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How Does Pollution in Large Cities Affect Human Health? Essay Example

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How Does Pollution in Large Cities Affect Human Health? Essay Example
How does pollution in large cities affect human health?
It is generally known that, with the development of industry, the environment becomes deterioration. The fast speed of the development leaves us serious pollution problems, which may affect human health. It is more prominent in urban areas as a result of excessive industrialization. In 1930, 6000 people became ill and 60 died by breathing toxic gases emitted from factories in the Meuse Valley in Belgium (Seitz, 2008). In addition, approximately half of the population in China (about 700 million people) drink water which has animal and human excreta in it (Environ Health Perspectives 107:251-256; 1999).This essay is going to analyze the two main pollutions: air pollution and water pollution, and how they affect human health.

According to Lester and Eugene’s research (1970), the relationship between air pollution and respiratory diseases is quite close. A few studies by Lester have shown that there is a qualitative link between air pollution and human health. First, the toxic gases emitted from burning fossil fuels should be the biggest pollution source that affects human health. People may become ill by breathing in fumes. In large cities, especially in industrialized ones, toxic gases were let out constantly into the air from transportation systems and factories. There are two convincing examples which have proved that people will became ill by breathing in the air with toxic fumes: in Donora, Pennsylvania, 6000 people got sick and 20 died in 1948; in1952 ten thousand people became ill and 4000 died in London (Seitz, 2008). It is generally known that human beings have burned so many fossil fuels. Therefore, many erosive elements are released into the air like sulfur, dioxide and oxides of nitrogen. As these toxic fumes mix with moisture and oxygen, the air is polluted. According to Lester and Eugene’s study (1970), when toxic gases cover an area for a week or more, the pollution forms substantially.

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