Poor air quality can take a toll on our lungs and overall health. On this Earth Day, a respiratory specialist explains why it’s important to pay attention to air quality alerts.
Cleveland Clinic News Service | 216.444.0141
We’re available to shoot custom interviews & b-roll for media outlets upon request.
CCNS health and medical content is consumer-friendly, professional broadcast quality (available in HD), and available to media outlets each day.
images: 0
video: 0
audio: 0
text: 0
CLICK HERE to download soundbites, b-roll, script and web article.
For download password, contact ccnewsservice@ccf.org
CLEVELAND - Poor air quality can take a toll on our lungs and overall health.
On this Earth Day, Maeve MacMurdo, MD, pulmonologist with Cleveland Clinic, explains why it’s important to pay attention to air quality alerts.
“People weren't thinking about air quality for a long time. You may have seen an air quality alert and didn’t give it much thought,” Dr. MacMurdo said. “But people are now realizing more and more that poor air quality can impact our health.”
According to Dr. MacMurdo, poor air quality not only makes symptoms worse for those living with chronic lung diseases – but it can up your chances of developing something like asthma as well.
Air pollution may also increase a person’s risk of developing other conditions such as lung cancer, breast cancer and heart disease.
You can keep tabs on the air quality in your area by using the U.S. Air Quality Index.
Although air pollution can be harmful to anyone – children, older adults and those with certain chronic health conditions should take extra precautions when the air quality is poor.
Dr. MacMurdo recommends limiting your time outside when there’s an active air quality alert and trying to minimize indoor pollutants.
“If you have an indoor air purifier, a HEPA air purifier, those can really help to reduce the amount of air pollution that’s coming inside the home,” Dr. MacMurdo said. “Avoid doing things like burning candles or incense as well because that's going to create indoor air pollution.”
When air quality is poor, Dr. MacMurdo also suggests staying away from activities like mowing the lawn to avoid creating more pollution.
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. Cleveland Clinic is consistently recognized in the U.S. and throughout the world for its expertise and care. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 81,000 employees worldwide are more than 5,743 salaried physicians and researchers, and 20,160 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,690-bed health system that includes a 173-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 23 hospitals, 276 outpatient facilities, including locations in northeast Ohio; Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2023, there were 13.7 million outpatient encounters, 323,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 301,000 surgeries and procedures throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 132 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at twitter.com/CleClinicNews. News and resources available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.
Editor’s Note: Cleveland Clinic News Service is available to provide broadcast-quality interviews and B-roll upon request.
