To live in a city in the 21st century is to know, from an early age, the diseases that pollution can cause us. Environmental contingency, auditory and visual contamination have been part of the day to day in the metropolises that fill us with chemicals, spectacular and sound 24 hours a day. That’s why we know that asthma, pneumonia, and many forms of cancer can be seen in our future.
However, there are some diseases that pollution can cause and of which many of us have no idea. Sometimes genetics are blamed and other times we don’t even know we’re sick until it’s too late. The call is to clean the cities, the towns, the waters, not to look for new places to continue with the lifestyle that is destroying the planet and our bodies.
Alzheimer’s
Although 70% of people who suffer from this disease is due to genetics, the other 30% is related to external factors, many of them caused by environmental pollution. Exposure to toxic metals such as aluminum and copper, pesticides, and industrial chemicals can cause the disease.
Dementia
Nickel, vanadium, lead, and gases such as CO, NO x, and SO 2 are present in polluted air, which, in addition to causing harmful reactions in the respiratory system, is also responsible for oxidative stress, chronic neuroinflammation, and cerebrovascular damage that can lead to dementia. and ruin the life of more than one person.
Temporary or permanent deafness
Since we are little we are told that using headphones at a high volume can have long-term repercussions, but just because it is long-term, we ignore it. But noise pollution doesn’t just come from headphones; concerts, music in cars, parties and even alarms at school gradually affect our ears causing deafness at an advanced age.
Anxiety
Another problem of environmental pollution. When the sound is something of every day, all day, our body does not rest, not even when we sleep. The worst thing about it is that it seems to be addictive, since people who are faced with noise every day and one day decide to go to the countryside or spend time where there is no noise pollution, also suffer from anxiety and stress.
Kidney and liver damage
Soil contamination has many chemical components that can cause damage beyond the lungs. Sometimes the soil can be contaminated with lead, mercury, insecticides and that can cause irreversible damage to the kidneys. Insecticides can be harmful to the liver, and people who live near garbage dumps or industrial zones face such contamination all the time.
It seems that everything is toxic, but it is a mismanagement of resources, mixed with corruption, which makes the population vulnerable and confronts them with deadly diseases that little by little we develop just by living in a specific place. However, the change will not be made by companies and politicians until it is the people who show their true dissatisfaction.