Indoor air pollution can be worse than outdoor air pollution, which makes studies about the negative effects of the latter all the more concerning.
What's happening?
Detroit's air pollution costs the city $7.3 billion every year, as well as 500,000 lost work days and 990,000 lost school days, Michigan Public reported, based on the findings of researchers.
Nearby Cleveland, just across Lake Erie, has similar issues, including pediatric asthma rates of 21% — more than triple the national average of 6.5% — in some places. The outlet noted that such conditions are worsened by air pollution.
It also pointed out that the Environmental Protection Agency says air pollution can actually be worse indoors than outdoors "in the biggest, most industrial cities." This is because of combustion sources such as gas and wood — and even cleaning products, central heating and cooling systems, and some furnishings and building materials.
In the Motor City, citizens suffer from particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone, as Michigan Public reported, which are in some cases linked to types of cancer, heart disease, and respiratory problems. The culprits are coal power plants, coke fuel for steel plants, cement facilities, oil refineries, incinerators, and vehicles.
Why is this important?
Children, older adults, and those with breathing issues are especially vulnerable to adverse air conditions. One more exacerbating factor with indoor air quality is that Americans spend 90% of their time inside, according to the EPA.
The use of tobacco products is another contributor to indoor air pollution, and it's long been known that smoking's adverse effects are especially harmful to children, who are still developing, as HealthyChildren.org explains.
"I learned that children are uniquely vulnerable to environmental chemicals, especially because their lungs aren't fully formed yet," Alexandra Zissu of Moms Clean Air Force told Michigan Public.
The outlet also noted that the impacts of pollution fall disproportionately on people of color and those with low incomes. These communities are often in overindustrialized areas and have to work harder than most to have basic needs — including access to clean air — met.
What's being done about air pollution?
The Biden administration is using the Inflation Reduction Act to help people step away from gas stoves, for instance. The EPA says air filters and cleaners can help but don't eliminate the problem in the home. And with increasingly intense and frequent wildfires contributing to indoor and outdoor air pollution, for example, it will take local action and movement by national governments to divest from dirty energy sources.
Education can help, too. The organization that put forth the research about the toll of Detroit's pollution also created the Environmental Health Research-to-Action program to achieve environmental justice in the city through "intergenerational leadership in environmental health, community science, and policy advocacy."
"Most of us don't learn that [environmental policy] in our K through 12," EHRA co-founder Natalie Sampson told Michigan Public. "I think we're capable of learning."
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