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  • Essay / Health Impact Assessment of Air Pollution in America and China

    Respiratory Damage and Air Pollution in the United States and ChinaThe respiratory system is a series of organs responsible for the absorption of air oxygen and the expulsion of carbon dioxide (www.livescience.com, 2016). Among all the organs, the main organs used are the lungs. The lungs are the respiratory center, regulating the air that comes in and out. Although the respiratory system controls breathing, sometimes what is breathed in is beyond the person's voluntary control. Air pollution is one of the things that humans cannot control. Air pollution is defined as air containing deadly substances bringing toxins into the respiratory system (Clifton et al., 2016). Correlations between air pollution in the United States and China need to be discussed. Although coming from two very different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds, the reason we chose to specifically compare the United States and China is because, according to www.infoplease.com (2016), China is the country the most populous country in the world where The United States is the third most populous country in the world. This makes China the most populous underdeveloped country and the United States the most populous developed country, since India (another underdeveloped country) is the second most populous country. Comparing the most populous countries contrasts the different health problems presented in areas where most of the air is breathed. This article will discuss what the respiratory system is, the different respiratory damage caused by air pollution on the population of the United States and China, the relationship between the two countries as well as what the countries are planning to control air pollution. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Humans need the respiratory system to sustain themselves (www.livescience.com, 2016). The primary function of the respiratory system is to provide the body with essential oxygen while removing carbon dioxide. Humans breathe oxygen [O2] through the nose or mouth to produce ATP. ATP is an energy molecule that is metabolized in the body. During this time, humans exhale carbon dioxide [Co2] to get rid of metabolic waste. Breathing allows air to move in and out of the lungs. Breathing O2 is a process called inhalation. This allows the rib cage to move up and out, allowing the chest cavity to increase in size, as the pressure in the lungs decreases. The diaphragm will also contract, allowing the lungs to expand and air to enter. Then exhalation takes place, also known as Co2 exhalation. Exhalation occurs when the rib cage descends and moves inward, allowing the intercostal muscle to relax. The diaphragm relaxes and moves upward as the size of the chest cavity decreases. The pressure in the lungs will decrease and the lungs will move backward and air will flow out. Through the research found, the most recurring problem found in China was the rise of asthma compared to the United States, where air from combustion emissions affects the quality of human health. Asthma affects 300 million people worldwide and is responsible for one in 250 deaths in 2004 (Cai et al. 2014). It is an obstructive lung disease that can be life-threatening. Asthma attacks may result. Asthma attacks occur when the smooth muscles of the bronchial tubes contract and mucus begins to produce in thebronchi. When this happens, the bronchi swell, making it difficult for air to pass through. Cai et al. (2014) also mentions the fact that asthma is historically more prevalent in developed countries than in underdeveloped countries. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing trend of asthma in underdeveloped countries, particularly in Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. A study conducted by Dang et al. (2015) published data proving that air pollution mainly comes from industrial and traffic-related fumes spreading across China. Dan et al. (2015) conducted a longitudinal study to examine the effects of air pollution by comparing the effects on children and adults. What they found at the end of the study was that the majority of the 30 million people affected by asthma (Cai et al. 2014) were children under ten years old. The results of this study support the idea that air pollution has only recently become a growing phenomenon in China, particularly when they tested adults with less severe signs of asthma. In contrast, studies in the United States on air pollution have found that early deaths in the United States are linked to combustion emissions. Combustion emissions are defined as a gas from the combustion of fuels that can affect air quality and lead to the inhalation of harmful chemicals (Caiazzo et al. 2013). Caiazzo et al. (2013) was divided into two parts. The first revealed that 200,000 premature deaths occur each year in the United States because of these emissions. The second study further investigated the type of worst exponent and the origin of the emissions (Dedoussi and Barrett 2014). Dedoussi and Barrett (2014) tested all the sensitivities of workers in industry, road and rail transport. In addition to cardiovascular diseases, they detected two main respiratory diseases found in these types of workers: asthma and lung cancer. They found that these problems were worse in the western part of the United States, but for no specific reason. Although the two countries have different external causes for the causes of respiratory diseases, the two come together when it comes to global air pollution. Air transport from continent to continent. This is called intercontinental air transport. That being said, all the bad air from China flows to the United States and vice versa (Akimoto 2003). Akimoto (2003) discussed the impact of massive nitrogen oxide [NO2] emissions in the 1990s, which exceeded all of North America and continue to exceed the air since then until to today. NO2 is a natural gas present on Earth. Yet with excessive human activities, such as fossil fuels, agriculture, coal production, and industrial processes, an increased amount of NO2 is released into the air. Akimoto noted respiratory effects linked to this excessive release of NO2. He found that too much exposure to NO2 would lead to inflammation of the airways, even in healthy people. This increases the risk of asthma. In his conclusion, he mentions that people who live near roads are more likely to develop asthma or worsen their asthma than those who do not live near roads. Since the 1990s until today, the amount of NO2 has not decreased, but it has had an even greater impact on humans. The United States and China are aware of the problems associated with air pollution and are working on ways to prevent harm to human health. Over the last ten.