Preview

Air pollution: A significant cause of morbidity and mortality especially in many large cities of the developing world.

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
5103 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Air pollution: A significant cause of morbidity and mortality especially in many large cities of the developing world.
ESSAY TOPIC: Air pollution: A significant cause of morbidity and mortality especially in many large cities of the developing world.

ABSTRACT

Ambient and indoor air pollutants have been a major source of concern all over the world, especially in major cities of developing countries due to increasing need for transportation, industrial development and fuels for household uses by an increasing population of dwellers. These pollutants, which majorly include particulate matter and gaseous pollutants, cause significant morbid conditions ranging in severity from eye irritation to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases with mortality cases at extremes. The growing threat of these pollutants in the face of rapid urbanization therefore calls for proactive measures to be adopted. Strategies should involve better traffic management and control of vehicle and industrial emissions, use of cleaner and safer fuels for household needs, employment of pollution forecasting technologies and strict legislations to ensure adherence to guidelines on air safety.

INTRODUCTION
On Earth, air quality is continually compromised due to rapid growth of the population in cities, development of industry and intensification of road traffic (Krzyzanowsk and Schwela, 1999). In recent decades, air pollution has become one of the most important problems of megacities because of large concentrations of people and activities, which exert stress on the natural environment (Molina and Molina, 2004). According to a World Health Organization (1997a) report, ambient concentrations of air pollutants tend to be highest in developing countries and likely to decline only when higher levels of development are reached. This may be explained using the main hypothesis in environmental economics which posits that as the per capita income of a nation increases, the environmental quality deteriorates up to a point before improving as income continues to rise.

The poor air quality in many



References: Badami, M.G. (2005). Transport and Urban Air Pollution in India. Environmental Management, 36, 195-204. Bendahmane, D.B. (1997). Air Pollution and Child Health; Priorities for Action. Environmental Health Project, Activity Report no 38. USAID: Washington DC. Borja-Aburto, V. H., Loomis, D. P. and Bangdwala, S.I. (1997). Ozone suspended particulates and daily mortality in Mexico City. American Journal of Epidemiology, 145, 258-268. Brauer, M. (1997). Assessment of Health Implications of Haze in Malaysia. Mission Report. Manila: WHO Regional office for the Western Pacific, RS/97/0441. Bruce, N., Perez-Padilla, R. and Albalak, R. (2000). Indoor air pollution in developing countries: a major environmental and public health challenge. Bulletin of World Health Organization, 78, 1078–1092. Castillejos, M., Gold, D.R. and Damokosh, A. I. (1995). Acute effects of ozone on the pulmonary function of exercising children from Mexico City. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 152, 1501-1507. Central Pollution Control Board. 2004. Ambient air quality data, CPCB. New Delhi; available at http://cpcb.delhi. nic.in/bulletin/ito/2003/01_0712.html. Centre for Science and Environment (2002). State of India’s environment - The Citizens’ Fifth Report, Part I: National overview. CSE, New Delhi, 440. Chen, R., Pan, G., Zhang, Y., Xu, Q., Zeng, G., Xu, X., Chen, B. and Kan, H. (2011). Ambient carbon monoxide and daily mortality in three cities: The China Air Pollution and Health Effects Study (CAPES). Science of The Total Environment, 409, 4923-4928. Efe, S. I (2008). Spatial distribution of particulate air pollution in Nigerian cities: implications for human health. Journal of environmental health research, issue 2, vol.7. Faiz, A., Weaver, C., Sinha, K., Walsh, M. and Carbajo, J. (1992). Air pollution from motor vehicles: issues and options for developing countries. The World Bank, Washington, DC, 280. Franz, J.S. and FitzRoy, F. (2006). Child Mortality and Environment in Developing Countries. Population Environment, 27, 263-284. Gao, X., Yu, Q., Gu, Q., Chen, Y., Ding, K., Zhu, J. and Chen, L. (2009). Indoor air pollution from solid biomass fuels combustion in rural agricultural area of Tibet, China. Indoor Air, 19, 198-205. Kan, H., Chen, R. and Tong, S. (2011). Ambient air pollution, climate change, and population health in China. Environ Int. doi:10.1016/j.envint.2011.03.003. Larson, B.A. and Rosen, s. (2002). Understanding household demand for indoor air pollution control in developing countries. Social Science and Medicine, 55, 571-584. Molina, M.J. and Molina, L.T. (2004). Megacities and Atmospheric Pollution. Journal of the air and Waste Management Association, 54(6): 644-680. Olowoporoku, D. (2011). The Case for a National Air Quality Management Framework in Nigeria. A Seminar on Air Quality and Carbon Management in Nigeria. University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria. Ostro, B., Sanchez, J. M., & Eskeland, G. (1996). Air pollution and mortality: Results from a study of Santiago, Chile. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology, 6(1), 97–114 Pandey MR, Boleij JS, Smith KR, Wafula EM (1989) countries and acute respiratory infection in children. Lancet, 1(8635):427-429. Peeples, L., 2012. Air Pollution Linked to Deadly Cardiac Arrests. Available from (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68F4VA20100916) Accessed 23rd October, 2012. Pope, C.A. and Dockery, D.W. (2006). Health effects of fine particulate air pollution: lines that connect. Journal of Air Waste Management Association, 56, 709-742. Reddy, A. K. N., Williams, R. H. and Johansson, T. B. (1997). Energy after Rio: Prospects and challenges. United Nations Development Programme. Romieu, I., Samet, J., Smith K. and Bruce N. (2002). Outdoor air pollution and acute respiratory infections among children in developing countries. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 44 (7): 640-649. Sahsuvaroglu, T., and Jerrett, M. 2003. A Public Health Assessment of Mortality and Hospital Admissions Attributable to Air Pollution in Hamilton. Hamilton: McMaster Institute of Environment and Health. Singh, A., Sarim, S.M. and Shanmugam, P. (1997). Ozone distribution in the urban environment of Delhi during winter months. Atmos. Environ., 31, 3421-3427. Smith, K.R. and Mehta, S. (2003). The burden of disease from indoor air pollution in developing countries: comparison of estimates. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 206, 279-289 World Health Organization (1997). Health and Environment in Sustainable Development. Geneva, World Health Organization. World Health Organization and United Nations Environment Programme (1992). Urban air pollution in megacities of the world. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 155-164. You, C.F & Xu, X. C (2010). Coal combustion and its pollution control in China. Journal for Energy and Its Sustainable Development for China Volume 35, Issue 11, pp. 4467–4472 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2011.03.031

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Asthma and Air Pollution

    • 1925 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Air pollution can affect an individual’s health in many different ways; from short–term exacerbations of illness to long-term effects. Individuals are affected by air pollution in different ways. Short-term effects include ear, nose and throat irritation, and upper respiratory infections. Long-term effects include respiratory disease, lung disease, and heart disease. People who have asthma can experience complications when the air is polluted. In the great "Smog Disaster" in London in 1952, four thousand people died in a few days due to the high concentrations of pollution (How can air pollution hurt my health?).…

    • 1925 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Air pollution is a combination of gases and chemicals in the air that we breathe. A majority of air pollution is caused by humans through emissions from cars, planes, ships, trucks, power plants, and factories; although some of it may be created by nature in the form of wildfire smoke and volcanic eruptions (education.nationalgeographic.com, 2015). By breathing toxic air, air pollutants are given the chance to travel far into the lungs, resulting in severe damages to the respiratory system. Air pollution is a critical environmental issue that can have fatal health impacts on people of all ages, especially children, in both developed and developing countries. Exposure to air pollutants like ground-level ozone, particulate matter, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can have damaging effects on fetal and early childhood development such…

    • 1644 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    (Perera, et. al. 1994) While the effect of this damage on babies is not yet known, it is a significant cause for concern since exposure to air-borne toxins and carcinogens have been proven to increase the risks of developing cancer in adults. Perera, et. al.’s findings also add to the growing number of reasons on why the government should put air pollution reduction and elimination at the top of its…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    References: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Akpan, U.G., Ndoke, P. N. 1999. Contribution of vehicular traffic emission to CO2 emission in Kaduna and Abuja. Federal University of Technology Minna Nigeria. Autrup, S. E., 2006.Survey of air pollution in Cotonou, Benin – air monitoring and biomarkers. Science of Total Environment.358 (1-1), 85-96. Brunekreef, B. 2005. Out of Africa, Occupation and Environmental Medicine. 2005; 62:351352. CEC, 1992. The state of the environment in the European Community. Overview, Vol. 3. Commission ofthe Communities, Brussels and Belgium. Enemari, E., 2001. Vehicular emissions: Environmental and health implications. National conference onthe phase-out leaded gasoline in Nigeria. Faize, A., Sturm, P. 2000. New directions: air pollution and road traffic in developing countries.Atmospheric environment. 34(27): 4745-4746. Faboya, O.O., 1997. “Industrial pollution and waste management” pp 26-35 in Akinjide Osuntokun(ed),Dimensions of Environmental problems in Nigeria, Ibadan Davidson press. Fu, L. 2001. Assessment of vehicle pollution in China. Journal of the air and waste management:51(5):658-68. FRSC – Nigeria Muse: http://www.google.com/nigeriamuse Goyal, S. 2006. Understanding urban vehicular pollution problem vis-a-vis ambient air qualitcase study of megacity (Delhi, India). Environmental monitoring and assessment, 119:557-569. Iyoha, M. A., 2009. The Environmental effects of oil industry activities on the Nigerian Economy: A theoretical Analysis: Paper presented at National Conference on the management of Nigeria’s petroleum Resources, organised by the Department of Economics, Delta State University. Jerome, A. 2000. ‘’Use of Economic instruments for Environmental Management in Nigeria’’ Paper presented at workshop on Environmental Management in Nigeria and Administration (NCEMA). Koku, C.A., Osuntogun, B.A. 2007. Enviromental-Impacts of Road Transportation in Southwestern States of Nigeria. Journal of Applied Sciences 7 (16): 2536-2360, 2007. Magbagbeola, N. O. 2001. The use of Economic Instruments for Industrial pollution Abatement in Nigeria: Application to the Lagos Lagoon. Selected papers, Annual Conferences of the Nigerian Economic Society held in Port-Harcourt. Mahbood, A., Athar, M., 2007. Air pollution due to traffic air quality monitoring. Journal of Environmental Monitoring assessment. (2007) 136-209-218 Ndoke, P. N., Jimoh, D.O.2000. Impact of Traffic Emission on Air Quality in a Developing City of Nigeria.Department of Civil Engineering, Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria.…

    • 5557 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Air pollution has been a major issue in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Three articles have been summarized, which evaluates the causes of air pollution in Tehran, the health concerns, and explaining short-term and long-term remedies that the government of Iran has suggested.…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Air Pollution

    • 969 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The set of proposed solutions was contributed by the Environmental Protection Agency in the USA as an innovative effort to solve this problem in a safe way and which was updated in Egypt on March 29, 2007. These solutions describe methods for measuring the size and degree of pollution, factors that affect air pollution, and potential strategies for reducing air pollution problem. The factors are only based on the degree of air pollution being studied. The degree of air pollution depends on various factors such as the viruses that come from the smoke of car exhaust and from…

    • 969 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The figures above are not merely some figures taken out from some fanciful statistician’s workbook, they mean much more to those who are affected. Kolkata now accounts for more deaths due to lung cancer and heart attack than any other city in the country including the capital city of Delhi, which had the highest level before Kolkata overtook it. More than 18 persons per one lakh people in Kolkata fall victim to lung cancer every year compared to the next highest 13 per one lakh in Delhi, according to environmental scientist and advisor of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI), Twisha Lahiri (1). The most affected are children; apart from the life threatening diseases mentioned above, many of them suffer from lifelong ailments as such Asthma. People exposed to prolonged periods to this pollution, the roadside hawkers, shop owners, traffic policemen, auto-rickshaw drivers, rickshaw-pullers and others who spend long hours on the road, were the most vulnerable. Like children, they also face very high risk of potentially devastating health consequences of the pollution.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Automobiles as well as other mobile vehicles are one of the largest contributors to polluting our air on a daily basis. While these vehicles produce green house gases such as carbon monoxide, they are also contaminating the air with many other air pollutants and air toxins. By finding alternative fuel sources will be one of the solutions to curb the emissions that produce the pollutions.…

    • 2072 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chief Executive GET & Joint Secretary ARUP Islamabad, PAKISTAN email get@isb.paknet.com.pk ABSTRACT: As impact of airborne pollution been widely recognized, its management is considered as an important component in controlling AQ in the Asian Context. Important parameters and components of Air Quality Management are being discussed. AQ can be improved by integrating a number of technical and management options and financial incentives including, monitoring, evaluation and actions e.g. emission inventorization of various type of activities, estimation of Emission Load & future projections, incorporate atmospheric dispersion models in pollution dispersion / dilution, initiate pollution index levels breports, direct & indirect ecological damage and environmental damage by these emissions in urban environment, direct and indirect health impacts, share in the global climate change & warming by this region, revise Emission Standards for various sources including vehicular emissions, policy options for adoption or Action Plans, calculation of effect of abatement and control measures, establishment, improvement and implementation of air pollution regulations, regulations for development of NAAQS / IAQS, Emission Standards for sources, assess the efficiency of these measures in reducing these pollution levels , enhanced public awareness, and for transport sector (which is the main urban air polluter) better traffic flow and transport management / planning in the urban areas (which has not been given due importance until now in Pakistan), change of technology including fuel substitution & conversion to less polluted fuels (e.g. low Sulphur / Lead fuels, CNG), development/enforcement of vehicular... eing…

    • 283 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    POLLUTION IN INDIA

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Pollution is the very serious problem in our country. All – important cities as Delhi, Mumbai , Calcutta and Chennai have been found to be most polluted cities in India. The smaller industrial towns, such as Kanpur , are also heavily polluted leading to sever health problems. Two major areas of pollution are air and water. Those living in cities neither get pure to breathe nor pure water to drink. It is therefore not surprising that the major health problems occur in the cities. In order to rectify this situation, it is important to identify the sources of pollution.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Biodiversity in Singapore

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Samet, J. M.; Dominici, F.; Curriero, F. C.; Coursac, I.; Zeger, S. L., Fine particulate air pollution and mortality in 20 US cities, 1987–1994. New England journal of medicine 2000, 343 (24), 1742-1749.…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    People get exposed to air pollution not just outdoors. Even in the comforts of our houses and workplaces, air pollution can also occur. This is known as indoor pollution.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Over the past decade, the population of Pune has nearly doubled. This rise in population has resulted in a dramatic increase in pollution. Almost every household in the city now owns a car. Without any regulations regarding car emissions, air pollution has gone rampant. During peak traffic times, visbility is greatly reduced because of all the unchecked emissions. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to breathe as most of the air is heavily polluted.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pollution in India

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A study conducted by the World Bank in 1995 revealed that 40,000 Indians die prematurely due to polluted air in cities. Yet another study made by the Environment protection Agency shows that every nearly 40,000 children in India are affected by respiratory diseases caused by the growth of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Air pollutants are continually poisoning our bones and the most susceptible to pollution are children below five years and elderly persons above 50 years. In general, those who have hyper-responsiveness to the presence of pollutants are bit harder than others. Air pollutants increase the risk of lung disease in asthma patients. Women with previous lead exposures may have elevated blood level during period of high bone turnover as observed during pregnancy, location or hyperthyroidism. Their unborn fetuses may be exposed to this danger as also the new born though breast milk. Children have relatively narrower air passages which are more easily obstructed. They need more oxygen whereas they inhale larger volumes of polluted air. Children are three times more at risk & exposure to pollutants floating in the sky than adults. In Delhi every tenth school going kid is suffering from asthma caused by air pollution. Traffic police men, automobile mechanics, drivers, cyclists, rikshaw-walas, road side vendors and hawkers all inhale more pollutants than others due to the nature of their work.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sustaible development

    • 727 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Increasing economy and globalisation has converted many small towns in South-east Asia as emerging global megacities. And I belong to one of those megacities, Hyderabad, India, also known as Hi-Tech city for its tremendous contribution in IT sector. Being a municipal corporation in early 1900’s, Hyderabad has grown in size and activities in early 2010 and thus was made a Greater Municipal cooperation. Still accommodating more and more IT firms in the heart of the city has led to many environmental issues like, dense pollution, low quality of air, water pollution, solid waste pollution etc.…

    • 727 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics