To start this topic, it is well-known that air pollution is an environmental health hazard. NIEHS (2021) stated that air pollution is a mix of hazardous substances from both human-made and natural sources.The air pollution issue is awash with people’s daily life and threatens human’s health standards as well. Air pollution exposure may result in some chronic diseases and cancer. In 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization (WHO) classified air pollution as a human carcinogen (NIEHS, 2021). In this way, it is extremely essential to pin point the effective ways to reduce air pollution.
Air pollution is resulted from gases and particles that emits to the atmosphere by a range of natural sources as well as human activities. Natural sources include volcanic eruptions, sea spray, soil dust, natural vegetation fires and lightning. According to relevant statistics, 93% of global nitrogen emissions and 60% of sulfur oxide emissions come from natural sources.
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Most of human activities is the main cause of air pollution, to give some examples, power generation, transportation, industry, residential heating and cooking, agriculture, solvent use, oil and gas production, waste combustion, and construction. Worldwide, human activities account for most of the air pollution they are exposed to. In China, for instance, according to 2011 data, the country's motor vehicles emit 621,000 tones of PM, while cars contribute 94.9% and emit 590,000 tones of PM.[3] The fine particulate matter is the most detrimental contaminant for human health, which can do a lot of damage to our bodies. These particles are small enough to penetrate deep into our lungs, where they cause inflammation of sensitive lung tissue and can pass into the blood stream, affecting organs like the heart and brain. The WHO estimates that exposure to PM2.5 causes 7 million premature deaths annually. Air pollution may lead to both acute and chronic disease.
There is strong evidence showing that long-term exposure to air pollution enhances the risk for ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung and upper aerodigestive cancers, adverse pregnancy outcomes, diabetes and cataracts. Some of the immediate health effects of exposure to air pollution range from irritation of the eyes, nose and throat to shortness of breath. At the same time, some air pollutants cause ‘acid rain’, which engenders a negative effect on the environment by damaging the leaves of plants. Therefore, it can decline plant productivity, and strip the soil of the nutrients that plants need to survive. Acidification of ground and river water can kill fish and insects, and impact other species that depend on them for food. Acid rain is also known to cause damage to buildings and monuments.
As a matter of fact, air pollution is still a severe issue that has not been solved so far in any region, nevertheless, emissions and pollutant concentrations have dropped significantly in many European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada and Japan, where strong policies, regulations and regular monitoring systems have been in place. One of the most famous examples is London, which had some of the worst levels of pollution, earlier than other cities, probably peaking in the year 1900. Since then, air quality in the UK has improved remarkably. Particulate air pollution levels fell by over 97% between 1900 and 2016. Other cities and regions have also shown significant reductions, brought about by similar policies. However, this does not mean that air pollution has been solved. In London – PM2.5 remains higher than the WHO air quality standard.These reductions illustrates that we do know how to solve the problem of air pollution, and that we need policies and technologies to achieve cleaner air.
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