subject: Air Pollutuion: What is Its Effect to Respiratory System? [print this page] Air Pollutuion: What is Its Effect to Respiratory System?
Poor air quality widely affects the human health. The greatest effect usually comes to the cardiovascular system and also to the respiratory system. However, the reactions of each individual to the air pollutants depend on the type of the pollutants to which an individual is mostly exposed to, the exposure degree, the health status of the individual and the genetics.
A person who has most exposure toward the air pollutants is usually he who has most outdoor activity. The smoggy and hot days can increase the exposure to the air pollution. It can cause to some health problems such as physiological and biological changes which can lead to difficult breathing, coughing, wheezing, and also aggravation to the existing cardiac and respiratory conditions. As a result, it will increase the medication.
The most affected health due to the prolong exposure to the air pollution is the respiratory system. Lungs and other respiratory system deal directly to the air breathing. The most needed particle which is found in the air is oxygen. Meanwhile, instead of oxygen, air contains some other harmful pollutants. Respiratory system is basically sensitive to the pollutants since it is constructed of exposed membrane. Lungs are structured to hold a large capacity of air for delivering the oxygen through the circulation of the blood.
The pollutants in air such as metals, ozone, and free radicals can directly injure the tissue cells of the lungs. Ozone is harmful to the alveoli in which the oxygen and carbon dioxide is exchanged. For more detail, the airway tissues with rich bioactivation enzymes can convert the organic pollutants to the reactive metabolites. It can lead to the secondary lung injury.
Lung tissue contains a plentiful blood supply which can bring toxic substances for the metabolites of remote organs. For responding to those toxic contaminants, lung cells will release various chemical mediators which can potentially affect the function of another organ including cardiovascular system. It can also potentially cause to lung inflammation as well as spoil lung function.
