Invisible epidemic: Pollution’s toll on your health

Pollution, although invisible, has a significant impact on people’s general health, whether you’ve been exposed to it for a long time or a short period.

To mark World Earth Day, in this article we will explore how pollution can impact your health and put you at risk of certain conditions, how to check pollution levels near you, and how to decrease the number of pollutants you may be interacting with.

What is pollution?

Pollution is the name given to gases or particles in our environment that can harm your health if you interact with them, such as breathing them in or eating food contaminated with particles.

Pollution can come from a variety of sources. You are most likely to interact with pollutants from everyday activities or factors. These include:

• Vehicles driving on the road
• Burning a candle
• Burning a fire
• Smoking
• Gas cooking 
• Cleaning, especially when using chemicals such as bleach or detergent
• Using air fresheners

Health agencies report that both short term exposure, over hours or days, and long term exposure, over years, can generally worsen breathing problems and increase hospital admissions and mortality.

Health risks from pollution

Pollution can affect the lungs, heart, and blood vessels, as taking in toxic pollutants to your body can cause chronic inflammation. If your body is chronically inflamed, this can trigger your body’s immune system to stay working constantly, leading to ongoing oxidative stress and tissue damage.

This may put you at risk of developing conditions such as:

• Lung infections, such as pneumonia 
• Asthma, if exposed to pollution long term. If you already have the condition, you may notice an increase in asthma attacks
• COPD, if exposed to pollution long term. If you already have the condition, you may notice an increase in flare ups or worsening symptoms
• Cardiovascular disease
• Heart attacks
• Strokes
• Lung cancer
• Premature mortality – Pollution has been shown to shorten people’s life span

A connection has also been found between pollution exposure and an increased risk of conditions such as cataracts, depression and anxiety, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, cognitive impairment, low birth weight, miscarriage, and stillbirth. More research is needed to confirm the connection, but the existing evidence is concerning.

Lowering exposure to pollutants helps reduce ongoing irritation and inflammation that can put you at risk of developing these conditions.

Checking air pollution levels near you

To help reduce your exposure, you can keep track of pollution levels so you can adjust errands or workouts to cleaner times of day.

You can check pollution levels by:

• Using the UK government’s Defra Air website to track daily pollution forecasts
• Check mobile weather apps – most have a daily pollution forecast

Can I reduce the amount of pollution I interact with?

It is possible to reduce the amount of pollution you are exposed to by adapting your day-to-day habits to help avoid high levels.

Avoid using plastics as much as possible

Microplastics, a form of pollution, are more likely to enter the body if you opt for items made of plastic. Where you can, try and use items that don’t contain high levels of plastic, such as clothes made of natural fibres, avoiding non stick and plastic cookware, using glass or metal containers to store food, or using plastic free toiletries and cosmetics.

Improve your home’s air quality

Pollution isn’t just present outside; poor air quality inside can also be harmful to your health.

Ways to improve the air quality in your home include:

• Swap sprayable cleaning products for solid or liquid ones – even better if you can find cleaning products that are eco-friendly
• If possible, heat your home with electric or gas energy instead of burning wood or coal
• Open your windows a few times a day to allow fresh air flow into your rooms, particularly if you’re cooking or showering (avoid during peak traffic times due to high air pollution)
• Regularly clean your floors. This stops dust and allergens from building up and going into the air
• Don’t smoke inside. Toxins from second hand smoke stay in the air, harming you and others who visit or live in your home
• Use extractor fans in your kitchen and bathroom
• Maintain your home to avoid water condensation – constant condensation can cause mould to form and bad bacteria to build up in the air

Protect yourself during your commute

When travelling to work, we can be exposed to high levels of pollution that we can’t always avoid. 

Ways to protect yourself during this time can include wearing a well fitted respirator mask (e.g. an N95), keeping the windows closed when driving in heavy traffic, or choosing routes with less traffic than those that are shortest.

Living a healthy lifestyle 

Making sure your body is in the best condition it can be is the best chance you have to help your body deal with pollutants that may enter your system.

You can live a healthy lifestyle by making sure you have a nutritious, balanced diet, a regular exercise routine, decreasing your stress levels, getting adequate sleep, and quitting smoking and drinking alcohol.

If you are looking to optimise your diet but don’t know where to start, speak to one of our expert dieticians. They can help build a tailored diet plan based on your needs and keep you on track to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Book an appointment with one today.

Fight the fog

Although we can’t always avoid our exposure to pollution, we can reduce the amount we are exposed to every day. This can help improve our health and reduce the risks of conditions or complications caused by pollution.

Consider this Earth Day, what can you do to help make the planet a healthier place to live and reduce pollution’s impact on your wellbeing. A climate issue is also a health issue.

Clinical sources and further reading

1. Microplastics and our health: What the science says - Stanford Medicine
2. What effect does air pollution have on your health? - Asthma + Lung UK
3. The Terrible 10: Air Pollution's Top 10 Health Risks - American Lung Association
4. Air pollution - British Heart Foundation
5. Health matters: air pollution - Public Health England, GOV.UK
6. Air pollution linked to 30,000 UK deaths in 2025 and costs the economy and NHS billions, warns Royal College of Physicians - Royal College of Physicians
7. What Are the Health Effects of Air Pollution? - Mass General Brigham