What is air pollution?

Air is important! The air we breathe in supplies us with the oxygen that we need to survive. Ensuring that we have a good quality of air will mean that humans, animals, and plants stay healthy. 

Air pollution is when the air is polluted by dangerous chemicals that might be harmful to us and the planet. Different areas or places across the world will have different levels of air pollution. The planet can cope with small amounts of air pollution, but when there is lots of pollution at once, or over a long period of time there can be big problems. When we think about air pollution, we generally think about outdoor pollution, but did you know that you can also have polluted air inside your home?

Indoor air pollution 

Things like smoke, dust mites and faulty gas appliances can pollute the air indoors. And because we spend a lot of time indoors, it is important that we keep the air we breathe in clean and healthy. Don’t worry though the levels of air pollution are quite low in most houses. But to make sure you have healthy air in your home you can:

• Make sure that you have good ventilation in your house. This means having a fresh supply of air coming in and old air going out.
• Ventilation is especially important when you are using paints or chemicals for DIY or cleaning or when someone is smoking in the house.
• Clean and hoover your house regularly to remove the dust and fluff that can get caught up in the air.
• Getting your gas appliances and boiler are checked every year, will make sure they are safe and not emitting dangerous gases into the air.
• Plants are good for keeping the air in your home healthy, as they remove carbon dioxide, airborne microbes and mould in the air.

Outdoor air pollution

Pollution can be caused naturally, for example from forest fires and volcanoes. However humans and they way they live are responsible for most of the pollution in the air.

The biggest causes of outdoor air pollution are:

• Transport - When vehicle engines burn petrol they release harmful pollutants into the air.
• Farming - Farmers spray pesticides and chemicals on their fields to help their crops grow, but some of these chemicals can get into the air and become pollutants.
• Electricity - Burning fossil fuels to make electricity in power stations, releases gases which become pollutants when they get into the air.
• Manufacturing - When we make, package, transport and buy products we use energy and materials and burn fossil fuels. This produces dangerous gases which are released into the air.

Problems of air pollution

Air pollution causes problems to the environment by producing acid rain. When the chemicals nitrogen and sulphur get into the air and mix with water they can cause acid rain. When it rains the chemicals land in rivers, on land and buildings and over time cause problems. Animals and plants that live in areas affected by acid rain can have growth problems, defects and even die. Acid rain on buildings can cause them to crumble and wear away.

As well as problems for the environment and buildings, air pollution can also cause humans physical problems. Air pollution can exaccerbate asthma and cause itchy eyes, nose and headaches as well as some more serious illnesses.