Recently, the issue of worsening air quality due to air pollution in Newsdelivers.com has become a polemic. In fact, not only in DKI Newsdelivers.com, air pollution has become a global problem.
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that air pollution causes 7 million premature deaths every year due to heart disease and respiratory problems associated with air pollution. In addition, 91-99 percent of the world’s population lives in places where the air quality is unsafe.
Unfortunately, many people do not realize how serious the impact of air pollution is on human health and even the country’s economy. Each person has a different body reaction to exposure to air pollution. However, it is especially risky for the elderly, toddlers, children, teenagers, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.
You must know! The following are the negative impacts of exposure to air pollution which have been proven to contribute to health problems.
1. Triggers respiratory disease
Shortness of breath due to air pollution/Photo: Freepik.com/rawpixel.com
Exposure to air pollutants can directly harm the respiratory system or even worsen existing conditions in vulnerable groups. In Indonesia, fine particle air pollution has triggered 12 percent of deaths from chronic lung disease and 11 percent of deaths from lung cancer.
This data refers to the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in 2019. Not only that, one of the triggering factors for asthma in children’s respiratory tract is also triggered by PM2.5 air pollutants, according to research in 2023.
Summarizing the National Geographic page, dangerous pollutants in the short term have an irritating effect on the eyes, nose and throat, colds, coughs, shortness of breath, headaches and asthma. Meanwhile, in the long term it can trigger acute asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, chronic lung disease, pneumonia, and even lung cancer.
2. Disorders of the Fetus and Newborn
Newborn baby/Photo: Freepik.com/freepic.diller
Babies are very vulnerable to the bad effects of air pollution. In fact, some scientists also suspect that air pollution can cause birth defects. Based on the National Toxicology Program (NTP) report, exposure to pollutants in the air can increase the risk of pregnant women experiencing pre-eclampsia, which is the main cause of premature birth, low birth weight, as well as maternal and fetal disease and death.
Then, according to a 2015 study, high levels of carbon monoxide from motor vehicle emissions are very dangerous for pregnant women and newborn babies.
3. Increases the risk of cardiovascular disease
Heart attack/Photo: Freepik.com/wayhomestudio
Fine particulates, such as PM2.5 and PM10, can disrupt blood vessel function and also increase the risk of hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke. According to a 2019 UNEP report, in Indonesia, fine particle air pollution has triggered 13 percent of deaths from stroke and 12 percent of deaths from ischemic heart disease.
4. Reducing Life Expectancy
Air pollution reduces life expectancy/Photo: Freepik.com/freepik
The issue of air pollution is a major global health crisis. This is because exposure to high levels of PM2.5 pollutants over a long period of time can reduce the average global life expectancy by around one year.
5. Main Cause of Cancer
Breast cancer/Photo: Freepik.com/jcomp
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified PM2.5 pollutants as a major cause of cancer. A large study of more than 57,000 women in 2020 found that living near major highways can increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer.
The reason is, PM2.5, or particulate pollutants with a diameter of 2.5 micrograms (µg), can enter the bloodstream and then into the respiratory tract when inhaled. The buildup of free radicals in the body, in the long term, can trigger cancer cells to multiply.
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