User:180Degrees/sandbox

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E. F. Schumacher

Tentative Leading Section

Air pollution describes harmful contaminants found in the air. Though some of it originates from natural sources such as volcanoes, it mostly comes from increased combustion of fossil fuels from industrialization and vehicles. The two main types of pollution are Ozone Pollution and Particle Pollution. Through education, awareness, and legislature air pollution in the US has improved; however, according to the American Lung Association, 166 million Americans are still living in communities located in with heavily contaminated air, most of whom are low-income or in a colored community.

Air pollution can cause a variety of health problems including, but not limited to infections, behavioral changes, cancer, organ failure, and even premature death.  This article specifically will look at the correlation between air pollution and Asthma, cancer, and neuroplasticity and if there are any disparities in the impact of air pollution in different communities.

Air pollution affects more than a person’s pulmonary system. It can also affect their minds and nervous system. Unlike common belief, the brain is constantly changing and growing throughout a person’s lifetime by reorganizing its synaptic connections in regards to its changing environment. If a person lives in a poor environment, then diseases, health problems, and behavioral changes are more likely to develop. For example, high levels of ozone exposure is shown to cause Autism and it is more likely for children born and raised in poor communities near high traffic areas to be affected. Studies also show that air pollution components such as heavy metals and reactive oxygen species can cause health problems ranging from neuroinflammation to memory disturbances to Parkinson’s. The distribution of where central nervous system diseases is common is not random. It is found that colored communities are affected more than white communities.  

Tentative "Effects of Air Pollution among Colored Community" Contribution

(Leslie Leung)

I will be working on a subsection looking at how air pollution affect people's neuroplasticity with a concentration on colored children. I will look at neuro diseases developed correlated to air pollution and if people who live in areas with higher air pollution such as slums in Los Angeles are more likely to have those diseases.

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