Air pollution has adverse impact on human health as well as the health of other living entities and stress vegetation. Depending upon the lifetime of the pollutants, location of the source and’ prevailing air currents, receptors may be located at homestead, local, regional or global levels, at time intervals from near instantaneous, to several decades. Air pollution and its impact on people’s health and the environment is a matter of great concern.
Heavy reliance on coal in power production and a rapidly growing car fleet, usually in combination with outdated technologies and poor maintenance have led to a concentration of air pollutants, far exceeding the limits of both national air quality standards and air quality guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization,’
Good air quality is essential for the health of people and the environment; although significant; improvements have been made in many countries over the last 2-3 decades, air quality, particularly in urban areas, remains a priority issue on most national environmental agendas. Particulate and gaseous emission of pollutants from industries and auto-exhausts is responsible for rising discomfort, increasing airway diseases, decreasing productivity and deterioration of artistic and cultural patrimony in urban centres.
The presence of air pollutants over the prescribed limit in the lower atmosphere is not only injurious to humans, but also to animals, foliage, fruits, vegetable and microbial life and may even damage property. Urban air pollution is a major focus of public health concern and regulatory activity.
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Health effects
Air pollution and its impact on human health have been considered as a serious problem in urban areas. Since the beginning of the last century, many events of air pollution have been associated with increase in mortality.
The prime factors affecting human health due to air pollution depend upon: (a) nature of pollutants, (b) concentration of pollutants, (c) duration of exposure (d) state of health of the receptor and (e) age group of the receptor. A Susceptibility to ill-health effect due to air pollution is high among infants, the elderly and the infirm.
Efforts towards reduction of air pollution require quantitative knowledge about the relations’ between exposure to air pollution and human health. Health risk due to air pollution is more in children than in adults.
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This is because: (a) children spend more time outside; (b) their general stamina is still building up; (c) they often take in more air while breathing; (d) their lungs are at a developing stage, and (e) they are not aware of air pollution and its seriousness. Air pollution can cause asthma, and can worsen symptoms in children and adults who already have asthma or other lung conditions.
It can affect long-term lung development in children. Based on epidemiological studies in several countries, there is conclusive evidence of a link between particulate air pollution and adverse health effects. Ambient particulate matter is composed of a heterogeneous mixture of particles varying in size and chemical composition.
Particles differ in source, size, range, formation mechanism, and chemical composition, and are characterized by various physical and chemical properties. While physical properties affect the transport and deposition of particles in the human respiratory system, chemical composition determines their impact on health.
Suspended particulate matter is ubiquitously recognized as the most important air pollutant in terms of human health effects, considering that many epidemiological studies substantiate significant associations between concentration of PM in air and adverse health impacts.