What are the health effects of hazardous air pollutants?
Hazardous air pollutants can have severe effects on human health. Some cause cancer, while others affect the nervous system, or aggravate asthma especially in children. Most HAPs have an acute (immediate) effect only when people are exposed to extremely high concentrations. Such concentrations are almost never found in ambient (outside) air. More commonly, problems result from chronic (long-term) exposure to relatively low concentrations, or cumulative exposure. Most ambient compounds enter the human body through breathing, although some, such as mercury and PCBs, mainly enter the body through the eating of contaminated food, especially fish. Connecticut now has a statewide fish consumption advisory for freshwater fish that was issued by the Connecticut Department of Public Health. Some of the compounds that are typically of concern to citizens are below. It should be noted that the potential health effects, especially cancer, are observed in individuals that have been exposed to conce
