Air Pollution and Control

Lecture 3: Impact of Air Pollution on Human Health

Prof. Bhola Ram Gurjar
Department of Civil Engineering
Contents
• Air: An essential need of human
• Air Pollution: A major concern
• Short term and long term effects
• Susceptibility to air pollution
• Factors affecting the human health
• Pyramid of health impacts of air pollution
• Common pollutants affecting human health
• Air pollution induced health effects
• Health impact of various pollutants
• Conclusions

2
 Air: An essential need of human

• On average, an adult male will breathe about 15 m3

(~15 kg) of air, drink 1.5 litres of water (~1.5 kg) and
eat about 0.75 kg of solid food per day.

(Source: Bakke, J., L., 2021)

3
Air Pollution: A major concern
• In 2018, during the first WHO Global Conference on Air
Pollution and Health, the WHO’s Director General, Dr. Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called air pollution a “silent public
health emergency” and “the new tobacco”

• According to WHO Report, the worldwide number of smokers

declined by 29 million from 2000 to 2015

• Globally, with smoking on the decline, air pollution now causes

more deaths annually than tobacco.

Source: www.theguardian.com, accessed on 12/09/2021

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 Short-term and Long-term health effects
• Short-term effects are temporary or
immediate effects and often
reversible, when exposure ends.

• The long-term exposure to the

pollutants can aggravate health
problems.

Source: www.lalpathlab.com, accessed on 12/09/2021

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 Susceptibility to air pollution
1 2
• Susceptible populations include old people, children, and people
with diabetes and predisposing heart or lung disease, especially
asthma.
3
• Urban areas are more susceptible due to overpopulation and
uncontrolled urbanization along with the development of
industrialization.

4 • In developing countries, the women of the

household seem to carry the highest risk
for disease development due to their
longer duration exposure to the indoor air
pollution.
(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image: 1, www.dreamstime.com, 2, www.unep.org, 3, www.theguardian.com, 4, www. qz.com)

6
 Major Factors affecting the human health

• Nature of pollutants

• Concentration of pollutants

• Duration of exposure

• State of the health of the receptor

• Age group of the receptor

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020)

7
Pyramid of health impacts of air pollution
• The air pollution pyramid is a framework
commonly used to describe the spectrum of
health impacts from exposure to air pollution.

• It illustrates the inverse relationship between

the severity of outcomes and the proportion of
people affected by them.

Source: Melody and Johnston, 2015

8
 Common air pollutants affecting human health
• Carbon monoxide
• Sulphur dioxide
• Nitrogen oxide
• Ozone
• Particulate matter
• PAH (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons)
• Dixoins
• VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds)

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020)

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Air pollution induced health effects

Image: www.oecd-ilibrary.org

10
 Carbon Monoxide

• Colorless, odorless, tasteless gas ; “Silent

Killer”

• Source: incomplete combustion of fuel

from transportation sector, energy
production, residential heating units,
some industrial processes

Source: S. Dey, G.C. Dhal, 2019

11
 Carbon Monoxide health effects

Source: S. Dey, G.C. Dhal, 2019

12
 Sulphur Dioxide
 Burning materials with a high sulfur content
produces sulfur dioxide. The most common
sources of sulfur dioxide include:
• coal-fired power stations
• diesel vehicles
• oil refineries
• shipping

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image, www.epa.vic.gov.au)

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 Sulphur Dioxide health effects

 Short-term intermittent exposures

• Bronchoconstriction (temporary breathing
difficulty)
• Eye/Nose/Throat irritation
• Mucus secretion

 Long-term exposures
• Respiratory illness
• Aggravates existing heart disease

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image, www.epa.vic.gov.au)

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Sulphur Dioxide health effects: Example
• Accumulation of air pollution, especially sulfur dioxide and smoke,
reaching 1,500 mg/m3 , resulted in
1. 4,000 deaths in December 1952 during Great Smog of London.
2. 400 deaths in November 1963 during New York City Smoke

1 2

Image: www.britannica.com Image: www.nytimes.com

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 Nitrogen Oxide
 Source: Combustion of fuel at high temperature from mobile and
stationary combustion sources
• Car and truck exhausts
• Coal-fired power stations
• Industry

 Prolonged exposure: pulmonary fibrosis (thickening of lung tissue),

emphysema (COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and
higher LRI (lower respiratory tract illness) in children

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image, www.epa.vic.gov.au)

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 Nitrogen Oxide health effects

Source: biophysics.sbg.ac.at/mexico/galery.htm, accessed on 12/10/2021

17
 Ozone
 Ground-level ozone is a colorless and
highly irritating gas that is formed by
photochemical reaction just above the
earth's surface.

Source: www. acumenias.in

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 Ozone health effects

Short term effect Long term effect

• Coughing • Respiratory diseases
• Wheezing/Difficulty • Cardiovascular damage
breathing • Harm to liver, spleen, and
• Irritation to eyes, nose, and blood
throat • Nervous system damage
• Headache • Cancer
• Dizziness • Birth defects
• Fatigue • Death

Source: www.scied.ucar.edu, Image: https://scied.ucar.edu/

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 Lead
 Lead is a toxic metal whose widespread
use has caused extensive environmental
contamination and health problems in
many parts of the world.
Tailpipe emissions
 Source: burning fuels that contain lead Lead acid batteries

(phased out), metal processing, waste

incinerators, production of lead-acid
batteries, plumbing materials and alloys.

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020)

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 Toxic effects of Lead
• Children are particularly vulnerable
to the neurotoxic effects of lead,

• Relatively low levels of exposure

can also cause serious and in some
cases irreversible neurological
damage.

Source: www.who.int

21
 Particulate Matter
• Particulate Matter (PM) is a mixture of
solid, liquid or both the particles
suspended in the air.

• Sources: Agricultural operations,

industrial processes, combustion of wood
and fossil fuels, construction, vehicular
emissions, and entrainment of road dust
into the air.

(Source: Manisalidis et al., 2020, Image: www.timesofindia.com; Zhang et al., 2020)

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PM and respiratory system of human

Image: www.encyclopedie-environnement.org

(Image: Manisalidis et al., 2020)

• Fine particles can invade the deepest parts of the

airways and more easily reach the bloodstream.

23
 PM size and their
health effects

Source: www.vfa-solutions.com/en/home/indoor-air-quality/, accessed on 12/10/2021

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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons(PAHs)
• Found in coal and in tar sediments.

• Source: incomplete combustion of

organic matter as in the cases of
forest fires, incineration of solid
waste, vehicular emissions and
engines.

(Source: Hyun-Kim et al., 2013)

25
 Health impacts
of PAHs

The exposure pathways (a) and adverse effects of PAHs exposure (b).
In part of (a), the blue boxes represent exposure routes and red box
represents discharge route
(Source: Sun, K., et al., 2013)

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 Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs)

• (VOCs), such as toluene, benzene,

ethylbenzene, and xylene have
been found to be associated with
cancer in humans.

(Source: Vandenbroucke, M., A., 2015)

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 Health effects of VOCs

(Source: Vandenbroucke, M., A., 2015; H. Rajabi et al., 2020)

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 Dioxins
• The chemical name for dioxin is: 2,3,7,8-
tetrachlorodibenzo para dioxin (TCDD).

• Originate from industrial processes and

natural processes, such as forest fires and
volcanic eruptions.

Source: Kanan and Samara, 2018

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Dioxins short term and long terms effects
• Short-period exhibition to high dioxin concentrations may
result in dark spots and lesions on the skin.

• Long-term exposure to dioxins can cause developmental

problems, impairment of the immune, endocrine and
nervous systems, reproductive infertility, and cancer.

Source: Gopalakrishnan et al., 2010

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 Impact of Dioxin on human

Source: obedmanwo.wordpress.com

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 Conclusions
• Air pollution can have adverse impact on human health.

• Health impacts depend on exposure and dose of air

pollutants inhaled. Some may be harmful when present
in air in small concentration and others only if they are
present in high concentration.

• The population in urban areas are more susceptible to

air pollution due to increased urbanization and
industrialization.

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References
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Manisalidis, I., Stavropoulou, E., & Stavropoulos, A. (2020). Environmental and Health Impacts of Air Pollution : A Review. 8(February),
1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00014
Melody, S. M., & Johnston, F. H. (2015). Coal mine fires and human health: What do we know? International Journal of Coal Geology,
152(May 2016), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coal.2015.11.001
Dey, S., & Dhal, G. C. (2019). Materials progress in the control of CO and CO2 emission at ambient conditions: An overview. Materials
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Kim, K. H., Jahan, S. A., Kabir, E., & Brown, R. J. C. (2013). A review of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their human
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Thank You