In the last decade, there has been a marked increase in the number of reported allergies, asthma attacks and headaches as compared to previous years. Although there are many possible reasons for these conditions, most of them can be traced back to only one thing - the worsening quality of air that we breathe. Air pollutants have always been around but recently, their concentration in the atmosphere has risen to dangerously high levels, resulting in many kinds of negative consequences, like people getting sick and properties being damaged.

In an attempt to protect themselves from air pollutants, many people try to spend more of their time indoors than risk going out and inhaling all the dust and smog in the city. What they don't know is that there are also air pollutants inside the house, sometimes even more than there is outside. Seemingly harmless household activities like cooking, doing the laundry, using the air conditioner and blow-drying your hair can all contribute to the release of indoor air pollutants that are potentially very harmful to the body. Ironically, in their efforts to minimize the damage to their health, people are actually exposing themselves to greater threats.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA, there are three basic categories of air pollutants - ground level ozone, particulate matter and carbon monoxide. Environmental studies show that the first two categories are the most rampant in our atmosphere today, hence posing the greatest threats.

Many of us know that the ozone layer is very important to the earth because it protects us from the sun's ultraviolet rays. So how can ground-level ozone be bad? Simple, because ozone is only good when it is way up there in the stratosphere but not when it is in the air that we breathe. Ground-level ozone comes from exhaust fumes from vehicles and factories. It is also produced as a byproduct when volatile organic compounds combine with nitrogen oxides and are exposed to sunlight. Few people realize it but ozone is actually the main component of the well-known air pollutant that we know as smog.

Global warming also plays a significant role in the growing problem of ground-level ozone. This compound forms faster in hot weather and with the frequent heat waves brought about by global warming, more and more ground-level ozone is being emitted into the atmosphere.

Particulate matter is another kind of widespread air pollutant. These are combinations of minute particles like dust, soil, organic chemicals and acid droplets. You would think that the smaller the particles get, the smaller the damage they can inflict. Quite the contrary, the tiniest particles are those that can make their way through your body's respiratory filters and into the lungs and heart, thus causing a more serious effect on the health.

Finally, carbon monoxide is relatively the least prevalent among the three types of air pollutants but by no means is it any less dangerous to people's health. More than 75% of the total carbon monoxide in the urban atmosphere today comes from motor vehicle emissions while most of the remainder comes from industrial wastes.

Majority of the sources of air pollutants are things that are already parts of our society, which is why it will be very difficult to solve this problem. But if each of us makes even a tiny contribution, it is still possible to make our atmosphere as clean and healthy as it was decades ago.

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