Listado de la etiqueta: Impact-AQ+

Skin and air pollutants – does city air make us look old?

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Air pollution is a great enemy of our health! But not only for eyes, lungs and heart, but also for our skin. The skin is the largest human organ in weight and surface area. The skin is like a protective coat and fends off environmentally harmful influences such as particulate matter, soot and smoke. However, this constant work that our skin does can also leave its mark. If the skin is exposed to continuous air pollution, skin problems and diseases result.

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Why ground-level ozone air pollution is a risk to food security

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According to an IPCC scenario, the concentration of ground-level or tropospheric ozone (O3) may reach 70 ppb in 2050. Then, more than 30% of global cereal acreage could be exposed to significant ozone pollution, which in turn would lead to significantly lower crop yields.

Ground-level or tropospheric ozone (O3) is ingested by plants through their stomata (pores in the epidermis of plants) and has a growth-inhibiting effect: O3 leads to a reduced rate of photosynthesis, increased respiration and accelerated ageing of leaves. O3 also increases the plants’ susceptibility to diseases and other stress factors. O3 is also thought to alter the concentration of nitrogen, carbohydrates and phenols in the leaf and grain.

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Air pollution can significantly increase the risk of dementia?!

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To live, we need the air to breathe. Clean air is essential for a healthy life. An adult human breathes about 7.5 litres of air per minute. Only healthy air keeps people and nature healthy. Air pollution has been shown to cause lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, asthma, heart disease and strokes.

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Children’s right to clean air: children in particular suffer from air pollution in many ways – an overview

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Access to clean air has recently been recognised as a human right but is not yet part of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. More than 29 000 children around the world have now called for their right to clean air to be recognised as part of the Freedom to Breathe campaign, which will be implemented within a forthcoming amendment to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Is this particular emphasis on the right to clean air specifically necessary? Or, to put it another way, do children suffer differently from air pollution than adults?
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Forego fireworks for good air on New Year’s Eve? How does particulate matter affect health?

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At the end of the year, there is a regular discussion about whether fireworks should be dispensed with on New Year’s Eve or whether they should even be officially banned. This year, the discussion was additionally fuelled by the situation with Corona and the ban last year, which was mainly due to Corona.

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27 000 preventable premature deaths in Germany

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At the beginning of this week, all major media reported 300 000 premature deaths due to particulate matter pollution in 2019 within the EU (e.g., Spiegel or Süddeutsche Zeitung). This news refers to a communication of the European Environment Agency (EEA), which certifies in principle a positive development of air quality in Europe, but also points out how many premature deaths are due to increased fine dust pollution.

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