Oxidative Stress: The Particulate Linkage

Growing trend of air pollution has become one of the familiar environmental hazards for the society. It is a mixture of toxic compounds emerging from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Depending on the source and rate of emission the components of air pollution change dramatically. The primary human-made sources of air pollution may include vehicle emissions, natural gas to heat homes, fuel oils, and by-products of manufacturing and power generation and fumes from chemical production. In addition to that, various hazardous substances such as methane and other gases are released by decomposing organic matter in soils, and other gases include ash and smoke from volcanic eruptions, which are frequently caused by humans. Various reports around the world have consistently demonstrated that air pollution is a significant adaptable risk factor for enhanced mortality. Air pollutants can harm the health of humans, animals, plants, and buildings. The pollutants are in the form of gases, solid particles, or liquid droplets. Ozone (O3), nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulphur dioxide (SO2) are some of the gaseous pollutants that contribute to air pollution. The pollution is now the leading environmental cause of premature death. Cardiovascular events such as acute ischemic account for the majority of the additional mortality caused by air pollution. Aside from increased mortality, air contamination is linked to significant reductions in worker productivity. Exposure to air pollution has a wide range of negative consequences on people’s health. The effects of air pollution can be divided into short-term and long-term effects. The discomfort, such as irritation to the nose, eyes, throat or skin, as well as infections like bronchitis are short-term symptoms that are transient. It can also cause headaches, nausea and dizziness. The long-term effects of pollution can last for years and cause various respiratory diseases. Long-term damage to people’s nerves, brains, kidneys, liver, and other organs, birth defects are the consequences of air pollution (Brook et al. 2004; Newby et al. 2015; Zivin and Neidell 2018; Hamanaka and Mutlu 2018).