Māris kļaviņŠ, azamat azizov, JĀnis zaļoksnis environment, pollution, development: the case of uzbekistan

Figure 7.34. 
Pollen of 
higher vegetation

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7. AIR POLLUTION
 157
polluting materials (quite often the effect is increased by inadequate 
ventilation).
Toxic substances (toxins) produced by living organisms may be 
another cause of health problems. The toxins produced by living 
organisms can cause damage to certain organs and tissue, but they 
can also affect the immune system and the nervous system.
In the developed countries, people spend indoors up to 70% 
of their time, therefore the air quality there should be given 
special  attention.  A  variety  of  inorganic  materials  can  contribute 
to the overall pollution level. If NO
2
 in rural and clean urban air 
is  0.01-0.02  mg/m
3
, in the living rooms with gas heating in the 
kitchen, it may be 0.07 to 0.15 mg/m
3
, but in the tobacco smoke-
filled rooms up to 1.2 mg/m
3
. Increased nitrogen oxide content can 
affect children’s health, increasing the risk of respiratory diseases. 
For example, it has been proved that the raise of NO
2
 concentration 
by 15% indoors increases the number of respiratory disease cases in 
children by 40%.
The consequences of urban air pollution by asbestos have 
been widely studied and the detrimental effect on human health is 
proved.  However,  the  artificially-produced  fibrous  materials  (glass 
wool, glass fibre, rock wool) can also lead to similar contamination, 
especially when aging. Another topical factor may be the indoor air 
pollution with substances that are typical of outdoor air pollution 
cases: sulfur oxides, heavy metals, aerosols, etc.
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