How much does hazy weather really affect the human body? What are the possible diseases that can be brought about? How can the general public take precautions? Hazy weather increases the mortality rate of lung cancer patients, and while there is no quantitative evidence in China that exposure to outdoor air pollution causes lung cancer, there is ample evidence of this abroad. Experts remind that when the haze is severe, outdoor activity time should be reduced, and try not to go to confined public places with high population density, and wearing N95 mask outside has certain protective effect, but should not be worn for a long time. Wearing a mask for a long time has an impact on respiratory function and gas exchange, and also tends to make people feel uncomfortable with chest tightness. At the same time, it is best to keep indoor ventilation. It may cause lung cancer and increase the mortality rate of lung cancer patients It is certain that haze weather will have adverse effects on the human respiratory system. Long-term exposure and accumulation in the lungs will certainly cause damage to the lungs and reduce the defense function of the respiratory system. These include long-term irritation to chronic inflammatory changes, alveolar epithelial metaplasia leading to cancer, etc. For patients who suffer from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the hazy weather adds to the problem. This is because this weather increases acute exacerbations of the disease, accelerates disease progression, and ultimately leads to increased mortality as well. It can lead to cardiovascular diseases, birth defects and premature death In fact, besides aggravating respiratory diseases, increasing the mortality rate of lung cancer patients, and even inducing lung cancer, haze has other effects on human health. First of all, haze can affect the cardiovascular system because patients with heart failure, when their respiratory tract is irritated, can cause difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath and aggravate heart failure. There are no informative statistics on the specific probability of morbidity and mortality due to haze. In hazy weather, people’s muscles are more tense, and muscle strain can easily occur. Moreover, due to insufficient ultraviolet radiation in hazy days, vitamin D production in the human body is insufficient, which is prone to mental laziness and depression, and may also lead to calcium deficiency. Not to be overlooked is that PM2.5 is very easy to adsorb organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals, and prolonged exposure of pregnant women to such an environment will significantly increase the chances of fetal teratogenicity and mutagenicity. The reason: Pm2.5, which adheres to bacteria and viruses, can reach the alveoli, so why is PM2.5 so ‘lethal’? Generally, slightly larger particles in the air can be filtered in the nasal cavity, and then smaller points of particles can enter the airways at different levels, but particles below 5 microns in diameter, such as Pm2.5 particles, can reach the alveoli directly. Because most of the atmospheric aerosols in the haze can be inhaled by the human respiratory tract, especially submicron particles can be deposited in the upper and lower airways and alveoli, respectively, causing rhinitis, bronchitis, and other conditions. The size of the particles determines where they end up in the respiratory tract. Larger particles tend to be filtered by cilia and mucus and cannot pass through the nose and throat. However, particles smaller than 10 microns, or respirable particulate matter, can penetrate these barriers to reach the bronchi and alveoli. Particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns, or PM2.5 as we normally call it, has a larger specific surface area than PM10 and is more likely to adsorb toxic substances. Due to their smaller size, PM2.5 has a greater penetrating power and may reach the walls of the fine bronchi and interfere with gas exchange in the lungs. Smaller particles, such as those less than or equal to 100 nanometers in diameter, are passed through the lungs to affect other organs. This is because the suspended matter of the haze irritates the respiratory tract, and in addition bacteria and viruses can adhere to the small particles of PM2.5 and enter the respiratory tract, inducing infections. Although cancer is the result of a combination of risk factors, cancer deaths caused by environmental pollution may currently be underestimated. Currently, indoor and outdoor air pollution is very serious, and cancer deaths caused by this environmental pollution cannot be accurately estimated at present. Preventive measures Enhance resistance immunity and pay attention to ventilation First, enhance your own resistance and immunity. There is no effective drug to remove the tiny particles in the respiratory system, so to reduce the adverse effects of haze on human body, we should first try to reduce the exposure, and in addition, we should rely on enhancing our own resistance and immunity. This requires everyone to exercise more often and maintain a better physical condition, especially the elderly with reduced immunity and children with immature immune development, and pay attention to keeping warm when the temperature drops to prevent colds, in addition, in winter and cold weather, the elderly and children can take oral or injectable vaccines to increase immunity. Secondly, in terms of precautionary measures, it is important to keep ventilation indoors. Many people think that since there is haze outside, we should just stay at home with the windows closed. In fact, the impact of haze on the human body, related to the density in the unit space, ventilation conditions, the impact is relatively small, air circulation is not conducive to reducing the density of haze, of course, if the haze outside is very serious, it is best not to open the window. And, to reduce the time of outdoor activities, especially try not to go to the population density of confined public places. Third, if the outdoor haze is serious, such as PM2.5 severely exceeded, wear a mask when going out has a certain protective effect. However, the disposable paper masks and activated carbon masks sold in the market are not very useful. To prevent PM2.5, you must use hospital isolation wards and anti-virus N95 masks to be effective. But it is not recommended to wear masks for a long time, because the long-term wearing of masks has an impact on respiratory function and gas exchange, but also easy to make people feel chest discomfort, unless the haze is very serious or a long time in the outdoor work of personnel.” Fourth, as for the various air purifiers sold on the market, theoretically, air purifiers have a certain role in disinfection and sterilization, but the role is limited. Therefore, you can not rely too much on air purifiers, thinking that as long as the purifier is on, you can not ventilate the air. Hazy weather is generally divided into six levels. Haze weather up to level 4 or more, should not be outdoor activities.