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Writer's pictureTEAM TWO

The Effects of Poor Air Quality on Health

Updated: Dec 8, 2019



Something as simple as the air we breathe can easily be overlooked. With the rise of pollutants, air quality should become more of a concern for the general public. These pollutants have shown to have terrible effects on the planet itself, so what does that mean for our own bodies? Majority of people live in heavily populated areas which also contain a mass of vehicle traffic. This heavy vehicle traffic consistently emits large amount of pollutants into the air that will spread across the city. As a result, people will also constantly inhale these pollutants which is not a good thing. There have been various studies performed to examine the effects of poor air quality on a person’s health even while exercising in this type of environment. One chronic illness that is very common among the youth is asthma. The cause of asthma is still unknown but many factors that are linked to a possible cause of asthma have been discovered. In this case, the data has stated that pollution from vehicles can have a slight impact on children’s chances of developing asthma from birth up until eight years of age. The closer the children are located to the vehicle caused air pollution, the more of an impact the pollutants have on children's health.



Aside from being outside, indoor poor air quality can also have an impact on health. Majority of individuals living in urbanized areas spend most of their time indoors. However, not all indoor environments air quality are regulated and sometimes can have poor air quality. Another study has shown (through the use of mice) that poor indoor air quality is linked to impair spatial learning and memory. The study also depicted how exercise in these poor air quality environments did not reverse these negative effects. This was compared to exercising in good indoor air quality that instead improved spatial learning and memory. Air quality can have an impact on health. It is very important to maintain air quality and pollutants as best as possible to limit the negative impacts it can have.




References

Andrade, A., & Dominski, F. (2018a). Indoor air quality of environments used for physical exercise and sports practice: Systematic review. Journal of Environmental Management, 206, 577-586. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.11.001

Andrade, A., & Dominski, F. (2018b). Indoor air quality of environments used for physical exercise and sports practice: Systematic review. Journal of Environmental Management, 206, 577-586. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.11.001

GOWERS, A. M., CULLINAN, P., AYRES, J. G., ANDERSON, H. R., STRACHAN, D. P., HOLGATE, S. T., . . . MAYNARD, R. L. (2012). Does outdoor air pollution induce new cases of asthma? biological plausibility and evidence; a review.(report). Respirology, 17(6), 887.

Uysal, N., Kiray, M., Sisman, A., Baykara, B., Aksu, I., Dayi, A., . . . Acikgoz, O. (2014). Effects of exercise and poor indoor air quality on learning, memory and blood IGF-1 in adolescent mice. Biotechnic & Histochemistry, 89(2), 126-135. doi:10.3109/10520295.2013.825318

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