What are the health effects of outdoor air pollution?
Outdoor air pollution can cause your eyes and nose to burn, your throat to itch, and even breathing problems. Exposure to air pollutants at high levels over a long period of time may lead to cancer, birth defects, brain and nerve damage, and long-term injury to the lungs and breathing passages. Air pollution affects everyone. Children are especially susceptible to the effects of air pollution because their lungs are developing. They also spend more time active outdoors. People with lung and heart diseases are also more sensitive to outdoor air pollution. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets limits on certain air pollutants throughout the United States. Ground-level ozone and particle pollution are two of the most common pollutants and pose the greatest threat to human health in the United States.
