Introduction

The atmosphere is all the air around us and above is. It is essential for our survival. The atmosphere consists of the troposphere, where we are, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. The troposphere is made of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, .9% argon, and .1% other gases such as carbon dioxide. When air pollution occurs, these numbers fluctuate which can be very detrimental to our health and the environment. The atmosphere is so essential to our lives that we need to take care of it and start thinking about all the negative impacts of the indoor and outdoor air pollution we create. We need to raise awareness and educate ourselves with the problems, then start tackling these problems as soon as possible. 

WHO Report: Indoor Air Pollution Is Greatest Environmental Health Risk

7 million people die each year because of exposure to air pollution, making it the single greatest environmental health risk on Earth. More than half of these deaths are caused by indoor air pollutants, which come from indoor cooking stove fuels, such as coal, wood, and cow dung. Kirk Smith, professor of global environmental health at Berkeley, has been studying the effects of common indoor solid fuels since the 70’s. He told the WHO, “Having an open fire in your kitchen is like smoking 400 cigarettes an hour.” Evidence of cardiovascular vascular harm from air pollution has increased from WHO’s last report in 2009 due to a few factors, partially due to better testing. Almost 3 million people use dirty solid fuels to do their cooking worldwide, with women and children being more susceptible to these pollutants because of their increased time spent in the house. Yet death rates in men are 49%, compared to 42% in women. Men generally have more risk factors- such as a high-fat diet or smoking- than women do. The western Pacific, Southeast Asian, and African regions accounted for more than 6 million premature deaths, while high income regions such as Europe and the Americas have under 400,000. This is largely due to the laws and limitations on air pollution implemented in developed countries versus developing. This is also due to the lack of solid fuel used in developed countries and the decreased use of indoor smoking as of recently. Indoor air pollutants can be attributed to many factors, but regardless, they are deadly and need to be controlled.

Master Gardener: Houseplants Help Clean Indoor Air

The major claim made in the article is that houseplants are useful tools in reducing the amount of indoor air pollution. It advocates for plants to be utilized throughout homes in order to reduce the amounts of three common indoor air pollutants: benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene. The article cites a study conducted by NASA in the eighties that was originally intended to purify space stations. However, NASA’s findings concluded that 19 household plants had the ability to reduce indoor air pollution effectively in the workplace and homes. The article is extremely specific about the qualities of each plant and the findings of the study. The source influences the content because NASA is an extremely credible source and the study was extensive. Additionally, if NASA is attempting to reduce indoor air pollution, it makes readers more likely to be motivated to reduce pollution as well. The information in the article relates to me directly because in my own home we have many indoor plants, and I am happy to hear that they could potentially be reducing any toxins in our air. My house even has a couple of the plants on the list the article provided. The article relates to what we are discussing in class because pollution is a large theme throughout the course, in addition to what humans can do to scale back on any of the toxins we have released into our air. My own personal reflections include that this article proved nothing drastic has to be done by individuals in order to better our environment by reducing pollution, only the addition of a few household plants. Also, I think the addition of potted plants to our school would be a beneficial idea, as many pollutants might exist in that environment as well. Also, they could assist in our study of biology and provide an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere.

Smog Can Make People Sick, Even Indoors

A new study shows that there is a direct relationship between the amount of smog outside to the number of people getting sick indoors, also known as the "sick building syndrome." The sick building syndrome is a collection f symptoms such as "dry eye, congestion, difficulty breathing, fatigue and headaches." In a test conducted by the EPA from 1994 to 1998, they concluded that the office buildings with a high level of smog and symptoms had a mechanical ventilation system, whereas the buildings with low to no smog pollution had windows and other natural ways of air circulation. Even though there's no concrete reason sick building syndrome, Apte believes it's due to ozone particles reacting with office materials such as polyester air filter. Some of the reactions were producing materials that were more harmful then the ozone, itself. research shows that smog pollution causes people more harm indoors than outdoors, even if the outdoor levels of zone are ten times higher. Indoor smog pollution is not only causing negative health effects, but it's also harms the economy. The U.S. economy loses $60 million in lost productivity due to the sick building syndrome. In most cases, including the first one which caused Legionnaire's disease, the cause of the the increase in indoor air pollution has been mechanical ventilation and ozone reacting with office materials. Researchers hope to find more causes of the variation in symptoms caused by the ozone pollution.

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think that people don't switch from polyester filters to fiberglass filters even though it would significantly decrease the amount of indoor air pollution and be safer for everyone's health?
2. What can everyone do to reduce so much smog air poulltion?
3. What other ways, besides having plants in our homes and switching to fiberglass filters, could we prevent indoor air pollution

Works Cited

Beglinger, Jan. "MASTER GARDENER: Houseplants Help Clean Indoor Air." The Daily News Online. The Daily News, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. <http://thedailynewsonline.com/lifestyles/article_1a2a6b62-821d-11e3-a45c-001a4bcf887a.html>.

Biello, David. "Smog Can Make People Sick, Even Indoors." Scientific American Global RSS. Scientific American, Inc., 29 June 2008. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/smog-can-make-people-sick-even-indoors/>.

Brink, Susan. "WHO Report: Indoor Air Pollution Is Greatest Environmental Health Risk." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140325-world-health-organization-indoor-fuel-pollution-death/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_r1p_us_se_c1#close-modal>.