In a dried-out lake bed, surrounded by mountains, the high-altitude air of Mexico City remembers the pollution caused by its citizens below, and lingers around them day in and day out. The city is one of the most polluted in the world, with 300 days each year exceeding the World Health Organization's standards on acceptable ozone levels.
Although levels of air pollution have improved in the last decade or two, despite the fact that the government still issues warnings for its citizens to remain indoors on particularly bad days, it is only now being recognised just how much damage filthy air causes to the human body.
Foul air is known to be linked to conditions such as asthma, bronchitis and allergies. In Mexico City, The Blacksmith Institute reckons that by reducing toxic air particles by 10 percent over 3,000 lives a year would be saved. Scientists at Mexico's National Autonomous University have recently published a study that shows that citizens of the capital are less able to detect everyday scents such as coffee than their rural
counterparts.
Whilst it may be disturbing to imagine that by choosing to live in a city we may be at risk of loosing our sense of smell, and presumably also taste, the researchers are now investigating a link between their findings and the concern that toxins in the air might be able to cause cellular damage to the eyes and nose.
Air pollution is not just of concern in places like Mexico City, where geographical factors worsen the effects of high toxic emissions. Even in cities where the quality of the air is improving there is concern over the difficulty of increasing the quality of the air indoors. Nose and throat irritations, asthma, allergy attacks and damage to the central nervous system are all linked to the complicated problem of indoor pollution, a problem which receives far less public attention and funding than the problems of smog and general outdoor pollution. Studies have shown that offices and homes in North America typically contain air that is more polluted than the streets outside.
The problems of indoor air pollution are linked to the presence of mould, the absence of proper ventilation as well as the toxins caused by passing cars. In the United States workers who have suffered health problems because of the air that they breathe have been compensated by their insurers; around $2.5 billion was paid out in mould-related claims alone in 2002. Since 2005 insurers have stopped covering mould-related problems in property, due to their rising losses.
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Posted under Articles, Environmental News
This post was written by Matthew Gammie on June 5, 2008