You could go days without food and hours without water, but you would last only a few minutes without air. On average, each of us breathes over 3,000 gallons of air each day. Air pollution can damage trees, crops, other plants, lakes, and animals. In addition to damaging the natural environment, air pollution also damages buildings, monuments, and statues. It not only reduces how far you an see in national parks and cities, it even interferes with aviation.In 1970, Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and passed the Clean Air Act, giving the federal government authority to clean up air pollution in this country. Since then, EPA and states, tribes, local governments, industry, and environmental groups have worked to establish a variety of programs to reduce air pollution levels across America.
Air Pollution and Your Health:
Breathing polluted air can make your eyes and nose burn, it can irritate your throat and make breathing difficult.
Pollutants like tiny airborne particles and ground-level ozone can trigger respiratory problems, especially for people with asthma.
Today, nearly 30 million adults and children in the United States have been diagnosed with asthma.
Asthma sufferers can be severely affected by air pollution. It can also aggravate health problems for the elderly and others with heart or respiratory diseases.
Some toxic chemicals released in the air such as benzene or vinyl chloride are highly toxic and can cause cancer, birth defects, long term injury to the lungs, as well as brain and nerve damage. And in some cases, breathing these chemicals can even cause death.
Air Pollution and Your Health:
Acid Rain
Ozone Layer Protection
Temperature and weather changes
Indoor Air:
Asbestos
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
Mold
Radon
Wood Burning
Air Pollutants:
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Lead (Pb)
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
Ozone, Ground Level
Particulate Matter (PM)
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
Hazardous Air Pollutants
Transportation Emissions
Smart Monitoring:
Radon: Keep your family safe from this radioactive, invisible gas that comes from the ground. It is the largest cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers but can be managed with continuous monitoring.
Mold Risk: Preventing mold growth helps with asthma, allergies, sleep and overall health. But when you can see mold growing it’s too late. With mold risk indication you can take action to prevent mold before it starts and keep your family and valuables safe.
Humidity & Temp: Too much or too little humidity can affect allergies and cold or flu symptoms greatly. When humidity levels are too high, mold and rot can occur. Low humidity levels cause static electricity, dry skin and hair, and increased susceptibility to colds and respiratory illness.
Total VOCs: Total Volatile Organic Compounds are the total amount of toxins and chemicals emitted. They can cause short or long term health effects from minor eye, nose and throat irritations to liver and kidney damage. These gases come from everyday items in our homes such as cleaners and solvents, furniture and waxes.