Clean Air Act Of 1940's: Environmental Analysis

Since the era of the industrial revolution, advances in technology have led to increases in the amount of particulate matter and pollutants in the air. By the 1940's, the air quality in major industrial cities was so polluted that by mid-day the air was so darkened that cars needed to use their headlights since it appeared as though the sky was at dusk. In 1948, a smog, which is a mixture between smoke and fog, settled over a small town near Pittsburgh named Donora. The smog lasted for five days, killing twenty people and sickening thousands. In order to address the growing concern over environmental pollution, the Clean Air Act of 1963 was passed. However, the Act was not strict enough and pollution continued to plague Americans' health and
Air pollution occurs when waste products mix in the air. The amount of air pollution significantly increased during and after World War II because the amount of factory use and production increased to meet military needs (Calhoun 90). There was no concern for the air and emissions' effect on health. However, after smog settled over Donora in 1948 and New York City in 1953, 1962, and 1966, many people died or became sick as the pollution lined the bronchi, damaged the respiratory system, and blurred vision (Goldman 81). The Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, has identified sources of pollution such as automobiles and buildings as well as seven major air pollutants, with the most common being carbon monoxide. Smog, the combination between smoke and fog, is emitted from fire, paints, and emissions from vehicles. Another common pollutant that corrodes structures is acid rain. Acid rain is any rainfall with a potential of hydrogen, or pH, of less than five. Acid rain develops when clean, normal rain, with a pH of about 5.6, reacts with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere forming acid rain. Most acid rain ranges between 4.3 and 5.0 (Trapp 5). Sulfur oxides, emitted from man-made sources such as factories, can destroy aquatic life as well as the human respiratory system. Fuel combustion is a human-caused pollutant emitted from vehicles and is composed of carbon and
In 1961, Edmund Muskie wrote a report that linked air pollution to cancer, emphysema, and other diseases and claimed that atmospheric conditions could transform air pollutants into even more dangerous chemicals. Muskie concluded that exposure to air pollutants increased the risk of cancer and other life-threatening diseases (Calhoun 101). In Marshall I. Goldman's book, Ecology and Economics: Controlling Pollution in the 70s, angina is introduced as being a higher risk because carbon monoxide levels are increasing (53). Angina is a form of heart disease in which mild exercise or excitement produces symptoms of pressure and pain in the chest due to sufficient oxygen supply to the heart muscle. When exposed even to low levels of carbon monoxide, the body reduces time to onset of chest pain and increases duration of pain while exercising (Jordan 113). Carbon monoxide was the most common air pollutant, and the numbers of angina cases in the United States rapidly