The Importance of Air and Air Quality
Why should people care about air quality?
All living things need air and water to survive in this planet Earth. Of the other planets that have sunlight, Earth is the only planet that has this combination. Humans need clean air and water, and the complex ecosystem to survive in our planet. Humans breathe in air (oxygen) and breathe out (carbon dioxide) from our lungs everyday. It is necessary to be able to breathe clean air to survive and not suffer from poor air quality that affects our health. Apart from allowing humans to function efficiently, clean air is also important for abiotics and we depend on these abiotics also for our survival and to live comfortably on Earth.
Air consists of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, 0.9 percent argon and 0.03 percent carbon dioxide, trace of gas, water droplets, dust particles and other particles [http://www.enviroliteracy.org/subcategory.php/3.html]. Each day we inhale about 26,000 times of this air mixture which is equal to about 3,000 gallon for adults therefore, it is necessary for biotic and abiotic to receive good quality of air to maintain a healthy standard. Babies and children breathe more air per pound of body weight and are more susceptible to the air pollution than adults. [http://www.epa.gov/air/basic.html] So what happens if we don't have clean air, how does it affect humans and the planet in which we live?
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Poor air quality is caused by natural and man-made events and can occur indoors and outdoors. Natural emission of poor air quality (volcanic eruption, dust mite, radon gas, forest fires) may impact the environment but it is man-made air pollution (driving cars, lawnmowers, painting and manufacturing chemicals) which can lead to poor air quality on a more regular basis. Poor air quality (air pollution) is one of the most serious environmental problems in all levels of economic development. Poor air quality affects the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of biotic species and can also affect the abiotic directly or indirectly. Parts of the ecosystem interact with one another to maintain a healthy system and if one part of the ecosystem is adversely affected by air pollution then the biodiversity of the ecosystem will change. Air pollution has diverse effects on the ecosystem for instance, in humans it may cause cancer, long-term damage to the immune, neurological, reproductive systems and the severity depends on the pollutant, concentration in the atmosphere, the length of exposure and the sensitivity of the receptor. In abiotic (such as water) the air pollution can be deposited into the water bodies which could reduce the water quality and affect water organisms and others who may partake of or live in the contaminated water. In case of vegetation, air pollution can enter the roots or the stomata where it is transported to the leaves and may cause the vegetation to experience such symptoms as chlorosis or necrosis, reduced growth, death or may cause it to be replaced by more resistant species that then changes the biodiversity of the ecosystem. Why do we need to know this?
People need to know the importance of Air and Air Quality so that they can demand actions to maintain good air quality standards improve poor air quality and be more receptive with the control measures set by various government agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [http://www.epa.gov/air/oaqps/cleanair.html], Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), for each state in the United States Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) in Oregon, [http://www.oregon.gov/DEQ/], World Health Organization (WHO) [http://www.euro.who.int/Document/E87950.pdf] and other organizations deal with air quality standards.
Several attempts have been made around the world to reduce poor air quality by setting legislative acts to get people to care for the air we breathe. In Britain, a proclamation was made to ban the use of sea coal and other activities that increased the pollutants in the air. In the US, it started with the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955 and then the Clean Air Act of 1963 (http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/peg/concern.html) and since then there have been several revisions of the Clean Air Act - 1970 and 1990. All the revisions have been due to research findings on pollutants. The Clean Air Act has helped profit and non-profit organizations, and humans to find a better way to conduct businesses. Are the standards and guidelines the same around US and the rest of the world?
Air Quality Standards
On earth, there is no consensus for air quality standards or guidelines. Each region on earth has its own standards or guidelines for air quality and there are different standards for indoor air quality and outdoor (ambient) air quality, as a result, the air quality standards vary from region to region around the planet. Although each region has its own standards, the air quality in one region is affected by that of another region. Today, there is much research dealing with the effect of ambient air from one region to another. For example, in the Department of Environmental Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University (http://emt.oregonstate.edu/), there are several professors doing research on the impact of air pollutants from Asia on humans, vegetation, soil and water. Two on-going researches are (1) the Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project (WACAP) which determines the risk to ecosystems and food webs in western national parks from the long-range transport of airborne contaminants; (2) the Trans-Pacific Atmospheric Transport Research which identify anthropogenic semi-volatile organic compounds (SOCs) that can be used as molecular markers for Asian air emissions and trans-Pacific atmospheric transport. (http://emt.oregonstate.edu/simonich/)
Since there are different standards for air quality pertaining to the various pollutants, it would be difficult to summarize all the standards for all these regions in a table or appendix. The World Bank organization recognized these pitfalls and stated national standards and guidelines for air quality rules. If there are none available, then standards and guidelines set up by WHO, World Bank and other organizations will suffice or the best practices will take over where there are no standards for a particular issue. Examples for regional or country standards for a particular air pollutant see Environmental Standards and Guidelines. (http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/em/power/standards/standards.htm). What are these pollutants that are of great concerns for humans and the environment?
Pollutants of greatest concerns
There are six pollutants that have been agreed upon that affect the health of humans and the environment - ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, lead, and particle pollution (matter). Of these six pollutants, two have a serious effect to human health and the natural environment: particle matter and ozone. EPA calls these two pollutants "criteria" because permissible levels can be set based on human and environmental health. The limit set for humans is called primary standards and for the environment including property is called secondary standards.
Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution
Outdoor air pollutants (sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ozone (O3)) affect ambient air quality which can lead to detrimental effects on human health, wildlife and vegetation. Indoor air pollutants (carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), O3 and VOCs) result from poor ventilation, synthetic furnishings, vinyl flooring, paints, and cigarette smoke increase environmental and health risks. In addition to these pollutants, there are xenobiotic compounds that are very complex in nature and add to the difficulty of analysis to human exposure. Globally, humans spend about 90 percent or more time indoors and vulnerable people (elderly, pregnant women, unborn babies, babies and children) are affected by increased air pollutants found at homes, schools, day care centers, churches, workplaces. These areas are where many chemical substances with health consequences are trapped in specific areas causing the dosage to be higher than outdoors. (USEPA, 1989) Indoor air pollutants are associated with a substantial burden of disease in childhood because of their very high exposure levels and because children spend more time indoors. In addition, some outdoor air pollutants such as pollen and mold spores are trapped indoors when doors and windows are opened, or are poorly designed or the building has poor ventilation causing health hazards (hay fever, asthma) to those who are susceptible. The health burden of indoor and outdoor air pollution to the vulnerable people cannot be ignored. I will be concentrating on the impact of indoor air pollution on school children based on the indoor air quality standards given by the USEPA.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and its Science Advisory Board ranked indoor air pollution among the top five environmental risks to public health. For past several decades, exposure to indoor air pollutants has increased due to a variety of factors such as tightly sealed buildings, reduced ventilation rates to save energy, increased synthetic building materials and furnishings, strong chemical personal care products, household cleaners and pesticides. Federal agencies, private companies and EPA are working together to reduce peoples' exposure to air pollutants but the health burden pertaining to air pollutants has increased. According to the World Health Organization, indoor air pollution was ranked 8th most important risk factor to the burden of disease and responsible for 2.7 percent of the global burden of disease. Globally indoor air pollution pertaining to solid fuel usage is responsible for 1.6 million deaths due to pneumonia, chronic respiratory disease and lung cancer, with the overall disease burden exceeding the burden from outdoor air pollution by five fold. (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/index.html)
Indoor air pollutants such as formaldehyde, environmental tobacco smoke and house dust mite allergen, to name just a few, are rarely, if ever, found outdoors at levels of concern. But in common indoor environments they may frequently be present at levels which are injurious to health, particularly for susceptible sub-populations of the community. How do we find out about the quality of the air, we are breathing meets the standards set by the national organization in our area?
Monitoring Air Quality
Each state has its own air quality planning standards and if you want to know where the monitoring stations are located in your city or around your state then go to your state's air quality planning standards home page or the state's DEQ home page. In the US monitoring air quality is left with each state and cities of that state to monitor six pollutants that EPA has deemed unhealthy for humans and the natural environment. EPA sets the limits of how much can be in the air and sets the limit of air pollutant emissions coming from various sources. Pollutants come from different sources such as stationary (power plants ...), mobile (buses, cars ...) and natural (volcano, windblown dust). The Clean Air Act required the Office of Air Quality Principal and Standards to set national ambient air quality standards to be met and make sure businesses are controlling their emissions. Monitoring is very essential as it gives a clear picture of the cleanliness of the air we breathe. To get information on the air you are breathing you can check the following sites: www.epa.gov/airtrends or www.airnow.gov. Most of the monitoring of air quality is done outside and inside air quality is not given any attention unless there is an indication of danger from those who used the buildings and become ill with systems such as headache, eye, nose and throat irritation, dizziness and nausea. Several office buildings that have made employees sick have been investigated and the health concerns have been named 'sick building syndrome'. According to WHO about 30 percent of new and remodeled buildings worldwide may be subjected to poor air quality (sick building syndrome). For more information on this please contact your local or state Department of Health, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSHA) website (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/), the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers website (http://www.ashrae.org/), the Building Owners and Managers Association International website: http://www.boma.org/, EPA website: http://www.epa.gov/.
Air Quality Monitoring and Geographic Information System (GIS)
The three categories of monitoring stations: States, Local Air Monitoring Station (SLAMS); National Air Monitoring Station (NAMS) and the Special Purpose Air Monitoring Station monitor ambient air for the criteria pollutants. Most of the data in early times were in spreadsheet or table form but with the use of new technology and application, GIS has made monitoring more accurate, less costly in the long run and has made presentation of information to the public easier to understand.
GIS has been used to show environmental sources of poor air quality and the impact to human health, model the zones of contamination around these sources and many more difficult environmental questions.
References
Crabbe, H. Beamont, R., Norton D. 2000b Assessment of Air Quality, Emissions and Management in Local urban Environment. Environmental Monitor Assessment 65:1/2, 435-42
Lindsay, S. J. and Crabbe, H. 2004. What Lies Beneath? - Issues in the Representation of Air Quality management Data for Public Consumption. Science of the Total Environment 334-335: 307-25
US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA): Office of Air and Radiation. 1989. Report to Congress on Indoor Air Quality, Volume II: Assessment and Control of Indoor Air Pollution, pp. I, 4-14. EPA 400-1-89-001C
Vetter, N. and Matthews, I. 1999. Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine. Churchill Livingstone, New York: NY
Wargocki, P. et al 1999 Perceived Air Quality Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) Symptoms and Productivity in an Office with Two Different Pollution Loads. International Journal of Indoor Air Quality and Climate. 9:3, 165-79
WHO 2004a. World Health Report 2004 - Changing History. World Health Organization, Geneva.
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