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Air Pollutants May Affect the
Respiratory System and Cardiovascular
System
Clean air is a basic
precondition of our health. However, most of us living in United States and
other developed countries suffer from exposure to many air pollutants that put
our health at risk. Air pollution affects our health in different ways
from simple to serious problems. For example, particulate matter in the air
decreases life expectancy according to many researchers; Pollutants such as
ozone irritate people’s breathing, trigger asthma symptoms and cause lung and
heart diseases; exposure to environmental tobacco smoke causes many severe
respiratory health problems such as asthma and lung cancer. Prolonged exposure
to certain air pollutants can even cause human infertility according to recent
medical researchers.
Air
pollution and its effects on health
Air
pollution effects greatly human
health, mainly the respiratory and cardiovascular system. The individual
reactions to air pollutants vary depending on the type of agent to which people
are exposed, the degree of exposure and health conditions, and genetic factor
of the person. Air pollutants
can cause variety of effects on health, ranging from biochemical and
physiological changes to breathing difficulties, cough, and aggravation of
respiratory and cardiac disorders. It left untreated, those medical conditions
may result in hospitalizations and even premature death.
Effects
of air pollution on human Respiratory system
The quality of the Air we breathe affects the quality of our health. Air quality has
an impact on the health of our lungs and the entire respiratory system. In
addition to oxygen, the air contains other substances such as pollutants, which
can be harmful to health. The inhalation of those pollutants may have harmful effects on the lungs and other
organs of the body. The respiratory system is particularly sensitive to air
pollutants because it is made up of a mucous membrane covering its internal
surface. The lungs are designed to absorb large amounts of air (400 million liters
on average over a lifetime) in close contact with the bloodstream and
facilitate the transport of oxygen.
The cells of the lung tissue can be damaged by air
pollutants such as ozone, metals and free radicals. Ozone can cause damage to
the alveoli - air sac in the lungs where exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide
is produced. More specifically, the airway tissues, which contain a large
number of bioactivation enzymes, can transform organic pollutants into reactive
metabolites, which can cause lung injuries, neurobehavioral disorders, and
cancers possibly including breast cancer.
Effects of air pollution on human cardiovascular
system
Air pollutants, once inhaled, are absorbed by the blood and
transported to the heart. A wide range of chemical and biological substances
can directly affect the cardiovascular system and lead to structural damages,
such as necrosis degenerative and inflammatory reactions. Some pollutants may
also affect contractility of the heart. If these functional changes are
sufficiently serious, they can cause fatal arrhythmias.
The changes in the organic systems may also
have effects on the endocrine system. Some cytokines released by other inflamed
organs (due to air pollutants) may also produce negative effects on the
cardio-vascular, including the reduction of the mechanical performance and
metabolic efficiency of the heart and blood vessels.
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