The Impact of Smog

Ensuring air quality is vital to preserving public health. That goal becomes harder to achieve with the creation of smog, a term used to describe the harmful buildup of vehicle and industrial emissions in the atmosphere. The situation evokes little comment in cities like Los Angeles, where smog problems are well-documented. However, health authorities are reaching growing agreement about smog's negative effects on the human body, agriculture and the environment.

Health Impacts

• Industrial pollutants are major contributors to smog.

  Varying symptoms have been observed, depending on a person's age, health and length of exposure to smog. The greatest concern is the effect on long-term health. Key smog components, like ground-level ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, have been linked to respiratory-system damage and premature aging of the lungs. Major symptoms include coughing, constriction of the chest, headaches, nausea, sneezing and fatigue. Living in metropolitan areas with high ozone levels may triple a person's risk of dying from respiratory disease, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study.

Impacts on Vulnerable Populations

• The presence of smog poses particularly acute health risks for children, whose lungs are not fully formed yet who breathe in more air per body weight than adults. Exposure to smog also harms asthmatics and chronic disease sufferers, whose bodies experience greater stress in dealing with their conditions. The elderly experience greater susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections, since the body's immune functions decrease with age.

Agricultural and Material Impacts

• Ground-level ozone has been blamed for impacting the growth and reproductive abilities of plants, while sulfur dioxide is linked to billions of dollars in damages to building surfaces, machinery and monuments. In Los Angeles alone, 50 percent of all tree deaths in nearby areas have been attributed to the city's infamous smog levels.