Facts About Air Pollution

Air pollution is the result of releasing chemicals, biological toxins, or particles into the the air. This type of pollution can occur outdoors or indoors, such as when workers become sick from recycled air in office buildings, known as "sick building syndrome." Wind, temperature and geography help determine the levels of air pollution in each state or city.

Smog

• Smog is an outdoor and large-scale version of air pollution. It is mainly caused by emissions from industrial plants and automobile exhaust. Heavily populated cities such as New York and Los Angeles suffer from the effects of long-term smog, which include asthma. In New York, the Bronx has the highest rate of childhood asthma, due to the quality of the air.

Time Frame

• In a 12-year time span from 1990 to 2002, the United States' levels of carbon dioxide emissions increased by more than 90 percent. The lowest recorded levels before that period were in 1960.

Protection

• The environment is protected by the Environmental Protection Agency also. Limits for the amount of pollutants allowed into the air are regulated under the Clean Air Act.

Home

• Due to the toxic chemicals found in the air at home, people are three times as likely to be exposed to cancer-causing contaminants at home than via outdoor air pollution. This was noted in a 1985 study done by the EPA.

Temperature

• Air pollution can increase to dangerous levels due to temperature inversion. This is when the air above is hotter than the air that is closer to the earth. This traps the pollution and prevents it from being dispersed.