By Sia Dhruva
Air pollution surrounds us all. This means poisonous and potentially dangerous chemicals engulf us all the time. Our respiratory system is exposed to not just ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide but many more threatening gases. As a result severe diseases can brutally break down the body’s door and begin their rampage on the immune system. These pollution causing particle matters are extremely small thus paving their way into our bodies easily. There are 3 factors which determine where the air pollutants impact the respiratory tract:
Particle Size
Water Solubility
Chemical Reactivity
Highly water - soluble and reactive irritants such as sulfur dioxide readily dissolve into the water in the mucus of the nose and initiate an inflammatory response which primarily impacts the upper respiratory system.
Ozone gas has medium water solubility and can reach only the trachea and bronchi.
Low solubility gases such as nitrogen dioxide are even more vicious. They can overcome the defensive mechanisms of the body and reach all the way to the bronchioles and alveoli.
As the particle size decreases, the permeability to penetrate the respiratory system increases. Such small particles can bypass into the lungs and the bloodstream thus easily reaching the heart.
Ozone particles are formed when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen interact with the ultraviolet rays of the Sun. Ozone is a strong irritant which causes the air passages to shrink in a process called constriction. This narrows the air columns and decreases the amount of oxygen transported at once. Hence, the stress on the lungs to provide more oxygen increases which can result in both the heart and lungs to overwork.
This was the chemistry and biology of how air pollutants can affect your health. The Air Quality Index – a measurement scale we hear so often – can be put to our use. The image below indicates all the different levels of the air quality. Checking the scale consistently for the local area you live in can help you take necessary precautions such as wearing a mask or avoiding going out at times when the air quality is severe!
With the way we are using vehicles and the factories are continuing their mass productions, unhealthy air emissions may continue their exponential increase. The mask may never slip off our faces as we venture into this new normal!
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very well written! as someone who has a somewhat 'good' amount of environmentalism embedded in my mind, this really spoke to me