ORLANDO, FL (Ivanhoe Newswire) — September 7th is the International Day of Clean Air, but the world hasn’t seen too much of that lately. According to the World Health Organization’s air quality guideline, more than 90 percent of the world’s population has been exposed to unhealthy air, and almost seven million deaths globally were related to air pollution. Now, there are apps such as Plume Labs, Paku for PurpleAir, and IQAir Air Visual that can help you monitor air quality in order to avoid health risks.
Unfortunately, not all pollutants can be seen so clearly. Toxins from factories and cars linger in the air and can impact every organ in your body causing everything from headaches and anxiety, to asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and breast cancer. It can also cause infertility and stroke. So, it’s important to know the state of the air quality before going outside.
The environmental protection agency, or EPA, offers services that can tell and even predict the air quality. One of those services is the air-now program. Through this program the air quality is measured using an air quality index and has six categories: zero to 50 is good, 51 to one hundred is moderate, 101 to 150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 to 500 is hazardous.
If the air quality is unsafe, stay inside or wear an N95 mask. When inside, run an air purifier, and add a HEPA air filter to your HVAC system. When it comes to air pollution, genes may play a role as to how badly you are affected. An NIH funded study found people with specific gene variants were more likely to suffer from lung inflammation and asthma if they lived close to busy roads.
Sources:
https://sinay.ai/en/air-quality-101/
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/air-pollution/index.cfm
Contributors to this news report include: Adahlia Thomas, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer and Editor.
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