From: http://co.fairbanks.ak.us/airquality/
A certain percentage of the persons who are not in “sensitive groups” now will become members of “sensitive groups” after a certain amount of exposure to these air pollutants. Just because you are not yet in a so-called “sensitive group” does not mean that you can continue to be exposed to this pollution and remain healthy.
And for some of those who have already become and for some of those who will become sick from this pollution due to exposure to it, just being in it, that is, breathing it, equals “prolonged exertion” as far as the reactions and damage it causes.
People, including children, can sit indoors in the pollution that is brought into the buildings they occupy through the buildings’ “fresh air” exchange systems, breath the bad air, and become sick. No being outdoors or heavy lifting required. And some of the sicknesses that people have developed and some of the sicknesses that people will develop from this exposure will not go away, even if the pollution does.
Unhealthy “Air Quality” in Fairbanks and North Pole, Tuesday January 27, 2015
According to the World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines Global Update 2005,“The evidence on airborne PM and public health is consistent in showing adverse health effects at exposures experienced by urban populations in cities throughout the world, in both developed and developing countries. The range of effects is broad, affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular systems and extending to children and adults and to a number of large, susceptible groups within the general population. The risk for various outcomes has been shown to increase with exposure, and there is little evidence to suggest a threshold below which no adverse health effects would be anticipated. In fact, the lower range of concentrations at which adverse health effects has been demonstrated is not greatly above the background concentration, which has been estimated at 3–5 μg/m3 in the United States and western Europe for PM2.5. The epidemiological evidence shows adverse effects of particles after both short- and long-term exposures.”
northpolecleanair 