How pollution impacts your lungs

The following interactive multimedia presentation on how air pollution affects lungs was created and provided by the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality.

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* Note: The presentation above requires the Adobe Flash player.

Many studies have shown links between pollution and health effects. Increases in air pollution have been linked to decreases in lung function and increases in heart attacks. High levels of air pollution directly affect people with asthma and other types of lung or heart disease (according to the EPA Air Quality Index).

Overall air quality has improved in the last 20 years but urban areas are still a concern. The elderly and children are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution.

The level of risk depends on several factors:

• the amount of pollution in the air,
• the amount of air we breathe in a given time
• our overall health.

Other, less direct ways people are exposed to air pollutants are:

• eating food products contaminated by air toxins that have been deposited where they grow,
• drinking water contaminated by air pollutants,
• ingesting contaminated soil, and
• touching contaminated soil, dust or water.