ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Environmental Health on Air Pollution on Lower Income Families/People
Background
Low income families are disproportionately affected by pollution, particularly air pollution. Essentially, environment is a major determinant of resident health. Research indicates that air pollution is a predictive of different health problems that low income families face. For instance, Kriegler and Higgins (2002) indicate that low-income families live in poor housing conditions that are prone to air pollution. As a result, low income families are largely affected by various health conditions which are inclusive of, but they are not limited to; chronic diseases, asthma, poor nutrition especially among children, and infectious diseases (Kriegler and Higgins, 2002). I will be investigating how mortality is related to air pollution in the urban areas and income levels in the neighborhoods.
Rationale and Purpose
The association between health and air pollution in low income families have been explored in various studies. In some quarters, this has informed public agency efforts aimed at improving housing conditions for low-income families. However, there are some gaps that exist in as far as current knowledge on the association between air pollution and overall life expectancy is concerned. Therefore, additional research on the effects of air pollution on life expectancy among lower income families is needed so as to add on to current knowledge. This will also come in handy in efforts to establish whether the diseases caused by air pollution are the reasons for early death in low-income families. The study will attempt to provide an understanding of how diseases caused by air pollution lead to decreased life expectancy among lower income families. It would also be prudent to note that the study will provide a more detailed overview of the health effects of air pollution on lower income families and assess their life expectancy in terms of death rates. It is anticipated that the data collected from this assessment will help come up with better interventions meant to reduce or eliminating air pollution in low-income households and neighborhoods. In addition, it will make recommendations on how evidence-based research can be carried out in public health.
Research Question, Objectives, and Hypothesis
The research question that will be addressed in this research will be: How does air pollution affect overall life expectancy in lower income families? This question has been given minimal consideration in preliminary literature and is an important questions owing to the reasons that had been outlined earlier. This research will dwell on life expectancy and air pollution in low-income families. Effort will be made to determine whether life expectancy is associated with air pollution in low-income families. The main objective of the current study is to examine the effects of air pollution so as to determine whether this phenomenon is responsible for early death in low-incomes families. The study will provide a comprehensive literature review of resources related to the topic. The study will also outline the theoretical framework for estimating mortality. It is hypothesized that there is a direct relationship between air pollution and overall life expectancy.
Literature Review
There are a few studies that have in the past sought to establish if there is a link between air pollution and overall life expectancy. Others have sought to determine whether the health effects of air pollution are associated with high death rates among low-income families. For instance, in a study conducted by Hill, Jorgenson, Ore, Balistreri, and Clark (2019) to investigate whether air pollution causes harmful health effects on populations with inequitable income distribution in US, two datasets observations were conducted. The first was conducted from 2000-2010, while the second included the years of 2000, 2005, and 2010. Observational results from the...
…not willing to share any information will not be forced to do so. Participation in the study will also be voluntary. In addition, I will ensure that personally identifiable data of participants is concealed.Study Limitations
First, it is important to note that the observations made in the study might be exaggerated or biased owing to the fact that I will gather data and conduct the qualitative research all by myself. Second, the study might not be representative of the entire population because data will be gathered from only low-income families living in urban areas. Including families from both the rural and urban areas would have taken a lot of time and would be costly. In addition, the focus on the urban setting selected would be ideal owing to the fact that I am conversant with the area. Another limitation happens to be the sample size. The sample size will in this case be rather small. Using such a small sample may not be appropriate for the present research question given that it would be difficult to establish some crucial aspects of the relationship between life expectancy and air pollution from the limited data.
Conclusion
After conduction of the present research, I could represent the information that I have gathered in charts such as the Gants chart. In addition, I intend to publish the results of the research study in the relevant websites and journals. I am confident that a study of this nature would have a significant impact in efforts to improve the wellbeing of low income families living in the urban areas. This is more so the case given that the understanding gained in this case could help come up with strategies and policies that reduce air pollution in urban centers. Therefore, overall health would be improved resulting in an increase in…
References
Bennet, J. E., Tamura-Wicks, H., Parks, R. M., Burnett, R. T., Pope III, C. A., 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, https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002856
Hill, T. D., Jorgenson, A. K., Ore, P., Balistreri, K. S., Clark, B. (2019). Air Quality and Life Expectancy in the United States: An Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Income Inequality. SSM Popul Health, 7, 100346.
Finkelstein, M. M., Jerrett, M., DeLuca, P., Finkelstein, N., Verma, D. K., Chapman, K. & Sears, M. R. (2003). Relation between Income, Air Pollution and Mortality: A Cohort Study. CMAJ, 169(5), 397-402.
LaMorte, W. W. (2016). Cox Proportional Hazards Regression Analysis. https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/mph-modules/bs/bs704_survival/BS704_Survival6.html
Kawulich, B. B. (2005). Participant Observation as a Data Collection Method. FQS, 6(2), 43.
Kriegler, J. & Higgins, D. L. (2002). Housing and Health: Time Again for Public Health Action. Am J Public Health, 92(5), 958-768.
Wong, L. P. (2008). Data Analysis in Qualitative Research: A Brief Guide to Using Nvivo. Malays Fam Physician, 3(1), 14-20.
Waheed, Z., Kiazai, A. N. & Bahadur, W. (2020). Ethics and Validity as Core Issues in Qualitative Research Paper. PJER, 3(2), 123-134.
Air Pollution: A Testament to Human History Air pollution is woven throughout the fabric of our modern life. A by-product of the manner in which we build our cities, air pollution is waste remaining from the ways we produce our goods, transport ourselves and our goods, and generate the energy to heat and light the places we live, play, and work.." (Davis, 1) The most important natural resource on which humans depend
Air Pollution and Acid Rain Acid rain is now commonly perceived as a major environmental threat but the term is still relatively new and many are confused about its causes. While there are some other commonly cited reasons including natural sources, the main cause of acidity in rain is air pollution, which increases the composition of sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides and thus lowering the pH level to less than 7.
Air pollution remains one of the most urgent and serious problems facing the world today. Research studies conducted in the past have clearly indicated that in addition to harming the environment, the effects of air pollution on human health are particularly adverse. In this text, I discuss air pollution, its causes, and effects. Further, I propose solutions that could be embraced to rein in the problem of air pollution. Air Pollution:
Whereas the level of air pollution in Canada is smaller than the ones in other countries, it can still be considered to play an important role in the tourist industry. People generally come to the country thinking about fresh mountain air and no pollution. However, if one of those wanting to visit Canada would have came across the information that, in 2007 alone, air pollution in Toronto was responsible
The incinerators produce a cocktail of toxic chemicals that can cause cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems, immune system defect, increased allergies and birth defects" (3). Green Peace suggests sustainable waste management as an alternative to industrial incinerators. The Sierra Club identifies coal burning power plants as major contributors to air pollution. "Out of the entire electric industry, coal-fired power plants contribute 96% of sulfur dioxide emissions, 93% of nitrogen oxide
Air Pollution In "Schwarzenegger slams GOP-led bills to block pollution rules," Geman (2011) addresses Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's reaction to the recent potential threats to the Clean Air Act. Congress is "attacking" the Clean Air Act, according to Schwarzenegger, with "more than a dozen proposals in Congress to limit enforcement of our clean-air rules, create special-interest loopholes, and attempt to reverse scientific findings." According to the governor, the Clean Air Act has
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now