Air Pollution

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Prevention and Risk Factors

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

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• Teenagers

Summary

Air pollution is a mixture of solid particles and gases in the air. Car emissions, chemicals from factories, dust, pollen and mold spores may be suspended as particles. Ozone, a gas, is a major part of air pollution in cities. When ozone forms air pollution, it's also called smog.

Some air pollutants are poisonous. Inhaling them can increase the chance you'll have health problems. People with heart or lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from air pollution. Air pollution isn't just outside - the air inside buildings can also be polluted and affect your health.

Environmental Protection Agency

Start Here

• Air Pollution (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)
• Air Quality Index (AQI) Basics (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards)
• Clean Air Outdoors (American Lung Association)
• Hazardous Air Pollutants (Environmental Protection Agency)

Prevention and Risk Factors

• 10 Tips to Protect Yourself from Unhealthy Air (American Lung Association)
• Green Vehicle Guide (Environmental Protection Agency)

Related Issues

• AirNow: Local Air Quality Conditions and Forecasts (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards)
• Bad Air Day (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish
• Disparities in the Impact of Air Pollution (American Lung Association)
• Protect Yourself: Respirators (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) - PDF
• Risk Assessment for Toxic Air Pollutants: A Citizen's Guide (Environmental Protection Agency)
• Tox Town (National Library of Medicine)
• TOXNET: Toxicology Data Network (National Library of Medicine) - Databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related areas

Specifics

• Acid Rain (Environmental Protection Agency)
• Particle Pollution (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Particulate Matter (PM) Pollution (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards)
• Transportation, Air Pollution, and Climate Change (Environmental Protection Agency)
• Volcanic Gas (U.S. Geological Survey)

Statistics and Research

• America's Children and the Environment (Environmental Protection Agency)
• State of the Air: State Air Quality Report Cards (American Lung Association)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Air Pollution (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Air pollution and COVID-19: Is the connect worth its weight?
• Article: COVID-19, an opportunity to reevaluate the correlation between long-term effects of...
• Article: Effects of air pollutants on the transmission and severity of respiratory...
• Air Pollution -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Lung Association
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Also in Spanish
• National Center for Environmental Health (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Also in Spanish

Children

• Particulate Matter (Environmental Health Student Portal) (National Library of Medicine)

Teenagers

• Air (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health)
• Health Effects of Air Pollution (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health)