Air Quality

[Zillah]

               Air quality is one of the many things humanity takes for granted in their everyday life. Most are unaware of the health benefits of clean non-polluted air and do not know the proper procedures to take when examining the quality of the air one is surrounded with. Looking at the SCGH webpage and the different links on the American Lung Association webpage gives multiple ways of evaluating the air one breathes. There is a tab on the home page of the American Lung Association titled as “In The News” and as of Saturday, April 13, 2014 the first one shown was titled “7 Million Premature Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution” it was published on March 25, 2014 by the World Health Organization [WHO]. Another link shown to evaluate the quality of ones’ air was titled “Preventing Problems” on the American Lung Association webpage. All of these tools can be used to greatly determine if you are living in a home with polluted air or in an area where pollution is a very high hazard to ones’ health.

               SCGH, Sierra Club Green Home, has a home health quiz that analyzes things that impact your indoor air quality and offers tips that you can benefit from if they are executed either immediately and or properly. Although while I was attempting to take this quiz, after I submitted my question one it came up with “Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ‘}’ in /home/scghcom/public_html/SierraController.php on line 3327” every time even when moving to a separate computer and then trying it on my phone having the same results. Poking around on their webpage was informative as well. Navigating to the different tabs on this website gives a lot of information about energy, solar energy, home health, recycling, and much more within those topics. These pages within the SCGH webpage gives articles with more than enough information to educate yourself from articles provided below the main block.

               The article named “7 Million Premature Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution” given from the American Lung Association published by WHO [World Health Organization] reveals data linked between indoor and outdoor air pollution exposure leading to cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, and vulnerability for pregnant or expecting mothers. It gives percentages on outdoor air pollution caused deaths. Some of the percentages that I found interesting or higher than anticipated would be; “40% - ischaemic heart disease; 40% - stroke; 11% - COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]; 6% - lung cancer; and 3% - lower respiratory infections in children” (GENEVA, 2014). This data was calculated majorly from the year 2012. The same data collected was also used to give percentages on indoor air pollution caused deaths. These being: “34% - stroke; 26% - ischaemic heart disease; 22% COPD; 12% acute lower respiratory infections in children; and 6% - lung cancer” (GENEVA, 2014). The number 7 million is a combined number of deaths from indoor and outdoor air pollution according to the studies done in 2012 from urban and rural sources worldwide. Improving air quality not only indoors but protecting the earth as a whole can, in the long term aspect, save lives and decrease the amount of energy and waste humanity causes.

               Another link on the American Lung Association is titled “Preventing Problems”. This links goal is to make the air you breathe healthy. They, the authors of this website, say the way to make healthy air is to first control your sources and second ventilate your home to make it less susceptible to pollution. The first category listed is giving ways to keep pollution out of homes. Under the title of this subcategory of the page “Preventing Problems” it says the best ways to protect the quality of air is to assure no one smokes indoors, keep rain or groundwater that causes humid air outside, test for radon, and making sure that anything burning gas – whether it be gas stoves, gas fireplaces, etc. – is ventilated well. It also gives you a link for more tips to help keep pollution out of your home. The second subcategory on this page is to ventilate the air indoors to assure that it is not dirty. Ways to do this would include installing exhaust fans in the kitchen and all bathrooms, ventilate gas-burning stoves and dryers along with water heaters, open windows and be sure to use extra exhaust fans when painting or using chemicals indoors, and lastly on this list would be one that majority of people know; don’t idle your vehicle in your garage. The third subcategory in this webpage would be tips for constructing or remodeling a new or current home. The author is clear on informing the audience to plan for the home most suitable for the climate one chooses to live. Avoid moisture seeping into the home, make sure there are plentiful options of gaining fresh air within the home to keep dirty air out, and test for radon. There are also more tips for each subcategory beneath the bulleted points. Lastly on this page, it shows us, if you click on the link to learn more, that although one may go about wanting to save energy within the home it may counteract the quality of air within the air. To make sure that one is saving energy while not polluting their air indoors visiting the EPA website would benefit one tremendously.

               Overall, there is not much one can do within a dorm hall to change the quality of air, but one can make sure to open the windows provided for fresh air. Having not being able to do the quiz makes it hard to determine the changes needed. The American Lung Association and the article “7 Million Premature Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution” located in the tab called “In the News” was very informative in the diseases caused by air pollution and overall everything that was read within these webpages was very informative in improving the quality of air within the home or residence that one resides in. I would like to believe that I am very proactive when it comes to clean air and decreasing my probability of air pollution related diseases. Others on the other hand could be unaware and this would help humanity understand that this, the quality of air, is not something to be taken lightly. 

informative web pages would include: 

http://www.lung.org/

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2014/air-pollution/en/...

http://www.lung.org/healthy-air/home/healthy-air-at-home/prevent-pr...

and if you are able to take this quiz it is located on:

http://www.scgh.com/home-health/