Air Pollution Linked To Health Problems

Recent Short Story of Air Pollution Linked to a Health Issue

In The Daily Universe at the Bringham Young University a story was told of how Matt Owens, a young studen and first-team All-American on the BYU track team in incredible physical shape, began experiencing difficulty breathing. He began to experience asthma attacks, causing a shortness of breath, dizziness, and coughing. However, Owens did not always have asthma and it was discovered that the asthma was a result of participating vigorous exercise in the polluted air in Utah.

Stories, such as Owens', where health issues spontaneously appear are becoming more known and recognized to be linked to the poor air quality from the growing air pollution.

Why and Health Issues

Particular Matter (PM) is a complex airborne mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets, which when inhaled can cause lung inflammation and lead to various health ailments. Breathing in poor air quality / PM has been linked, through studies and research, to respiratory and cardiovascular health issues, mental health and cognitive issues, and premature death.

Last year in 2017, Harvard released findings from a study that implies that air pollution has a linear correlation with mortality rates across the United States. The study found that elderly and many minority groups were more affected due to lack of access to proper health care.

What Has / Is Being Done?

Federal and many local governments have made efforts to clean up the air through passing regulations. The Clean Air Act of 1970 was one of the largest actions taken by the Federal government to decrease air pollution, resulting in an improvement in the air quality across United States. Since then there have been several amendments to the Clean Air Act. In 2008 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the "Good Neighbor Rule" guidelines which regulates air pollution generated in one location and crosses state boundaries. 

However, recently, under the current administration, the EPA announced it will no longer enforce the Good Neighbor Rule and that it has intentions to stop the Carbon Emissions Rule. The Carbon Emissions Rule places restrictions on new coal-burning power plants requiring plant owners to incorporate technology to capture CO2 emissions. Further, this December 2018, the EPA announced plans to revise other air pollution rules, causing concern amongst many scientists.

Share and discuss your feelings in regard to air pollution:

• Where do you live?
• How is the air quality?
• Have you ever faced an illness as a result of air pollution?
• What effors can we do as a country to decrease air pollution? What can the world do?
• Feel free to discuss anything and share with others.