Environmental Pollution And Its Effects on Health and Nature

Air pollution has become a major global health challenge. Studies have placed deaths resulting from air pollution above that caused by malaria and HIV/AIDS put together . Although air pollutants have been linked with lung and heart diseases, there are new evidences that air pollution may be associated with degenerative brain diseases like cognitive disorder, mental illness and Alzheimer's disease.

Omega-3 oils could tackle damage caused by air pollution, research shows | Environment | The Guardian : "Supplements of healthy fats could be an immediate way of cutting the harm caused to billions around the world by air pollution, according to emerging research. However, the research also shows air pollution particles can penetrate through the lungs of lab animals into many major organs, including the brain and testicles. This raises the possibility that the health damage caused by toxic air is even greater than currently known. The new research on mice showed that omega-3 fatty acids (OFAs), found in flax, hemp and fish oils, can both prevent and treat the inflammation and oxidative stress caused by air pollution, with the OFAs delivering a 30-50% reduction in harm." Air pollution around the world is rising at an alarming rate,  according to the World Health Organization , with virtually all cities in poorer nations blighted by unhealthy air andmore tha...

Air Pollution Causes Non-Lung Cancer Deaths - Heal Naturally : Medical researchers have known for awhile that air pollution can cause conditions related to the lungs . These include asthma, allergies and even lung cancer. But few imagined that breathing air polluted air might cause other types of cancer. Yes, we are talking breast cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, intestinal cancers and others.

India’s Air Pollution Rivals China’s as World’s Deadliest - The New York Times : NEW DELHI — India’s rapidly worsening air pollution is causing about 1.1 million people to die prematurely each year and is now surpassing China’s as the deadliest in the world, a new study of global air pollution shows. The number of premature deaths in China caused by dangerous air particles, known as PM2.5, has stabilized globally in recent years but has risen sharply in India, according to the report, issued jointly on Tuesday by the Health Effects Institute, a Boston research institute focused on the health impacts of air pollution, and the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, a population health research center in Seattle.

Air pollution, health and cancer – a new report calls for action - Cancer Research UK - Science blog :  "How strong is the link with cancer? Over the past decades evidence that air pollution is linked to a range of cancers has been mounting. In 2013, a group of international experts, working on behalf of the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), looked at the results of all of the research and concluded that air pollution causes cancer in humans – in particular, lung cancer.

Benzene is a colorless , flammable liquid with a sweet odor. It evaporates quickly when exposed to air. Benzene is formed from natural processes, such as volcanoes and forest fires, but most exposure to benzene results from human activities. The most important source of exposure to  benzene is mainstream smoke from cigarettes , which accounts for about 50% of population burden of exposure. It is also used mainly as a starting material in making other chemicals, including plastics, lubricants, rubbers, dyes, detergents, drugs, and pesticides. In the past it was also commonly used as an industrial solvent (a substance that can dissolve or extract other substances) and as a gasoline additive, but these uses have been greatly reduced in recent decades . Environmental tobacco smoke or secondhand smoke is an important source, accounting for about 5% of total nationwide exposure.

A recent study in the Ontario environment has raised general health worries about the effect of air pollution and traffic . T he study also found out that individuals who lived within 50 meters of a heavy traffic environment had a 7% higher risk of dementia when co mpared with individuals who lived more than 300 meters far from  such environment .

Mercury is r anked as one of   the most toxic elements or substances   in the world, coming just behind   arsenic and   lead   as third.   This environmental pollutant  continues to be dumped into our waterways   and soil,   is being   spilled into our atmosphere, and co ntinually contaminates   our food and water . Although mercury pollution was initially minimal, h uman activities have nearly tripled the amount of mercury in the   environment   and the atmospheric burden is increasing 1.5 percent per ye a r . Environmental mercury, either through soil or water pollution,   can   enter the food chain through plant and livestock. Once in the food chain mercury can   bioaccumulate causing   harmful   effects to human health .

The world will require 50 percent more nourishment by 2050 because of both an expanding populace and a move toward a more Westernized eating routine in creating nations. In any case, as our requirement for nourishment rises, our capacity to deliver that sustenance might be brought down by atmosphere and air quality changes, concurring a to a review simply distributed in Nature Climate Change. Environmental scientists from MIT and Colorado State University found that if everything else remains as it is today, by 2050 global warming may lessen world harvest yields by around 10 percent. Be that as it may, world harvest yields confront a greater number of difficulties than simply rising temperatures. Ozone pollution likewise harms crops , while being harder to evaluate. A few products are harmed most by outrageous temperature swings, others more by ozone. "Ozone pollution can likewise be dubious to recognize since its harm can look like other plant diseases, creating bits on ...

Environmental impact of animal production : "Each one of us has an impact on the environment and the world in which we live. Growing food and raising animals also uses resources from the earth. Humans impact the environment through deforestation, agricultural and livestock activities, urbanization and burning fossil fuels. Each and every living creature produces greenhouse gases (GHG). Greenhouse gases are gases in the earth’s atmosphere and can be produced in nature and through human industry. An increased amount of GHG generates high temperatures on earth. The most abundant GHG are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. The amount of GHG that agriculture and farming produces around the world is different. This is because each livestock production system is different in the way it uses resources. Agricultural systems are often categorized into two types of systems: extensive farming and intensive farming.

Children and Air Pollution | : Children breathe more air per pound of body weight, so their exposure to air pollution is much greater than adults.  Children’s organs, including their lungs, develop until they reach their late teens, usually around the age of 18.  Studies show that developing organs are sensitive to the toxic effects of air pollutants and environmental toxins, and that children absorb pollutants more readily than adults and retain them in the body for longer periods of time.*  According to the World Resources Institute, “Because they breathe at a higher rate than adults, children are exposed to greater levels of pollution relative to their smaller body weight and are generally more sensitive to their effects on a pound-for-pound basis.”

What Air Pollution Does to Eyes and Vision : " Air pollution , no doubt, has had numerous health impacts on humans, but when it comes to air pollution in relation to eyes and vision, there seems to be a gap. This phenomenon has not been studied in depth in the way that perhaps pollution in relation to our pulmonary system has, but there is evidence to suggest that pollution is hurting our eyes. Our eyes are incredibly exposed and sensitive. If you’ve ever had the misfortune of getting dust or sand in your eyes (which everyone is likely to have experienced at least once), then you know the irritation and discomfort involved. Though pollution is a little sneakier than dust and sand, it can have an equal or worse effect on our eyes in the long run.

Air pollutants linked to higher risk of birth defects, researchers find | News Center | Stanford Medicine : "Breathing traffic pollution in early pregnancy is linked to a higher risk for certain serious birth defects, according to new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding comes from a study examining air quality and birth-defect data for women living in California’s San Joaquin Valley, one of the smoggiest regions of the country. “We found an association between specific traffic-related air pollutants and neural tube defects, which are malformations of the brain and spine,” said the study’s lead author, Amy Padula, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in pediatrics. The research appears online today in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

WHO | About second hand smoke : "The original Surgeon General's report, followed by this first "hazard" warning on cigarette packages, the subsequent "danger" warning on cigarette packages, the removal of cigarette advertising from television and the inclusion of the "danger" warning in cigarette advertising, were all "blows" of sorts for the tobacco industry. They were, however, blows that the cigarette industry could successfully weather because they were all directed against the smoker himself. The anti-smoking forces' latest tack, however - on the passive smoking issue - is quite a different matter.... Nearly six out of ten believe that smoking is hazardous to the nonsmokers' health, up sharply over the last four years. More than two-thirds of nonsmokers believe it; nearly half of all smokers believe it.

Indoor Air Pollution - Asbestos : "Asbestos is a mineral rock mined in much the same way as other minerals, such as iron, lead or copper. It exhibits substantial resistance to heat and deterioration and thus has historically been used for a variety of commercial and industrial purposes. Instead of forming dust particles when crushed, asbestos divides into millions of fine fibers in the manufacturing process. Asbestos fibers can have serious effects on your health if inhaled. There is no known safe exposure, so the greater the exposure, the greater the risk of developing an asbestos-related disease. The amount of time between exposure and the first signs of disease can be as much as 30 years. Asbestos can cause asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs that leads to breathing problems and heart failure. Workers who manufacture or use asbestos products and have high exposures to asbestos are often affected with asbestosis. Inhalation of asbestos can also cause lung cancer and mesotheli...

Air pollution impairs function of blood vessels in lungs: Authors recommend limiting physical activity in heavily polluted areas -- ScienceDaily : ""This is the first human study to report an influence of air pollution on pulmonary vascular function," said lead author Dr Jean-Francois Argacha, a cardiologist at the University Hospital (UZ) Brussels, Belgium. "This is a major public health issue for people living in polluted urban areas where exercise could damage the lungs and potentially lead to decompensated heart failure." Promoting a safer environment appears to be as important as controlling conventional risk factors, like high cholesterol, in reducing cardiovascular disease.2 Air pollution consists of particles (particulate matter [PM] of different sizes) and gases (nitrogen dioxide, ozone, etc). The first vascular bed in contact with air pollutants is the pulmonary circulation yet few studies have investigated the impact.