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
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