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Health Effects of Air Pollution General Information
- Air pollution is determined by a combination of weather conditions, and what's emitted into the air from a variety of sources - chiefly motor vehicles, industry, power plants, construction equipment, and consumer products.
- Air is essential to life. The average person takes about 20,000 breaths a day, processing almost 3,000 gallons of air, or almost two gallons of air per minute.
- Every summer, air pollution drives thousands of Massachusetts residents indoors and into emergency rooms. In fact, more than 750,000 people in Massachusetts suffer from heart or lung ailments that are seriously aggravated by air pollution and smog.
- Diseases aggravated by air pollution include chronic sinusitis, bronchitis, asthma, and allergies. Studies suggest that air pollution also contributes to pulmonary problems in developing fetuses and young children, as well as damage to the immune system in adults.
- The people most vulnerable to health effects of air pollution are children, the elderly, those who work or exercise outdoors, and those with chronic respiratory ailments.
- Children are at the greatest risk from air pollution: they breathe in far more air per pound of body weight than do adults, and their respiratory systems are still developing.
- Elderly people lose important respiratory defense mechanisms as they age.
- Healthy people of all ages who exert themselves strenuously by exercising or
- Working outdoors are affected by air pollution as they are more likely to breathe fast and inhale deeply.
- People of all ages with chronic respiratory problems.
- Scientists are concerned that repeated short-term damage from ozone exposure may permanently change the lung.
- Some of the public health costs of air pollution include: high rates of school absenteeism, lost work time and wages, rising health insurance costs, lower work productivity, and millions of dollars spent in direct costs for medical and hospital care, medication and treatment.
- High air pollution levels correlate with higher Emergency Room admissions and higher related deaths from asthma and other chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.
Asthma Facts
- New England has the highest number of hospital visits due to asthma per capita, 81 percent higher than the national average. In fact, 10 percent to 20 percent of all summertime respiratory-related hospital visits in the Northeast are associated with ozone pollution.
- Asthma is the sixth most prevalent chronic condition among adults and children.
- In the last decade, the incidence of asthma has doubled, especially among minority populations living in urban areas.
- Asthma is the most common chronic disease for children. It is the leading cause of school absenteeism; one third of all missed school days are attributed to asthma. For children, asthma is the number one cause of doctor's office visits, emergency room visits, and hospital admissions.
Role of Motor Vehicle Traffic in Air Pollution
- Traffic on the road causes about 40 percent of the pollutants that react with sunlight to produce ground-level ozone, the main ingredient in smog.
- Ozone irritates living tissue in lungs, eyes, nose. It burns your lungs the way the sun burns your skin.
- There are more than 4.2 million cars, and about 100,000 buses and trucks,registered in Massachusetts and driving on our roads. And another 500,000 commercial vehicles pass through our state on any given day.
- Vehicle emissions come out the exhaust pipe from the combustion of fuels, and from fumes and evaporation from under the hood, the gas cap and the fuel line.
- With a more efficient motor vehicle emission program, we can reduce smog-causing pollution emitted from cars, buses and trucks by 25 percent.
- For daily information on air quality, see the Daily Air Quality Forecast or call the Air Quality Hotline at 1-800-882-1497.
For more information on public health issues related to the environment, contact the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. |
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