DRHOMED / Air Pollution and Health

Outdoors Air Pollution

There are six common air pollutants, including ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM2.5-10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), lead (Pb) and carbon monoxide (CO). For further information on these pollutants’ basic information, health effects, standards and et al, please visit EPA.

Air pollution is a mixture of solid particles and gases in the air. Car emissions, chemicals from factories, dust, pollen and mold spores may be suspended as particles. Ozone, a gas, is a major part of air pollution in cities. Some air pollutants are poisonous. Inhaling them can increase the chance you’ll have health problems. People with heart or lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from air pollution. For further information on prevention, related issues, specific conditions, journal articles on air pollution and health, visit MedlinePlus NIH.

The Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch (APRHB) leads CDC’s fight against environmental-related respiratory illnesses, including asthma, and studies indoor and outdoor air pollution. For more information, visit CDC.

Indoor Air Pollution

An Introduction to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) – United States Environmental Protection Agency

Indoor pollution sources that release gases or particles into the air are the primary cause of indoor air quality problems in homes. There are many sources of indoor air pollution in any home. Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later. For more information on indoor air pollution, sources, and health effects, visit EPA.

We usually think of air pollution as being outdoors, but the air in your house or office could also be polluted. Sources of indoor pollution include mold and pollen, tobacco smoke, household products and pesticides, gases such as radon and carbon monoxide, materials used in the building such as asbestos, formaldehyde and lead. For more information on indoor air pollution about prevention, related issues, specific conditions and others, visit MedlinePlus.

Poor indoor air quality (pollution) can bother your eyes, nose, and throat. It can also lead to chronic heart and lung problems and cancer. Home air pollution can be made worse by poor ventilation, high heat, and high humidity. For more links to health and safety tips on indoor air control, visit US CDC.

Environmental tobacco smoke (second hand smoke)

Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, and the smoke exhaled by smokers. Secondhand smoke is also called environmental tobacco smoke or passive smoke. For more information on the health effect of secondhand smoke, especially on children health and the science behind the risk, please visit EPA.

Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) refers to exposure to tobacco smoke – not from your smoking, but from being exposed to someone else’s cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoke. This document covers the basic issues of what environmental tobacco smoke is and what are the health effects of passive smoking. For more information, visit Canadian OHS.

Does secondhand smoke cause cancer? Yes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (a cancer-causing agent). For more information, please visit NCI.

Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is used mainly to produce resins used in particleboard products and as an intermediate in the synthesis of other chemicals. Exposure to formaldehyde may occur by breathing contaminated indoor air, tobacco smoke, or ambient urban air. Acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) inhalation exposure to formaldehyde in humans can result in respiratory symptoms, and eye, nose, and throat irritation. For detailed information on formaldehyde and health, visit US EPA.

<Indoor Air Quality > Indoor Air Pollutants > Pollutants from Household Products & Building Materials > Formaldehyde – Health Canada>

Formaldehyde is a colorless gas that is emitted mainly from household products and building materials. Low levels of formaldehyde in indoor air are actually very common. On this link, sources of formaldehyde, health risks, how to reduce exposure to formaldehyde and other information can be found.

Formaldehyde is a colorless, flammable, strong-smelling chemical that is used in building materials and to produce many household products. How is the general population exposed to formaldehyde? Can formaldehyde cause cancer? What have scientists learned about the relationship between formaldehyde and cancer? How can people limit formaldehyde exposure in their homes? You can find answers to these questions by visiting the National Cancer Institute website.

Cooking Fumes

Cooking fumes contain oil mists, irritating substances, smoke, and carbon dioxide from gas-ﬁred equipment. Engineering control (local exhaust ventilation) is the recommended approach to keep exposure low. For more information, please click here.

This link introduced a research that looked at the gases produced by frying. Although the results found that certain harmful chemicals were produced and the concentrations were within the exposure limitation, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has recently classified the fumes from high-temperature frying as ‘probably’ cancer-causing to humans. For more information, please click here.

Cooking appliances and the process of cooking itself can produce numerous pollutants. For instance, electric coil burners in stoves, ovens, and toasters can release fine and ultrafine particles, while gas burners can generate nitrogendioxide, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and formaldehyde. The burning of organic matter during cooking—particularly with high-temperature activities like frying, broiling, and sautéing—produces acrolein, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particulate matter. An appliance’s pilot light can be a source of nitrogen dioxide. A venting hood, even if only modestly effective, can protect residents against cooking-related pollutants. For more information, please click here.

Incense burning

Medical professionals have long suspected that joss sticks and incense – usually containing a blend of plant extracts and oils – emit harmful fumes when burned. Now, researchers from Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University in Tainan say joss fumes contain particulate matter, gases and organic compounds that could be more harmful than tobacco smoke. For more information, please click here.

Long-term exposure to incense fumes was associated with an increased risk for most upper respiratory cancers, as well as squamous cell lung cancer, the study shows. Squamous cell lung cancer is most common type of lung cancer in smokers. This’s a real risk that should not be ignored. For more information, please click here.