EVERY Breath YOU TAKE - THE IMPORTANCE OF AIR QUALITY

Adults breathe in about 4,000 gallons of air every day. The process supplies oxygen to our blood and organs. We can't live without it. So it should come as no surprise that inhaling pollutants is bad for our health. But it's impossible to understate the importance of air quality and just how critical it is to take actions that improve the air we breathe.

- DAMIEN MARTIN

HEALTH EFFECTS

In the U.S., poor air quality causes more than 100,000 premature deaths per year. The health costs related to air pollution top $150 billion annually. Worldwide, it's responsible for about 6.5 million annual deaths.

The health problems poor air quality can cause include cancer, cardiovascular disease, and of course asthma. That last ailment has increased with the rate of urbanization, and it's especially bad among children who live in low-income urban centers.

Of particular concern is fine particulate matter. It's 2.5 micrometers or less wide and can get into the lungs from industrial activity such as construction, power plants, heavy machinery, and motor vehicles.

The EPA recently proposed to tighten the standards on the amount of fine particulate matter allowed under the Clean Air Act, which since its 1970 passage has reduced air pollution by more than 70% in the U.S. The proposed rule would make the standards 25% more restrictive than the 2012 limit.

"The administration estimates that it could prevent as many as 4,200 premature deaths annually, as well as 270,000 missed workdays per year, and result in up to $43 billion in net health and economic benefits by 2032," the New York Times reported.