Respiratory (Air-borne) Diseases Flashcards
What are the 4 gases that make up air?
- nitrogen - 78%
- oxygen - 21%
- argon - 0.9%
- air pollutants - 0.1%
Most respiratory diseases are due to inhaling harmful air pollutants from the air. What are the 3 classes of air pollutants?
- harmful gases
- particles
- airborne pathogens
What law was passed in the USA to control air pollution? What does it focus on controlling?
1970 Clean Air Act - clean air should be maintained in houses, workplaces, hospitals, surgery rooms, industries, and slaughterhouses
air-borne contaminants in the atmosphere, or else microbes from the air will drop into wounds, surgical sites, food, and meat, or be inhaled and cause disease
Why is exposure to air pollutants so significant?
it is continuous and involuntary - cannot be avoided
What 6 types particulate matter pollute the air?
- AEROSOLS - any tiny solid or liquid particles
- DUSTS - solid particles from grinding or crushing
- FUMES - solid particles occurring when vapors condense
- MIST/FOG - liquid particles
- SMOKE, SOOT, ASH - solid particles (carbon) from combustion
- SMOG - any air pollutant
What are the 6 major air pollutants that are known to cause smog, acid rain, and health hazards?
- O3
- CO
- SO2
- NO2
- particulate matter
- lead
What are the 4 broad types of air pollutants that cause air-borne disease?
- biological - COVID-19, SARS, flu, TB, Chlamydia, Q fever, anthrax, fungi
- allergens - cats, mites
- physical - particulate matter, volcanic ash, radioactivity, cement dust, smoke from fires
- chemical - gases, ammonia, CO, CO2, SO2, NO2, methane, chlorofluorocarbons
What type of air pollutants make up most of the total mass emitted into the atmosphere?
chemical gases = 90%
What are the 3 types of particulate matter based on size?
- inhalable coarse particles with a diameter of 2.5-10 µm (PM10)
- fine particles with a diameter of 0.1-2.5 µm (PM2.5)
- ultrafine particles with a diameter of 0.1 µm or less (soot)
they are all able to be suspended in the air and inhaled
What is the typical size and make-up of particulate matter? What is their porosity like?
0.01-100 µm —> solid or aqueous
such that they can absorb/adsorb other gases, liquids, and solids
What kind of particulate matter is the most dangerous? What 4 things do they most commonly cause?
those below 2.5 µm, since they can penetrate all sites of the respiratory tract
- heart attacks
- respiratory disease
- premature death
- cancer (group 1 carcinogens)
Air-borne hazards that cause allergies, cancer, respiratory/lung disease, and cardiovascular disease:
Air-borne pathogens:
What is characteristic of air-borne pathogen transmission?
can jump from animals to humans and jump back from humans to animals
What pathogens are more significant in the air? Why? How are they transmitted?
viruses, bacteria, fungi —> parasites and protozoa are too large to stay suspended in the air and be inhaled
launching pathogens and spores of pathogens from the ground into atmospheric air, like a parachute (sneezing/breathing)