2012, October 09). “Air Pollution”. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/air-pollution/#:%7E:text=Short%2Dterm%20effects%2C%20which%20are,throat%2C%20eyes%2C%20or%20skin.&text=Long%2Dterm%20health%20effects%20from,respiratory%20diseases%20such%20as%20emphysema
Tiotiu, A. I., Novakova, P., Nedeva, D., Chong-Neto, H. J., Novakova, S., Steiropoulos, P., & Kowal, K. (2020). Impact of Air Pollution on Asthma Outcomes. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(17), 6212. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/10.3390/ijerph17176212
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2018, May 10). “Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle”. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle
