The dangerous affects air pollution has on children's health is a growing environmental health issue that is becoming increasing difficult to ignore. 2Harmful affects on the human body from air pollution include long-term damage to respiratory and cardiovascular systems, cancer, and premature death. However, children face greater additional risks from being exposed to air pollution than adults. 1This is due to the fact that children spend more time being active outside, and as a result they breath in more outside air pollution than adults. 1Additionally, children are still developing defenses that assist in fighting off infections which also seems to increase their susceptibility to air pollution. This growing environmental health issue is setting our future generations up for failure before they even reach adulthood. Therefore, it is imperative that we continuously work to reduce air pollution to help protect our children.
Every day actions that people can take to reduce air pollution include the following:
- 3Carpool, use public transportation, bike, or walk whenever possible.
- 3Follow gasoline refueling instructions for efficient vapor recovery, being careful not to spill fuel and always tightening gas caps securely.
- 3Purchasing portable gasoline containers labeled “spill-proof,” where available.
- 3Keep car, boat, and other engines properly tuned.
- 3Use environmentally safe paints and cleaning products whenever possible.
- 3Mulch or compost leaves and yard waste.
- 3Use gas logs instead of wood.
A recent article (see below) published in the New Delhi Television (NDTV) talks about the increased number of children being affected by air pollution in India.
Air Pollution Affects 47 Million Children In India: Report https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/air-pollution-affects-47-million-children-in-india-report-1806103
References:
- American Lung Association. Retrieved from: http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/healthy-air/outdoor/air-pollution/children-and-air-pollution.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
- Health People 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/environmental-health
- United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from: https://www3.epa.gov/region1/airquality/reducepollution.html
I agree! Air pollution is a relatively huge problem, and unfortunately children seem to be more susceptible to this growing concern. More children are becoming allergy prone and asthma concerns are growing at a faster rate now than a few decades ago. Unfortunately, we have become a society that relies mostly on private transportation simply because we are busy and like our privacy; however, the more people can get on board with taking public transportation or biking to work, school, etc., the less emissions and carbons we release into our atmosphere. Great action points!
ReplyDeleteHi Elsia. Thank you for your comment. You made a great point about children becoming prone to asthma due to exposure to outside air pollution. Below is the link to the California Department of Public Health's Environmental Health Investigations Branch website where they discuss asthma and asthma related topics such as the effects of outside air pollution.
Deletehttps://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/EHIB/CPE/Pages/Asthma.aspx
Hey Angie! I completely agree with you! I think sometimes we overlook issues that we cannot see right away and that is why air pollution is still a problem. We need to develop more ways to make sure future generations are able not have as much air pollution.
ReplyDeleteHi Navleen! Thank you for your comment. I agree that we sometimes overlook issues that cause harm to our health due to the fact that we are unable to see the immediate damage being caused. Unfortunately, it's hard to make people appreciate the Long-term effects that air pollution has on the human body until it's too late.
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