Air Pollution (Airpol) & Health
Are you unable to go outside into the great outdoors and enjoy the fresh air and the natural world because you are exposed to any number of unknown air pollutants affecting your health, quality of life and severing your spiritual connection with and enjoyment of nature? Poor air quality not only impacts your physical, but also your mental and spiritual wellbeing and indeed your richness of life.
There is significant concern, particularly in the industrialising countries e.g. Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) amongst their own people, as well as people in neighbouring countries downwind (trans-boundary pollution). Much like the smoker, who moves away from patrons eating outside, but seems incapable or insensitive, moves upwind and thereby pollutes the air and ruins what should otherwise be a pleasant and healthy outside dining experience, apart from poorly maintained diesel engines. No-one can go outside in many industrialising countries without seriously jeopardising their health.
Why is air pollution such a major health issue?
Air Quality (AQ) is generally described in terms of ‘ODOURS’:
1. Odours are noxious smells from putrefying waste (nuisance) or volatile organic chemicals;
2. Dust is generally a nuisance, but the smaller fractions are still dangerous (<PM10);
3. Ozone (O3) depleting substances (ODS) from halogenated (Cl-F) [i] hydrocarbons (CFCs) should be controlled under the (UN) Montreal Protocol on ODS 1989 as they deplete O3 layer (and increase global warming at lower level with in the atmosphere) and increase cancer (melanoma) rates from-
4. Ultra-Violet (UV) radiation (a daily permissible dose is necessary for Vitamin D);
5. Radiation from nuclear power plant disasters (Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima) exposes millions to radiation as it eventually encircles the globe; and finally
6. Smoke containing sulphides, the product of coal fired power stations and other dirty fossil fuels, causes acid rain and unburnt hydro-carbons (HCs) otherwise known as carbon black (CB) cause any number of breathing (respiratory) problems from coughing, asthma and eventually lung cancer. The biggest source of CB, a global warming pollutant, is particularly prevalent downwind of ports, from ships that are idling inefficiently at wharf berths.
Although asbestos fibres used in building materials and silicate (quartz) used in sand blasting have been banned in most developed countries, it is still possible to breathe in particulate matter that is less than (<) 2.5μm (PM2.5) [ii]. Regardless, if the particles are too small for the hairs (cilia) within the bronchial tubes to capture them and remove them from the lungs, those particles will lodge deep within the lungs and build up until they can no longer function properly. If particles are poisonous, even in small doses, they can accumulate and eventually lead to respiratory issues and cancer.
What can you do about it? Obviously not smoking would be a start, wearing a mask helps, but ultimately, we need to get our leaders to take this issue seriously and control both the point sources (dirty coal fired power stations) and mobile sources (poorly maintained diesel vehicles) otherwise the problem will continue. In Australia we are generally only concerned about generators burning more than (>) 500 kg/hr of fuel and producing particular air pollutants (NOx-SOx-COx-VOCs)[iii] that pollute local airsheds with no responsibility for export of fossil fuels that accelerate climate change.
Any generator or vehicle that has been poorly maintained or has poor or no emission control devices e.g. cheap zeolite scrubber, becomes a source of pollution. Air-conditioner’s (AirCon/AC) also need to be properly maintained i.e. clean filters to be efficient in terms of operation and electricity use, and your vacuum/hoover needs to have the filters cleaned regularly in order to function (‘suck’) properly and remove asthma causing ‘human and plastic dust’. In humid environments an AC/dehumidifier is necessary in order to reduce fungal spores and thereby improve health. Some devices electrostatically attract ‘charged’ particles and then they can just be washed out.
‘Sick (indoor) building syndrome (SIBS)’ can be reduced by not using oil based products i.e. paints, panels and plastics e.g. furniture. This is not only because the plasticisers leach out of the products, but they also create a much greater fire hazard in terms of combustibility, poisonous smoke and hotter, faster and deadlier fires. Including indoor plants in the home/workplace can make a major contribution to not only your health, but also aesthetic enjoyment, gardening and mental health.
When considering external sources of pollution, you need to look at the dominant wind directions in your area, normally recorded by the Weather (Meteorological) Office (e.g. BoM, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology) and frequently recorded at critical locations i.e. airports or high points (rain radar) that can be accessed online or via a local weather station. It is only by observing and understanding the air movements in your own area that you will be able to decide whether the wind records (‘roses’) are relevant to where you live and can be used to judge when you’re most exposed to pollutants and decision to stay at home or move to a more benign location.
If you live in an air space/shed downwind e.g. from a coal fired power plant, do they have sufficiently high chimneys (emission stacks) to allow the pollution to overpass your location without impacting your health other than in times of fog? Currently there is no requirement for ships docking at nearby ports to switch off their heavy bunker oil or diesel fired engines and switching over to port provided grid electricity (cold running). Therefore, if you live downwind you will be exposed to unburnt or poorly combusted fuel emissions possibly impacting your health and your home. For example, when my wife and I lived on Castle Hill in Townsville our decks, insect screens and stucco ceilings were filthy with oily grime and our health was probably being impacted over the 7-years we lived there.
International Law such as the Geneva Convention on Long-Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution 1979 was established to be used by a neighbouring country to matters to court but you may not want to upset your trading partners! However, if people start dying from air pollution as they did in England in the 1960s, then your country also needs to have its own ‘Clean Air’ Act! Start a petition!
The accelerating issue of climate change impacting the world’s environment and ultimately our own survival should be high on the Earth’s Agenda but many leaders are choosing to ignore it with the hope no doubt that it will be the future generations problem (Inter-Generational Inequity is stealing from our children). The Paris Agreement in 2015 requires major reductions to reduce global warming! The impact of CO2 and other gases (N2O etc.) predominantly from burning fossil fuels is having a direct warming impact on the world’s climate, raising sea levels and acidifying oceans. The increase in temperature is creating positive feedback loops that has pushed past the global tipping point beyond which it cannot repair or recover e.g. the Arctic Circle permafrosts are thawing at a faster rate and releasing millions of tons of CH4, a gas which has a global warming potential (GWP) 25 times greater than (x >) CO2 (GWP = 25 x CO2e)[iv] and is just the tip of the melting polar icecaps!
What can we do to help you? We can stop buying palm oil from plantations, beef from ranches and rainforest timber causing loss of biodiversity. Rainforests are lungs (drugs & foods) of the planet and important not only as carbon absorbers but also carbon storages, and need our protection.
However, our greatest contribution is to not buy any product that hasn’t included the best available technologies in their manufacturing process (life cycle analysis/LCA). That we don’t invest our ‘Super’ in companies that are not committed to ecologically sustainable development (ESD) practices and in particular are doing their utmost to reduce their carbon footprint and protect all our futures.
My Background
My first full-time position in New Zealand (NZ) was as an Environmental Engineer, although then it had a different meaning than it does today as it was really a heating-ventilation-air conditioning (HVAC) Technician. I worked at Fisher & Paykel (F&P) Engineering building complete separate stand-alone commercial HVAC systems and then we used the now prohibited CFCs to gas them. I completed an HVAC Course by correspondence in order to become qualified however it was while at Outward Bound at the age of 18, sponsored by F&P, that I decided to become an Earth Scientist.
Because there was little work for me as a ‘Geo’ in NZ, I then worked as a Medical Representative for a Pharmaceutical Company (Pharma Co NZ) for 2 years in the role of Respiratory Specialist. I marketed 5 asthma related prescription drugs to Hospital Specialists, Registrars and GPs. I completed Medical Training to Stage III in physiology and pharmacology etc., talked to many doctors throughout NZ and attended medical conferences. However, I came to realise that respiratory problems were frequently related to environmental health issues particularly poor conditions existing in homes e.g. smoking parents, over use of chemical products- cleaning and cosmetic, poor or no HVAC operation and maintenance, oil based paints, floor coverings and furniture, mattresses that were not well aired, mould and vehicles that had no exhaust emission controls and directly impacted the health of some of the most sensitive in our society e.g. children, sick and elderly.
I worked as a Petroleum Geologist on oil rigs on and offshore throughout Australasia between 1984 and 1989, before deciding that they had a no care factor in relation to Environmental Health or Safety (EHS). The most useful skill I gained from this was using chromatographs to monitor gases.
I returned to University in 1990 and completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science in Hydrogeology, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Engineering (the first paper they taught), Law (Marine) and later in Cultural, Health, Environmental, Quality & Safety Systems (CHEQS).
I have now worked for government agencies, companies and as a Consultant for 30 years.
Post Script- my Father died from complications related to smoking, my Father-in-Law died from smoking related lung cancer and my Uncle died from mesothelioma after breathing in asbestos fibres after lagging ship pipework as a young Navy Engineer.
[i] Chlorine-Bromine-Fluorine
[ii] 1 x 10-6m
[iii] Nitrogen-Sulphur-Carbon Oxides and volatile organic compounds.
[iv] CO2e equivalence