According to the European Environmental Agency, every year in Europe 400,000 people die prematurely as a result of air pollution.
Traffic, the main cause of harmful pollution, creates nitrogen oxides, diesel soot, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide.
Indoor sources of air pollution include mold, candle and room fragrances, cooking fumes and cleaning products. Each depletes the quality of the air you breathe at home.
Poor indoor air quality increases your risk for allergies, immunodeficiency, some forms of cancer, respiratory disease and infection from bacteria and viruses.
Regularly breathing polluted air increases your exposure to a multitude of health risks.Air pollution is a significant health risk. According to a recent study conducted by scientists and doctors at the University of Mainz, air pollution decreases life expectancy by an average of 2.9 years. This is more devasting to your health than smoking, which decreases a lifespan by 2.2 years.
We are all well-aware of outdoor air pollutants including industrial runoff, exhaust and nitrogen oxide build up from traffic, not to mention the carbon dioxide being left in the air from a lack of green spaces.
How often have you considered the toxins within your home? Cleaning supplies, hobby tools including epoxies, paints and wood dust, cooking vapors, dander from people as well as pets, and yes tabaco smoke, all decrease the health of your indoor air.
When you open a window to refresh the air, you take in all the outdoor pollutants as well. As a result, our indoor air, which is where an average of 80% of every day is spent, can be more polluted than the air outside.
Fine particulates and microorganism enter the lungs and bloodstream through the respiratory tract. A person’s body can react to these increasing concentrations of pollutants with symptoms that cannot otherwise be explained, for example a tickling throat or runny nose. Sometimes the symptoms are less obvious, a simple inability to concentrate, general weariness and headaches that grow throughout the day.
For those with allergies, these microscopic particulates can trigger anything from aggravating symptoms, such as a cough, to more severe issues including airway blockage. Exposure over extended periods of time can lead to chronic respiratory diseases (COPD) or trigger allergic-asthma in asthmatics.
For those with allergies, these microscopic particulates can trigger anything from aggravating symptoms, such as a cough, to more severe issues including airway blockage. Exposure over extended periods of time can lead to chronic respiratory diseases (COPD) or trigger allergic-asthma in asthmatics.