Paper Example on Air Pollution in the US: 2018 Data & Overview

Introduction

The global environmental problem chosen for this assignment is air pollution in the United States. The release of air pollutants plays a crucial role in various air quality problems. The most recent data on air quality shows that in 2018, approximately 76 million tons of air pollutants were released into the atmosphere in the USA (EPA, 2018). These emissions lead to impaired visibility, acids formation, and formation of the ozone layer. Data shows that the USA has seen improved air quality over the past four decades. However, despite the improvement, about 137 individuals inhabit counties with pollution levels higher than that recommended by the U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards in 2018 (EPA, 2018).

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Air Pollution Data and Affected Population

Air quality in the USA has been found to lead to elevated mortality rates and decreased life expectancy or premature death. There are many air pollutants released to the atmosphere from factories with different health impact on human health. However, the most dangerous emissions are known as PM2.5-atmospheric pollutants with a diameter below 2.5 micrometers. The PM2.5 is primarily released from industries, power plants, and vehicles and have been reported to result in adverse health effects. Because they are tiny (about 30-fold less than the diameter of a human hair), human beings inhale them into the lungs. When these PM2.5 reaches the lungs, it leads to the development of health complications such as lung disease and heart attack.

Even though the amount of PM2.5 has been gradually declining in the United States since 1999, it is still an environmental and a health problem. Current data shows that yearly PM2.5 air pollution is about 12 ug/m3 (Imperial College London, 2019). It has been recently reported that air pollution results in more than 30,000 deaths per year (Imperial College London, 2019). For instance, in 2019, 14,757 men and 15,612 women lost their lives to air pollution (Imperial College London, 2019). The deaths were attributed to various air pollution-related diseases such as asthma, heart attack, and cardiorespiratory problems.

Additionally, it has been revealed that air emissions lower the national life expectancy of men and women by 0.13 years and 0.15 years, respectively (Bennett et al., 2019). Premature death due to PM2.5 is highly prevalent in southern states such as Alabama, Oklahoma, and Arkansas and around Los Angeles. It has also been established that people at risk for PM2.5-related deaths include those living in low-income counties or counties with widespread poverty, respectively (Bennett et al., 2019). Across racial groups, there is a disproportionately higher prevalence of PM2.5 deaths among African Americans than other racial groups (Bowe, Xie, Yan, & Al-Aly, 2019)- which could be attributed to the fact that unlike other ethnic groups, most African Americans are socioeconomically disadvantaged.

PM2.5 is also linked to increasing cases of obesity and diabetes in the United States. For instance, according to Mazidi and Speakman (2017), PM2.5 accounts for 6.3% in geographical variation in overweight/obesity. It has also been attributed to 17.9% spatial variation in type 2 diabetes. PM2.5 air pollution has also been found to lead to pneumonia, lung cancer, high blood pressure, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney failure, cerebrovascular disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Quantification of annual mortality rates from PM2.5 and ozone layer in the United States from 1990 to 2010 show that stringent measures to curb emissions have resulted in decreased PM2.5-related deaths. Specifically, from 1990 to 2010, PM2.5-related decreased by 54% to 58, 600 deaths in 2010 compared to 123,700 deaths in 1990. These deaths were linked to stroke, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and ischemic heart disease (Zhang et al., 2018). Additionally, Pun, Kazemiparkouhi, Manjourides, and Suh (2017) found out that PM2.5 leads to elevated risks for lung cancer and cardiovascular mortality. In five years, exposure to toxic levels of PM2.5 is associated with 1.33-fold increased risk of lung cancer mortality and 1.13-fold increased risk for cardiovascular mortality (Pun et al., 2017).

Summary of a Theory that will be used to Address the Problem of Air Pollution

The Health Belief Model (HBM) is useful in providing an effective solution to the problem of air pollution. The HBM is derived from behavioral and psychological theories and explains that there are two critical components of health behaviors. First, a person is motivated to adopt a healthy practice to avoid illness or to become healthy if he or she is already sick. Secondly, HBM is based on the belief that particular health actions will result in disease prevention, treatment, or illness. In the HBM, an individual adopts a specific health behavior based on the perceived benefits and barriers associated with it.

The HBM has four perceived constructs that are key to understanding a person's likelihood of embracing healthy behavior. The first construct is known as perceived susceptibility- referring to an individual's subjective perception of vulnerability to developing a disease or an illness (LaMorte, 2019). People vary in their assessment of susceptibility to a condition. The second construct of the HBM is called perceived severity- an individual's feelings on the seriousness of getting ill or leaving an illness untreated (Noori & Schouten, 2018). When a person is evaluating the perceived severity of a disease, the key considerations include social consequences of a condition such as an effect on family life and medical outcomes e.g., disability.

The third construct of the HBM is perceived benefits- referring to people's perception that specific actions are effective in reducing the risk of contracting a disease or curing an illness (Rizer, Fagan, Kilmon, & Rath, 2016 Shojaei, Farhadloo, Aein, & Vahedian, 2016). A person's decision to adopt healthy behavior, aimed at preventing disease, is based on the evaluation of perceived vulnerability to the illness and perceived benefit. Specifically, there is an increased likelihood that an individual will adopt a healthy behavior if it is understood to have health benefits.

The fourth construct of the HBM, perceived barriers, is defined as a person's feelings on the hindrances associated with embracing a recommended health behavior (Bennett et al., 2019). In this case, an individual evaluates the effectiveness of a course of action in preventing or curing an illness against the costs, inconveniences, and the dangers linked to the behavior.

The rationale for the Choice of the HBM for Air Pollution Problem

The HBM is useful in explaining the adoption of behaviors aimed at preventing or reducing air pollution problem because it reveals a person's vulnerability to developing a disease or an illness. For example, a person living in a highly polluted area is more likely to regard oneself is vulnerable to air pollution-related conditions than one in the less polluted neighborhood. Another rationale for choosing the HBM is that behavioral interventions attributed to the model are not limited to conveying health information but includes enhancing the perceptions of the severity of illness (Barnes, 2014). For example, if an individual is made aware that PM2.5 pollution will lead to the development of serious diseases such as lung cancer and type 2 diabetes, there is increased likelihood of adopting course o actions aimed at limiting exposure to the emissions.

Application of HBM Constructs to Air Pollution

The perceived constructs of the HBM apply to the problem of air pollution. For instance, perceived susceptibility (a person's subjective perception of vulnerability to developing a disease) is seen when a person living in a highly polluted area perceives oneself as being at a high risk of contracting a particular illness e.g., lung cancer. On the other hand, perceived severity is manifested when an individual considers the disease as having adverse social consequences and high medical costs. Next, when a person sees that there are more benefits attributable to the adoption of healthy behavior (e.g., reducing pollution) than risks, he or she is highly likely to embrace the behavior.

Strengths and limitations of the HBM in Air Pollution

One of the advantages of the HBM is that it is straightforward and appeals to healthcare professionals (Orise, 2019); thus medical practitioners can quickly adopt it. Secondly, there is a lot of literature on the validity of the HBM in behavior change (Jones, Smith, & Llewellyn, 2014). One of the limitations of the HBM is that it does not take into consideration the economic factors that may hinder or promote a particular course of action (LaMorte, 2019). For example, even if a person is willing to reduce exposure to PM2.5 pollution, he or she may lack financial resources to move to a neighborhood of high air quality.

References

Barnes, B. (2014). Behavioural change, indoor air pollution and child respiratory health in developing countries: A review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11(5), 4607-4618. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110504607

Bennett, J. E., Tamura-Wicks, H., Parks, R. M., Burnett, R. T., Iii, C. A. P., Bechle, M. J., Marshall, J. D., Danaei, G., & Ezzati, M. (2019). Particulate matter air pollution and national and county life expectancy loss in the USA: A spatiotemporal analysis. PLOS Medicine, 16(7), e1002856. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002856

Bowe, B., Xie, Y., Yan, Y., & Al-Aly, Z. (2019). Burden of cause-specific mortality associated with pm2. 5 air pollution in the united states. JAMA Network Open, 2(11), e1915834-e1915834. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.15834

Brier, M. J., Chambless, D. L., Gross, R., Chen, J., & Mao, J. J. (2017). Perceived barriers to treatment predict adherence to aromatase inhibitors among breast cancer survivors. Cancer, 123(1), 169-176. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.30318

EPA. (2018). Air quality-National summary. https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/air-quality-national-summary

Imperial College London. (2019). Air pollution in US associated with over 30,000 deaths and reduced life expectancy. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190723142937.htm

Jones, C. J., Smith, H., & Llewellyn, C. (2014). Evaluating the effectiveness of health belief model interventions in improving adherence: A systematic review. Health Psychology Review, 8(3), 253-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2013.802623. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17437199.2013.802623

LaMorte, W. W. (2019). The health belief model. http://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories2.html

Mazidi, M., & Speakman, J. R. (2017). Ambient particulate air pollution (PM2.5) is associated with the ratio of type 2 diabetes to obesity. Scientific Reports, 7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08287-1

Noori, S., & Schouten, B. C. (2018). Perceptions of Iranian women regarding breast cancer screening behaviour. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 24(12), 1165-1171. https://doi.org/10.26719/emhj.18.018

Orise. (2019). Theory picker-Theories. Retrieved from https://www.orau.gov/hsc/theorypicker/hbm.html

Pun, V. C., Kazemiparkouhi, F., Manjourides, J., & Suh, H. H. (2017). Long-term pm2. 5 exposure and respiratory, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality in older us adults. American Journal of Epidemiology, 186(8), 961-969. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwx166

Rizer, C. A., Fagan, M. H., Kilmon, C., & Rath, L. (2016). The role of perceived stress and health beliefs on coll...