The Global Problem of Environmental Pollution

Abstract

Exposure to environmental emissions appears to be a significant source of health threats worldwide, while risks are typically greater in developed nations, where poverty, a lack of investment in new technologies and poor environmental regulations combine to generate high levels of pollution. However, there are nuanced and sometimes poorly defined correlations between air emissions and health consequences. As a result of the lack of comprehensive control and inherent differences within any demographic group, exposure levels, for example, are often unpredictable or unclear. Exposures may occur through a variety of pathways and processes of exposure. In a broad variety of health outcomes, specific contaminants may be involved, although few illnesses are specifically due to particular pollutants. Long delay intervals, the consequences of accumulated exposures, and repeated exposures to various contaminants, all of which could function synergistically, create difficulties in unraveling environmental contamination and health connections.        Nevertheless, numerous efforts have been made in recent years to quantify the global risk of disease, either in terms of deaths or disability-adjusted life years, as a result of environmental emissions (DALYs). Pollution can be attributed to around 8-9 percent of the overall illness burden, but slightly higher in developed countries. The main causes of exposure, along with indoor air pollution, are seen to be unsafe water, inadequate ventilation and poor hygiene.