By Nedra Rhone
As the coronavirus pandemic (click here) continues to ravage communities around the world, it has challenged most every aspect of life as we know it. But in at least one area, its impact appears to be double-edged. Air pollution has exacerbated health outcomes of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, but the pandemic may also be helping — at least temporarily — to clean the air we breathe.
A recent Harvard University study revealed that long-term exposure to polluted air makes COVID-19 more deadly because pollution worsens complications of respiratory illnesses like the coronavirus. At the same time, cities around the globe report plummeting pollution levels that coincide with lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. While any gains in improved air quality are likely temporary, experts say, taken as a whole, the data reinforces the importance of air quality and should offer guidance on future policy.
This week, Andrew R. Wheeler, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency would not tighten controls on particle pollution known as PM2.5 — tiny lung-damaging particles in the air that come from power plants, cars, airplanes and burning — citing insufficient scientific evidence to support a change to standards enacted in 2012. Though PM2.5 levels fell by 39% between 2000 and 2018, data has shown an uptick in some regions of the country since 2016. Under current standards, PM2.5 contributes to about 45,000 deaths each year, according to the EPA...
Mr. Wheeler is not capable of leading the US EPA because his priorities are anti-human and pro-business. Mr. Wheeler is corrupt. If you want to know THE TRUTH look to organizations like the "American Lung Association."
Particle pollution (click here) refers to a mix of tiny solid and liquid particles that are in the air we breathe. Many of the particles are so small as to be invisible, but when levels are high, the air becomes opaque. But nothing about particle pollution is simple. And it is so dangerous that it can shorten your life.
Size matters. Particles themselves are different sizes. Some are one-tenth the diameter of a strand of hair. Many are even tinier; some are so small they can only be seen with an electron microscope. Because of their size, you can't see the individual particles. You can only see the haze that forms when millions of particles blur the spread of sunlight....
...Researchers categorize particles according to size, grouping them as coarse, fine and ultrafine. Coarse particles (shown as blue dots in the illustration) fall between 2.5 microns and 10 microns in diameter and are called PM10-2.5. Fine particles (shown as pink dots in the illustration) are 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller and are called PM2.5. Ultrafine particles (not shown) are smaller than 0.1 micron in diameter1 and are small enough to pass through the lung tissue into the blood stream, circulating like the oxygen molecules themselves. No matter what the size, particles can harm your health....
