Air pollution can make you sick. It can cause burning eyes and nose and an itchy, irritated throat, as well as trouble in breathing. Some chemicals found in polluted air cause cancer, birth defects, brain and nerve damage and long-term injury to the lungs and breathing passages. Some air pollutants are so dangerous that accidental releases can cause serious injury or even death.
Air pollution can damage the environment. Trees, lakes and animals have been harmed by air pollution. Air pollutants have thinned the protective ozone layer above the Earth; this loss of ozone could cause changes in the environment as well as more skin cancer and cataracts (eye damage) in people.
Air pollution can damage property. It can dirty buildings and other structures. Some common pollutants eat away stone, damaging buildings, monuments and statues.
Air pollution can cause haze, reducing visibility in national parks and sometime interfering with aviation.
The Clean Air Act will improve air quality in the United States, a good thing for your health, your property and the environment. The 1990 Act[1] could change the way you work or do business, and it could, in some ways, change the way you live. The 1990 Clean Air Act is lengthy–about 800 pages–because it tackles many difficult and complicated air pollution problems.