When you breathe in you often won’t really think about what it is that you are breathing in, but will rather think about it just as oxygen that you need to live.
The bad news though is that you really aren’t just breathing in oxygen – you’re actually breathing in all kinds of things that you would probably rather not think about but that will almost always exist in the air microscopically. Here we will look at some of those things that you will often inhale unawares.
Fumes:
When you are outdoors in particular you will often be inhaling fumes of various kinds and these will include for example car exhaust fumes which can cause all kinds of problems for your lungs. Then there is passive smoking which happens when you are in an area where other people have been smoking, and which can be just as dangerous if you do it often enough increasing your chances of developing cancer. On top of this you can inhale fumes even around your home as a none smoker, for instance if you have anything else accidentally burning or melting because of your radiator or toaster. Usually fumes are caused by some kind of burning or combustion but in any case they can be highly toxic.
Spores:
Spores are tiny bits of bacteria which can travel and spread when they come into contact with the correct surfaces. A common type of spore for instance then is the mold spore which can travel from surface to surface if you have any damp warm areas in your home. This can then cause and exacerbate both eczema and asthma while at the same time generally affecting your immune system. Likewise you can also get mold spreading from gone off food, and many other sources.
Cells, Dust and Dirt:
You can also get all kinds of tiny particles in the air which are pretty unpleasant to think about but which are almost always present. For instance this includes things like dead skin cells, which all of us shed on a regular basis, and things like tiny hairs and particles of sweat. Then there are the tiny insect droppings and remains, all of which are small enough to be float around the room and to be easily inhaled.
Of course these things can be unhygienic and can sometimes carry bacteria (we’ll get to that), but even without this problem they can also make breathing more difficult and make you more likely to suffer with problems like asthma attacks or just dry throats even.
Bacteria:
Something else that causes problems is bacteria, which gets into the atmosphere whenever we sneeze or cough, or which can even come off of our skin. It is actually completely normal for there to be bacteria in the air, and not all of this will even necessarily be unhealthy. However it is also common for there to be bacteria in your environment that is unhealthy, and this is likely to include such things as the staphylococcus bacteria that causes the MRSA super bug. This bacteria exists on the skin of 1 in 3 healthy adults, but only causes a problem when it comes into contact with an open wound, a hair follicle or something similar. If you’ve had three people around then, then it’s almost certain that one of them will have added unwanted germs to your atmosphere.
Matt M. is an environment blogger and expresses his concern about environmental degradation caused due to smoke emitted by industries. He suggests the use of Dry Scrubbing by manufacturing plants and factories to avoid further deterioration.
