air pollution

 

 

 

 

Air pollution

Name: Afi Brigitte Agbo katsan

Professor: Stephanie Tuminello

Date: 17/03/2022

HUNTER COLLEGE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Air pollution is a pollution that also play a big part in our environment due to the presence or introduction of a substance which has a poisonous effect which can lead to a health problem. The majority of the causes of this pollution that almost all of us knows has to do with Car emissions, chemicals from factories, dust, pollen and mold spores may be suspended as particles.

According to health people 2020, “Poor outdoor air quality can be attributed to both natural sources of pollution, such as dust from windstorms, as well as human-generated sources, such as emissions from vehicles. Exposure to outdoor air pollution can cause both short-term and long-term health effects, including damage to the immune, neurological, reproductive, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems; asthma; and death”. In another word,  poor environment, or neighborhood, and all the garbage that the wind brings from the air are the causes of air pollution. And the worst part is it has a big impact on our health and if it isn’t taken care off or not solved , many people will be affected.

In the Bronx, many people die due to asthma, and the cause of that asthma is the air pollution. According to the New York City Department of Health’s report, “in addition, the Bronx, being the only part of NYC on the mainland, has a dense network of highways and truck routes that connects it to the rest of the city, and connects the rest of the city to mainland USA.” The Bronx stands out as being the most disadvantaged borough, because it has less education, a city known for high poverty, and we all know a place that is not well taken care of might always bring something

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “The region’s most polluted census tract is in the West Bronx, New York City. Exposure in the tract, where 70 percent of the population are Latino residents and 29 percent are African American residents, is 270 percent higher than the state average in 2019”.  The Bronx is the highest state that has had an increase in air pollution during the year 2019. Which at the same time meant that a lot of people were sick and indoors, poor people would have to suffer, and which could increase the health problem. The thing is nothing will go well if there is too much stress in the environment that you are leaving in, and the only way to make a society progress in a good way without some people dying is by treating everyone equal, and equal health.

Talking about pollution, it really does have a relationship with social determinant of health, the way we live has a connection with our health, if the environment that you are living in has a negative vibe, it will stress you out and affect your health. According to the WHO “At the second WHO meeting on the Global Platform on Air Quality and Health, scientists and policymakers further developed tools and methods needed to develop a data clearinghouse to help countries and cities reduce exposure to air pollution”.  In another word The Who tried to provide a solution in other to reduce the problem and help the population. Governments have a duty to provide healthy environments for all their citizens, especially for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. The poorest environment, with a low income will be highly the most affected. It will also have an impact on education, travailing to school will be difficult, and scary for those people living in a poor environment. Parents will be scared to go outside which can really have an effect on their health because they will be stressed out with all those problems around them.  Especially to those already living with some health issue like, heart disease, asthma, cancer etc… The south Bronx has some poor air quality, to help those people already in need, we should stop spreading burning stuff and just leave it, and avoid thrashing on the street, at least that could reduce the risk.

Although this is a health disparity because, it’s for sure 100% how it can have a big effect on people’s health, and it should be something that the government shouldn’t ignore, especially the impact it has on race and poor people. According to the American Lung Association “The burden of air pollution is not evenly shared. Poorer people and some racial and ethnic groups are among those who often face higher exposure to pollutants and who may experience greater responses to such pollution.” Basically, poor people are mostly affected by air pollution, because people of lower class (poor) don’t live in a clear environment, everywhere you go there’s trash, followed by smoking which is a poison for the environment.  For example, in the Bronx the consequence of air pollution can be the cause of vapors released from motor vehicles, factories, and fossil fuel sources, such as deforestation, there’s vapor released from motor vehicles everywhere, which leads to climate change. Racial people are the most living in a poor environment, with poor education and poor malnutrition, low social position may make some groups more susceptible to health threats because of factors related to their disadvantage, and also their health care. Lack of a good job, and a lot of traffic also affect play a role on how Black African American are the most target people and increase the risk of harm. If you don’t have any level in education which will put you in a poor environment with a higher pollution risk.

The WHO came up with some interventions by sectors to reduce this air pollution like, and make some rules in the industry, housing, cities agriculture, power generation, and transport. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “In order to assist in the implementation of these interventions, WHO provides country-level technical support on best practices to both reduce air pollution and implement mitigation strategies”. This message is trying to say to reduce, and promoting waste reduction, waste separation, recycling and reuse of waste reprocessing, and also people must know how to behave in order to keep our society clean, decrease the use of fuel, and people who need some tools in their house, like cleaning stuffs, the  government could respond to that, or some resources for cleaner vehicles may need, also try to reduce a place with too much traffic.

Based on my study, some interventions that I can list to help or reduce the health issue are, first of all, people have to stop throwing stuff on the floor, especially in my community, there isn’t a lot of care, people must work together to help the improvement of  community, create a lot of light in order to reduce traffic, reduce burning stuffs, by doing all of that we also helping the people who are indoor in their poor neighbor, and those that has asthma. The government could try to provide some tools in that poor neighborhood in need, in order to secure everybody’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work cited

• Improving Air Quality Through Community Partnerships. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/healthy-people-in-action/story/improving-air-quality-through-community-partnerships
• (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/index.page
• Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health (PHE) e-News. (2015, August 31). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/phe/news/aug-sept2015/en/
• Public Health. (2020, March 23). Improving outdoor air quality and health: review of interventions. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-outdoor-air-quality-and-health-review-of-interventions
• Inequitable Exposure to Air Pollution from Vehicles in the … (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2019/06/Inequitable-Exposure-to-Vehicle-Pollution-Northeast-Mid-Atlantic-Region.pdf
• Maantay, J. (2005, November 28). Asthma and air pollution in the Bronx: Methodological and data considerations in using GIS for environmental justice and health research. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1353829205000675