Air Pollution

The combination of dust particles, smoke and gas into the atmosphere leads to air pollution and makes the air harmful to breathe. Burning of fossil fuel, poorly maintained vehicles and industrial production are some of the main causes of air pollution. Today, air pollution has become a serious threat for everyone as it not only affects the environment but also your health. Exposure to air pollution can affect your physical and psychological well-being.

What Happens if Pollution Continues to Increase?

The level of pollution, whether indoor or outdoor, has increased to a dangerous level. As per the report published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), air pollution is the world’s biggest cause of premature deaths. Air pollution causes approximately 3.6 million premature deaths per year by 2050. Not only this, breathing polluted air can directly impact your health causing several problems. Some of these are mentioned below:

• Long term exposure to polluted air results in significant health issues like asthma, lung cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
• Breathing air pollution hampers the functioning of lungs among healthy people resulting in respiratory inflammation and heart problems
• Living in a polluted area and breathing toxic air increases the risk of cancer
• Air pollution weakens the immune system

How to Reduce Air Pollution?

Air pollution can be reduced if we all take some steps to minimize it. Below are some tips that you can follow to reduce air pollution and save the environment from harmful consequences.

Avoid Smoking

Smoking not only causes air pollution but is also very dangerous for your health. The smoke released from cigarette forms thousands of particulate matters that cause lung diseases. Pollution caused by smoking of cigarettes is approximately 10 times higher than other sources and not only harms you but also the people around you.

Also Read: Diseases caused by Air Pollution

Use Public Transportation

Thousands of vehicles running on the road emit toxic gases, which increases the level of pollution to a great extent and makes the air impure. You can control it if you start using public transportation. Instead of using your own vehicle or using individual cabs, use public transportation facilities. Lesser the vehicles on the road will minimize the level of air pollution.

Conserve Energy

Buying energy efficient appliances go a long way in controlling air pollution. Energy saving appliances ensure that you use less energy, resulting in low pollution levels. Switching off ACs, fans, and all other electrical appliances when not in use is one of the easiest ways to save energy and reduce pollution.

Install Highly Efficient Air Purifier

Installing an air purifier at home is another way to reduce air pollution. An air purifier with HEPA filter can trap 99.97% of pollutants including PM 2.5 or finer particles up to 0.3 microns and make the air pollution free. This will ensure that your home becomes a healthy place and your family breathes clean, dust free and pollen-free air.

Also Read: Indoor Air Pollution can be worse than Outdoor

Conclusion

Air pollution causes severe health effects and to alleviate the impact of air pollution, it is important to keep both indoor and outdoor air healthy and fresh. Make sure to follow the above-mentioned points which will help in reducing the level of air pollution and make the world a better place to live.