Health effects of Air pollution
Air pollution can affect our health in both the long term and the short-term. Some people are more sensitive to pollutants than others for example young people and older adults often suffer more.
Short-term Health effects
- Irritation to the eyes, nose and throat
- Upper respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Allergic reactions
It can also aggravate conditions such as asthma and emphysema.
Long term Health effects
- Chronic respiration disease
- Lung cancer
- Heart disease
- Damage to the brain, nerves, liver and kidneys
Water pollution
Fresh, clean drinking water is a necessity for all people. The main source of fresh water pollution is from discharge of untreated waste, dumping of industrial effluent and run-off from fertilisers from agricultural fields. In more urban areas water can be contaminated from leaking water joints and broken sewage pipes.
Exposure to water pollution can cause:
- Diarrhoea
- Skin irritation
- Respiration problems and other diseases.
The symptoms depend on what kind of pollution is continued in the water. In the UK we add chemicals such as chlorine and fluorine to the water. These help disinfect the water.
Waste and litter
Discarded rubbish leads to the spread of diseases, it also attracts flies, rats and vermin. Although bubonic plague hasn’t occurred for over 200 years, rats still carry diseases that are harmful to humans. Sensible actions on our part maintain good health. Being tidy and recycling improve our well being by protecting our environment.
Noise pollution
Noise can be damaging to our health. It is not just our ears and hearing that can be affected by noise, our brain and nervous system can be affected as well. Noise pollution can be self-inflicted through wearing headphones listening to loud music or having the radio on too loud.
Noise can also affect us if we live near a busy road or airport. Noise can make us feel irritable, this can also affect the people around us because we become short tempered. Therefore this can also result in loosing friends, which in turn can result in social isolation that also affects our emotional well being.
My client does not live near any factories. She lives in an urban part of Lanchester so isn’t affected by any extra air pollution or noise. She lives in private grounds so she only has to live around her family’s litter and waste but they are very tidy so she does not suffer from litter pollution either. The only way she would be affected by water pollution would be if there were problems within the village.
