Air Pollution

Chemistry 142

Air Pollution and Health Impacts

Air pollution has been a rising phenomenon in the past few decades. There is a lot of industrialization that has taken place within our society. There are countless amounts companies that release harmful gases into our atmosphere. Due to the rising amounts of air pollution, there have been health issues that go along with it. People have been developing a number of health issues when they are exposed to air pollution. If everyone was more aware of the air pollution that we are encountering on a daily basis, we could initially make a difference. There are many steps that each and every one of us can take to improve our atmosphere; even if it is something little.

Air pollution started to get so awful that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had to step in and make some rules that the whole nation had to follow. They developed tougher rules to minimize the emissions from power plants, manufactures and automobiles (Air-Quality 1).

The EPA was established by President Richard Nixon in 1970 to enforce standard air and water quality. Now, the EPA enforces laws such as the Clean Air Act (CAA) which is a movement to improve the air quality by collaborating with the government to provide a cleaner environment (The Clean Air Act 1). Ever since that idea was proposed, The Clean Water Act requires the EPA to set fair standards for air quality in the U.S. Particularly because of the damages it can cause to our bodies. The CAA measures ground level ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, lead, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and carbon monoxide and dioxide, and particulate matter (PM). Those are the major six pollutants that are in our air (The Clean Air Act 1). The tiny particles in the air can cause lung problems, heart problems, brain damage, and some even develop cancer if they are exposed to too much emission in the air (Air-Quality 20).

In more recent news, the EPA is also reviewing standards for other...